Rivers of the Night

Theron found himself torn into a familiar realm once again. But this time, he wasn't surprised to see the sea of crimson, nor was he put off by it. There was a calmness to him he had forced, suppressing the frustration and rage that was threatening to build up inside of him.

This bloodline… it seemed to emphasize a hot and a cold. More than just Mana, or a Mana Type, it felt like it was teaching him how to think, or influencing his mode of thought.

When he controlled himself, when he was measured and calm regardless of the circumstance, he could tap into that sharp cold he had seemed to ignore since his childhood.

That cold had been so normal to Theron that he had thought it was just a part of him, maybe just residual affinity from the Ice affinity his family had awakened, but he had been unable to.

But then came the heat. It was that heat that made Theron realize his cold breath wasn't normal at all, but instead an extension of his bloodline.

That heat appeared when he sank into his arrogance, when he allowed himself to feel rage, unwillingness. That was when that fiery pulse of flame came from his belly as though a dragon roaring out a line of flaming pride.

That dichotomy in his bloodline was where its power seemed to come from, and Theron was also sure that understanding this was a deep part of how he could control his Water Mana to either become far hotter or far colder than the mere few degrees he could manage now.

However, everything about this was just logically deduced from what Theron had experienced. None of it, however, made a lick of sense to him.

It was like he was observing his body from a third party's perspective, documenting everything that happened, but lacking the fundamentals necessary to understand any of it at all.

This blood lake had to have the answers he was looking for. But the only way to get to them was by understanding it—and even that was another brick wall he somehow had to overcome.

Another steaming cold breath came from Theron's lips. Or rather, it felt like it emitted from his entire body this time. He was calm as he focused himself, pressing the frustration down further.

**Laws.**

For now, that was the best solution he had. If moving his soul alone wasn't enough, then the Laws would have to be it.

So he pulled on them. The first one he did so with was the one that he was the most familiar with, the one that he had had by his side for the longest time.

**Density.**

Surprisingly, the moment Theron thought of it, Runes began to appear around him. Odd, squiggly lines far clearer than the ones he had seen on the tortoise shell.

They felt so bright, brighter than they had ever been on the tortoise shell. But they were also…

'Bronze…'

Theron's eyes narrowed. He didn't believe that this was a coincidence.

Bronze Laws and a Bronze hue…

But he was sure. On the Black Limbo Tortoise's shell, they had been golden. Or was it just…

Now that Theron thought about it, when he had compressed his Bronze Core to the absolute limit, it had shone so brightly that it had appeared gold as well.

But what was odd here was that the Runes were shining even brighter than his Core had back then, and yet they appeared radiantly Bronze.

'Unless…'

The Tortoise Shell came from a Ninth Silver Resonance Black Limbo Tortoise. In that case, it was on the verge of the Gold Resonance Realm, so it wasn't impossible that it was tainted.

It seemed odd that Theron was so enamored by color, but he actually felt that this was extremely important. There were often constant little details in day-to-day life that others easily overlooked that actually held profound secrets within them.

If he wasn't able to understand these little details, then he would never be able to reach the full potential that he was looking for.

'These Runes… they're…'

They were also different from what Theron remembered—tweaked, somewhat.

Vaguely, Theron began to cross-reference them before realizing that these changes actually came from the incorporation of the Blue Pufferfish's own Laws of Density.

One Law, painted in two different styles of calligraphy. The results were almost identical, and yet had their own flair and beauty to them.

When they came together, they were no longer exactly like the other, and yet not quite like themselves either.

Theron vaguely realized that he had never seen Laws this clearly before. Was this how they appeared in his soul? Was this slab able to shed all pretenses and allow him the right to look right at these Laws just like he had seen them on the tortoise shell?

No… it felt deeper than that, more intimate in ways he couldn't quite grasp.

But after Theron pulled himself out of his dance, he began communicating with the Laws, layering them onto his body—or rather soul—and using them to force himself down.

'It's working.'

Theron felt the difference instantly. His body was sinking down further and further, having already slipped by the centimeter point. He was approaching an entire inch before the resistance became as strong as before.

In that moment, Theron knew that he was finished if he stopped here.

He pulled on his next Law. The Law of Vibration.

Twinkling Bronze Runes appeared, looking like small little tadpoles in the air that linked into one another.

That was when Theron realized something else. The tortoise shell had biased him to view these little tadpoles individually. But if he zoomed out, looking at it as a whole, he realized that each Law was like a nested doll of shells.

The outer shell with 999 Runes, an inner shell with 99 Runes, and a core with 9 Runes, each beautifully outlined.

Theron sank in further, his body pressing into the blood lake.