“For one,” Mei began, raising a single finger, “Extraction is the process, not the energy we use.”
I listened carefully. That tracked. Just as Cultivation and Force had distinct names in my own system.
“Two,” she continued, “the energy flows through all beings—” she paused, letting the weight of that statement settle into me, its resemblance to Force almost uncanny. “Theoretically, anyway. But unlike what you described, this power doesn’t flow through all things. We’ve found a few plants that resonate, some rocks even… but mostly? Living things.”
It wasn’t her tone that sent the chill skittering up my spine, but the implication. The reason Synthia had avoided talking about it. Cultivation, by any name, was still cultivation: gathering strength from a source. Whether Force or this… it was about pulling power from somewhere.
Synthia shifted beside me, clearly uncomfortable. She was listening, but there was a stiffness in her posture. Even so, I needed to know more.
“The name?” I asked. “How do you bring the energy in? And what does Extraction really mean?”
Mei gave a sly, knowing smile. “Animora,” she said. “The energy of the living. Of things with consciousness. It pulses through our cores unseen, untapped,” she added, voice lilting like she was quoting something ancient. A mantra she'd heard so often it had carved itself into her memory. Her gaze drifted.
I waited. Expected more.
But she just stared back.
We held each other’s gaze for a moment. Her, barely tall enough to reach my chest even on tiptoe; me, peering down at a girl who acted more like a guardian of ancient secrets than a child. There wasn’t a trace of fear in her eyes.
Eventually, Synthia cleared her throat beside me. “I think she wants you to go next, Peter.”
I grumbled, low in my throat. “Yeah, I figured.” I shifted closer to Mei, the little girl who carried generations of knowledge in her blood, her blessing. There was more to her, but I doubted I’d get to all of it before the match began.
“What I can share could shake your society’s understanding of power,” I warned. “I don’t know if it can merge with your systems. Or what risks it might carry, but if I tell you… it’s not something to treat lightly. Understand?”
She nodded immediately. Eagerness spelled in her gaze. A curiosity that I’ve seen reflected in both my instructors of this world. I used my hand to flick away the hair growing just below my eyes now, keeping them locked to hers.
I brushed away a strand of hair slipping down across my brow, never breaking eye contact.
Then I began.
I told her everything, or at least, the foundations. It didn’t matter much what she could do with it in just a few hours before our duel. The more I offered, the more she seemed willing to give. She was bratty, sure, but honest in her own intense way.
I started with the Energy Gathering Phase. Though honestly, that name had always felt a little off. Even now at Core Phase, we were still gathering energy. Maybe something like Force Sensing would be more accurate for those early steps.
Mei remained quiet through it all. The glow in her eyes faded from that luminous blue to her natural violet, and I couldn’t help but wonder: Was that glow tied to some internal database? Did it channel through her somehow?
I explained how Thea had awakened me. How I’d learned to gather energy. How, at the end of that process, a core could be formed. But the moment I said it, I could see that she wasn’t totally impressed. Not with the initial ideas, at least. Intrigued? Sure, but not stunned.
“You have to actively circulate the power while fighting?” she asked, her brows knitting, the interest already slipping from her expression.
Synthia nudged Mei playfully. “It’s not so bad once you get used to it. But Peter can…” She glanced at me, silently asking permission.
I gave her a small nod.
“Well,” she continued, “he’s like you. An inventor. He’s created his own methods. Things I wouldn’t have even imagined.”
Mei’s gaze snapped back to me, her expression sharpening into a glare of impatient expectation. I chuckled under the weight of it.
“This is the last bit,” I said, smirking. “Then it’s your turn.”
“No problem,” she said quickly. “Just please continue.”
I straightened slightly, puffing out my chest in mock pride. “It’s the reason I’m the King. A sect master.”
Synthia coughed then turned away suddenly, her shoulders trembling with what I was certain was repressed laughter.
“The Harmonic Foundation,” I announced with gravity. “A creation of my own, or maybe a discovery. It fuses three fundamental changes in the body during Energy Gathering. They’re formed simultaneously, meant to become something greater than the sum of their parts. A structure that unlocks sealed potential hidden deep within.”
