Knowing Kael Voss had injured his toe, Gareth "Wraith" Stone carried the nutrient rations to Kael's cabin personally, intent on eating with him.
Kael watched amusedly as Gareth fumbled around the small room—dragging a carbon-fiber chair here, adjusting the alloy table there—until after much bustling, everything was ready for their meal. Amusement aside, a warm glow of gratitude settled in his chest.
The two sat across from each other, chatting casually about life in the Verdant Bio-Dome while shoveling nutrient paste into their mouths. Between bites, they traded notes on their cultivation progress.
At the mention of his Bio-Armor Reinforcement Technique, Gareth rolled his eyes in sheer frustration.
The technique had become something of a nightmare for him. Even the first tier had left him tormented by Dr. Mordecai Thorne's brutal training methods. He was forced to soak in pungent gene-stabilizing serums at fixed times, and endure regular blasts of low-grade energy waves—purportedly to temper his bones and muscles.
These harsh methods had left him unable to sleep soundly for weeks. His body would be covered in swollen, bruising patches, and even the lightest touch against his cot would send sharp pains shooting through him.
It had been pure torment.
In contrast, Gareth couldn't help but envy Kael's Unnamed Gene Calibration Protocol.
He thought it sounded effortless—just sitting cross-legged like a monk, meditating to channel bio-energy. Kael could only smile silently at the misunderstanding.
Kael understood Gareth's dread of the Bio-Armor Technique's higher tiers. Anyone would be restless at the thought of enduring torment far worse than what he'd already suffered.
That Gareth had persisted this long without giving up already filled Kael with admiration.
He knew he could never endure such self-torture—not even for the promise of becoming a top-tier operative overnight.
By the time their conversation wound down, the nutrient rations were nearly gone. Gareth hurried to clean up the empty containers, then stood to take his leave. "Rest early," he urged. "Your toe needs time to heal."
Kael saw him off at the door, then rushed back inside, locking the reinforced hatch and leaving only a small energy-vented skylight open. From the inner pocket of his tunic, he pulled out the mysterious emerald alloy vessel, turning it over in his hands as he'd done countless times before.
At ten years old, Kael's patience only stretched so far. After prodding and twisting the vessel for a while with no progress, boredom set in. Combined with his sore toe and general fatigue, his eyes grew heavy. Before he knew it, he'd slumped against the edge of his cot, the vessel still clutched in his hand, and drifted off to sleep.
He didn't know how long he'd been asleep when a sudden cool tingle jolted him awake.
Kael shuddered, forcing open his leaden eyelids. Through blurred vision, he glanced down at the hand holding the vessel—and froze.
In an instant, he sat bolt upright, his mouth hanging open so wide that drool dribbled down his chin, unnoticed. All sleep vanished, replaced by utter astonishment at the sight before him.
Thin, luminous strands of silver bio-energy streamed down through the skylight, converging directly on the alloy vessel in his palm. They condensed into tiny, rice-grain-sized orbs of light, wrapping the vessel in a faint, shimmering silver aura.
The light was soft, not dazzling in the least, and the cool tingle emanated directly from it.
Kael swallowed hard, his saliva cold with shock. He flung the vessel aside as if it were red-hot, scrambling to the far corner of the cabin.
After watching warily for several minutes and detecting no immediate danger, he inched back closer.
The vessel, bathed in the silver glow, looked eerily beautiful—mysterious and alluring.
Hesitantly, Kael poked the vessel with his finger. When nothing happened, he picked it up carefully, placing it back on the table. Leaning over, he watched the unprecedented spectacle with eager curiosity.
He stared intently at the glowing vessel for over an hour, and finally, he noticed the pattern.
The vessel wasn't just absorbing the silver bio-energy strands—it was as if the orbs were fighting to force their way inside, swarming the surface in a frantic, almost sentient rush.
Curious, Kael touched one of the floating orbs with his fingertip.
It was cool—nothing more. No other unusual sensations.
He glanced up at the skylight.
The silver bio-energy strands continued to pour down, showing no sign of stopping.
Kael looked at the locked hatch and closed windows, then back at the open skylight.
A thought struck him. He quietly unlocked the hatch, peeked outside, and sighed in relief.
It was the middle of the night. The Verdant Bio-Dome was silent except for the soft hum of energy generators and the occasional chirp of gene-modified insects. No one was around.
He pulled his head back inside, grabbed the vessel, and stuffed it into his bio-synthetic pouch. Then he raced out of the cabin.
He ran until he reached a secluded, open clearing deep within the bio-dome—surrounded by tall, glowing bio-bamboo and far from any other cabins.
Scanning the area carefully to confirm he was alone, Kael knelt down and placed the vessel gently on the ground.
The silver orbs that had surrounded it in the cabin had vanished once it was tucked away in the pouch.
But Kael wasn't worried.
Sure enough, after a brief pause, silver bio-energy strands began converging from all directions—far more than had come through the skylight. In moments, countless orbs swarmed around the vessel, forming a large, basin-sized sphere of shimmering light.