Chapter 7: Awakening the Core (2)
I went inside the dark, gloomy cave. It was pitch black, and I could see nothing moving forward.
Trusting my instinct as Dante advised. I continued treading with one hand raised, after a while I stopped as my hand felt a hard rock, signaling the end of the path.
I am not gonna lie, I was too afraid to wander inside with such uncertainty, But I trusted- No, I had hoped that there would be no one present aside from me.
The place was eerily silent as not even insects seemed to roam around. Heaving a sigh of relief, I rubbed my hands on the ground clearing away the dust as I finally sat on the cold earth.
I shifted my posture into the lotus pose, resting my toes on my thighs as I Inhaled deeply. I repeated the breathing exercises to regulate and adjust to the flow of air in this cave.
Once my breathing became steady, I recalled the words of Dante,
"The Nexus core functions like an organ. It is implanted in an ascender in the form of fragments of a seed.
You need to grow this seed by shutting off all your senses and looking inside yourself."
I gently closed my eyes and inhaled deeply until my lungs were filled.
"Stop seeing, stop hearing, stop breathing.
Clear your thoughts and search what you seek within you".
I remained seated in the the darkness, no sound entering my ears, I tried to stop thinking, but my mind didn't obey me, not entirely as needless thoughts came into them.
'How is my family doing?'
'How is Reina doing right now? Is she married?'
These thoughts unsettled me as I tried to focus. I shifted my mind to Dante's advice,
" To completely stop thinking, you must stop imagining, stop asking questions, have you thoughts on your senses and kill them as if you feel nothing, you hear nothing, you can't feel the cold sensation, mind wash yourself into thinking that you can't feel anything"
I told myself that I had lost my legs, my hands, my ears, my nose. Though they were there, my mind didn't need to take their signals in as there were none at the moment.
I lost track of time as I stayed inside, I couldn't tell whether it was day or night on the outside, and neither could I care.
At this moment, I was only trying to feel what I wanted to feel, shutting off all other senses. I felt nothing, this failure was a success in its own way, as I didn't let it disappoint me, I continued my search but at some point I felt a slight shake in my intestines, clearly born of hunger.
But my mind didn't take the signals, I hadn't even heard the noise from the shaking. Then as more time passed, I finally sensed something, but It was lost as soon as it came, but that didn't stop me as my body shook by itself, the blood inside me flowed towards the place where I felt something,
As I chased after the sensation with this sensor I built to detect the fragments of the seeds, my mind played back the instructions Dante gave me. It felt like like my entire nervous system was helping me to discover it, the new part of me that is yet to bloom.
"Feel your blood flowing within your body like a river.
Let it guide you to find the fragments of those seeds.
Feel the heat radiated from them.
It should be scattered close to your heart, right around your diaphragm"
I followed those sensations as I finally found them, three of those were laying close to my spinal chord, they had been hidden near the edges of my upper ribs, I looked around more as the next voice in my head played,
"Once you stop breathing, the air that is still inside your lungs will move with a force of attraction towards the scattered fragments."
I found two more, one close to the lower right side of my heart and the other right below the left lung. This was it, this was the moment I needed to send them a signal to come together and fuse as one.
I ordered them in my mind, but they didn't heed my call. I didn't let that bother me, It wasn't the time to be shaken. It was the time for action.
I kept on calling them, my signals getting stronger as I felt a mild pain in my head, the pain was distracting me more than I could show.
But I can't shut off my brain now that I have complete self-control, It would basically be suicide in the most easiest and instant way. And my goal wasn't that, not anymore.
I wanted to live, to grow stronger, to become someone with worth. My determination was getting the better of me as my attempts grew-.... wait, that's it.
Will power....
Instead of laying commands on my brain signals, I sent vivid Images formed by my mind, those images were of my ideal self, my goal, and my final form.
Then one of the fragments moved, and soon the others followed. They all hesitated at first, but I drew them in with more whispers of what we could be,
What we could achieve as one, and they all moved with greed. This was it, the bait they had taken would bind them closer.
I realized that the fragments were not obeying me, not out of fear of the change or of the merging, they simply were not programmed to, So I just had to program a picture and they would follow towards that path, the one, where those fragments were located in those vision.
Once they all came close, as if an invisible pulling force attracted them, they became bound to one singular entity in a formless ever-changing shape.
' Shit, I realized as I hadn't focused on the shape the core would take, And instantly, I sent them a quick signal, another image, but the panic and rush broke my flow as my consciousness woke up.
I could feel my steady breathing again, I realized that I had been breathing normally all along after I located the the fragments, or was it even before that? I wasn't sure.
