Integrating more Soul Essences into the Foundation Stars was already uncomfortable. However, upgrading your Foundation Star to the next rank was incredibly painful.
The first upgrade to a new rank was the worst because the body was modified to break through its natural limits without sustaining long-lasting harm.
Xavier was in pain for a long time. A dark, mushy mass of badly reeking impurities covered his body like a second skin. It was disgusting, but Xavier didn’t pay much attention to it. He sweated profusely, and his chest heaved up and down as if he had run a marathon. He was exhausted.
The Agility upgrade to the Basic rank had been more terrifying than expected. Xavier sensed the changes in his lower body clearly, but he was still weak. The energy and nutrients in his body had been used up to support the Foundation upgrade.
But Xavier was not yet done upgrading his Foundation Stars. He had fallen on the bed as wave after wave of pain attacked him, but he finally managed to sit up, his body trembling like he had slept in a snowstorm. He initiated the Star of Energy’s upgrade to the Basic Rank.
Integrate 1 Soul Essence into the Star of Energy.
99/100 → 100/100
[The requirements to upgrade the Star of Energy have been met. Please find a safe place before the upgrade commences.]
[Star of Energy [Novice] has advanced to the [Basic] rank. Congratulations.]
Xavier was prepared to wince in pain and writhe on the bed for hours, but the Star of Energy’s upgrade was different than expected.
A flood of energy burst inside his body, far more than Xavier had ever sensed. It circulated through him to reach his abdomen quickly, only to be pulled away upon reaching his abdomen. The Energy didn’t find the energy pool in his abdomen, so it was dragged elsewhere.
His Energy seemed to disappear momentarily, only to emerge in the Soul World. The Soul World trembled wildly as the flood of energy entered it. The Energy channeled into the sphere created by the World Energy Card fused into the sphere, which expanded slowly.
The sphere’s ability to create World Energy improved. Its efficiency skyrocketed, creating more World Energy at a time. In retrospect, the World Energy spilled out of the sphere. It merged with the river of energy that passed through the Soul World and nourished it. The Soul World expanded as the river of World Energy inside the Soul World extended in all directions.
The Soul World is expanding.
Xavier felt the Soul World would grow with him since it was an Innate Ability, but he thought it would require Aether to expand in size.
Does that mean I can unlock Soul World’s remaining abilities as long as I grow stronger, or is that related to the amount of Aether I absorb? Other than unstable Monster Gates…where can I get more Aether in the first place? Do I have to search for unstable Monster Gates if I cannot unlock Soul World’s locked abilities by strengthening the Foundation Orb?
Various questions flashed through his mind as he observed the expansion of his Soul World. The pain inflicted by upgrading the Star of Energy—as little as it was—vanished into thin air at some point. He was still exhausted, though—more than ever.
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After upgrading the Star of Agility and Energy, Xavier had 65 Soul Essences left to use but didn’t use them immediately. Instead, Xavier burned the blanket, which was coated in impurities. He dragged his weary body to the bathroom, filling the bathtub with cold water. The heater didn’t work without electricity, but Xavier had other means to heat the bathing water.
He manifested two searing hot flames in his palms and shoved his hands underwater. The water temperature increased quickly. It wasn’t long before it was warm enough, and Xavier dispersed the flames. He went inside the bathtub and exclaimed quietly.
Merely a few seconds passed before Xavier’s eyes closed. He fell into a deep slumber as the warm water soothed his aching muscles, helping him relax.
After a while, the water turned lukewarm, and at some point, Xavier opened his eyes again. The warm water did wonders to his stiff and aching body, loosening his muscles a little. But now that the pain had subsided, his stomach rumbled as he stepped out of the bathtub. He did not remember the last time he ate properly, but his body and mind screamed at him for the lack of nutrition. He had been running on adrenaline for a while and skipping meals, so he dried himself, put on clean clothes, and stepped into the kitchen to look for something to eat.
“Here, I saved it for you.” Silvia’s sweet voice reached Xavier as he looked through the pots and pans for some leftover food.
Xavier’s mouth watered at the sight of the full plate she held out for him, and he reached for it hastily.
“You are the best mom,” He mouthed while stuffing his mouth with the meat and mashed potatoes.
Silvia chuckled and ran a hand through his hair, caressing her kid.
“You deserve a little treat for saving so many people, right?” She asked, but Xavier was busy eating.
“Of course, he brought back everybody alive; he is my son, after all,” Mark said, entering the kitchen with his chest puffed up and beaming radiantly at his son.
“Our son,” Silvia corrected her husband, and Xavier snorted at how his parents still bickered even though an apocalypse had hit them. I guess some things never changed.
After finishing his plate, he answered his parents’ questions about the current situation of Logwood and the survivors in general. They were happy their son had managed to rescue many people overall but also sad that their neighboring town had been hit worse than their little village. At least Silvia had been foolishly hoping that the monsters had not invaded every town and that some part of the world was still intact, but her interaction with Logwood survivors told her it was just a dream.
“But it is good that a few survivors found their way to us alone. Less work for us,” Silvia added cheerily as Xavier asked,
“On their own?”
She took the plate from him and washed it, though he insisted he would do it. It seemed his mother was in a mood to pamper him.
“Yes, I am not sure how the word spread, but I guess people are desperate for a safe hideout. Just yesterday, two survivors claimed they found their way to Haven on their own. There have been a few more that showed up in the past week itself.”
“That is…interesting,” Xavier commented.
Mark lightly slapped his son’s shoulder. “I guess they just knew people from Alsburg and came looking for them. They were haggard and hungrily gobbled everything your grandma offered them.”
Mark laughed, but somehow, Xavier was not convinced of the story. Of course, he did not know everyone in the neighboring villages, or even Alsburg, for that matter, but he felt they were not to be trusted easily.
But given that they had taken up loads of strangers in the past weeks, closing their doors for those survivors only because he felt odd about them.
Xavier was not that evil. His parents would pay attention to the newcomers either way. Instead of focusing on the newcomers, Xavier was more interested in exploring Logwood now that the threats had been cleared.
The Kobolds, their equipment, to be precise, were far more intriguing than the newcomers.