"Ben, The Hero, broke through his shackles as he rebirth into a new shell. In the distance, images of dragons and phoenixes sang in the sky, and children cried in happiness. No bread was burnt for hours, as hope filled the Heavens."

Holding some sphere in his hand, Ben joked loudly in a monotone. His dictation mocked while his eyes focused on the beautiful stone.

He felt it vibrating like a beating heart. And he saw the marks on the surface, slowly flowing around.

What he looked at was his First Step Core. The object he hoped for so much in his younger days.

"No wonder people get so intoxicated." He noticed.

Bent pressed the core a few times.

The resulting sensation was the same as if it was his skin. The core was part of him, like a new organ.

In this world, there were two types of high-grade Spirit Stone. One was what Ben held right now. It was a Formation Core assembled from a successful Cycle Formation. The other was synthetic cores made to serve as small Spirit reserves. Which sometimes included specific formations.

That was the main difference between a core made of successful cultivation and a core constructed of external runes. The latter was imitating the former but couldn't do a good job. While they had their uses, they had a completely different effect on people.

This core in Ben's hand would help him in numerous ways. From a constant passive intake of Spirit to helping him when meditating. In addition, his Spirit senses and energy manipulation should reach a new level.

Although his precision would likely stay almost the same, the volume he could influence and the strength of his control would increase.

"The illusion of controlling your destiny," Ben concluded.

The runes connecting him to the core then twitched and brought it all back inside him.

It left this elderly sitting alone on the platform silently.

With his new lease on life, Ben felt a weird contradiction. He didn't like it. Sometimes only by having could someone discover what they didn't want.

"It's too late to go back. But my conviction on pursuing it further is completely gone." He did not hesitate in his decision. His instinct screamed at him that this wasn't the way.

Although his insight also felt like a dead end, this felt misleading at its core. It was like the world wanted him to be an actor.

Luckily, Ben's mood regulation and self-awareness were too high to be misled in any form. Not because of some otherworldly insight but because of the work fortifying his brain against time.

'This is a good time.'

Ben finished his core and strengthened his body, hitting a few too many birds with one stone. Nevertheless, there was still a bird annoying him: his broken memories.

So, Ben began working only on his mind this time.

He slowly untied every seal around his brain, causing something similar to a flower to sprout in his upper body.

Dark runes intertwined into a symmetrical pattern, looking like a fancy helmet.

The ice blue armor expanded to accommodate Ben's volume change, creating a distinct contrast between the blue and black.

Ben was opening what he considered his true treasury.

Memories flooded his mind as he felt entirely like himself once more.

He then began multitasking. He looked for the gap left behind by the memory loss and judged the newly cultivated core influence in him.

His fear was correct. The core wasn't just like a new organ or some extra battery. It also had a distinct effect on him. However, it wasn't like mind washing, but more like the effect of alcohol. It misled people into desiring supremacy. It made them thirsty for more, like an addictive drug.

Not liking this, Ben worked tirelessly to create a boundary. He isolated the ball, making it what he thought it should be. A helpful resource for "him" to use, rather than something that "uses" him.

Many sleepless nights followed as Ben worked tirelessly on his project.

Once finishing that, he then focused solely on the next issue. It was time to deal with his memory homework.

He identified the memory, then tried to rebuild a description of what happened. While that would never feel like him, it was better than losing everything. He should at least "know" even if he didn't "feel" it.

---

Ben lost track of time.

After finishing all the work he could do, he looked around the room.

His appearance was different now. His facial structure, body shape, and even height all changed.

Black tattoos and nodes still covered his body, as his state wasn't stable enough to hide it all within. It took a toll on him since there was a lot of work to be done this time.

Fortunately, the energized room allowed him to stay in this state longer than usual.

But while he could stay here for even longer, he didn't. He achieved everything he could hope for, at least in the short term. Anything else would be him hiding away in a coffin. And that wasn't the kind of life he wanted. He could do it when needed, but he wished to avoid it.

'Alright, I shall use this one. Even if I can't find anything by the time this little lantern goes off, I'll leave.'

In his hands, a little stone lantern sparkled. Ben had fed this artifact for weeks, bringing it to its highest output again.

'It'll crumble, but it allows me to search around.' As soon as he turned it on, he heard crackles.

