Zachary placed the four quintessence stones on the ground in a small pyramid. He summoned Doro who appeared as a small mound of earth, most of his body hidden. Zachary sat down and patted its head.

“Are you ready?” He asked, “We’ll try for a breakthrough tonight.”

“Grr… I am ready.” It replied simply.

“Wander, are you ready?” He asked.

Wander was his ace. Wander could provide him with borrowed power, an ability supposedly exclusive to expert rank summoners and their summons. Zachary had tried it Doro but it didn’t work. It was only Wander.

Borrow power was his backup plan. If four chunks of earth quintessence weren’t enough, he could use his own soul energy first and then call upon Wander. He didn’t believe that they wouldn’t succeed.

“Yeah! Let’s go, Doro! Breakthrough time!” Wander replied excitedly.

“Remember, it’s not just Doro. I’ll try to use the feedback from Doro to also break through.”

“Got it!”

Zachary smiled and patted Doro’s head again, “Let’s go, take the smallest piece of quintessence. We’ll aim for a breakthrough of your life path.”

“Yes.”

Doro was currently at the Two Paths Adept Rank. The first soul path it upgraded to the adept rank was the earth path. That was natural and expected since it was a creature of earth. The second path that broke through happened to be the sky path.

There was nothing special about Doro’s sky path. It had no natural affinity with any other element besides earth. In fact, the sky path was its weakest soul path since earth and sky naturally opposed each other.

Its second path happened to be sky because Zachary’s two adept rank soul paths were sky and life. Wander occupied the life path already so previously; Doro’s soul energy could only be directed to the sky path. This time, they would aim for the life path. This way, even in the worst case that the quintessences were not enough, both Zachary and Wander could provide assistance.

“Grr,” Doro growled as it swallowed the first piece of quintessence.

Once again, pure earth element Eternum flowed freely, pouring out like a waterfall. Doro’s soul sea was like a bottomless pool, collecting it all. Excess Eternum swirled around, creating a maelstrom that threatened to overflow. It was akin to feeling too full after gorging on food. All that energy had to have somewhere to go.

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“Direct it all to your life path.” Zachary reminded through their bond.

“Grah!”

Waves of earthly brown energy crashed against Doro’s life path. Under this powerful, unrelenting force, the small path gradually opened, allowing more energy in. The cycle repeated over and over, with Doro bearing the discomfort with stoic dispassion, like a wall of earth.

Eternum surged, receded, then surged again.

Time slowed. The outside world no longer mattered.

Zachary’s senses were buried under layers and layers of earth. It was heavy, warm. Strength and determination, unwavering resolve and an unbreakable soul; these were what the element of earth represented. It was what Doro was made of.

The first quintessence stone was soon expended. As it turned to dust, another one quickly took its place. Eternum of the purest quality continued to flow. It was an abundant spring of energy.

Doro’s life path was now halfway open and the progress never stopped. If Doro’s struggling, it didn’t show it at all. The earth elemental remained quiet and resolute except for the occasional soft growl. It was a summon Zachary could always rely on. He had complete faith that it would be able to break through!

“Gruh.”

The second quintessence crumbled and the third one was activated. This was a much bigger piece and Eternum gushed out like a geyser. Doro greedily absorbed it all, a sinkhole trying to swallow the world.

Its third soul path was almost fully open. The process had been so smooth. But now, it was the critical moment. At the instant of breakthrough, there would be a tremendous amount of feedback for the summoner. It was up to Zachary to either forcibly block it or let it all into his soul and direct it toward a soul path.

In the past, with Yaoyao, he had forcibly blocked her feedback effect during every breakthrough at the adept rank. This time around, he wasn’t going to do something so stupid.

“Grahhhhhh!” Doro let out a long, forceful growl.

Eternum surged. Like a dam breaking, all of it crashed through at once. The ground beneath Zachary shook. Doro was breaking through. Its life path was fully widened to the adept rank.

“Yeah! Let’s go!” Wander shouted from within Zachary’s soul.

At the same time, pure Eternum rushed into where the turtle resided, through Zachary’s two adept rank soul paths. Zachary strained his soul control to the limit, directing it all toward his earth path. His other six paths also tried to take in the excessive energy but the amount was minuscule in comparison.

“Big bro! You can do it!” Wander cheered.

Zachary gritted his teeth, ignoring the noisy turtle. He felt so full he was about to burst. There was so much energy, going wild in every direction. His soul was straining hard as if he was pushing against a massive boulder, trying not to be crushed. He couldn’t let up for even a moment, he could not even breathe.

Suddenly, all of that pressure, all of that chaotic energy, it all disappeared with a surge of warmth. It happened so fast; it was over an instant. He felt so refreshed like he was breathing for the first time like a newborn. He glanced inwardly at his soul, there were now three wide soul paths where Eternum freely flowed in and out.

Wander greeted him, the ethereal green turtle doing corkscrews as he swam around, “Big bro! Big bro! Woohoo!”

Zachary laughed spiritly. They succeeded. Doro and him, they had both reached the Three Paths Adept Rank!