The hours dragged on, as if time itself had been stricken with fatigue after the violent storm that had raged within Theo's body. Silence settled in the ruined room, broken only by the creaking of the cracked walls as they responded to the chill of the night. Theo sat with his back straight, trying to reconcile with the new entity inhabiting his body. The immense power was still there, latent beneath his skin like a dormant volcano, but a sense of fragility and brittleness surrounded it like a fence of glass, a constant reminder of the heavy price he had paid.
Celia stood, having regained some of her focus. Her exhaustion was profound, etched in dark shadows under her eyes, but her gaze had recovered some of its analytical sharpness. She approached him and stood before him.
"Get up," she said, her voice quiet but leaving no room for argument.
Theo complied, rising to his feet. The movement still felt foreign, but he was beginning to get used to the new density of his muscles and bones. Every simple motion carried a weight and a latent power he was unaccustomed to, like a lion learning to walk again after spending its entire life as a cat.
"The power you feel right now—forget it," Celia began, her first words as sharp and shocking as a slap of ice. "That strength is merely an illusion, a glittering trap that will kill you if you rely on it in its current form. The rules of the game have completely changed for you. The methods you've learned so far, the harsh physical training, the simple circulation of mana in your veins… all of that has become almost useless, if not harmful."
Theo furrowed his brow, listening with absolute attention. He had felt the imbalance but had not yet understood its nature. Celia's words were the first key to understanding his new prison.
"The body of a martial artist up to the Fourth Rank functions like a closed engine," Celia continued her explanation, walking slowly around him, her eyes examining him from every angle as if he were a rare and flawed specimen in her lab. "It burns its internal fuel—the vital energy produced from food, breath, and mana absorbed from the atmosphere—to produce power. The more you train, the more efficient your engine becomes, but it still relies on the same limited fuel. But at the Fifth Rank, a radical transformation occurs. The body becomes an open engine, designed to absorb immense external energy and convert it directly into physical power. Your body can no longer evolve or even maintain itself by relying on internal energy and food alone. It demands a richer, purer fuel—a fuel your body was never qualified to handle before."
She gestured with her hand to the crystals scattered on the floor, still gleaming faintly in the darkness. "And that is your new fuel. Earth Crystals. The condensed essence of life energy."
She then stopped directly in front of him, her gaze fixed on his chest, where his feeble aura was barely visible, like a light mist that would vanish with the first gust of wind. "And herein lies your fatal problem. The aura, at the Fifth Rank, is no longer just a shield or an attack enhancement. It has become the conduit, the sole source of nourishment for your body. This weak aura of yours, still stuck at a Second Rank level, is like a thin straw trying to fill an entire ocean. It will never be able to absorb energy fast enough to feed the mighty body you are trapped in."
The full truth hit Theo, and her words struck his mind with brutal force. The problem wasn't just an imbalance; it was a functional deficit. He had the stomach of a giant but a mouth no bigger than a needle's eye. His immense physical strength consumed energy at a terrifying rate, but his ability to replenish that energy was almost nil. He had become a magnificent war machine, but one that would self-destruct after the first shot.
"So... will I stay like this?" he asked, his voice carrying a hidden bitterness, the bitterness of a prisoner who suddenly realizes the bars of his cell are made from his own bones.
"No," Celia answered flatly, her firm tone cutting through the thread of despair that had begun to wrap around him. "But the road ahead of you is arduous, long, and more tedious than you can possibly imagine. Your plan to gradually rebuild your blood and aura is correct, but the starting point has changed. Your first and only goal now, which must consume your every thought, is to strengthen your aura. Not through traditional training, not by fighting beasts, but through the most basic and exhausting practice of all: the slow, painstaking absorption of these crystals."
She returned to her spot by the wall and sat down, gesturing to the floor in front of him. "Sit. Take one of the crystals. Do nothing but breathe and try to pull a single thread of its energy. Don't expect anything. It might take hours to feel the slightest response, and you might spend days on a single crystal before you extract the first drop. This is your training now. This is all that matters."
Theo hesitated for a moment, then turned to look at the chaos Celia's battle had wrought. The crystals were scattered over patches of dried blood, all that remained of the monsters she had killed for seven straight days to protect him. He felt a pang of shame and gratitude that surpassed anything he had ever felt before. He was the reason for her exhaustion, her depletion, and the danger she had faced.
"I'm sorry..." he said sincerely, looking at the ground. "For all of this."
Celia looked at him, her stern expression seeming to soften for a fraction of a second, a shadow of the deep fatigue she was hiding appearing in her eyes. "Apologies are worthless in this world, Theo. They are the currency of the weak. The best way to repay the debt is to become strong enough that I never have to fight a battle like that again. Now, begin."
Theo nodded, her cold resolve being exactly what he needed. He didn't need pity; he needed direction. He sat cross-legged on the floor, the act of sitting itself feeling more stable and grounded. He picked up a small green crystal, the same one that had reacted to him initially. It was cool in his hand now, but he could still feel that faint, living pulse deep within it.
He closed his eyes, following Celia's instructions. He didn't try to command or control. He just tried to listen. To feel that slow rhythm, and to try to align his breath with it.
Time passed. Nothing happened. The silence was absolute. Frustration slithered into his mind like a snake. His physical strength screamed at him, tempting him with an easier solution. 'Why so slow?' his mind thought. 'I could crush this crystal in my hand, inhale its energy like dust. I could go out now, kill monsters, and bring back more.' The new power's desire to dominate was growing, but he brutally suppressed it.
He continued to focus, ignoring the outside world, ignoring his new body, concentrating only on that tiny point of light and pulse in his hand. It was like trying to hear a leaf whisper as it falls in the middle of a thunderstorm. He had to ignore the thunder—his body's power—to focus on the whisper.
After what felt like an eternity, when his muscles were about to cramp from sitting motionless and his mind was on the verge of collapsing from sheer boredom, something happened. A very thin thread, finer than a hair, of pure energy detached from the crystal and seeped through his tenuous aura.
It wasn't a strong sensation, but it was barely perceptible. It wasn't warmth or cold, but a feeling of completeness, of harmony. Like a tiny puzzle piece finding its proper place in a huge, torn picture. He felt his constantly trembling aura stabilize for a fraction of a second. It didn't grow stronger, but it became more stable.
Theo opened his eyes, a drop of sweat rolling down his temple despite the coldness of the room. He looked at the crystal in his hand, then at Celia.
She had been watching him in silence. She gave a slight nod, an acknowledgment of his small success. "You've opened the door. Now, you have to walk this path for countless miles."
"How much time has passed?"
"Four days."
Theo didn't feel euphoria, but rather the sheer scale of the task before him. It had taken him four long days to pull a single thread of energy. How long would it take to strengthen his aura enough to feed this body? Months? Years?
He looked at the crystal again, closed his eyes, and began anew. The chapter of survival was over, and the chapter of absolute patience had begun. There was no fighting or movement, only silence, focus, and the first painful step on a long, dark road toward reclaiming his true self.
Suddenly, Theo's eyes snapped open as he remembered something he should not have forgotten.
"Perhaps I have the solution, Aunt."