The sound of hammers smashing against the blazing surface of metallic ingots echoed in a large cave. The walls, cracked yet covered in crystals, minerals, and ores, sparkled like the night sky. Wooden bridges and stone staircases connected a multitude of platforms and railways. Lamps hung from the ceiling, their beautiful yellow flame, imprisoned by a dark irony frame and glass. On the ground, barracks and houses filled the side of the walls, alongside stalls covered in weaponry and armor as well as barrels and carts filled with precious minerals. Short, bulky men and women filled the narrow roads, stopping to look at the weapons and tools on display. All of them wore stoic expressions and gandered at the merchandise uninterested despite taking their time.

Deeper inside the cave, in a grand room, similarly illuminated by flames and crystals, stood a large, rocky yet metallic golem. In front of it was a teenager, only a head taller than the rest of the people, yet he had a slim build, in contrast to the overly muscular people surrounding him. With a dark face and bright yellow eyes, he stared at the creature before him with a desire shining for combat and victory within his pupils. His left hand gripped a tall shield, taller than him even, and in his right a sword made out of a black material. It seemed almost invisible as the light didn’t bounce back off of it, and instead got absorbed as if it were a black hole. A smirk manifested on his face, and his body glowed with a faint light as he gripped the blade’s handle. His figure blurred, instantly appearing in front of the golem, whose dead eyes suddenly lit up with life.

A shuddering roar escaped its clattering mouth as its body moved to attack the young man, whose sword took on a horizontal trajectory toward the creature’s midsection. However, before his sword could get any closer, he flew toward the wall, causing rubble to fall as he smashed right into it.

“Sverik!” An older man with white locks covering his head ran toward the boy, who groaned as he stood up, propping himself on the shield.

“Sverik my boy, are you hurt?”

“Mhm… No…” Sverik moaned as he stared at the creature, which had already gone back to its lifeless, resting position. “I can’t believe I still can’t best it after so long.”

The old man let out a sigh of relief upon noticing the kid’s will and fighting spirit remained intact. “It’s our strongest product after all, were it not for the limitations built into it, you’d be dead already.”

Sverik clicked his tongue, glaring at the thing before dragging his feet out of the room, followed by the old man. “Old Zar, when will I be strong enough?”

The man named Zar rubbed his beard, seemingly pondering over the young man’s question. “Something outside of our control is brewing… I can’t say for sure, but right now it’s a needless worry. Just do your best, your eleventh anniversary is coming soon. If, by then you can’t increase your strength to the Three Star Medium Core…”

“I know-” Sverik interrupted him. “I know… which is why- I have to grow stronger. I’m not anywhere near her level…” He threw his shield toward a pile and sat down on a nearby bench, leaning his sword with its blade upward. Seemingly losing himself to the blade’s void, his unfocused pupils growing with unrest.

“Sver.” The old man placed his hand on the boy’s shoulder, breaking him out of the trance as he called out his nickname. “There’s no pressure, it’s just one year in the mountains, mostly everyone did it to get stronger.”

“But I’m not everyone!” Sverik’s annoyed tone echoed in the old man’s ears like thunder, however, he chose to remain silent as the boy’s lips parted again. “I must prove myself, otherwise these bastards at the academy will never accept me! Zar, those things the elves created, what were they called? Dumbbells? Those weights. I must have them! Such an ingenious creation! Whoever invented them must have been a genius, so little weight compressed into a small, modular disk. A simple, yet amazing system.” His eyes shone with admiration as he spoke about them, and clenched his fists in expectation.

Hearing that, the old man’s expression turned into a frown, and immediately refused. “No way! We’re not using whatever these creatures created!” However, his expression immediately turned to dread and guilt as he looked at the boy, whose hands flew to his ears, covering them in shame.

“A-alright…” Sverik fell silent and leaned into his seat, closing his trembling eyelids as he grabbed his sword and brought it closer to his chest.

“Sver, I-”

“It’s alright Zar, I understand. I- I’ll go mine now, I think they need some more ores at the refinery…”The boy’s voice lingered in the old man’s ears as he dragged his feet, leaving Zar alone. Sighing, he rubbed his temples and sat down on the bench, cursing under his breath.

…

Inside Aina’s manor, Kai sat down at the round table in the library, a pile of books and notebooks sitting before him as he worked silently. The notes, written with messy letters and unclear doodles, depicted a sphere in the middle of what looked like to be a human body and connected to it were five tubes going in different directions. On the sphere lay a single star, seemingly engraved into it. The boy read the words accompanying the drawing with a pondering expression, his mind racing with ideas as he absorbed the words like a sponge.

“Kai, did you memorize the technique?” She asked, walking back and forth in front of Kai. She held a green book in her left hand, its hard cover framed by golden ridges, decorated by an assortment of similarly colored symbols. Its title <>, written in weirdly shaped, faded, and broken letters, spoke of its age more than anything.

“You’re on the cusp of being able to attempt forming your core, however, your situation is very different from the norm. Word the technique in your head as you train, and get accustomed to what it feels like so when your body is ready, it will be a smooth pass.

Now, since your core is… special, we will need to modify it as you train, so I trust you’ll give me a report of how the body core technique affects you and your existent core so we can respond accordingly.”

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Kai’s focused eyes followed Aina as he marched, occasionally flying toward Elizabeth, who meditated to the side on the floor, her beautiful figure illuminated by the chandeliers.

“Kai?” Aina snapped her fingers, breaking Kai out of his trance. “I know she’s pretty, but there are other things we must focus on right now.”

