A brutal silence reigned in the ruined room, broken only by Theo's ragged gasps as he caught his heavy breath after a full week of torment. The air hung thick with the acrid smell of dried blood and clinging burnt flesh, a silent testament to a battle that had spared no weakness. Celia leaned her exhausted body against the cracked wall, her face pale from the strain of fending off the hordes of monsters drawn by the scent of Theo's blazing energy. Her eyes never left his still-trembling body, as if she were witnessing the birth of a new creature.
Theo whispered a single, faint name, a word that choked on the pain in his throat, stifling his voice.
"Kyle…"
It wasn't a mere utterance, but an admission steeped in deep pain. It was less a question and more a recognition of an eternal presence that had saved him from collapse. Celia nodded slowly, her gaze a mixture of sorrow and reverence.
"I felt his imprint on your soul."
Theo closed his eyes, his blood-drained face etched with a pure grief—a sorrow not of the body, but of a soul that had touched the very edge of release from death. Kyle had not died once, but twice: the first time in his village, and the second within Theo's heart when his own life force was depleted. He had left behind nothing but the ashes of spent energy, which had granted Theo one final grip against the death that had been creeping toward him.
"Weren't you supposed to absorb that energy gradually?" Celia asked, her eagerness mixed with confusion.
"He ordered me to burn everything," Theo answered, his voice laced with awe.
Celia sighed. "That pill is called 'Death's Limit,' named so because it increases a warrior's chances of survival during a breakthrough. It was meant to be absorbed slowly while you were breaking through, but it seems he noticed your condition."
Theo tried to rise, but his body felt impossibly heavy under the weight of its violent transformation. He felt as if every muscle had been replaced with solid metal, every bone melted down and reforged into mighty alloys. When he finally stood, his feet dragged forcefully across the rubble-strewn floor, as though they carried the weight of an entire world.
"My body… it's completely different," he muttered, inspecting his arms.
There were no scars to be found, only skin as smooth as rock, covering new muscles that were sharply defined. He clenched his fist and felt a power capable of crushing a mountain to dust in the blink of an eye. For a fleeting moment, a dark ecstasy washed over his face, a thrill in his own unmatched potential.
"You have reached the fifth peak of the Martial Artists' Ladder," Celia cut through his silence, her voice serious.
Theo took a step back, suspicion etched in his eyes. He tried to summon his martial aura, that distant light that reflected the breadth of his spiritual energy, but found it faint, unworthy of the torrent of his physical strength. It was an aura as thin as the whisper of a tree on a quiet night, dwarfed by the roar of a lion.
"My aura… it's too weak," he said, his voice tinged with quiet anxiety.
Celia stepped toward him, her clear hands glowing with a captivating blue light as she scanned his body with her magical gaze. "What happened wasn't an orderly breakthrough," she stated in a probing, knowing tone. "It was a massive leap that bypassed the necessary stages of development. You jumped from the second stage to the fifth all at once. Physical power accumulated without your spiritual system and your blood being properly refined."
A deep frown creased Theo's forehead. "And what does that mean in a fight?" he asked, his voice a pained, suppressed whisper.
"Your raw strength will let you eliminate an opponent at your level in one or two blows," Celia began to explain, "but in a long battle of attrition, you will collapse. Your blood doesn't transport energy fast enough, and your aura will evaporate in seconds. Your body will slowly cannibalize itself to compensate for the gap and might lose control entirely."
The truth hit Theo like a knife. He had survived hell, only to emerge with a body on the verge of self-destruction.
"Is… is there a way to fix it?"
"The only solution is to start from scratch: rebuild your aura, purify your blood gradually, and then break through to the fifth stage again. We will start preparing for the 'Birth of Blood' now so you can begin to repair your body. You might face a battle more painful than the one that just saved you. What you've felt so far might just be the beginning."
Theo's breath hitched in a long silence as a faint beam of magical light slipped through a crack in the ceiling, touching his cold face. He stood in the middle of the room that reeked of his own congealed blood, feeling out his new existence. He was in love with the power he had dreamed of, but he had just discovered its exorbitant price: immense strength in a body made of glass.
Heavy hours passed after midnight. Theo remained lying on the floor, his gaze tracing the network of cracks that spread wider than his imagination could grasp. The dim light reflecting off the scattered crystals on the walls gave the place a fantastical aura. In those moments, his body began to gleam with a faint aura, like a single light cell struggling to power a giant's body.
Celia turned and, mustering her remaining strength, reached out to wipe the traces of dryness from his face. "We have to make a decision quickly," she whispered with a strained urgency. "We can't stay here for long; the monsters will be drawn back to the aftermath of the battle."
Theo nodded slowly, a sudden fullness blooming in his chest. Trying to locate its source, he discovered beautiful stones scattered on the ground. He knew at once that these were the so-called "Earth Crystals," which would now be the foundation for developing his body's strength.
Theo's memories stirred, bringing forth a training vision where Master Kyle had taught him a single movement: how to summon the pulse of the earth, and how crystals like these participated in directing that energy. He approached a small crystal and placed his hand on it with deliberate care. He felt a faint pulse, like that of a broken heart, but steady.
Celia whispered with focus, "Those are energy crystals. Kyle might have taught you about them before. Now you are qualified to use them. They are found inside monsters, and all living beings can produce them… even me." She paused for a moment before continuing, "But you would have to kill me and then refine me into an Earth Crystal, as I don't produce them automatically like monsters do."
"I know," Theo said, then fell silent for a moment as understanding dawned. "And I also know they aren't easy to obtain. If a monster or an opponent possesses one, it means they're not an easy foe. And I can see many of those crystals on the ground."
"I'm sorry…" Theo apologized sincerely. It was the first time he had seen his aunt so exhausted, and he correctly surmised that she had killed many attackers, and that there had been many difficult monsters among them.
"Don't worry about it, Theo."
The thrum of a second crystal, hidden in the shadows, intensified, its green shimmer following. Its faint light expanded within the room as if swallowing the darkness. Theo slowly raised his head and felt a transparent shield begin to form around his chest.
"I feel a warmth… a strange warmth," he said, his eyes slowly opening.