Holding his palm up, John activated his aspect for the first time. A black sphere appeared above it, floating in place.

“... Balls… My aspect is… balls. Really?”

The ability appeared like a muscle he could strain at will, but there was no information on how to use it beyond that. So, he would have to figure it out on his own.

The sphere was perfectly round with a matte black surface, and cost him absolutely no essence to conjure. But he didn’t see any obvious use for it.

‘... It feels so… anticlimactic. Well, let’s see what it does before getting too bummed out.’

He tried touching the sphere with his hand, which caused it to float away from him, unbound by gravity. It floated until it hit the corpse of the horror, and then it stopped, still floating harmlessly.

‘... Okay. Are they tough?’

Another one appeared in front of him in an instant. Summoning and adjusting their size was easy enough, and he felt he could make a bunch at once if he wanted to. But taking it slow seemed to be the best strategy for now.

He took the new sphere between his hands like a melon, feeling the weightless and nearly massless ball move from the lightest touch. Then he tried squeezing it, finding it tougher than he expected.

‘Ooh, maybe it could be used… somehow. It’s not flexible at all. I could use them to… blind enemies?’

After he pushed it a bit more, it made a light popping sound and disappeared. It wasn’t weak, but not tough enough to withstand any attacks, either—like an empty ball of nothingness.

“What the hell? I can’t use them for protection, I can’t use them to attack, I can’t use them for maneuvering… Is it just a visual aspect? Hide myself in balls?”

A worried voice sounded from the other side of the corpse, calling out to him. “Uhh, John? You okay, buddy?”

“Yeah… mostly. I’m an aspecter, at least,” John replied, getting up from his spot in the sand and jumping on top of the dead horror. “It feels amazing, but my aspect seems weird.”

Dennis looked up at him with a knowing look. “Ah, I understand. Most people find their aspects to be strange at first. It’s a new sensation, unlike anything you’ve ever felt before, right?”

“Well… yes, but I don’t think that’s the weird part. Look here.” John conjured a few spheres in front of him to demonstrate the new ability.

Rain seemed awed by it, but Dennis tilted his head to the side, looking confused. “That’s your aspect? What do they do?”

John touched two of them, sending them flying gently toward Dennis’ direction. “They float. And they… can withstand a bit of force. Amazing, right?”

“Hmm, it looks pretty unusual. I’ve never heard of any aspects like that before. But if you punch them, they might carry that force when they fly, maybe? That could be some sort of attack.”

John furrowed his brows, not liking the idea very much. But he tried sending a light punch toward one of the spheres to test it out.

The result was unexpected. The sphere somehow absorbed the entire force of the punch, making his fist stop in place. Then, it flew forward at a much higher speed than before, hitting the ground next to where Dennis stood.

It popped, pushing sand into the air and leaving a small dent in the ground as if a punch had landed on it.

John looked at his fist, still feeling the odd sensation of having his punch stolen by the sphere. “... Oh! This might be useful after all! Let me try again!”

He prepared himself for another punch, this time with much more strength. Then he sent it flying into the next sphere, expecting the same result. But this time, the sphere popped instead of stealing the force, making John stumble forward.

“Whuh? It can only handle small forces?” he asked, unable to keep the worry out of his voice. The slight glimpse of hope for his aspect had turned dark again, putting him back near square one.

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“Oh, you might need to put some essence into it. That’s what I do when I need to control Kerchak’s aspect,” Dennis suggested helpfully.

John considered his suggestion, thinking it made sense for the essence to enchant his aspect somehow. So he tried summoning another sphere before him, infusing it with the gaseous essence in his new core.

Another punch, using the same force as before, hit the new sphere. This time, it absorbed all the force from John’s fist and flew forward way faster than before. It flew past Dennis’ face before he had time to react, landing in the sand behind him. A heavy thud shook the ground and sent sand flying in every direction.

“... Okay, that seems to have worked. Could you maybe try sending them in a different direction?!” Dennis asked him firmly, almost shouting at him near the end.

