Chapter 153: Silver Core

Ka’z was lost in a trance for what felt like an eternity, his consciousness completely detached from the passage of time. He sat motionless in the center of the training chamber, his breathing slow and steady as he repeatedly circulated aether through his mana circuits.

Every cycle began the same way. Aether entered his body, traveled through his circuits and was gradually refined before being poured into his core as mana.

Each completed cycle added to the enormous reservoir within his Iron Core, slowly expanding its limits. He repeated the process again and again, refusing to stop even when the strain became increasingly uncomfortable.

His mana circuits gradually widened under the constant flow, allowing him to absorb greater quantities of aether with every breath. What had initially felt like a narrow stream eventually became something closer to a river surging through his body.

The process continued until his core finally reached its absolute limit.

At that point, every additional drop of mana felt like someone driving a rake directly into his stomach and dragging it across his insides. His consciousness trembled under the pressure, but Ka’z continued circulating the energy because he knew exactly what was happening. Fine cracks had begun appearing across the surface of his Iron Core, and from those cracks a pale silver light seeped outward.

He was close.

Ka’z could no longer feel his physical body. He existed within a strange darkness, observing his mana circuits and core as though they belonged to someone else.

His entire awareness had narrowed down to the relationship between aether, mana and the core at the center of his existence. Yet even with the cracks spreading across the Iron Core, the breakthrough refused to happen immediately. Dozens upon dozens of cycles passed as accumulated mana was repeatedly drawn into the core, compressed against its limits and shattered the boundaries that had once seemed immovable.

Then, finally, the pressure became unbearable.

Krash!

A chunk of the Iron shell surrounding his core broke away.

The fragment seemed to fall through an endless darkness before disappearing from his perception. Almost immediately, another section cracked and peeled away, followed by another. The process accelerated until pieces of the Iron shell were breaking apart one after another, revealing the brilliant structure hidden beneath them.

When the final fragment disappeared, what remained was a pure, dull Silver Core.

The mana he had accumulated had not vanished during the transformation. It remained within his body, but compared to the enormous capacity of his newly formed Silver Core, the amount was almost laughably insignificant. It was like a single drop of water floating inside an ocean.

Ka’z silently examined the result and finally understood something that had never truly made sense to him before.

"Attaining a Gold Core will definitely take me years even if I train day and night without rest. It finally makes sense why the Silver Core ended up being the limit of so many magical beasts throughout their entire lives."

The realization was sobering. The difference between realms wasn’t simply a matter of accumulating more mana. Every breakthrough represented an expansion of one’s very foundation, and the further someone climbed, the more difficult the next step became.

While Ka’z remained immersed in his breakthrough, the outside world had continued moving.

Kurg, Ru’k, Za’r and Tu’ka had gathered around him some time ago, their eyes fixed on his face. They had watched his body become drenched in sweat as his expression twisted through countless different forms, sometimes showing discomfort, sometimes concentration and occasionally something approaching pain. None of them dared interrupt him. They could only wait and wonder how long the process would take.

After a while, Ka’z’s expression finally relaxed.

Kurg immediately straightened himself.

"He did it... He broke through in five days," he said, almost unable to believe what he had just witnessed.

He stepped slightly away from the group, his thoughts returning to the day after Ka’z’s return. Kong’gong had warned him then to remain sharp because if he became complacent, Ka’z might overtake him again and leave him behind.

Kurg looked at Ka’z for several seconds before shaking his head. "Staying sharp can’t make me compare to him. He’s just a monster."

"Talented, not monster."

Za’r’s voice was dangerously calm.

Kurg immediately broke into a nervous sweat. He scratched his head and forced a crooked laugh. "Talented, yes... Sorry."

Ru’k looked from Kurg to Za’r with a suspicious expression. "You seem very protective of Ka’z since he came back."

Za’r narrowed her eyes at him.

Ru’k’s expression immediately became more mischievous. "Don’t tell me you two have already done it?"

