Ethan walked for several hours before finally stopping and dropping down into the sand with a frustrated huff. By then, most of the raw anger had burned itself out, leaving behind a dull, persistent annoyance.

  Around him, night had fully settled. The desert was dark, the sky stretched wide overhead and scattered with stars that offered just enough light to see in front of himself. Now that he had stopped, he had more time to think about the events leading up to his departure and had come to the realization leaving when he did was stupid. It was too dark to navigate properly, too easy to lose his bearings, plus they had fire, food and added safety. He should have set out in the morning.

  But he hadn’t been thinking clearly, and there’s no way he was going back. Hell, he didn’t want to go back. He didn’t want to be near anyone right now.

  What Alex had done was wrong. That much still sat badly with him. But what truly pissed Ethan off was that it made sense. The longer he sat with it, the more he could see how Alex had justified the decision. From his perspective, withholding the information had been the safest play.

  Alex had been protecting his guild master. Protecting his people. Ethan couldn’t fault him for that—not entirely. But understanding the reasoning didn’t make it hurt any less. Didn’t make it any less infuriating to realize that he could have reunited with his sister.

  He dragged a hand down his face and exhaled slowly.

  Now he was sitting alone. Tucked into a duvet in the sand, exhausted from the battle, frustrated with everything, and left alone with his thoughts. The only silver lining was that Leah was alive. Or at least she’d been alive two weeks ago.

  But that was enough. Enough to let him breathe. Enough to finally let the last of his anger bleed out of him.

  His sister had survived. That meant she was strong enough to keep going a little longer. He just needed to reach her. When he did, he’d make sure she leveled fast. Then they’d leave this level together, long before the mass exodus began; before the truth about the level’s eventual collapse spread and chaos followed.

  Ethan reached into his bag and pulled out the Colossus core.

  It sat heavy in his hands, split cleanly in two, faint light leaking from the fractured surfaces. Mana bled from it steadily, slowly dissipating. If he could’ve reached a settlement in time, he might have been able to commission it into a pill or a refined solution. Cores were rare, with only certain monsters forming them, and their dense mana made them incredibly valuable.

  Unfortunately, he didn’t have the luxury of time. In fact, it seemed to be constantly working against him.

  So, without any other option, unless he wanted the core to go to waste, Ethan closed his fingers around the broken halves and settled into meditation. He needed to do this now, lest he miss his chance.

  He had already formed his foundation. He could sense mana now and had even been pulling it into himself, though he only knew his own refinement technique, it would do until he got his hands on a better one. But that would come. For now, as long as he was making progress, he was happy. Even if he had to brute force it.

  It was slow. Tedious. Often felt pointless. There were times it seemed far too much effort for far too little gain. But he knew that thinking like that was short-sighted. So he pushed the doubt aside and focused.

  Mana rolled around him in dense waves. Most of it poured off the fractured core, but beneath that he could sense the faint whisper of ambient mana as well.

  He reached for it.

  Mana flooded into his body, leaving behind a sharp, tingling sensation as he guided it inward. He forced it toward his center, compressing it with deliberate intent. He already had a small accumulation there, from his prior weeks of gathering.

  Now it grew rapidly. Within minutes, he gathered more mana than he had in days.

  Sweat beaded across his brow as the effort intensified. Each breath grew heavier, lungs burning as if the air itself had thickened. The mass at his center expanded, unstable and restless, pushing against his limits.

  Still, he didn’t stop.

  Time blurred. Minutes stretched into something longer. His body screamed at him to rest, to give in, but he refused. He didn’t drift into sleep or fall into a meditative haze. He stayed present. Focused.

  When his body finally felt full, to the point it physically hurt, he stopped drawing mana in. Heat rolled off him in waves, sweat soaking through his clothes. Pins and needles covered his entire body, like his nerves were lit on fire.

  He couldn’t hold any more. Ethan let go of the now nearly depleted core and turned his focus inward. The mana inside him was chaos. A storm raging through his body, unrestrained and violent. He reached for it the only way he knew how. By force.

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  He imposed his will. And a metaphysical battle began to unfold. Within his mindspace, he commanded the mana to condense, to shrink and to fall in line.

  Pain exploded through him. His body burned like it had been thrown into a furnace, muscles and bones aching as he forced the mana to submit. Slowly—agonizingly slowly—it did. The storm folded in on itself, turbulence collapsing as density increased and the mana raging through his body began to listen.

  Ethan clung to the struggle, refusing to yield. When the condensed mass finally shrank to the size of a marble, something shifted. A violent wave of energy surged through his body, far stronger than any level-up he’d ever experienced. His entire form shuddered as power rippled outward from his center.

  Despite everything—despite the exhaustion, the lingering anger—a smile crept onto his face.

  After hours of relentless effort, his core stabilized. A jagged, imperfect sphere of condensed mana settled in the center of his chest. It wasn’t smooth or symmetrical. Its edges were rough, its shape uneven, but he had finally done it.