“Sorry, sorry! I expected it to pop again. But wow, this could actually be really useful! It’s like a ranged punch!” John grinned, feeling the excitement spreading through his body.

The sphere wasn’t destroyed after the impact either, meaning it still had some juice left.

“Let me test one more thing!”

Another sphere appeared, infused to the brim with gaseous essence, floating to his side this time. The Larang was summoned from his core, for the first time since it evolved. John knew it was heavier than before, but due to his increased strength, he didn't notice a difference. If anything, it felt lighter.

‘Let’s see if I can send a slash flying with these spheres!’

Using the tiny bit of solid essence left in his core, John attached himself firmly to the corpse and drew the sword behind his back. Then, along with the gravity and the gaseous essence in his muscles, he swung Larang with all his might, hitting the sphere with as much force as he could muster.

The force was lost, and the sphere was gone. Or rather, it flew so fast it seemed to have disappeared. Only the red mountain two hundred meters away left any trace of the sphere ever existing.

A cloud of dust covered the impact, but the fact that the mountain started tilting left no doubt about how powerful that swing was. Or how dangerous these black spheres could make John in a fight.

“Ho-lee shit! I chopped a mountain in half!” John cheered, putting Larang away and jumping down from the corpse.

Rain clapped at him excitedly. “John great! John strong!”

“Yes, John strong! Demons should fear me from now on! Well, they already should have, but even more now!”

“Yay! Rain hungry!” she responded, reminding him that he had made her wait while he absorbed the essence. It had probably taken quite a while, even if the time passed quickly for John.

“Uh, right. I’ll chop some meat off for you. I guess I don’t need food anymore…”

It was strange to think he did not need to feed himself anymore. He had eaten food every day of his life; it was a basic survival instinct.

“I think you should try some either way,” Dennis said, looking at him with a knowing smile. “It’s not every day you get to try horror meat. And this guy has caused you plenty of issues.”

John nodded as he retrieved the shortsword and started carving the meat from one of the legs. “Yeah, that’s true. You still refraining?”

Dennis scratched the back of his head, looking hesitant. “Ehh, I haven’t really eaten any meat since I got my aspect, actually. It’s like a block in my head that’s stopping me... But since I don’t need it, it’s no big deal.”

“... Like, the aspect is making your mind change a bit?” John searched his mind for changes, but he didn’t sense anything different.

“Maybe a bit? But like I said, it’s no big deal. You guys enjoy the meal.”

“Will do! This should be enough for a growing girl, don’t you think Rain?” John held up a large slice of pink meat about the size of his torso.

Rain’s eyes were nearly sparkling as she looked at the pink meat, raising her arms toward it. “Good for Rain! Gimme!”

“Heh, let me just cook it first. Can’t risk any alien diseases getting to you, you know?”

Slicing off a small piece, John started roasting it in his hand.

“Best cooked!” Rain replied, looking on in anticipation.

The meat smelled delicious, reminding John of the Christmas dinners from his youth. His mother would make the most fantastic crispy and savory pork belly for the three of them.

‘... For the three of us… Herself, me and… Dad…’

The memories sent him far away from the red desert, but an urging voice brought him back to the present. “John, done! Much done!”

Once he returned from his reverie, the smell of meat on the edge of burning greeted him, prompting him to stop the heating. He swapped the flame with air, blowing the worst heat away from the outer layers and preventing the meat from worsening.

“Sorry, Rain. You want a new piece?”

“No, hungry! Gimme!” Her arms reached out to the meat, urging him to hand it to her.

John smiled and handed her the finished meal. “Enjoy.”

Dennis looked at him with a hint of worry. “You okay?”

“Yeah, just some memories. That may or may not be fake…”

Dennis nodded slowly in understanding. “I see… Yeah, I can imagine that’s not easy. But I can tell you what I know about it if you want.”

John stared back at him, unsure if he wanted to know. It might be best left for when they returned to Earth, but he was very curious.

“Okay, how much do you know?”