Ben's impression of this room was weird since he couldn't sense much of it. Even after spending months and months here, the energy density was too overwhelming.

Ben began looking around as soon as his vision adapted to light again. Walking here didn't feel like being in hell anymore. He also didn't feel as tired as he used to. So he could move around more freely.

'Beautiful!' He finally took a detailed look at the altar while the cracking sound kept breaking his silence.

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

In the middle, a three-meter statue depicted four persons, each posing in one of the cardinal directions. Walking around the altar, with the light, he guessed that the people were two couples holding hands.

'It aligns.' Ben saw a compass imbued in the base.

'I don't know their language, tho.' Ben sadly sighed.

'I hope it only says who they're, and I'm not missing anything important.'

The statue made of pastel-colored marble had a complex drawing engraved on them. Those runes were connected to the floor and continued on the walls and ceiling.

'Was it alchemy? I don't see a single joint or seam. The whole thing seems to be a one-piece, so smooth.'

Ben saw cores on the floor at the corners, sunk inside fancy fountains. But that was it.

He couldn't see a single other object separated from the room. It was all a one-piece sculpture with no seams, or at least made to seem like so at first glance.

Looking for passages, Ben found the dual vein on the opposite side of the tunnel he used.

Not surprisingly, those two were the only corridors connected to this big room.

'It's quite the slope. Anyone would roll down to death if they weren't careful. I bet there are few connections to the dual vein, or people would've already found this place. Oh! I haven't thought about this, but if true and this place is holding the heat here, then should this be why the ground above emits such cold? Suppressing the dual vein tipped the balance off? It isn't malfunctioning exactly, then.'

Using the light stone, he saw that this room's synthetic runes didn't go much into the tunnel. Below it was only the natural runes formed by the Spirit vein.

'Maybe the Empire did something to fulfill the surrounding needs. However, no one is around to maintain such a system, or maybe it was robbed due to its value. Then, time showed what the lack of the Empire represented to that area, and since no one found this place, they couldn't connect those dots. Although maybe, the cold is still only a consequence of the state of protective arrays. But I wouldn't bet on that since the chill feels weird yet not quite aggressive.'

There was no history that the ground of the Empire was cold. So, most assumed the situation in the city created this condition. Since there was so much danger inside, the coldness of the surroundings surprised no one.

However, with his new finding, Ben reconsidered. Who would believe such a complex structure that transformed a dual vein did not affect the area above? Ben wouldn't.

While he looked around with much interest, the stone made noise from time to time like a ticking clock. But Ben still took his time looking around.

After moving his sight away from the sloppy tunnel, Ben noticed a few irregularities on the wall. To check it, he got closer and began touching it. There, he saw an indentation that seemed to have something inside.

After he looked at the irregularity, Ben predicted it should be a sword glued to the wall.

'It should be a rapier...' Ben guessed, looking at the proportions.

Using his energy, he forced the object out. The layer covering it crumbled down, and a white and thin sword appeared.

'Was this place used for enchanting?'

Ben moved the sword and tested it, using it to cut the air. Swoosh sounds damped the cracking noise as the metal displayed a reaction to his internal energy.

'It doesn't seem to be from some heaven's defying material. But because it stayed here for so long, the materials have broken through their limits. I still should look for something else. I can't take this since I don't use swords, and it's too eye-catching for me to sell it. Unfortunately, my space is limited, so I hope no one finds this place.'

Ben placed the thin sword back in its indentation and began to look around the wall. Closer, he noticed that shapes of all kinds were all over the walls, but most were empty.

'Too few, but not surprising. Would the Empire have left anything valuable here? They should've used everything against their enemy. If the Empire's Royal Family saved something, it should be more secretive than here. Somewhere only their survivors could access.'

Walking adjacent to the wall, Ben eventually arrived at the fountain. Hunching closer and focusing the light on it, he saw that it was not as deep as he thought. Still, spherical pastel-colored marbles indeed filled it.

'A machine to make Dual Spirit Synthetic Cores. An automatic system to make spirit stones.' he took one of the marbles without touching the liquid, fearing it might hurt him.

Ben could sense an intense aura from this marble. The same kind was present all over this room. And on the spherical surface, he saw a drawing similar to two merging galaxies, one made from a blueish and the other a reddish pastel color.

'Ha, Too lucky!'