  Ethan opened his eyes. They resisted him, crusted shut by something foul. As his awareness fully returned to the physical world, the stench hit him like a hammer.

  Rotting filth.

  His stomach lurched. He barely had time to turn before dry heaving violently. Thick sludge coated his body, seeping through his linen shirt, clinging to his skin and reeking of decay.

  “Fuck.”

  He didn’t realize how disgusting core awakening was. Last time, it hadn’t been this bad. Back then, he’d already awakened his aura, his body reinforced enough that the impurities had been minimal. This time it was far worse.

  He tore his shirt off without hesitation. Buttons popped and scattered as he hurled the ruined top as far as he could, never wanting to see it again. The rest of his gear followed shortly after.

  Shit, he’d had a lot of impurities.

  Ethan grabbed handfuls of sand and scrubbed it over his body. The grit irritated his skin, but it was far better than the alternative. Following that, he got his canteen from his pack and poured water over himself, scrubbing at his skin as best he could, to finish removing the filth. The water began to run low long before he was clean, but at least the worst of the smell was gone. He would need to do it again once the purifier filled his canteen back up. And probably again after that. But for now he got into a spare change of clothes and put what little remaining water he had away.

  Once dressed again, he finally turned his attention to the system notification waiting patiently at the edge of his awareness.

  Congratulations! You have advanced your core cultivation.

  You have unlocked [Molten Core].

  +5 to all attributes

  Ethan exhaled slowly and shifted where he sat, the breath escaping in a puff of steam. Power coursed through his body in a way that was impossible to miss. It was invigorating. Addictive.

  His muscles felt warmer, denser, coiling with hidden power. His heartbeat thudded with purpose, each pulse sending a faint echo through his limbs. Even his thoughts felt sharper, more anchored, as though something fundamental had finally clicked into place.

  After weeks of effort, he’d done it. He’d taken the first true step into cultivation.

  He let himself savor the moment before focusing on the name hovering in his awareness.

  [Molten Core]

  Last time, his core had gone in a very different direction. It had formed into something defensive, helping his body heal and giving him more willpower. He knew, just from what he could already feel, this core was completely different. Just from what he could naturally gather, he was walking in a different direction.

  From everything Ethan knew, a core’s formation wasn’t random. It was shaped by who you were and where you stood when you brought it into being. But the main thing about core formation was your mindset. Ethan was no longer the person he had once been. And this just proved it.

  He mentally prodded the name. A moment later, the description surfaced.

  [Molten Core]

  Forged through fire and hardship. The embers of something great stir. Like a volcano, the depths of power lie buried beneath the surface.

  Ethan stared inward at the words.

  “…Well that’s not helpful at all,” he muttered.

  He snorted softly, shaking his head, but he couldn’t suppress the faint smile that followed. Vague as it was, the description felt promising. His path was already shifting, pulling away from the generic, away from the safe and predictable, toward something more volatile.

  Satisfied, he finally let exhaustion claim him. Sleep dragged him under quickly, deep and heavy, with the faint hope that when he woke, the purifier would have done its job.

  —~~—

  Ethan’s hopes were crushed.

  The sun beat down on his face like a personal insult, dragging him out of sleep far too early. He groaned, blinking against the harsh light, and immediately rolled to his side to check his water.

  It was only half full.

  He stared at it for a long moment before letting out a quiet, defeated sigh.

  After a quick rinse and a small meal, he forced himself back onto his feet. Despite everything, he felt lighter. Better than he had since waking up back in his room.

  Things were looking up, all things considered. If only the smell would disappear, but he’d deal with that later. He chose to focus on the positives. He had news of Leah. He’d advanced his core. He was pushing toward the level twenty class option.

  And now, with the sun rising fully and the desert stretching out before him, Ethan set off toward Mountford.

  He activated [Keen Sense] as he moved.

  The change was immediate. It was like an advanced sixth sense snapping into place. Awareness expanded outward in a tight, controlled sphere around him.

  Without a doubt, if someone tried to sneak up on him now, they were going to be shit out of luck. Just the way he liked it.

  He’d need to test it properly once people were around, but even so, the improvement was undeniable. He could feel the drain from the skill had lessened remarkably and its effects had grown far stronger. He was sure [Steadfast] would show the same effects. He just didn’t really have a way to test it.

  But it just proved, cultivation mattered.

  The system would have you believe it was all about raw stats, neat little increases you could tally up and optimize. But this was different. Unquantifiable. It bled into everything. Perception. Control. Endurance. Even how his body responded to strain.

  He kept [Keen Sense] active as he moved, letting it run without interruption.

  Mountford was maybe a couple days away. Less if he pushed hard.

  And he would.

  With his senses sharp and his spirits higher than they’d been in days, Ethan broke into a light jog, as he headed toward the settlement and, finally, toward his sister.