But I couldn't care any less about that as I needed to dive back into the state again, After concentrating on the void feeling I felt during that state, I disconnected the sense of nose again in my mind as I focused on the shapeless core inside me
I got into the flow once again but the core was already settling into a shape, and just the picture of the core entered my mind,
*Bzzz*
I was jolted awake from my hibernation as a jolt of electricity coursed within me, my body went limp due to the shock coursing through my veins, muscles, and bones as I fell unconscious.
***********
Nathan found himself lying in a bed as he woke up, but his vision grew hazy as if he were underwater.
He was by no means drunk, but the euphoric sensation of the awakening had modified his senses, it would take time for him to regain his sight.
As he looked around, his gaze landed on Dante who was staring at him with a smirk as he asked, "Finally Awake, Sleeping Princess?"
Nathan scoffed at his mocking and asked the more important question, "How much time has passed?"
Dante's smirk faltered for a second before he replied with a smile, "You took around 4 hours to awaken. I sensed the chakra inside the cave moving unnaturally. I was only able to sense it because it was a large shift, significant enough to trigger my chakra sense. But..."
He paused for a second as he read Nathan's reaction, which remained almost the same. "You were in a coma for one whole day. I brought you to this health center, and the administration here has deducted 66 G from your [bank] for treatment."
"Whhaaaatt!!! 66 G? Are you kidding me?" Nathan asked as he rose from the bed, his expression one of utter disbelief.
"Yeah, 56 G for the 7 days of nursing, and 10 G for the immediate treatment. You were in bad shape..."
He ignored Dante's words and quickly checked his status screen, and he got a second shock from the changes.
--------------------------
-{ STATUS }-
Name: Nathaniel Owen (Human)
Title: NONE
Rank: Unranked
[Blessings]:
{Sacred Flame (Locked)}
{Avarice of Greed (1st Star)}
[Bank]: 19 G
Attributes: (AP: 2)
-> STR: F
-> END: F-
->SPD: F
-> INT: E-
-> CHAKRA: 1st Stage
-> NP: (1st Axis)
-> LUCK: E-
[Traits]:
->Innate:
->Acquired: NONE
[Bond]: NONE
[Armaments]: NONE
--------------------------
Other than his Endurance and Luck, all his Attributes had leveled up, and he had also gained 2 Attribute points for raising his Nexus Potency (NP) to the next level, or in his case, to the first level.
He didn't know if this was normal, but one thing was certain. He felt different. His body, though sluggish from the shock, was gradually regaining its strength. He moved with stiffness, but the weight of his transformation was undeniable.
Nathan's eyes landed on the mirror at the side of the room. His body, now brimming with newfound vitality, had regained its stability. With each step, he approached his reflection, his movements becoming more fluid, more controlled. Dante's voice broke the silence.
"You finally resemble the Nathan I used to know. Though you look even better than that time."
Nathan didn't need to hear more. His reflection spoke for itself. His physique was no longer the same. His transformation turned his once thin and unappealing body, marked by excess fat, into a lean, muscular form, radiating strength and refinement. His muscles, though not bulky, were solid and firm, as though carved from stone. The excess fat that once clung to him had melted away, leaving only the pure strength of his body.
His face as well, had undergone a remarkable transformation. The sharpness of his jawline now defined his features, giving him a look of striking masculinity. The color that had once been drained from his complexion returned, bringing with it a healthy glow. His skin, once pale and marred by dark circles beneath his eyes, now radiated a soft glow.
He looked... handsome. Almost as if he were a hero from a Korean drama.
For the first time in what felt like forever, Nathan truly saw himself with pride. His gaze lingered on his reflection, and something stirred deep within him. A single tear escaped his eye as the emotions welled up inside him, they were uncontrollable, almost making him burst in more tears.
He wiped the tear away quickly to hide it from Dante, but it was no use as he had seen everything. Yet, he chose to remain silent and let him have his moment.
The tear symbolized something greater than just his emotional feelings right now. It signified a release, release from the years of struggle, the pain, and self-doubt he felt and it was a liberation from the self hatred he had carried for so long.
He smiled, feeling a warmth spread through him that had been absent for so long. His body, his face, his very being had been restored to an even better degree than he could imagine.
He was no longer the broken man he once was. He had grown stronger, the status screen had already showed him in letters. But the actual change was even better.
The money he had lost in treatment didn't matter anymore. What mattered now was that he had found himself again. And this change was what he desperately needed, what gave him back the positivity he had lost.
------------------
A/N:
How was the chapter?
Can you guess what shape his core has taken?
Please leave your review in comments, I want to know the thoughts of my readers.
Saynara !!!!