'Alright, Jack. Your turn.'
Jack sprung up on his feet as ten minutes passed by, excited to use his ability.
"My ability is called Elemental Overhaul, right? How do I use it?"
'You can designate an element you can perceive and preferably something of large quantity as a subject and turn yourself into it,' Riven controlled Jack's power, turning Jack into a being made of water similar to the raging river in front of them.
More and more water was absorbed from the river as Jack started turning bigger.
"Woah, this is crazy!" Jack shouted, his voice vibrating and deep in the water giant form.
'I'm returning the control to you. Keep it up.'
Alas, Jack splattered like a puddle a second after Riven returned the control, his upper half going into the river and mixing with it as Jack panicked.
Taking back control, Riven said, 'Jack, when you are in Elemental Overhaul form, your core can recreate your body using the subject.'
'It means that as long as there's any amount of a subject you have chosen nearby, you can use it to revive yourself.'
From a small puddle nearby, Riven returned Jack to his normal human form. 'So don't be scared if half of your body is suddenly blasted or disappears along the river just like now. Keep calm and direct your focus because you will be able to feel any part of your body and the subject within a certain range. Everything is affected by Mystic Pulse. Hence, you can regrow like this.'
"Woah, Jack is unkillable," Tom exclaimed. "Can I also do that if there's Ice and Fire nearby?"
'Nope. Your Life Spark is not like that. You can project things outward and do many more things with your Radiator-type Life spark, but Jack's life spark is Morpher-type, so he can do things you can't while you can do things he can't. And Jack is not unkillable. His Life Nexus can be targeted, so he needs to hide it. Moreover, the bigger he becomes, the bigger his Life Nexus.'
Jack got his control back and was in awe of himself, "Wait! So Tom and my combo is perfect! Tom can produce ice or fire, and I can also turn myself into ice or fire!"
Riven internally smiled and replied, 'Indeed. You both are a good combo.'
'There's one more thing regarding abilities, but for now, gain basic control of your abilities with training.'
With Riven's instructions, Tom and Jack began training.
As time passed, their training bore fruits and they learned to control their abilities.
An hour later, Tom could shoot both types of spears while Jack could maintain his Elemental Overhaul form of Ice and Fire and move around as if his real body without breaking down.
Riven told Jack to train in Ice and Fire more since those two elements would be the most he would use with Tom.
*Thud…*
"I'm tired now…"
"And hungry…"
Both became pale ghosts and couldn't use their abilities anymore after spending an hour using their abilities.
'You two have exhausted your awakening burst, but that's good. Nobody can continuously use their powers. Your abilities are fueled by your stamina, so increasing it is a must.'
'Anyway, let's eat first. I've sensed the movement of Wild Boars, so one should be nearby. Give me control of your bodies.'
…
Riven encased a boar into ice before roasting it. Jack and Tom ate with gusto while he wasn't feeling any hunger at all nor did he feel like his body needed food, so he didn't want to eat.
"I've stuffed myself!"
"It was tasty!"
Jack and Tom lay on the ground, their tummies protruded.
'Alright, now it's time to enter the Grim Realm and start your journey as bonafide Pulse Weavers.'
"Yey!"
"Let's go!"
'I hope I can also enter the Grim Realm with you two,' Riven wryly smiled internally. 'Give me the control of your bodies.'
Usually, only those who awakened their Life Spark could enter, but Riven couldn't check anything about himself or his body at the moment. He didn't know if he was a Pulse Weaver even and couldn't sense any abilities in him.
So he hoped that by controlling both Jack and Tom and initiating entry into the Grim Realm, he would also go with them due to their connections.
Jack and Tom didn't resist as Riven controlled them and initiated the entry.
'Please succeed.'
Internally praying, Riven acted.
*Blink*
In the next second, the trio vanished while the scenery in front of their eyes shifted.
Grim Realm, 1st Stage—Wisp.
Riven, Tom, and Jack found themselves on a vast plain of grass with hilly lands and a sunny sky, but the sky also had colorful and exotic starry phenomenon.
Top and Jack were still lying on the ground while Riven was in his wheelchair in front of them. Their positions were the same, but their location changed.
At the same time, a screen also appeared in front of them.
"Boss, what is t- Woah!"
Jack got up and was about to ask when he was startled by Riven's appearance.
'I know. I can feel it.'
Riven's half-face was covered by a strange mask, his blue and golden eyes flickering.
"You look so cool," Tom said with a grin.
'I can feel it, but it's not making any sense to me, so let's focus on the main topic.'
'We are currently in the first stage of Grim Realm—Wisp. I also have a status, but it's weird. I am recognized as a Pulse Weaver of Wisp-rank like you two, but I don't have any Life Sparks or abilities according to this status.'
'Anyway, I can see your status, so let's focus on that. I have no knowledge of being a Pulse Weaver myself, but I seem to know about them and Grim Realm quite a lot.'
