image [https://i.imgur.com/B9hMxG1.png]

Rivell stepped out of the room and Raelina instructed Carmen to expose her back to her. Carmen agreed and followed the instructions, undoing her shirt and sitting on a stool in front of Raelina. She covered her bare chest with her folded up shirt and leaned forward. Raelina gently placed her cold right hand onto Carmen’s back, right between the shoulder blades.

She started forcing her Core Energy into Carmen and the two glowed intensely. Everything felt fine until suddenly, large amounts of energy seeped out of Carmen. She felt a searing hot pain hitting her chest that radiated down her spine, repeating over and over again.

Carmen grimaced and screamed from the pain, having never felt anything like this before. In that same moment, she opened her eyes and found herself in an empty, black room.

“Huh?!” She thought to herself, confused unto how she arrived at this strange location. Even though it was a new environment, it felt oddly familiar.

She walked forward and saw something ominous floating in the distance. As Carmen approached, she realized that it was her Manifest. The silver and black rapier floated there, spinning slowly on its axis. Before she could reach out for it, the sword once again knocked her back and took aim.

As Raelina continued to work, more and more energy was shooting out of Carmen and her body glowed a sinister dark purple. She loudly cried out, clearly in great pain and feeling like her insides were being lifted and moved around.

“Goodness me, this girl’s Core Energy is so rapid and fierce. No wonder she can’t control it.” Raelina said to herself, trying to wrangle together Carmen’s power.

Back inside the blank space, Carmen slowly got to her feet and glanced up. She noticed the Manifest pointed directly at her, as though it was angry that she tried to touch it. Before she could get a word out, the blade fired off and pierced her directly in the chest. Carmen screamed out in pain as it went deeper and deeper, immense Core Energy shock waving out with each passing second.

“Urghhhh!!!!” Carmen groaned as she endured the pain and slowly she placed her hands on the hilt. It was incredibly hot to the touch, trying its best to force her hands off. The ground shifted and crushed itself, breaking apart under the intense pressure coming out of the weapon.

“STOP BEING SO DAMN STUBBORN AND LISTEN TO ME YOU STUPID SWORD!!!!!” Carmen yelled out with angry tears in her eyes, gripping the hilt tightly and pulling it out of her chest with incredible force.

Just as she was about to pass out on the stool, the pain subsided and Raelina stepped away from her. Carmen’s back smoked and sizzled as Raelina removed her hand, leaving behind a clear print of her palm.

“There, all done! That was intense.” She quipped, brushing sweat from her brow.

“W-What did you do??” Sarah asked with a stunned expression.

“I reworked her Strands and balanced out the two affinities. I essentially did the ‘years of training’ bit for her.” Carmen started to sit up as she slowly opened her eyes, feeling really strange on the inside. She noticed something unfamiliar and new moving throughout her body in a circular motion.

“How’d you do it?” Sarah asked as she looked at the smoke dissipating from Carmen’s back.

“Hmmm, let’s see. Think of it like this. Affinities are like bottles filled with water. The water is Core Energy. Most people have one bottle to fill with water, so therefore there is no imbalance for them. However, dual types have two bottles of water to fill. For Carmen, she had one bottle that was ninety percent full and the other was ten percent. I essentially poured out water from one to the other, so both bottles could be at fifty percent. Thus, balancing them out. Make sense?” Raelina explained, hoping this cleared up any confusion.

Carmen and Sarah were super impressed that she could do that, amazed it was even possible. After this explanation, Rivell walked back in and asked what all the commotion was, wondering if he could come back inside. He looked at Carmen and immediately blushed, seeing her cleavage pressed against her folded up shirt as she held it tightly.

“Oh no!! So sorry, so sorry!!” He said with an embarrassed cadence. Carmen glanced down at her almost fully exposed chest and turned beet red. She was incredibly flustered and yelled for Rivell to leave. However, upon doing so, a black blob curiously appeared in the air above her. It quickly hardened and turned into a thin, sharp, crystal-like needle. It blasted off towards Rivell with incredible speed, piercing the wall as he leapt out of the way. Rivell gazed up with scared confusion as he saw the needle dissipate from the wall.

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“Leave Rivell, we aren’t done yet!” Raelina exclaimed, annoyed that he walked in so soon. He agreed and quickly got off the floor, exiting the room with haste. Carmen put her shirt back on and buttoned it up.

“What was that just now?” Sarah asked with great curiosity.

“I don’t know. It kind of just happened on its own.” Carmen replied, sliding on her jacket. Raelina’s interest was piqued and she asked Carmen to summon her Manifest now. Carmen nodded and did so, slowly holding out her hand.

Her palm glowed a slight purple and in it materialized a brand new rapier. No longer was it black and silver with plain accents and features. Now, it was all black and intricately designed along the hilt. Even though the blade was black in color, it had a slight purple hue pulsing on it. The bottom of the handle had an ethereal looking crescent moon that glowed a deep purple and a few silver accents along the grip.

