About thirty minutes had passed, and Ju tried so many times to awaken that node but to no avail. It was only that flicker of light that showed until the end, and then the pain grew so much that he could not hold on any longer.

Ju had no choice but to stop. In between heavy breaths, he analyzed the events. There were two problems.

“One is my endurance; perhaps I have to slowly get used to the discomfort that the meditation technique brought to awaken a node.”

“The second is the amount and quality of Essence I can draw. Even though the Essence in Ender town seems relatively better than the one from where he came from, it is still impure and very sparse.”

“Raising the tides with so little Essence around was challenging.” He lamented inwardly as he wiped the blood from his mouth.

“But it was not completely useless. Part of my Essence feels stronger.” Ju observed himself. He could sense a part of the spirit node that was much more vibrant than the other, but it was not profound.

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Ju reckoned that with this type of Essence in the room, at this rate, he might not be able to awaken even a single node in one year.

“Perhaps this was why there was no “young” Essence artist. It takes a lot of time to progress.”

“But I don’t have time.”

He needed strength to protect himself and his child, and he needed that strength as soon as possible.

“What steps can I take.”

He thought about when he first came to Ender Town. The guard at the entrance talked about a particular room with pure Essence that could aid his training. But then the guard spoke about how difficult it was for ordinary people to have access; it was not by money alone.

Ju sighed internally.

“There seems to be no quick solution; for now, I have to become used to the pain of the Tempering formula.”

After struggling to clear his mind of disturbing thoughts, the teenager went beside Moonflower and soon fell into a dreamless sleep.