[Tom]
Grim Title: —
Lifeform Rank: Wisp.
First Life Spark: Equinox Tyranny.
Level: 1
Stats:
—> Life Nexus: [100/100]
—> Stamina: 8
Abilities:
—> [ Equinox Spears Level 0]
***
[Jack]
Grim Title: —
Lifeform Rank: Wisp.
First Life Spark: Chimera Sovereign.
Level: 1
Stats:
—> Life Nexus: [100/100]
—> Stamina: 8
Abilities:
—> [ Elemental Overhaul level 0]
Jack and Tom looked at their status as Riven began speaking to them.
'Let's start step by step. First, Grim Title. This is something you get by your action and granted by the Grim Realm. It gives random effects and your Grim Title changes automatically based on your accomplishments in the Grim Realm.'
'Next, Lifeform Rank. You two are currently Wisp-ranked Pulse Weavers of level 1. We can level up by defeating other Pulse Weavers in official Duels or completing Grim Quests in the Grim Realm.'
"What? That's so amazing!" Jack's eyes shone.
Tom quickly nodded with excitement, "It's like we are playing the games like those shown in the movies!"
'Except that this is not a game, and we can die here. Your Life Nexus is your core. If it reaches zero, you will die. Now continue listening because here comes the important stuff.'
Tom and Jack nodded, their attention on Riven.
'You see your level? It's at level 1, and that means you two have one Rule Weaver that you can use to improve your ability.'
'I'll create a rule for your two first so you can see how it works.'
Riven controlled their powers and started weaving the rules for them while explaining them.
'Rule Weaver can allow you to apply a rule to your ability and depending on how to set it up, you can vastly change your ability's overall power.'
'For example, I just created a rule for Tom's Equinox Spear that when a target is struck by his Ice Spear, an Ice Burial mark will apply to them. When another Ice Spear strikes that target, the target will be encased in ice completely.'
'And if he strikes someone with Fire Spear, a Flame Rage mark will apply. Striking the target with another Fire Spear will cause a compact explosion to light up the target on fire.'
"For real?" Tom's jaw dropped.
"Wait, we can put rules however we like?" Jack excitedly asked.
'Yes, but that's not all. Any rule you create also automatically manifests a forced limitation. For example, Tom can only manifest one spear at a time now.'
"Oh…" Tom blinked. "But wait, we can create more rules as we level up, right?"
'Indeed. Each level-up grants one Rule Weaver to you until you reach level 10. You can also negate the rules by weaving them trickly, gaining more power with fewer restrictions. Once you have weaved ten rules to your first ability, you can attempt to break through to the next Lifeform realm and awaken a second Life Spark.'
"Second Life Spark means second ability?!" Jack's eyes widened.
"Holy shit," Tom blinked. "We can become so powerful…even more powerful than superheroes we see in movies."
'Haha, that's right. But the second ability will be vastly different and unique. Each Life Spark awakening is a further evolution of your lifeform. Anyway, you two have a long way to go before reaching there, so let's focus on the present.'
'Tom, you saw and felt how I created the rule, so you can change it yourself.'
'Jack, I'll now create yours, so focus. Once you two are done shaping your first ability properly, we'll go to a more populous place.'
Riven soon created a rule for Jack to get him familiarized with the process before both of them started fiddling with Rule Weaving, shaping their abilities to their liking.
'No, that's a bad one, Tom. Change the rule again.'
"Hehe, it gave me a cooldown of one minute every time I used my ability, very bad, but it became so powerful."
'Don't prioritize power over practicality. You can fiddle more when you have more Rule Weavers for your abilities to make a build to your liking, but you two only have one Rule Weaver right now, so weave it properly.'
'Jack, you are going in the right direction. Being able to create melee and ranged weapons with your own body is practical, but refine it further. I want you two to rack your brains and come up with something good.'
Riven didn't want to hand them over his ideas. If he did that, they would lose their creativity and rely on him more.
After all, it was better if they came up with practical rules themselves by brainstorming themselves.
'There's no limit to what kind of rules you can create. Don't get confined by your own ability's power. Especially you, Tom. Equinox Spears can also be Equinox Swords or Arrows if you want them to be.'
Tom and Jack became thoughtful upon hearing that.
Seeing them thinking hard, Riven internally smiled and let them be.
He had one more thing to focus on, and that was his own status.
[Riven]
-Grim Title: The Willed One.
-Lifeform: Wisp.
-First Life Spark: —
-Level: 1
-Stats:
—> Life Nexus [ - / - ]
—> Stamina: —
Abilities: —
'Grim Title…I have a title, but I can't check its effect.'
Suddenly, Riven sensed something and looked up.
A giant bird was flying with two people standing on it.
And they also saw the trio as the bird began descending towards them.