For some, two days might not seem like much. Hell, before the Outbreak, a week could pass in a blur without even noticing. Leo remembered well those times when he would get so consumed by work that time passed so quickly that he could blink only to find out that Monday had somehow turned into Friday.

Now, deep inside the Void, surrounded by constant danger, things were much different. Every minute, every hour mattered—not as much as at the beginning of the Outbreak, but they still did. There was no changing that.

Yet, here he was, trapped inside a tiny cave for the second day now—well, Earth day at least. Despite so much time passing, Sazim only experienced one night since he arrived. He hadn't counted precisely, but he guessed the day-night cycle here took about twice as long as on his home planet.

Of course, neither he nor Nyx had wasted this time just sleeping or relaxing. Every single waking hour had been spent hard at work, practicing their skills and anything else that caught their fancy. Sure, the urge to go out grew stronger with each passing minute, but Naz'Tor's warning kept them in check. The rare distant explosion only added to the incentive to stay still and wait.

All right, one more try.

Leo took a deep breath and infused his body to the brim with Essence. It took over half of his reserves to fill every gap, but that was exactly what he wanted. The more energy he used now, the less he would have to transfer out of his soul in the next step.

Now, Devour… slowly…

The powerful skill left its cage, and with experience gained from multiple days of practice, it began its slow consumption—bit by bit. As it did that, Leo focused on guiding and compressing the drained power into the empty container next to his soul. He discovered that if he didn't perform the compression now, he wouldn't get another chance later.

And so, the sealing progressed. First, his forearm blades faded as if they had never been there before. His claws disappeared next, giving way to almost normal human fingers. They remained gray, but their power was gone, which was all that mattered.

From there, his legs suffered a similar fate, followed by the spikes on his back and tail. Leo had tried many times to remove the latter, but just like his scales, it refused to budge. At least his floaters went out without much of a fight.

Final part…

With a quiet command, Devour's focus turned toward his torso and head. The pace of consumption slowed even more here, which was a necessity. He had failed too many times at this step to rush it.

More power from the soul…

To add even more difficulty to the entire process, Leo began pumping more Essence into the storage next to his soul, squeezing it as tightly as possible. That, in combination with Devour's effort, made his entire form slowly shrink—inch by inch.

Just a bit more… Almost there…

Then it happened.

Just as his body shrunk to the size of his previous evolution, Devour faltered, unable to drain any more power. Leo gritted his teeth and attempted to regain control, but before he could do that, something cracked inside him.

The storage.

It splintered into countless pieces, releasing the energy hidden within. The wave of power hid him head-on, knocking him off his feet as his body returned to its normal state within a blink.

Shit. Leo groaned, opening his eyes to find Nyx hovering over him. "I'm fine."

The feline tilted her head, clearly unconvinced. "It sure doesn't seem like it. You have been at this for over twenty hours straight. Maybe it's time for a break."

"Maybe…" he muttered, picking himself off the ground. "I was so close. I felt it. A few more seconds and I would be done."

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"Great. Then rest for a bit and try again later. We got to wait for Naz'Tor's call anyway."

"Fine." He sighed, leaning his head against the cave wall. "I will drop the sealed form for the time being."

Nyx narrowed her eyes. "I'm sensing a 'but' there."

"And you're right, congrats. I'm gonna go into my Soulscape and try some stuff. Then I will take a nap. How is that?"

"Better than I expected," she grumbled. "You know, for someone who wants to go on a vacation, you're a terrible workaholic. Always got to be doing something."

Leo shrugged. "That's just how I am. I hate leaving stuff unfinished. Can't rest properly if I do."

"Thankfully, I didn't inherit this part of you, and Nikra was never too hardworking."

"Of course you're happy. You love your naps too much."

"So what?" she challenged, quirking a single eyebrow. "At least I know when to rest, unlike someone here."

"And I'm going," Leo announced, closing his eyes and entering his Soulscape. Yet, he still heard Nyx's snort and the muttered 'coward.'

"Bloody cat." He chuckled as the shadowed lands of his soul greeted him once more. "Now, first things first."

As fast as he could, he ran for his item stash, where he fished out a large shard with sparkling blue lightning inside it. He grabbed it tightly and felt around his soul for his next destination.

There…

The trip took a bit longer this time, but when he arrived, it was to a sight he hadn't seen in a long time.

"My core…" he muttered. "You have changed…"

He had visited this place only once before—with Nikra. Back then, his core was just a small pond full of dancing shadows that awaited his command.

Today, that pond evolved into a large lake, filled to the brim with thick, familiar darkness. Waves of violet and red energy now accompanied the shadows, spilling over the shores and rocking the area with weak explosions.

"What did Nikra say back then? 'Dive into the truest part of your soul and embrace it.' Or something like that… Oh well, no time like the present."

With that, Leo jumped high and plunged right into the lake of shadows. Darkness consumed his vision, but despite that, he had no problem navigating it. This was his power—it would never work against him.

Or so he hoped.

This should be enough. He decided as his feet touched solid ground. Going by his senses, he should be somewhere in the middle of his core. Now, only the final step remained.

Embrace it.

Leo sat down cross-legged, took a few deep breaths, and reached out towards the surrounding elements. He also placed the Lightning Core on his lap. It would come into play later—if he didn't fail now.

As expected, the shadows around him answered his call right away. They attached themselves to his body, connecting him directly to the entire core. He could have commanded it before, but now it felt like he was one with it. Although, there was still one big problem.

Ruination.

Like the shadows, it came to him without struggle but refused to connect at first. Leo had to force it to obey, which thankfully wasn't that hard thanks to the absolute control over Essence his Soulscape provided. Still, it definitely put things into perspective.

Okay, now, how do I deepen my connection with you? Do I just meditate, or what?

With no better idea, he did just that, allowing the elements to course through his body. At first, nothing happened, but then, he felt the entire lake move.

Up and down. Left and right.

Whirlpools formed on the surface until they reached deep enough to touch his head. At the same time, the waves of Ruination grew in size, which only enhanced the following explosions. And still, Leo didn't move, didn't open his eyes as he simply embraced the chaos around him.

The elements used him as a conduit, and he let them, all the while pulling more and more power into himself. Their bond slowly grew, and with it, his understanding of the affinities he wielded.

Now, if I do this…

Carefully, so as not to disrupt the connection, Leo reached with his Essence towards the shard in his lap. It slapped his phantom hand away at first, struggling even harder than Ruination did.

In response, he extended his senses further, up toward the sky above the lake. He even employed the shadows to reach for the sparks of black lightning trying to escape his grasp. They eluded him at first, but nothing could escape him forever.

Once his shadows trapped some of the lightning in the sky, his Essence touched the Core in his lap again. This time, the energy within the item accepted the connection after a bit of hesitation.

Wow… He muttered internally as lightning exploded around his body. Even with shadows surrounding him from each side, he could see how the sparks changed colors. Going from blue to violet before finally settling for a red so dark it was almost black.

All of that lasted only a few seconds before the lightning faded.

Let's try that again.