My body trembled from the pain crashing through my head.
I dropped to my knees, clutching my skull with both hands.
The throbbing kept growing. I tried to take slow, steady breaths, but it didn't help. Before I could even guess what was happening, another jolt of pain flared in my chest.
My heart thumped hard, once and then stopped.
A moment of silence.
Then the floodgates burst open.
Every drop of Essence that had remained in my core surged out like a furious tide, blasting through my heart and flooding the channels I had carved.
It didn't feel controlled or calm, it was wild, angry, like a storm rampaging inside me.
I cried out as pain shot through every part of my body. The Essence didn't stop. It kept rising, kept burning, until I could feel it escaping my body, through my mouth, my nose, my eyes, my skin, even the top of my head.
Purple flames of Essence covered me from head to toe, burning without heat, searing without fire.
My vision blurred from the pain, and through the ringing in my ears, I heard it, a roar, the sound of water crashing all around.
The bubble was gone.
And I was back in the whirlpool of water, space, and wind. The elemental pressure closed in, spinning and grinding like a storm with me at the center.
I tried to push through, tried to stand, but my body had no strength left. I couldn't even lift a finger.
And then everything just...stopped.
The roaring water froze in place, motionless like time had stopped. The wind halted. The pressure of space vanished completely.
I froze, not even breathing, as a crack formed in front of me, a rip in the space itself.
Space had ruptured.
From the crack, something poured in. Essence. But not the kind I was used to. It wasn't invisible like the Essence I always absorbed. This one was visible, thick like smoke, swirling with color and power.
It filled the space around me, moving like it had a will of its own.
Then, with one sudden jerk, it surged into my body, slamming straight into the channels I had created.
I gasped.
The Essence didn't follow my control, it didn't ask for permission. It overpowered everything else and filled the channels in full force.
And finally the notifications started rolling in front of me.
[Innate Skill Acquired]
[Essence Circulation - Level 1]
[Innate Skill Acquired]
[Essence Refinement - Level 1]
[Race Evolution Detected]
[Level 100 Requirement Not Met]
[Talent Detected]
[Legendary Class Detected]
[Synergy Between Class and Talent Detected]
[Passive Ability Detected]
[Level 100 Requirement Not Met]
[Evolution Halted]
[…]
[…]
[…]
[Talent Upgrade Detected]
[Initiating Talent Upgrade…]
After that, no more notifications appeared but I could barely pay attention. The Essence surging inside me was tearing my body apart.
It flooded through every part of me, coursing violently through the newly carved channels, before converging at the Generator Core.
Then another notification rang out.
[Evolution <-> Talent Combination Found]
[Talent Upgrade Mutating…]
[Initiating Talent Upgrade…]
The wild storm of Essence inside me suddenly went quiet. It didn't vanish, it simply began to flow smoothly, gliding through the channels I had carved. I felt it settle into rhythm as it started filling my core like water poured into a waiting vessel.
That's when it happened.
Another tear opened in the space right in front of me.
I froze.
It wasn't just a crack in the air, it was like the world itself had split open. I felt like this one was different then the previous one. Behind the rip, there was only darkness. No stars. No light. Just void. And from that void came something I had never seen... or felt.
A small puff of white smoke drifted out, no larger than a closed fist.
But the moment I laid eyes on it, fear gripped me. It wasn't panic or anxiety. It was pure, primal terror. Every part of me, from skin to bone, recoiled in instinct.
The tear closed silently behind the smoke as if it had never been there. The smoke swirled slowly, then darted straight toward me like it had a mind of its own.
My chest lit up.
The green tattoo etched over my heart, the mark I had received the day I awakened my talent, came to life, glowing like embers stoked by wind.
The white smoke slammed into my chest and entered my body.
I gasped.
Inside me, I felt it swirl around the core, mixing with the Essence already spinning there.
Then my heart gave a heavy shudder.
The white smoke stopped drifting.
It began to gather in the center of the Generator Core. Tighter and tighter, it spun in on itself until it condensed into a small, glowing core, white and smooth, about the size of an eyeball.
The tattoo on my chest stopped glowing. But something was different now.
A circle had formed around the old design.
The gears that made up the mark, the same ones I'd seen the day I awakened my talent, were still there, etched into my skin, unmoving as ever. But now they were enclosed inside a perfect ring.
Clean, sharp, and glowing faintly as if it had always been part of the tattoo.
Just as the white core formed and I thought everything was finally over, the Essence that had settled inside me flared up again.
It rushed out of my chest. My breath caught as the surge slammed through my body with a force that left my limbs trembling.
It didn't hurt like before, but the sensation was intense, like fire and lightning spreading under my skin.
The first place it moved toward was my spine. My body arched on instinct as the Essence burrowed deep, racing upward toward the base of my skull.
I gritted my teeth and let it happen, not even trying to resist.
Then I felt it, something etching itself at the back of my neck. It wasn't just a feeling. I could hear it. A quiet tick-tick, like invisible gears turning, carving themselves into place.
I gasped as the sensation faded, but the Essence was already moving again.
This time it flowed toward my arms. It didn't stop at the skin. It sank into my muscles, deeper than nerves. Then, right over my right shoulder blade, another pattern burned into my flesh.
I felt it form : sharp, precise, mechanical. Like the tattoo on my chest, but different in shape. A long horizontal arc, lined with etched bars like the teeth of a gear.
The energy continued, snaking down toward my legs, but instead of carving again, it simply pulsed, steady and heavy like a heartbeat, before returning upward.
Then, without warning, the surge rushed straight into my skull.
I almost blacked out.
For a second, all I could hear was ringing.
But then my vision sharpened, colors deepened, the air felt thicker, even the soft crackle of Essence became clearer.
And in the middle of my forehead, just above the brow, I felt the skin heat up as another mark carved itself into place. This one was subtle, like a small gear behind glass.
My heart, still glowing with faint green light, pulsed once more.
And then... silence.
The Essence stopped moving. Everything settled.
I kneeled there, shaking, my breath ragged. Whatever had just happened, it had changed something fundamental. I could feel it in my bones.