As Rain calmed down and regained her spirit after the harrowing fight, John looked back at the giant corpse of the horror. He was looking at it like a juicy slab of meat.

‘A horror should have some enchantment regardless of what weapon I use, right? It would be too unfair otherwise. I’m sure most beasts have escaped this place by now, so we should have the area to ourselves.’

John looked forward to consuming the beast's essence, confident it would allow him to complete most of his equipment. The purity of the essence alone would likely give him a significant boost.

A distant and short shout sounded from the direction they flew from. “Wha–?!”

John turned, seeing Kerchak and Dennis both staring at the corpse in shock. He waved with his free hand, surprised to see them so soon. “Hey! Do you have the water?!”

Dennis seemed to need more time to comprehend what he saw, but then he approached them, still standing in Kerchak’s arms. “What in the absolute…? You slayed a horror? How?!”

John smiled as he stood up, brushing some sand from his clothes. “Oh, no big deal. I just gambled it all on a single attack, using all my strongest weapons. Horrors aren’t a big deal, really.”

“I know you’re not expecting me to believe that! Your ‘strongest attack’ barely hurt him! I see the shield in his back!”

“... Well, I have a weapon I haven’t told you about. This.” John held the necklace up, showing Dennis the black sphere. “It’s some sort of essence, extremely dangerous. I coated the shield in it, and it had no way to dodge.”

Dennis jumped down from Kerchak and studied the necklace from a distance, shock and confusion still clear on his face. “Okay… Yeah, that makes more sense. A breaker can’t possibly defeat a horror without some sort of miracle.”

He looked over at the corpse again while burying his hands in his hair. “But still, what the fuck?! You need like ten aspecters to confidently fight a horror, and even then, it’s sure to be a costly fight!”

John was too busy looking at the necklace to listen too closely to Dennis. He noticed that the black essence had halved after that attack, and it had never refilled itself during the time he had carried it.

‘I might have spent a precious limited resource on that fight, but it was well worth it. This means I need to be careful in the future as well, though. Horrors are best left the hell alone.”

Dennis turned to look at Rain, finally noticing she wasn’t looking great. “Is she alright? What happened?”

“Rain good. No fly,” she responded, understanding his words well enough. “Thirsty.”

“Oh, right, sorry!” Dennis turned back to Kerchak and made him hand the water barrel down to him, which he then handed to Rain. “Kerchak held on to it while I ran. I was surprised by the beast following the two of you, though! Any idea why?”

John nodded, helping Rain hold the heavy barrel for her to drink. “I think it remembered me from last time and wanted to settle the score. It seemed… gleeful, almost, when we fell toward it. I’m guessing horrors are more intelligent than demons and monsters, huh?”

Dennis nodded, looking down at the sand in thought. “Yeah, they… they get smarter the higher their tier is. Tyrants are capable of hunting us with almost human intelligence. Which only makes them more dangerous.”

Rain had quenched her thirst well, getting rid of the likely terrible taste in her mouth. “Water is best! And meat!”

John chuckled. “You’re hungry already? I guess we can try some horror to see if there’s a difference in taste. I won’t mind eating this bastard, at least… But I want to absorb its essence first.”

Rain laid back down in the sand, staring up at the sky. “Rain wait.”

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Dennis looked at John with an exasperated smile. “A breaker claiming a horror… It might not be the first time, but it’s a rare sight, that’s for sure. I imagine that should bring you close to breaking through to an aspecter. If not all the way.”

John nodded, having the same thoughts. “How do I know when I reach that point? I’ve been tracking the growth of my core, and it’s about seventy percent larger by now. Is it done when it reaches a hundred?”

“Yeah, that sounds about right. I didn’t check it very closely when I broke through. One thing you should keep in mind, though: since no one we know has had other types of essence in their bodies during breaking through, it might have a big effect on your body.”

“How so?”

“When we break through, our bodies are infused with the essence, like our equipment, and grow stronger. Since we’re all used to using gaseous, it might affect you differently.”

John considered his words, feeling excitement building again. He wouldn’t mind any of the advantages he could get. “That’s very interesting! I’ll, uhh… I’ll sit on the other side while absorbing it. I’ll have to remove the armor to infuse it with essence.”

“Oh, right. Well, good luck!”

In the inner world of his core, John looked at the light armor and Larang floating aimlessly in circles. He had already finished the infusion, choosing to split the ratios differently for each.

The armor was infused with solid, liquid, and gas at a seventy-ten-twenty split, giving it plenty of defense while also reducing some of the weight and stiffness. Inspired by Dennis, John gave it a mask he could remove at will.

The lack of facial defenses had irked him in the past, but now it would no longer be a problem.

Larang was infused with only solid and liquid essence at a sixty-forty split. The solid essence considerably increased its weight, while the liquid essence gave it extra sharpness and flexibility.

The shape was already close to perfect, but John had removed the tiny handguard, making it way more aerodynamic.

‘It feels strange that all my weapons must consider air resistance in flight. I guess that might change once the other enchantments are inserted… Now, for the main course.’

The pure essence of the horror turned out to be way more than he needed to infuse them, with over half remaining. He figured it would be more than enough to fill his core to the brim.

After a deep breath, he continued absorbing the pure essence, pushing the limits of his already full core even further than before. After thinking about the breakthrough and the effect the essence might have on him, he figured his usual split would suit him fine.

Solid, twenty percent. Liquid, seventy percent. Gaseous, ten percent.

He didn't know whether it would have an effect, but he knew he wanted to be prepared in case it did.

‘Eighty… Eighty-five… Ninety… Ninety-five… And… One hundred!’

The moment was so clear in his mind, like a limit had been there all along. But now it was breaking, with cracks spreading across the entire core.

The essence flowed out of it like a burst dam, spreading through his entire body and filling him with an intensely refreshing sensation.

He felt incredible, like jumping into a pool of refreshing milk after a sunburn, reaching the surface after a long dive, and diving over the finish line after a grueling marathon. All aches and pains were gone in an instant, replaced with boundless contentment.

‘Oh, god! This is… divine!’

But along with the incredible sensation, he could feel change. A thorough cleansing of his entire being, from head to toe, reconstructing and rebuilding every part into better versions.

John could feel his muscles fill with power he had never felt before, far beyond what he had been capable of until now, even with the liquid essence. His bones felt sturdier, his lungs more extensive, and his hearing seemed sharper.

Then, the essence receded to his core, forming a perfect hollow sphere. It slowly solidified into the familiar core he always had, but this one was nearly five times as large. It was almost empty, save for some remnants of the essence that had coursed through his body.

‘Hwoah, it feels… complete. The essence in my core is as pure as the essence I’m used to seeing in demons, so I guess I’m an aspecter now… That didn’t take nearly as long as I feared!’

Returning from his inner world, he opened his eyes, seeing the world in precise detail. His eyes had also improved, letting him see with great clarity things he could only guess at before.

He looked down at his body, sensing his muscles and organs responding with increased precision and power. His entire being was now a weapon, polished to perfection.

‘... And this is only the second tier of power… What is it like becoming an invoker, then? Or a weaver?’

The thought distracted him momentarily before he put his armor back on and drained the final bit of essence from the horror. It filled his core to the brim, but it was only gaseous essence he would have to refine later.

‘Ahh, no enchantment, then… Oh well! For now, I should try to understand this aspect of mine!’