The training chamber was silent, save for the faint hum of the Purity Arrays carved into the floor.
Valen sat cross-legged on a soft cushion, his breathing slow and rhythmic as he absorbed the mana in the air.
The dim light from the arrays bathed the room in a soft, otherworldly glow, providing an almost serene atmosphere for his cultivation.
The quiet was calming, but Valen's mind was far from restful.
After his Mana Core shattered there was one lingering question he wanted the answer to it was that he wondered if he can still cultivate without his mana core.
Although it might seem strange and absurd to most but something told Valen that he will be able to do that and today finally after stabilising the situation.
He got the chance to check out everything, and see if his guess was correct so without any delay he began.
With his eyes half-closed, Valen let his Sovereign's Breath technique guide the flow of mana through his body.
The mana entered through his skin, drawn in by the mana breathing technique that had been passed down in the Aetheris family for generations.
He felt it coursing through his cells, like threads of power, weaving themselves into his veins, drawn toward his heart.
There, the mana mixed with his blood and surged through his body with each slow, steady beat.
It was familiar, almost comforting. The technique worked as it always had, every breath refined the energy within him, making him sharper, more focused.
The Purity Arrays ensured that most of the mana he absorbed was clean, but Valen knew impurities could still linger. His technique would take care of that.
But today, something was different.
Just as he was settling into the familiar rhythm, Valen felt a subtle shift. At first, it was nothing more than a strange tingling at the edge of his awareness, but then it grew stronger.
He paused, stilling his breath as he focused inward, trying to make sense of what was happening. The mana inside him... it was changing.
Without warning, an unfamiliar energy began to radiate from his core. Valen's eyes narrowed in concentration as the new energy surged through his body, sweeping along with the mana.
It moved through his veins, his muscles, even his bones—unstoppable and overwhelming, yet not painful.
It was refining the mana further, more thoroughly than his Sovereign's Breath ever had.
"What is this...?" Valen muttered under his breath, though his voice barely broke the silence.
He observed the new energy closely, watching as it purged every last impurity from the mana in his system with an efficiency he had never experienced before.
The impurities, present in the mana he absorbed, were burned away in an instant, leaving nothing behind. Not even the Purity Arrays could cleanse the mana so completely.
For a moment, Valen sat perfectly still, allowing this unknown energy to work. It wasn't his breathing technique; that much was clear. This energy was something else entirely—something far more powerful.
As it continued to flow through him, Valen realized it wasn't just refining the mana. It was transforming it.
The mana, once familiar and fluid, was changing, its very nature being rewritten by the strange force inside him.
It grew denser, darker, until it felt nothing like the energy Valen had always known. This new energy... it was unlike anything he had ever encountered.
He couldn't identify it, but it felt raw, ancient—like a piece of the void itself.
The energy circulated through his body, flowing along his veins and arteries before beginning to settle where his Primordial Core had once been.
Valen's core was long gone, shattered during the ritual, but now this new energy seemed to be forming a replacement.
Slowly, it began to rotate within him, gathering strength and density, growing with each breath he took.
Valen's brows furrowed slightly as he watched the transformation unfold. His body was absorbing the energy with ease, but his mind struggled to comprehend what it was.
He could feel its immense power, could sense its potential, but it was foreign to him. This wasn't mana—at least, not any form of it that he had ever known.
His fingers twitched slightly, as if tempted to reach out and grasp this newfound power, but Valen held back.
He wasn't one to act rashly, even in the face of something this significant. He needed to understand what was happening first.
As the energy continued to circulate through his body, Valen allowed his mind to wander.
He considered the implications of what he was experiencing. This new energy, whatever it was, was stronger than his Primordial Core had ever been.
It refined mana at a level that surpassed anything the Sovereign's Breath could achieve. But that wasn't the most important part.
No, the real question was: what exactly was this energy? Where had it come from?
The thought unsettled him, but only slightly. Valen was no stranger to the unknown. His life had been filled with questions, mysteries that needed unraveling.
This was just another puzzle, another step in his journey toward power. He would figure it out, piece by piece.
And yet, a small part of him—a part he wasn't fully ready to acknowledge—felt something else.
A strange excitement. This power was unlike anything he had ever known. If he could master it, if he could truly understand it, the possibilities were limitless.
His lips curled into a faint smile.
Still seated on the floor, Valen's eyes snapped open. The faint glow of the Purity Arrays reflected in his violet irises as he shifted his focus inward, toward the strange energy gathering in the empty space where his core should be.
"Nyx," Valen called out softly, his voice echoing through the silent room.
"Scan me and tell what's happening"
The system responded instantly.
[Processing...]
Valen waited, his heart steady but his mind racing with curiosity. Whatever this energy was, he needed answers.
And Nyx, the ever-present system, had never failed him before.