"I do suspect the danger zone surrounding your old world is artificial, but without examining it closer, who can say? It doesn't really matter. Wouldn't it be clear if you just asked one of those cultivators who left your world?" Turok said with a shrug.

"You're sure they're still alive?"

"It's possible. Even if they aren't, they will undoubtedly have descendants or records of what happened. This mystery is something that you can investigate on your own over time. No need to worry about it now." The elder said as he made clear the conversation should move on.

"Before we carry on. Since you've access to my memories, there have been a few times when I've been a little unstable when wronged. That's very out of character for me. Is there something wrong with me?" Thanos asked, the errant thought just bubbling to the surface.

He needed to answer so many questions that it was hard to get through them orderly.

"Ah, that. There is nothing wrong with you as far as defects or injuries go. You might not have been that type of person before, but you're no longer truly that person now, are you?" Turok said as he accepted the change in the direction of the conversation.

"So you're saying this comes from the body I am in now? How is it possible a newborn could be that vindictive?" Thanos wondered.

He was a little confused as he didn't think a baby would have such a sense of right and wrong.

"Not necessarily. The desire to right wrongs and to punish comes from your essence body that was never fully formed due to most of it getting stolen. When an essence body gets created, it can leave behind certain personality traits, good or bad, at birth."

"Using a fire essence body as an example, a person born with that might be more explosive in temperament. It is also possible that they might be slow to anger and build much like a fire until it is all-consuming. There is no rule behind it, but the traits usually match the essence body in some form."

"The body you looked to have been forming was related to lightning, and it seemed that it was a type related heavily to judgment. Most of your essence body got hollowed out when stolen, but a fraction remains. You've even seen it on your arrival." The old man said, and before Thanos had a chance to puzzle his meaning, he carried on.

"That azure wolf you saw was the leftover power inside of you. It sacrificed its remaining power to neutralise that ominous energy attacking you. Your need for vengeance and to right a wrong is due to that and is hard-coded into your soul. You'll have to learn to either control or channel it." Turok said, and he stood up, the cup in his hand vanishing into thin air.

"We need to talk about the next part of your training. You see, the damage done to your body also brings a unique opportunity. There is a chance we can restore your essence body and create a new one uniquely tailored to you. The only problem is that I am not sure if this will work," Turok said, and Thanos felt a chill run down his back.

Why did it sound like he would act as a lab rat?

"How confident are you?"

"There should be around a sixty per cent chance of success," Turok said as he waited expressionlessly.

"Can I have some time to think about it?"

"Well, that." The older man said as he scratched his head, looking sheepish.

Seeing this gave Thanos a sinking feeling in his stomach, the same he usually got just before he got bad news.

"It's not like you really have a choice anymore," Turok said with a shrug as reality shifted, and they appeared atop the giant pyramid where they had done their training before.

"What do you mean I don't have a choice?" Thanos demanded, wondering what the older man was going on about and if he had gotten duped somehow.

"Well, you just pushed the leftovers from the struggle between your essence body and the foreign energy into your core zone. You'll have to deal with it somehow when you finally ignite your core." Turok replied, still looking a little embarrassed.

"Why do I feel like I just got played?"

"I wasn't as competent as I should have been during our first meeting. I would've made everything clear from the start if so." The elder replied with an apologetic hand gesture.

"It wasn't a lie when I said you would have been no better than a cripple. You can consider this part of the same process of correcting that defect if it helps."

"Fine. There is not much point in grumbling about something I cannot change. Though, I want a real explanation this time." He said after some time, his tone a little biting.

He didn't want to be caught out again, and his trust in the man before him had significantly lessened. Turok stared at him for a few moments, seemingly lost in thought, before he launched into a lengthy explanation.

"When an average cultivator ignites their core, the core will not burst into looking like a super hot ball of gas such as what is going through your head right now, although it can. It will take the shape generally based on the cultivation method used in its creation, with some variance due to the user's unique input."

"When someone is born with an essence body, their core will form naturally at birth, taking the same shape regardless of the cultivation method used," Turok said, looking over to ensure he followed so far.

"I understand."

"In your situation, the essence body you had got shattered, and a large portion of it got taken from you. You pushed those leftover crystalline blockages into the area of your core through the method I taught you last time."

"During ignition, there will be a small window where you can mould those leftover pieces into whatever core you like. In theory, you should be able to create a core that will be the base of an essence body. comprehend?" The elder asked.

Thanos thought about it as it all made sense. It was just using the leftovers as parts to create something new. There was one thing that was worrying him.

"Are there no downsides to this other than the chance of failure, and what will happen if I fail?"