“What- I-, what? Yes!” His flustered expression brought a soft smile to his teacher’s face, however, his face reddened as she heard Elly’s soft chuckle. “Ahem.” He cleared his throat. “Right, chant the technique while I train, observe the changes, and report them to you. Understood.”

“Pfft…” A soft laughter escaped Aina’s lips. “Boy, get your head out of the gutter and focus.” She said, slapping his head with the book.

“Hey-” Kai protested as he rubbed his scalp, however, Aina cut him off before he could continue complaining.

“In order to make training easier for you I arranged for someone from the dwarven side to come train with you. His name is Sverik, and he is marginally stronger than you from what I’ve heard. That remains to be seen. Winning or Losing doesn’t matter, learning does. Got it?”

“Yeah, yeah…” He replied in an annoyed tone. “Why is he even training with me if he’s stronger?”

“Well, his teacher owes me from way back, so…”

“Ah, I see. Blackman-”

“Shut it you fool!” Aina smacked his head with the side of the book, interrupting his speech. “It’s just a favor, nothing else.”

“Ouch, ok, ok stop hitting me!”

“Alright, remember to be respectful when addressing the dwarves, they are very proud. And don’t look down on them… well, not in the literal sense- You know what I mean.” Aina’s face turned slightly red as she corrected herself, prompting a chuckle from Kai and her daughter.

“Haha, yeah, alright. I’ll do my best.” He said, standing up and gathering his belongings. “I’ll go outside and wait for Euphy while meditating… I hope it will work.”

“No need to fear Kai, just do your best, you’ll get the hang of it eventually,”Aina said, gathering the rest of the books and making her way toward the bookshelves.

…

Outside the training field, Kai sat cross-legged under a tree, its shade serving little purpose as the moon hid behind a large cloud. The whistling wind passed by, tickling his bare skin and sending a shiver down his spine as he repeated the technique repeatedly in his mind.

I can’t help but want to attempt to modify it… I managed to do something to my original core, so how difficult could modifying a body core be? I’d rather keep my mana core as well… is there a way to have the best of both worlds? I managed to modify the original one because of Rodney’s scientific knowledge and equating the energies necessary for a mana core. It was a fluke though, it was risky… damn was I stupid. My parents’ aid definitely took a big role in successfully modifying it… but now, I’m alone.

So, what’s the solution? I need to study the technique again, although this technique is archaic… First, my body should be strong enough. At first, I didn’t know why but now… this technique… the way to form a body core is… scary!

<

Next, bring the unfiltered mana from the outside inside your body, gather it in your chest, right next to your heart, and compress it. This is the tricky part, as you may fail hundreds of times before being able to compress a sphere the size of a walnut. On that occasion, your body needs to be able to endure the impact of the mana poisoning and explosion.

The difference between this core and a mana core is that, whilst the mana core amplifies your magic, and mana quality, serves as a mana reservoir, and, amongst other things, filters the mana, the body core only servers as a filter. Because of that, Onkos spells are out of the question in the early stages, unless you have a death wish. >>

Hmm… the method doesn’t seem that different from a mana core, and the only reason this exists is for people who don’t possess mana veins… but I do. In that case, I should be able to reform my mana core, right? If I use my parents’ technique again… I should be fine. It’s worth a try at the very least…

Kai inhaled sharply and straightened his back, gathering the mana from the outside with his mana veins and guiding it toward the center, where his crippled mana core lay. The mana coursing through him shuddered as he began chanting the technique ingrained into his brain, recalling the first time he had formed his mana core, and the slight modifications he did. The old core trembled the moment it got enveloped in mana, and, so did the veins connected to it. Short, microscopic cracks began spreading from its center, and it seemed to be on the verge of exploding. His veins began showing signs of breaking again, as cracks and wholes manifested on their surface, causing mana to leak inside his body once again.

His heart skipped a beat, and his pupils constricted as he began breathing heavily. Reducing the amount of mana he fed the core, he observed its reaction before completely cutting the supply. Inhaling sharply, he leaned against the tree, his chest heaving rapidly as he tried to calm down. My mana veins… they’re definitely different- they… They can’t support the forming of repairing this mana core, let alone forming a new one! Where have I gone wrong? Or is this how it’s supposed to be? Do I need to reinforce them again? His eyes snapped shut as he observed the damage done to his core and veins, as well as the damage done to his body. The core almost exploded… my mana veins have been damaged and there is just… an insane amount of mana in my bloodflow. It will take a few weeks to repair the damage, damn it! I almost lost all of my progress because of my stupid curiosity. I should have known Aina suggested a body core for a reason! Kai lost deep in thought and mulling over his misery, jumped slightly as an unknown voice entered his ears.

“This loser is supposed to be my opponent?” Its tone, filled with disdain and contempt, made Kai flush red as he stood up, looking with annoyance at the newly arrived figure.

“You’re the opponent Aina arranged for me?” Kai asked, scoffing slightly as he laid eyes on him. His skin, as dark as a bear’s fur, and sharp yellow eyes took Kai by surprise. They stood at about the same height, and similarly to him, the boy had long, straight hair running down his back, although it was black instead of silver. “Where’s Euphy?”

“Euphy?” The boy asked, confused by Kai’s question. “I don’t know any Euphy. The only person I know is the Captain of The First Wall, the strongest elf of our generation and the most- Ahem.” The boy cleared his throat before switching topics. “I’m Sverik, by the way, not that it matters.”

Kai scoffed, a soft smile creasing his lips as Sverik’s words entered his ears. Interesting… “I’m Kai. You know, for a dwarf you seem awfully worshipful of my teacher.” He quipped, however, the reaction he expected from the dwarf didn’t arrive. Instead, Sverik remained silent but turned his head slightly as to avoid Kai’s gaze.