Silence draped itself over the deep cavern beneath the earth, broken only by the distant echo of water droplets falling from the ancient stone ceiling, and the faint rumble of magical currents streaming through the depths. The dim glow radiating from the cavern walls was weak, yet enough to cast shimmering light upon the faces of Alex and Iris as they sat beside a massive, metallic-silver crystal pulsing gently like a slumbering heart.
Iris wiped the sweat from her brow, her tone sharp and urgent as she said,
"Now that you finally understand how this world works, Alex, we have to absorb this metallic essence as fast as possible. The goblins under Garak, the armored wasps, even the Feral tribes—they'll keep coming after us unless we move carefully."
Alex lifted his eyes toward her, the glow of the crystal reflecting in his pupils. Exhaustion weighed heavily on him after the relentless battles, yet his curiosity burned with greater intensity.
His voice echoed softly between the stone walls as he asked,
"How do we absorb the metal essence? Do we... swallow it?"
Iris let out a light laugh and shook her head.
"Not exactly. It's simpler than that. Just hold it in your hand, channel your mana into it, and it will flow into you on its own. No need to eat it."
She extended her hand toward the enormous crystal. From her fingertips, transparent blue mana flowed like a thin blade of light, slicing through the air with a faint whistle. With a precise strike, she split the crystal into three identical pieces, each one glowing with a metallic radiance throbbing like a living pulse.
She slid one shard toward Alex and kept another for herself, while the third—larger than the rest—remained floating between them, spinning slowly within a vortex of energy.
Her voice grew firm.
"Take it. Guide your mana into it. The essence will seep into your body and reshape you from the inside. It'll strengthen you—but it will react even more intensely with your true name."
Alex nodded silently.
As soon as his fingers touched the shard, a deep cold surged into his veins like liquid metal coursing through him. The silver light spread across his skin, then sank deeper—into muscle, bone, and soul—until his entire body shimmered with moving threads of luminous silver beneath the flesh.
For a heartbeat, even the air in the cavern froze.
Then came the pain.
A sharp, searing agony tore through every nerve as if his bones were being melted and reforged anew. His ragged breaths echoed across the chamber, and on the other side, Iris endured the same torment as she absorbed her share of metallic essence. It seemed the essence didn't grant strength freely—it demanded the remolding of body and spirit alike.
After long, grueling minutes, the pain slowly dissolved into a warm, overwhelming surge.
Alex felt an immense flow of power flooding into him. Deep within, his mana core blazed like a small star, expanding and pulsing with radiant light. Around it, a new ring of mana formed—brilliant, sharp, and impossibly dense.
His core doubled in size, and his strength soared to a level he had never approached before.
Then the knowledge came.
Not as words, but as an instinctive understanding—a revelation tied to his power and the transformation of his true name. Alex realized that everything he had achieved so far… was merely the beginning of what he could become.
He closed his eyes, diving into his inner world.
In the depths of his consciousness, he saw his first spiritual creature—the Armored Octopus—floating calmly within the swirling mana inside the soul crystal forged from his four soul fragments. But now, something was changing.
Its limbs thickened, its metallic plating sharpened, and its eyes glowed with newfound intelligence and an awakening consciousness.
Alex remembered how, during the forging of his soul core, he had divided the labor among his four soul fragments, assigning each a specific aspect of power. That decision had pushed the efficiency of his abilities to their peak.
And now—feeling how the metallic essence could enhance him further—he instantly knew what he wanted to evolve.
Though the Armored Octopus's design originated from a creature on Earth, it didn't inherit all its biological abilities—aside from the arms and camouflage. Yet Earth's octopus held many talents worth replicating. And with the metallic essence empowering him, Alex finally knew the perfect addition.
He pushed his mana toward the creature, merging the metallic essence into its form.
The octopus glowed intensely.
Within its chest—within its spiritual body—three radiant hearts formed. They were not hearts for pumping blood, but independent energy centers, each with a unique purpose:
The First Heart:
Absorbs mana, attacks, and any external source of energy—storing them endlessly like a bottomless reservoir.
The Second Heart:
Transforms that stored energy into offensive power—releasing it as waves or deadly beams.
The Third Heart:
Compresses energy to the maximum limit, granting the octopus's attacks unrivaled precision and destructive efficiency.
As the hearts completed, three metallic stars appeared above the octopus's head, spinning slowly in the spiritual domain—symbols of its fully awakened power.
Alex opened his eyes, breath heavy, chest rising and falling with excitement.
He felt the change within him clearly—his body stronger, his senses sharper, his spiritual detection radius expanding from six meters to fifteen. He now possessed long-range offensive capabilities he previously lacked.
Thanks to the metallic essence, his evolution had been seamless—cleanly covering every weakness he once had.
Iris watched him silently, leaning against a glowing rock.
She looked exhausted, but the faint smile on her lips shone with quiet pride.
The aura around him had become sharper, heavier—undeniably stronger.
"Congratulations, Alex," she said softly.
"You've become a two-ring mage."
Alex lifted his gaze toward the cavern's depths, where mana pulsed gently from the stone walls. A calm certainty settled in his voice as he replied,
"Thank you. Now we have a much better chance of avoiding everyone who's after us."
He glanced at Iris—five black butterflies now floated around her in silent orbit.
Despite her fatigue, she looked genuinely happy. Her pale skin, her silky black hair, and the military attire she wore gave her a rare, striking presence.
Then the light of the essence slowly dimmed, fading into the depths of the crystal shards. A strange stillness followed, a quiet that felt almost sacred.
The cavern still pulsed with life—
but inside them…
A new strength had been born.
And a destiny waited to be written.
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