29 The Perfect Prison (1/2)

It was a cold night, one with almost no stars in the sky.

Laying on the rooftop of her inn, Caroline Darrel did not notice such things. All her thoughts were somewhere else.

(They are so strong…) She put her tiny hand in front of her. (And I'm so weak…) Her eyes closed. (But I really want to join their party. If I pursue my dream with them, my chances of success will be so much higher.)

The memory of their fight reaffirmed that thought. Especially Rose's fight. Although Cure Song and Thorn's fights surpassed Rose's in many aspects, one was not visible to her and the other was so fast and complex she had just a vague idea of what happened. In contrast, Rose's fight was still in the realm of what her senses allowed her to understand, albeit barely.

(I wonder when will I be strong enough to stand by their side? Will I ever be…?)

*Sigh*…

There was helplessness in her weak sigh.

(No! I can't let my pessimistic thoughts decide my destiny any longer.) Suddenly, she sat up and took a deep breath, her resolve steeled.

It was with this newfound resolve that she attempted to cultivate, or rather, to establish a connection with the Complex Energy, which was completely invisible and intangible to her.

The main requirement to take the first step onto the cultivation path was to attain the ability to soul-bound Complex Energy. Nobody really knew how this ability came to be or how to train it, it just arbitrarily appeared in people's brains between the ages of 4 to 10.

Caroline Darrel was 8 years old. So the ability to start cultivating could appear in her at any time now.

Unfortunately, her attempt failed. She couldn't feel the Complex Energy at all.

This development depressed her, unsurprisingly.

Still, she didn't give in just yet. Closing her eyes, she focused completely on sensing her brain and tried to soul-bound Complex Energy once again.

It didn't work.

Reluctant to accept this, she tried again, again, and again.

(I quit quitting and decided to go after my dream. I'm just starting!)

With that determination, she continued with her endeavor and only stopped after almost an hour had passed.

She had to stop because she had succeeded!

It was as small as a speck of dust, but it was there! Complex Energy that was under her complete control!

The feeling was like having a tiny star inside her brain. An incredibly tiny, almost imperceptible star.

Caroline Darrel's emotions were in tumult, so much so that she almost forgot what the next step was after soul-bounding one's first Complex Energy particle. Almost.

She unhesitatingly ordered that particle to fuse itself with her physical body.

Immediately after, the particle exploded!

The explosion expanded and soon covered her entire body; but it stopped there, refusing to get out of her.

(Hot, hot, so HOT!)

Every bone, muscle, and organ within her seemed to be ablaze. The scorching pain made her sweat through every pore. In no time, she looked as though a torrential rain had completely washed her.

*Shhh*…! *shhh*…! *shhh*…! ….

Even her little white snakes weren't spared from the searing pain as they hissed at the sky in agony.

With tears on the corners of her eyes, Caroline Darrel gritted her teeth and endured. She endured, endured, endured, and endured.

The longest five minutes of her life passed in such a way.

Almost emaciated, skin dripping-wet, she finally felt the pain slowly recede.

It was exactly at that moment that she suddenly opened her eyes and gasped desperately for air!

Although her body was lighter now, she still felt as though she were submerged under water.

Only after calming herself a bit did she realize that what she was feeling was just ownerless Complex Energy.

The entire world around her looked different to her now, for she had not only obtained the capacity to sense Complex Energy but also acquired the Aura Perception ability!

\”Hehe. Hehehehe…\” Caroline Darrel was exhilarated. Slowly waving her hands in the air, which was much thicker than usual, she commented: \”To think that the Complex Energy could feel this real…\”

She had heard about Complex Energy innumerable times, but it had always been something illusory to her and had never thought one could actually touch it.

After a couple of seconds, she focused on the little stars that twinkled within a radio of 200 m around her.

The 'light' of these stars varied greatly in intensity from each other and could be 'seen' even if there were walls or any other physical obstruction between her and the stars.

\”Auras…\”

Still, she didn't understand yet the exact correspondence between the Aura intensity and the cultivation stage it belonged to.

Well, that was not so important at this moment. There was something more crucial she had to do right now…

\”Yay!\” She jumped really high, almost 5 m, with a big smile on her face, eyes sparkling beautifully.

She had reached the First Level Body Evolution stage!

Her strength and lifespan had been significantly upgraded. She could now lift 200 kg and reach 120 years of age with absolute ease!

That wasn't all, from now on she could use her Racial Skill too!

Which reminded her that she needed Complex Energy to use it and that she didn't have any left.

(Right. I should soul-bond all the Complex Energy I can.)

With that in mind, she sat down cross-legged and focused her attention on the ownerless Complex Energy within her brain.

This time the process went a lot smoother than before thanks to her previous experience and the fact that she could now feel the Complex Energy. In just 15 minutes she had already 10 particles of Complex Energy under her control.

(It's just like my mother told me: At the First Level Body Evolution stage, controlling 10 particles at the same time is the limit.

(Anyway, I wonder what kind of poison I got.)

There was only one way to find that out: Activating her Racial Skill. She would automatically understand the most basic characteristics of her skill the moment she used it thanks to the Complex Energy Laws of Cultivation.

The foundation of one's Racial Skill was one's body, the union of one's Complex Energy body and physical body to be precise. So to activate one's Racial Skill, one needed to fuel one's body with Complex Energy.

Caroline Darrel infused a single particle of it into her body and suddenly her soul received a strip of images that explained how her Racial Skill worked.

This information made her abruptly stand up, and left her standing there dazed and speechless for a long, long moment.