"Once finished, if done right, you will only be left with the outline of an essence body. There is not enough material in your body to form a complete one, so you will still need plenty of rare materials to finish it. If you fail, it will kill or maim you so badly that you might wish it had."

"So what good is all this for me if it's just going to be partially built? How am I meant to cultivate?" Thanos said, and he couldn't help but picture his core with an 'under construction' sign on it.

"Thinking of it as an unfinished core would be incorrect. It would be better to think of it in terms of potency. It will need many treasures and resources to strengthen it over time, as it will be weaker at the start. You will also need a matching cultivation method that suits."

"As for how it would be a good thing. Essence bodies are only formed naturally at birth and come in various tiers. Yours will be the lowest of the low at the start, but you will likely upgrade it repeatedly. Who knows how powerful your core could become? Your potential is practically limitless if you pull this off." Turok said, and Thanos could see an excited twinkle in the man's colourful eyes.

Thanos thought about this a little more, and it did seem like a good deal and worth the risk if this was all there was to it. He knew there would always be risks involved with reward going forward on his path, so this was just the start. Still, more questions came to him, born from the information he had overheard during the village training sessions.

"Isn't that the same as someone who creates their core with a cultivation method? Don't they form a core based on a cultivation manual of their choice and then grow it over time? Are you saying cores formed at birth as an essence body don't grow normally and stay at the same tier?" Thanos said as he didn't quite understand what was going on. The whole thing was starting to hurt his head a little.

The elderly man let out a little sigh and paced back and forth, tapping his chin, lost in thought. Eventually, the pendulum-like motion stilled, and he started to explain again using examples instead.

"Let's say you have a cultivator. We will call them cultivator A. This person has a naturally formed low-tier essence body related to fire and is still young. His essence body changes any fire essence attack he uses to burn the soul, causing pain."

"He cannot increase the potency of effects that his unique core gives him. He can increase the size and density of the core as he increases his cultivation the same as a normal person," Turok said, and seeing that it was still not sticking, he carried on.

"Think of a core like a battery. You can upgrade it, make it last longer, have a greater output and be more efficient. Both cultivator A and your average non-essence body cultivator can do these things. Cultivator A then uses a fire attack on an average cultivator with no defences. The fire attack isn't normal and is changed, so it also burns the soul of the defender when struck, causing great pain." The old man waited a moment for him to catch up before carrying on.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"Now say Cultivator A grows in power. His flames can now turn entire cities to ash in the blink of an eye. He attacks the same cultivator who has also increased in strength, but it doesn't matter if he is stronger now, as the result would be the same either way. The flames do not extinguish the man's soul due to increased power. He is just affected the same way, inflicted with great pain, the same as before." Turok patiently explained.

"He would still burn the person into ash because of the fire, but the ability to hurt the soul would never grow. Do you understand now?"

Thanos nodded, and it made sense. He thought of the strange effects of having an essence body like a passive skill in a computer game. It might not do something directly but affect the other things you did instead. The only issue was that it didn't scale with you as you grew.

"Yes, thinking of them like that works generally. It may not always be true that they don't do anything directly, but we would be here all day if we dove into it. It is best to assume anything is possible where essence bodies are concerned. It's also possible to increase the grade with the right treasures, but they're scarce." The elder calmly replied with a nod, obviously reading his thought process.

"A natural essence body at birth is head and shoulders above any cores formed using a cultivation method because of that. There are other things to be aware of whilst on the subject."

"Let's say cultivator A delves into the root of essence and gains a unique insight into water laws. This change would then carry over as a bolt-on to the core he could choose when to use. This change would allow his flames to act like water instead of fire. Imagine a water cannon, but it shoots out superhot flames that also burn your soul and body. It's also worth noting the average cultivator could learn this. Anyone can gain insight into the laws." The elder said.

"The main difference is having an essence body usually starts you on that path from birth. The average cultivator would have to work at it and always be a step behind."

"Wouldn't that mean he must swap to a dual fire-water cultivation technique after that?" Thanos wondered as he took all this in.

Cultivation was quite complex, it seemed.

"No. He just had to understand and grasp the principles behind the laws of water, which allowed that insight. He still would cultivate fire essence. Cultivation is very complex; you're right there. Wouldn't it be boring if it was simple, though?" Turok smiled at him as his image flickered again, causing him to sigh as his outline faded slightly.

"It would help if you also thought about the path you wish to take for the future. This will help during core ignition."

Thanos thought for a while about how he wanted to progress.

He knew he wanted to be strong and use his power to protect those he cared about, but he had not thought much about the path he would need to take. Now that he was, he was left a little blank on how to proceed.

"What paths are open to me? I assume you study illusion essence. Is that a thing?" He questioned the older man, wanting to better understand another person's cultivation journey.