Analyzing, Ben noticed the room first seemed to liquefy the air. And then, it solidified the liquid in small portable batteries. However, since the room wasn't full after so many years, he could only assume the array would only create spheres while space was available. That would explain why he found only so many marbles.

'I wouldn't bet that it was just some storage since while weapons can be enchanted, doing so to those marble doesn't seem as logical. I only have a vague feeling about how this works. And unfortunately, it would take too much time to test it. So, I will keep it in my mind for next time when and if I come here again.'

Those little marbles were the exact thing Ben was always looking for, food!

The Empire built such a complex system, so there should be some alternative way for people to cultivate dual energy elsewhere. Or, everyone who embarked on this path chained themselves to this place if they wanted to avoid stagnation.

But maybe that was their downfall.

Finding some low-quality elemental sources was difficult. But even if Ben found and used them, his core would grow weaker eventually.

Sure, he absorbed quite a lot here, but it'll someday run dry. By then, would he need to come here every time? What if someone or another monster found this place? Chaining yourself could only invite disaster and limit your options. Having the choice to come and go, having that freedom was the best way Ben could be sure that he would survive even if danger popped up.

'I'll take half of those first, and if I don't find anything useful, I can take a few more. Even if this is a consumable item, it doesn't feel like wasting space since it'll also allow me to replenish my core outside.'

His tattoos changed again. Ben moved the marble closer to his chest. And as a circle formed on his skin, they began sucking the stones inside.

He took half the marbles present on this fountain before moving on. By then, the liquid's level was close to the halfway waypoint.

'If it's automatic like I predicted. Then, it should build up quite fast. Or else it would be too few available. Hopefully, I can get more if the chance comes.'

Moving around again, Ben found a few weapons. One bow, a few quivers with arrows, one ax, and a couple of swords.

While some places had shapes like shields, he found none present.

Before choosing, he went to look at the other wall.

He saw the same setup, indentations all over its surface, but it was mostly empty. In the whole wall, he only found a pair of daggers.

'This is it! I ain't no swordsman, so something light and small that can cut is best.'

Taking both off using the same method he used prior, Ben noticed that the daggers were as simple. But likewise, the pair was also emitting the same incredible resonance the other weapon did.

'The long time they stayed in the wall made their material gain a new property, which made their resonance with the dual vein stronger.' Ben looked closely at how they reacted to his input. And then he checked their sharpness and their durability.

'Such specific origin makes those weapons seem a lot better than they are. Those things wouldn't exist otherwise. Not because they're too good. But because no one would leave something made of only above-average materials to dust in such concentrated energy for such a long time. No one would bother! Those daggers were born out of a mistake. And because someone encountered too much trouble. Ah, so poetic. I quite like it. I shall name it .'

Ben quickly got attached to the daggers. Its simplicity and mutation was the main reason he liked them so much. He hoped that he could be like those weapons, that with enough time, he would evolve despite his limitation.

The only other object Ben wanted here were the stones, but he could only bring so many with him. He had some mastery over spatial manipulation, but it only went so far.

If he could take the whole room, he would. But alas, he could only have a fancy backpack.

'My chest pack is full.' He noted after going to another fountain and taking a few more.

New loud crackling sounds notified Ben that he was still on borrowed time.

'Taking something to be used once while neglecting the long-lasting weapons leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Agh! However, the artifacts individually have no use when hungry. Later, even if I want to sell them, who knows if a chance will ever appear. They would also ask where I got them since they're too unique.'

Ben spent the rest of his time looking around, trying to memorize the patterns and engravings. But also the words inscribed on the statue and its appearance.

< 'Proudly, one crumbles, while their rumble echoes and dazzles even the blind. Yet, their achievements are like a castle built out of the sand. And time is like water, unforgiving.' >

---

After finally finishing everything, Ben went back to where he sat. He changed into clothes he had put aside from his chest pack earlier.

The stone in his hand had become dust already, so the room was quite dark again.

He still returned to the dual vein with his old clothes and whatever else he had of his Dyn identity, throwing them inside.

As those little pieces of his old life fell deep below, he listened to the sound echoing.

As the silence came back full force, Ben stood for a moment.

Next, without considering anything else, Ben turned around and went back. He traveled through the same tunnel he came from, but now it was a few months or maybe a year later.

Although he wasn't sure of the timeline, he was sure he had to move on.