“Woah! It’s completely different now!” Carmen exclaimed, blown away by how impressively designed the sword looked. Raelina nodded her head with a smile, having expected this.

“Of course! You can see your Manifest’s actual appearance now that you’re using it at full strength. It has access to both of your affinities now. I’d imagine you can learn its name now as well.” She remarked with a proud expression. Carmen looked at her Manifest intently and gripped the handle tightly, closing her eyes.

It started to glow and seep Core Energy, filling the room with a rather sinister pressure. Raelina’s face immediately went dark as she glared at the sword, feeling sick to her stomach by its power. The sword stopped expelling its energy and Carmen opened her eyes.

“Graviton's Eclipse is its name..” She softly said, slightly smiling at her Manifest.

She proceeded to swing it around, getting a feel for its weight. As she sliced the air, another black ink-like blob appeared in the air. She stopped swinging and curiously held her hand out. The pulsing blob floated down and suspended itself above her palm.

“What is this stuff?” She wondered as Raelina approached, not sure what to do with it.

“Seems to be from your Dark affinity. I told you that you would have a second ability. Try to force your energy into it.” Carmen looked back to her hand and forced her Core Energy into the inky blob. The once, liquid-like substance hardened and separated into tiny black needles. They rose into the air and playfully orbited above Carmen, ready for a target.

Carmen aimed her rapier forward and upon doing so, all of the needles flew into the wall with great speed and precision.

“ Looks like I can manipulate this ink stuff!” She excitedly commented, trying it again. She summoned another blob and tossed it into the air. She then aimed her rapier down, causing the blob to split and rain down little needles into the floor. Raelina and Sarah both clapped at the display, feeling happy for Carmen and her new abilities.

“I’ll definitely have to practice some things with this once I get back home.” Carmen said with glee. Raelina agreed and replied with a more serious response.

“Yes, train hard with both of your affinities. What I did was only temporary, so now It’s entirely up to you to keep things balanced going forward.” Carmen agreed and promised to do her best. However, before Carmen’s excitement continued, Raelina made a comment that she wouldn’t forget.

“And remember, now that you have your Manifest in its final form, be extremely cautious and aware of its cost.” She said with an even more serious tone.

“Its cost? What do you mean when you say that? My sisters made mention of something similar.” Carmen questioned, giving Raelina her fully undivided attention.

“Every Manifest requires something of the user, either during or after it uses its special ability. This can range from needing the Vesta’s blood, their life force, recoil damage, or even loss of motor functions. Depending on the potency of the weapon, the cost can be an incredibly minor inconvenience or an astronomical issue affecting multiple people. It’s up to you to find out what that cost is and if using your Manifest’s special ability is worth it in the long run.” She explained.

“That sounds pretty scary, I had no idea… What kind of cost do you guys have?” She asked, looking over at Sarah and Raelina.

“Well, everytime I gain knowledge from my Manifest’s scan, my vision gets ever so slightly worse. Without these contacts in my eyes currently, I’d probably be considered clinically blind!” Raelina chuckled, not seeing the issue with how inconvenient that seemed to be.

“I have to hold my breath in order to activate Marabel’s charged shot. The longer I hold my breath, the more powerful the attack. It’s annoying because if I was already sprinting and out of breath before using it, the charged shot is pretty much useless at that point.” Sarah added while rolling her eyes at her Manifest's shortcomings.

“I see… Hopefully it’s nothing too insane. Thanks for letting me know, I’ll definitely try to be careful though.” Carmen stared at Graviton’s Eclipse closely, feeling its power course through her palm. After their brief conversation, they let Rivell come back into the room and the trio started gathering their things.

“Thanks so much Raelina! I got most of my questions answered and you even fixed my Manifest issue. I’m truly thankful. I’ll let my sister know of your deeds, she’ll definitely compensate you for it.” Carmen said with a big smile and respectful bow, feeling much better. Raelina shook her head and returned the smile.

“No worries at all! I was pretty bored today so this helped me pass the time. As far as payment goes, that won’t be necessary. A friend of Rivell’s is a friend of mine, so of course I would help out.” She smiled. However, after a brief pause, a thought came to her.

“Buuuut, I guess I do have a bit of a favor to ask. Would you mind taking this book over to my neighbor, he lives about six miles up the road. It’d help me out a lot.” Sarah took the book and smiled, happily agreeing to do the task.

They said their goodbyes and began to exit the house. As Carmen was about to walk out, Raelina stopped her to chat for a second.

“Thanks for being there for Rivell as well. I know that boy may not be as socially bright as others, but I promise he has a good heart. I’m happy that he found a group of friends that care about him.” Raelina whispered as she leaned over Carmen’s ear.

“Of course! He’s been with me since the start. Wouldn’t be here without the guy. We’ll take good care of him, I promise!” Carmen smiled and took her leave from the house. The trio waved to Raelina and started their walk up the wet and muddy road, feeling completely satisfied by the visit.