Za’r jerked backward, her face turning bright red as she immediately avoided everyone’s gaze. "Wh... what... Don’t... Just shut up!"

The reaction alone was enough to make everyone’s eyes widen.

They had always known Ka’z and Za’r were close. Even when they were younger, everyone had assumed the two would eventually become a proper couple. Still, seeing Za’r become this flustered was unexpected enough that Tu’ka struggled to hide his amusement.

"You have, haven’t you?" Ru’k asked, his speculative expression quickly turning into a childish grin.

"RU’K!" Za’r shouted.

Ru’k immediately exploded into laughter. Tu’ka covered his mouth while chuckling, and even Kurg couldn’t suppress his amusement. It was incredibly rare to see anyone successfully disrupt Za’r’s usually calm demeanor, and watching her struggle to find a response only made Ru’k laugh harder.

Then his laughter abruptly stopped and everyone turned toward him.

A thin crimson scythe had silently formed behind Ru’k, its curved blade hovering dangerously close to his neck.

Ru’k froze.

Ka’z was still sitting where he had been, apparently more interested in examining his own hand than the conversation happening around him. His fingers flexed slowly as he observed the faint crimson aura gathering around them.

"That explains why my magic felt a bit softer and more moldable," Ka’z muttered absentmindedly. "I can really shape the element now."

Ru’k swallowed carefully.

"Eerm... I’m sorry about the way I spoke to your lady.... Can you please call it off?" he asked with an astonishing degree of politeness.

Kurg immediately burst into loud laughter. He fell backward and kicked his legs against the floor, his childish amusement proving so infectious that Tu’ka and Za’r soon began laughing as well.

Ka’z blinked in surprise before finally noticing the scythe behind Ru’k.

"Oh... Sorry."

He casually stretched out his hand.

The crimson scythe immediately lost its form and shot backward, collapsing into a stream of blood that returned directly into Ka’z’s finger before surging back into his body.

Ka’z stared at his hand again, flexing his fingers thoughtfully. "Even my control is much stronger now."

The others stared at him with varying degrees of confusion. Only Kurg seemed to understand what Ka’z was experiencing.

Reaching a new core realm changed far more than the amount of mana a person possessed.

The entire world suddenly seemed different. Colors became more vivid, sounds became clearer, scents that had previously gone unnoticed suddenly became impossible to ignore, and the body seemed simultaneously lighter and heavier.

Most importantly, one’s perception of aether and mana became dramatically sharper. Kurg remembered experiencing the same overwhelming sensation when he broke through under Kong’gong’s guidance. It had taken him some time before his mind adjusted to the changes.

Ka’z was currently going through that exact process.

He eventually looked toward the ceiling as though trying to make sense of everything he could suddenly perceive. "Now that I have a Silver Core, pushing for a Gold Core is rather stupid. I’ll just take Kong’gong’s advice and begin training my Elemental Body."

About thirty minutes later, Ka’z finally regained enough focus to become aware of his physical condition.

The first thing he noticed was hunger and the second was soreness.

His entire body felt as though it had been left in the same position for weeks. His arms and legs were stiff, his back ached and even moving his fingers seemed like an unnecessary burden. Za’r had already left to find something for him to eat, giving Ka’z an opportunity to collapse onto the only haystack bed inside the chamber.

"God, I feel like my hands and legs will fall off if I move an inch," Ka’z groaned.

His stomach immediately growled loudly enough to drown out the final part of his complaint.

Ru’k burst out laughing. "Of course you would feel this way! You have been sitting in a cross legged position for five fucking days. If you weren’t breathing loud enough, we would have thought you were dead!"

Ka’z rolled his eyes.

"Stop being dramatic," he said nonchalantly.

Kurg shook his head and moved slightly closer. "He’s not wrong. Apart from Teacher Kong’gong, I have never seen anyone capable of training without moving for so long. My limit is three hours at best before I need to stretch a little and probably rest, but you held it for five days! That is definitely not normal!"

Ka’z blinked at him with genuine surprise.

"It’s not?"

Everyone simultaneously facepalmed.