Chapter 542: Standstill (1/2)

Though time kept on passing, and that should be the universal, undeniable rule wherever you are in the massive and endless cosmos, for some inexplicable reason, this wasn't the case in one particular spot in the dead realm of what was commonly known as the 'Battlegrounds'.

Inside the underground chamber of where Aiden as a 'guest' was kept by his still mysterious skink 'hosts', time had seemingly no effect. Albeit it should have long lost its remaining energy and should have dispersed into the pale, dusty air, the elder skinks protective spell somehow still held on.

Even worse, albeit it was obvious that some foul play was involved, the boy remained ignorant and oblivious to this truth. As if his mind refused to listen to this particular topic, no matter how much Enya, the System's appointed spirit guide tried to reach out to him, Aiden acted as if he did not hear his words, questions.

As he consumed the last remaining bits of the priest, Aiden was more focused on the second phase of his body's primal processes. Feeling the increasing heat radiating from his core, he quickly walked over to the center of his underground cell, and sat down cross-legged, in his usual meditating pose.

Closing his eyes he heaved a sigh to calm his nerves and shift his mental focus on the insides of his Primal Core, from whence the increasing heat was radiating from.

Though his body kept it hidden and protected, the truth was that the surge of vitality, the absorbed life essences of the striped elderly skink has begun to converge to an empty point at an unoccupied outer ring inside the depths of his Core.

The energy kept on gathering, forming a tight-knit bond in the process. As time kept on passing with a paradoxical logic inside the closed-up slice of reality of Aiden's guest 'room', the gathered vitality began its process and seemingly reached the threshold to begin its transformation and reform into the baseline of what would later be a new form for its host and master.

Yet, as Aiden kept on inspecting the situation, there seemed to be something missing. Albeit the energy threshold was reached, something else was needed. Something to kickstart the process, something crucial, critical for the process to ultimately be successful.

Aiden didn't need to ponder too much, realization hit him in the head, he quickly flicked his right hand, turning his palm to face the ceiling. In the next instant, the dark crystal core, that he just put away a few seconds ago materialized, appeared.

This time, Aiden didn't react at all at the ominous sight of the weird object, nor did he flinch at the sight of the dark, eerie, ebony gaseous puff of cloud contained within its translucent walls.

As the crystal appeared in the grip of his right palm, Aiden didn't waste any time and decisively pushed it into his mouth.

The sound of what was reminiscent of glass being shattered and then thrown all around could be heard as the boy chomped on it, grounding the object into a more easily digestible format.

After some time, whilst also maintaining most of his attention at the state of his Core, Aiden gulped, swallowing the entirety of the contents of his mouth down and allowing the entirety of the inside energy to be absorbed into his being.

Once again, just like with the heart, Aiden felt the sudden surge, the torrential wave ripple across his spiritual body, filling his vessel full with a vast amount of power. This time, the energy was way more abundant than the heart previously.

So much so in fact, that his body was trembling, as it was lifted off from the ground as the energy raged, wreaked havoc, and caused chaos. Doing his best to contain what he could and not to be consumed by it, Aiden gritted his teeth, clenched his fists as he fought back.

A faint golden light surrounded the boy as it floated just a few feet above the ground. His figure was shrouded with the expunged surplus of energy, turning his figure into a hazy, blurry glowing silhouette inside the dark underground jail cell.

Yet, despite how it looked, Aiden still managed to inch out the last and probably most needed victory, and slowly began to reign in the wild, chaotic flow. As he directed it towards his core, the strange scene that mysteriously remained unnoticed by the guards stationed outside has ended just as abruptly as it appeared.