"Stop moving it like that," Elric growled.

I could tell his patience was wearing thin.

"Listen, it's not my fault you thought using our flimsy tent poles for this was a good idea," I shot back, just as irritated.

At the end of a long, wobbly pole, a canteen dangled precariously over the pool, our brilliant method of collecting the liquid.

The girls stood off to the side, having wisely suggested we just wait until Lyra decided it was safe to drink again.

But noooo, I had th—Elric had the brilliant idea to engineer this masterpiece of a contraption, which was about as stable as balancing on a slick bar of soap. Not my best metaphor, but I’m frustrated.

"Forget it!" Elric snapped, dropping his end first, which meant I won by default. "And what do you mean my idea!?"

"Uh…" I let the pole fall. "You kno—"

"Alright, that's enough," Sia interrupted, striding over. "We told you two geniuses it was a dumb idea. I mean, wouldn’t you just end up drinking it when the canteen gets close?"

We both froze.

Then looked at each other.

An unspoken agreement passed between us.

Elric sighed, defeated. "Sia, it was a great idea…just poorly executed."

"Exactly," I nodded, backing him up without hesitation. "If we just had sturdier material."

Behind me, Thea scoffed. "You mean like the literal wood, vines, and sinew all around us? Why not try those?"

The sarcasm dripped from her voice like she was made of it.

I cleared my throat. Awkwardly. "I think we should rest before making any rash decisions."

Elric nodded sagely. "No need to rush into anything."

Lyra sighed, crossing her arms in disappointed mom mode. "I told you we should just wait until it’s safe to drink again. In a few hours, it'll be completely…processed by our bodies."

I exhaled, scanning the group. "I’m not really in the mood to keep figuring this out. Want to just try looking for an exit?"

After a brief pause, Thea shrugged. "Why not?"

"Not like we have anything better to do," Sia added.

The others nodded, and just like that, the decision was made.

“Let’s search the perimeter first,” I said. “There’s a breeze coming from somewhere, so look for anything that could be a passageway.”

Thea’s and the others’ mission was to escape or complete the labyrinth, but so far, we hadn’t run into anything remotely maze-like.

We split up and started searching.

As expected, it didn’t take long. Hidden behind a cluster of trees, a familiar circular gateway was carved into the cavern wall.

"Looks like the only way forward," Elric observed.

"Unless there’s another hidden exit," I added. "And I’m sure we all know not to walk through that door unless we’re ready to move on."

Everyone nodded.

That said…there was nothing stopping us from taking a peek.

We approached cautiously. I activated my new ability, bracing for anything. Step by step until...

A small, dimly lit room came into view, empty except for a stone casket covered by a smooth black slate. Behind it stood a statue, its stoic expression frozen in time.

No movement. No life. Nothing within my range of influence.

I let my ability fade.

"Wonder who it is," Thea mused out loud, studying the statue.

"No clue. But one thing’s for sure." I gestured to the perfectly groomed beard stretching down from the carved figure’s face. “That is a killer beard.”

"So, what’s the plan?" Sia asked ignoring my remark, singing her words like this was barely a discovery.

Elric turned to her. "We pass the time, bottle as much of the green liquid as we can, then come back here."

I clapped my hands together. "Alright. So who wants to learn Silencing Current?"

"Yeah!" Thea practically jumped at the chance, her excitement immediate.

Elric, however, didn’t share her enthusiasm. His expression tightened.

I raised an eyebrow. "What’s up?"

"I want to test something, but I can only do it with someone who has a system."

I shrugged. "Alright. You kids have fun." Settling onto the ground, I exhaled and focused. "I’m going to try something else…for the seductive liquid."

Behind me, Thea let out a soft groan and I could sense her rolling her eyes. "Have fun, but be careful. I don’t want to keep worrying about you losing consciousness for the rest of our lives."

I liked that phrasing. And I wanted her to know it.

Before closing my eyes, I shot her a smirk. "You plan on staying around me for the rest of our lives?"

Elric let out a sharp whistle. "Quite the proposal, Thea."

And just like that, everyone turned on her.

"So direct," Sia teased, grinning. "You really know how to take charge, Thea."

And for the final nail, Lyra tilted her head thoughtfully, placing a finger on her chin. "I wonder if we can hold a ceremony before we become citizens."

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Thea, now a very distinct shade of red, wasn’t one to go down without a fight. I’d learned that much.

"Yeah…so what?" she shot back. "You planning to ditch me?"

And just like that, the spotlight shifted to me.

"How awful," Sia gasped, slipping into actress mode, voice full of melodrama.

"Unredeemable," Elric added, betraying me completely.

Lyra sighed, shaking her head. "Peter…you can do better. I believe you’ll make the right choice."

The warmth in my face spread. "...Of course not."

They laughed as they finally left me alone to concentrate on my next task.

I hadn’t told them what I was planning yet.

But I had an idea.

Precursor Sense already functioned like a domain, so could I replicate it with internal strength alone?

The requirements? No concrete clues, but I had some ideas.

First, extend my internal force outward like an attack.

Then, hold it.

And finally, embed my awareness into it, like I did when injecting force into someone else.

It sounded simple in theory.

But in practice? It was probably going to fry my brain without my new power.

I had to circulate my energy, send it outward, keep it tethered, control it so it didn’t release randomly or worse...explode on its own. And, of course, I had to supply a constant stream of internal force the entire time.

That alone was enough of a mental challenge, but now I also had to extend my awareness into it.

Baby steps.

First, extend it outward, just like Blasting Wave or Silencing Current.