"I was born with a natural essence body that mutated my eyes. My core also formed into something fitting the path of illusion, so I decided to walk that way. Illusion essence is a thing that also happens in nature all the time. A mirage in the desert or tricks of light on the eye all happen in places where illusion essence is abundant."

"There is a bird or the egg question of what came first. Was the essence created by seeing the illusion, or did the essence being there create it? If created by the person seeing it, would it exist if no one was around to see it?"

"I have answers to these questions but will not tell you as it would only hinder you. Hear this from me; do not mindlessly follow another's path. That way will only lead you to a dead end. That is the best advice I can give anyone, and the same I gave to my disciples." Turok advised as he walked to the pyramid's edge and looked off into the distance.

Thanos could only imagine he was thinking of his disciples and loved ones who were probably long since dead. Reality flickered, and Thanos ignored it, knowing it was a sign that this dream would end after a while.

"How do I create my core? Will I need a cultivation method?" He asked. He was no closer to working out what kind of core he should create, but he wanted to avoid ending up in a situation where he had to figure it all out himself this time.

"I can teach you the method before this dreamscape collapses. It isn't as complicated as you might imagine. The crux of it is a high degree of essence control. I had planned on teaching you more about that, but it seems that you've already surpassed the level of control needed by yourself." Turok said, smiling as he turned around, the depressing atmosphere evaporating under his grin.

"You'll not need a cultivation method to form your core, but you will require one to be able to cultivate essence once you do. It would be best if you gave some thought to the ones you wish to cultivate. I know you have space and time as major affinities, but they are quite rare in humans, and even in my era, we didn't have many who practised one or the other."

"I've never heard of someone with an essence body related to both space and time, so if you choose both, you might have to chart your own course," Turok said as he again turned to stare out off the edge.

"I guess I will have to give it some thought. How does this relate to what core I wish to form? What is the process exactly?" Thanos questioned.

"It's relatively simple. When a person cultivates and ignites a core for the first time, they use their cultivation manual to pull in the correct ratios of essences and compress them using their will."

"Once compressed enough, the core will eventually explode outwards. The cultivator would then catch that explosion in a bubble of will they had already placed further out in anticipation. This bubble will act like mould, forming the core as tiny alterations get made inside."

"There is a little more to it, but that is the general idea. A greater control over essence will allow a person to get the ratios set better, allowing for a more efficient core." The elder explained.

"You'll need to do something similar only though there will be no set ratios. You must do it all by feeling unless you want to focus on one essence type. You'll then use your willpower to create the outline of whatever shape you wish your core to form. Also, Layering concepts or placing a cycle into a core generally improves the grade." Turok lectured as he turned again as if searching his features for something and carrying on speaking as if not finding it.

The older man waved his hand, creating a series of scenes before them, a physical display to match his following words.

"You're unsure what I mean by layering concepts or including cycles, so let me give you some examples."

"A fire cultivator might form a core in the shape of an erupting volcano, a fire concept. Concepts can be layered, such as creating a sun above the volcano. These are fire concepts, and as both get included in the core, this is a layering of similar ideas that will improve the overall grade of it."

"An example of including a cycle into a core would be someone who practises with basic elements such as Air, Fire, Earth and water. These would then get represented in a cycle by creating the core in the form of a landscape that would then rotate through the seasons, each season a representation of an essence they cultivate. As the seasons are also concepts, it would hold both concepts and a cycle." The older man waved his hand again, and the image of the landscape faded away as reality quaked again.

"We don't have much time left, but you have the general idea now. I'll create a representation of your core zone. I want you to use it to practise forming cores. It doesn't matter too much on the core itself, as it's not a real attempt, so play around a little and experiment."

"It'll act like the real thing, though, and it's a method I have used to teach students before," Turok said as he brought to life a large open area in front of them that looked to be a replica of that area inside his body.

Thanos spent the remaining time inside the dream, focusing on the technique to form his core. With some pointers, he substantially improved his control over essence and willpower in such a short period.

He knew most of that was due to the teachings of this elder, but he was also proud of his efforts. Reality shuck and rumbled in ever-increasing frequency, but the duo ignored it, deciding to focus all the time on developing his skill in forming cores.

Reality started falling around him, and the simulation he had been practising disappeared, no longer working. He turned to the older man, a little sad that this might be the last time the pair met, but he wasn't sure what to say.

"When you ignite your core, make sure no one is around. The ignition usually causes damage to the surroundings, and I don't know what yours will be like due to your situation being unique. When an essence body gets formed, it can be spectacular visually and in power. Best to do it alone at night, away from others." Turok said, and he just nodded in the affirmative.

"Thank you... for everything." He said, and it was all he could say before this reality winked out of existence, a sense of falling overcoming him.