Synthia wasn’t even trying to hold it in now. She was face-down in the grass, fist lightly pounding the soil, struggling to muffle her laughter. Guess she had heard of that before, and fine—I was a little bothered at the reaction. Sure, she heard of the concept before, but not that I was successful. No way she was, right?
I decided to sweeten the deal with a bonus.
“One of the abilities it grants,” I added, “is access to the Inner Space. A spiritual realm that enhances attunement to =elemental Force, increasing the amount of attributes you can manipulate and absorb.”
That shut her up.
Synthia froze mid-chuckle, then slowly sat upright. Her expression was stunned, eyes wide with disbelief. “You didn’t…” she whispered.
I kept my cool, feigning casual awe as if the idea was no big deal.
I simply smiled and said, “You should be able to, too. You already manipulate it. Absorbing it is just the next step.”
To demonstrate, I raised my arm as the roots slithered up, tightening with gentle pressure. I lifted a finger, and slowly, a crystalline bead of ice formed at the tip. A heartbeat later, it melted into nothing, replaced by a flicker of heat, then a tiny spark. A soft explosion crackled in the air.
It was silent after that. Deadly so. The two girls weren’t even breathing anymore even as I lowered my finger.
“Th—that’s…” Mei stammered. “You’re… Peter, you are human, right?”
This time, even I paused, blinking once. “As human as it gets. No blessing. No bloodline. Just me.”
She looked down at the ground in the next moment, the blue glow running through her arm, her eyes alight again, the glistening running through them like images swapping through them in blinding speeds.
She didn’t speak. Not for a long moment. Synthia used the silence to recover.
“You can really do it?” she asked, her voice quiet now, all awe. “All of it? The foundation… the elements?”
I nodded slowly. “It’s coming together. And…” I hesitated then pushed forward, the words falling out a little softer than I’d meant. “It’s not really official or anything, but… you can come. Anytime. To my home.”
I looked at Mei, the immature face running through something in her own little world, realizing my own naivety and foolishness.
“I don’t hold much back,” I admitted. “Even when I should. Teaching you everything… it’s just a small thing.”
I scratched the back of my neck, gaze shifting down. “Honeslty, your potential terrifies me more than even those with a bloodline. With Body Refinement. Then the next steps in core—”
“I have a blessing,” Synthia interrupted, surprising me.
My eyes shot up as she continued.
“I told you before, my abilities were my first reward in a separate trial… I didn’t know before, but I do now that I live here.” She looked at Mei too. “With their technology. So long ago when I passed, I only wanted one thing. My own Blessing. So, I was granted it in a way.”
She smiled, what I could only imagine years of yearning for something that was out of reach even now, melting away bit by bit. “That funny old man gave me a blessing. My own he said, so I guess he actually awakened it. But I never received anything more than the slow manipulation of elements. But that my Bloodline,” she finished, emphasizing the point.
That was it. A human that could stand on par with Luna, a creature that had a talent unlike any other. Synthia’s own unique power. But something else came with that. There were other Bloodlines. Something beyond the universal system that permeated this world.
“Are you allowed to leave?” I asked, already sensing the answer.
“I’m accepted,” she said, avoiding the answer. “They treat me kindly here. Especially Mei.”
Mei was still stuck scanning something, seemingly not hearing a single word exchanged by Synthia and I.
“She’s… like family to me now. And all I have to do is let them run tests. They always look frustrated, but I overheard them once. Even with what I can imagine must be constant failure—they learned one thing. A new Bloodline.”
I leaned back trying to absorb it all.
“Animora,” I finally said.
“What?”
I shrugged, pushing away from her admission. “Something totally new. Isn’t it exciting?”
She huffed with a short laugh. “If you knew…”
I pivoted my elbows back, half laying down. “What? My guess is you extract the Animora from living things. There is plenty of danger out there. Beast.”
“And majestic creatures,” she added with a small, but not aggressive frown.
I moved, pursing my lips. “Of course. Many on land. The sea. Everywhere. But it’s how we use all this power that’s important, right?”
I thought about that fight in the arena. The first punishment I received in the State of Stars. Would I beat someone mercily down just because I could? No. I was the one who would spew out paths to strength just to be petty.
“So many take away life,” she mumbled.
“Maybe it could give it out too.”