The goal wasn’t full sensory expansion. Not yet. Instead of spreading my awareness everywhere, I needed to target a single sense. My guess is the pool’s pull wasn’t from sight or sound. It had to be smell.

Alright, focus. Circulate the cultivation around my inner flame.

Good.

My mind cleared. Next is t—

"Peter! Something’s wrong!"

Thea’s voice cut through my concentration, sharp and irritated.

"Kinda busy, Thea!" I shot back.

I swear I heard her groan.

Fine. Refocus.

Now that I was paying attention, I could actually feel how well I was splitting my focus. My mind locked in, free from distractions, completely absorbed in control.

I circulated the energy upward, stretching it through my chest, then directing the flow to my head before forcing it outward, held in place by a thread of energy.

Next, I focused on creating something like Silencing Current around my nose, condensing the energy into a barrier. A strange pressure built up.

Okay…let’s try not to blow my nose up.

Now, how do I cut off a sense?

Smells were just particles attached to gases, right? So a filter should work.

I spread the energy further, shaping it into a thin, invisible membrane, condensing it more and more.

I took a breath.

Not bad. The air felt cleaner, lighter somehow.

But there was a problem.

Breathing through my nose was getting harder. As if I was cutting off air circulation entirely.

And poisoning myself by breathing out? Not exactly my idea of a good time.

Alright, time to divide my focus even further.

Keep the filter stable with a constant flow of internal power.

Condense it enough to let breathable air pass, but not block it completely.

And one more thing…

Using Silencing Current, I forced a controlled air current through the filter. Otherwise, I’d end up suffocating myself.

I opened my eyes.

It seemed to be working. Only clean, odorless gas passed through the area around my nose. No scent, no interference.

But then the headache hit.

Yeah, probably best not to keep this running for too long.

I let my abilities dissipate and stood up, turning to see what was wrong with Thea.

The others were still behind me, practicing Silencing Current, and from the looks of it, pretty successfully.

The moment Thea saw me, she bounded over.

"Are you sure the technique is just a weaker version of Blasting Wave?" she asked, frustration creeping into her voice. It wasn’t aimed at me, but something else.

I frowned. "Yeah? At least, that’s how I use it. Why? Is it not working?"

Sia came up behind her. "No, it’s working like a charm, actually. The moment we use it, it immediately cuts off our access to the system. The range is short but," she gave a thumbs up, "that is one heck of a skill."

I blinked.

"Soooo…the problem is?"

"The system isn’t registering it!" Thea huffed.

Elric walked over, brows furrowed. "I might have a couple of ideas why."

I motioned for him to continue.

"Well," he started, "it could be that the system can’t sense it as a skill. After all, it cuts off access to it. Or…" he glanced at all of us before continuing, "it’s not technically a skill at all. It doesn’t deal damage, and it doesn’t offer any passive benefits."

I nodded, remembering how the Pack Claw I had used it on earlier looked briefly comfortable from the cool breeze the skill provided.

I turned to Thea. "Maybe you could register it by adding some firepower."

Then to Sia. "You both already have access to elements. The new version of your systems might not hand out techniques anymore, you probably should get used to making your own. Try adding fire and electricity to the skill. That way, we can test Elric’s theory."

I sat down on the dirt, ready for the show as I focused on recovering my inner flame, which I noticed had dimmed significantly.

"Plus, Thea, you could use this chance to figure out how to cultivate with your unique element."

At the idea of exploring cultivation further, her frustration melted into excitement.

"Good idea! I’ll try it now!"

I watched as the four of them moved around, testing my skill in fusion with their own abilities.

Eventually, I leaned back. My eyes grew heavier as their movements blurred together.

I had no idea how much time passed. The cavern’s dim, mysterious glow never changed, always accompanied by the faint silver shimmer of the Vampire Grass, retreating from every slight shift of movement.

At some point, as I drifted between awareness and sleep, Thea sat beside me.

"You aren’t cold?" Her voice was soft.

"Why?" I smiled, eyes still half-closed. "You want to warm me up?"

"In your dreams."

"Yeah, exactly. Reality would be better." I yawned, eyes fully shut now. "Any success with the skill?"

I felt her shift, lying down next to me. She moved closer, and I instinctively adjusted until we were both comfortable.

I could tell she wasn’t too tired. I felt that her gaze was still on me, scanning.

"Yeah, the system gave it the same name as yours. I guess you did an alright job at naming this time. It also looks like Elric’s second guess was right, it was an unfinished skill before."

"The system is kinda rude." I frowned, feeling slightly cheated. "I worked hard on that. How’s it unfinished?”

"Only Sia and I managed to register it. All it took was adding a bit of elemental power. Elric’s still trying to figure out how to inject his energy into someone from a distance."

A shudder went through me.

Elric. Inflicting internal wounds. From a distance.

That was not a comforting thought. And worse, if his target couldn’t even resist with their systems…

"Knowing him, he’ll do it." My voice came out hollow, resigned to my fate. Someday, I'd have to face Elric again in a spar. A merciless god of pain.

One of my sparring partners, my personal rival…don’t tell him that.

And unfortunately, my 'older' brother by promise.

"Yeah."

A comfortable silence settled between us.

Of course, she broke it.

"Peter?"

I was really starting to drift off now. Using the inner flame actually took more out of me than I realized.

"Y—yeah?"

"I’m cold…and I don’t really want to sleep next to blood-sucking grass."

I groaned. She softly chuckled at my laziness.

But we both stood, my vision blurry from exhaustion, and made our way toward the tents on the cliff. Elric and the girls were already up there.

We settled in for the nig—well, we settled in for sleep.

After waking, I’d finally test my mini nose barrier against the glistening emerald pool.