Chpt. 25) Doppelgangers

We quickly tracked down Haze and the twins. Seating area ninety-five, row X, seats twenty-six through thirty-five. The seats farthest from the fights as possible. I heard Yuki yelping excitedly and prancing on the uncomfortable-looking chairs as we approached. I couldn’t help but smile at how adorable she looked. I just wanted to snuggle with her. I jogged forward and picked her up in a hug, and she nuzzled under my chin.

I sat down, and Haze turned to us and asked, “You all ready?”

“As ready as we’ll ever be,” Cami answered.

“I’m going to cycle for a bit and try to get my cores a little stronger before the match,” I said.

“All right, I’ll tell you when to leave,” Haze said, then turned her gaze back to the arena center.

Pulling my legs onto the seat and crossing them, making the perfect bed for Yuki, apparently, I close my eyes and take a deep breath. Then I felt a tug on my right sleeve, and I opened my eyes and looked over at the twins staring at me reverently. “Zeana,” Shersha said, “Master ‘aze towl us ye can use multiple cores at once none stop. Is tha’ true?”

I nodded, “Yep, I made separate channels for each core that run along the main channels. Whenever I mixed them in my body, they tended to blow me up in one way or another.”

“Can ye cycle them at the seem time whaen ye refine them? Or expan’ yer cores?” Leila asked.

“I’ve never tried expanding my cores that way, but I definitely can’t refine them simultaneously since I can only have one set of refining channels. So, that’s a no.”

“Aww,” the twins said and deflated a little.

Haze gave them a little nudge and said, “Let her cycle and pay attention to her breathing. It’ll help with your cycling and refining. In fact, join her in cycling your cores. If you have a moment to cycle, take it.”

“Aye, master,” the twins said in unison, mimicked my posture, and closed their eyes. I chuckled to myself and closed my eyes, taking a deep breath. Pulling my Shield chakra out slowly and sending it through my body. As I took deeper and deeper breaths, I moved my chakra faster and faster through my channels until it looked like a bright orange blur. I didn’t stop there, though. I kept it going and felt it condense into a tiny point within my body. I didn’t stop there, either. I kept collecting more chakra and repeated the process over and over until I had a ball of Shield chakra no bigger than my thumbnail before finally sending it down my Sushumna Nadi and into my core.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

A cacophony of dinging rang in my head.

Ding

Second core 1: Earth and Force Lvl 5. Level up.

Second core 1: Earth and Force Lvl 6.

Ding

Second core 1: Earth and Force Lvl 6. Level up.

Second core 1: Earth and Force Lvl 7. Maxed.

Excess chakra will be dispersed into neutral chakra.

What the – who the – what?!! I opened my eyes and then my stat screen to ensure I wasn’t misreading anything. Cause that would be crazy to think I just jumped two levels in a single cycling session. It’s nuts. Bonkers. Insane. Absolutely … un … believable.

Name: Zeana Si’enn; Title: The Endless Storm; Race: Deadly Zin; Cores: 4; Age: 9.

First Core 1: Lightning And Force Lvl 7

First Core 2: Water And Life Lvl 7

Second Core 1: Earth And Force Lvl 7

Second Core 2: Ice, Edge, And Force Lvl 5

Skills:

Quick Advancements Lvl 8

High Pain Tolerance Lvl 1

Natural Abilities: Flight, Hard Skin, High Agility, High Dexterity, High Intelligence, Hivemind, Multiply, Genetic Alterations, Kitsune Form, Split Cores, Climbing Form, Tsudzurao Form, Quick Transformation.

Racial Abilities: Sin, Penance.

I … I … I … I-I-I-I-I-I did it. I-I got it up to level seven. “H-Haze,” I said, still staring at my stat screen.

“What?” she said through a mouthful of food she had gotten while I was cycling.

“I maxed out my Shield core.”

“What?” Haze said again, “That’s impossible. Don’t try lying to me.”

“I’m not lying.”

Haze took another bite of her food, “Well, I don’t— Kgah—” she began before choking on her food and going silent for a moment and swallowing loudly. I closed out my stat screen and looked at her. She looked utterly bumfuzzled. Dumbfounded, confused, and frazzled at the same time, with a half-eaten hotdog in one hand and ketchup, mustard, and pickle relish stuck to the corners of her mouth. “H-how?” was all she managed to say.

“I just refined it as much as possible and then some. How long was I cycling?”

“A little over three hours,” Shiro said from my left, “We’re almost up to fight.”

Haze cleaned her mouth and asked, “Are you ready for new essences? Cause I can’t get them anytime soon.”

I waved my hands in a negative, “No, no, no. I still need to get my Ice-claymore to max before I do anything, and I think I still have the blockage to deal with as well.”

Haze sighed and said, “Good. Oh, looks like the last match is ending. You’re up.”

With a jolt of excitement, I scratched Yuki behind her ears, waking her up from her nap, and stood. I gently placed her back on my warm seat and kissed her on her fuzzy little head. “Wish me luck,” I said, and Yuki yapped happily at me. I quickly walked down the rows and followed my team down the steps of the colosseum, my fur standing on end as I felt the anticipation of the upcoming battle.

***