"I'll give you the power you want."
His other self muttered, glaring at him.
"But... What will change, you'll run on the same cycle again. Trying to thrive and survive."
Ruis's eyelids shrink down. Yet a smile began forming over his cheeks.
"Maybe with enough power.. I can protect those who are close to me. Maybe with enough power.. I can find that way..."
Listening to his words, he didn't say anything offensive now. Why would he need to? It was him after all.
Suddenly Ruis was sucked downwards by an intense pressure. Before his vision faded away, he heard an echo coming from nowhere.
"Don't fear it. It's all yours."
***
The screen in front of them was pitch-black, just like it used to be, the elders were sitting cautiously while for his fellows on the back.
Everyone had different types of expressions.
But before someone could say something.
The area around them started to tremble forcefully.
Except for the elders, Ender and Lisa, everyone panicked.
It trembles for a few moments before being wrapped by dead silence.
"What the hell..."
Sara whispered, she wasn't much shocked about it though, because. She did expect some sort of thing like this to happen.
At this moment, Azon calmly gets up and goes where the lever was turned down. With massive thrust of force, this time. He pulled it upwards.
The pitch-black screen was removed as well along with it. Callista's corners of lips curled energetically. Tucker was astonished, Azon maintained a firm expression.
His fellows came in front to see what was the outcome. Some eyes went widened while some were left speechless.
He was standing, a gentle sapphire aura gleaming throughout his body.
"He has quite a talent."
Callista mumbled, leaning on the sofa's soft cushions.
"Just reached another shift in almost two months, amazing."
Tucker added on, smirking.
Azon signaled Callista through his eye, she sighed. Before snapping her fingers, as soon as the sounds of her fingers snapping echoed.
They all were swallowed by darkness.
***
The arena where Ruis was standing, the wall behind him moved. He turned around to see a whole new room before him. The elders were there along with his fellows.
Ruis marched his steps towards there. When he reached, his fellows rushed towards him.
"I knew you could do it!"
Zack totally acts like a kid in front of him.
"That was quite fast, I wonder if you would be out for days."
Misha spoke with a smirk, Ruis sighed.
"Are you by chance not speed running?"
With Lisa added words, he almost choked.
Ender and Sara at the corner were looking at him then exchanging glances between them.
Suddenly, they got interrupted by clapping sounds.
"That's quite an achievement you have achieved in such a short time."
Tucker clapped his hands, his eyes telling he was actually proud.
"I thought he was gonna turn into a rabocescous... Then we'll have to clean the mess up."
Callista added, which made his jaw drop.
"Ahh, just kidding, didn't know you would take it seriously."
She let out a small cackle, before looking at him with sincere eyes.
Ruis's head began filling with questions so he cleared up his throat before asking.
"Will my powers progress like they used to before?"
This time Azon replied instead of others.
"Yes, for every shift and dimension. But the hardest part isn't about digestion, it's about finding the ingredients necessary for ascending to another shift."
Except Lisa who was eating a lollipop, chilling. Everyone was surprised to hear this information.
Callista added some more information.
"So, when the time comes. You need to thrive on your own to find the ingredients necessary for your ascension, of course. You won't be blessed everytime."
Silence lingered around them but wasn't enough to completely wrap them up.
"But how can we know which ingredient is essential for our ascension?"
Misha decided to speak, shattering the silence before it could fully form.
"That's the neat part, you don't. You have to work out for it."
Tucker shrugged his shoulders lightly, a light-hearted expression pasted over his face.
While they were speechless, Tucker took a chair which was on a corner through telekinesis before sitting down on it.
It was not a resting room as the dusty bed on one side with a stand by its side said it was more of a hospital room.
Possibly a room for those Astrans who have newly advanced to another shift and were in severe states after advancing.
Ender on the corner hissed before coming in front of them. Specifically in front of Azon.
"So Mr. Azon, when is my turn for advancement?"
Everyone except Ruis took it like another day... While he...
"WHAT!?"
He was genuinely flabbergasted considering his skin went pale out of pure shock.
"Oh yeah. You didn't know, but... he made a request later that same night as well. We kept it a secret from you."
Lisa spoke with a chuckle, stunning him even more. Still, he decided to move his mouth, which was already open.
"B– But why... You should have at least hinted about a surprise like this..."
"Surprises work best when they don't feel like surprises."
Misha answered this time, making him almost lose his balance, if it weren't for Sara and Zack catching him on time.
Whilst all this, Azon and Callista were discussing between themselves with Ender in front of them.
"Well, do you want to do it now or later?"
"It doesn't bother me to do it now or later, I'm good with either option."
"...Well, let's do it tomorrow. It's already night now."
His fellows were dumbfounded by Callista grumbles.
"Night?"
Sara mumbled. Her brows furrowed.
"Oh yeah... Basically, it's one of the drawbacks of the lift we just came through. Time passes differently there compared to the outside world."
Well they were already above their shock limit for today. So now, no one reacted that intensely.
"Come along now. I'll show you where you will be staying."
As soon as Callista's words ended, darkness swallowed them again. When they opened their eyes, they were standing somewhere unfamiliar to them.
It was a hallway with doors before, beside; behind. Oddly only Callista has come with them. The doors opened by themselves.
Revealing the bedroom interior they were covering.
"Please compromise for tonight."
She spoke in a surprising soft yet mechanical tone. Whilst Ruis was going with others to the room closest to him, he heard someone calling him.
"Oh, who said you're sleeping? You should medicate and adjust to your new shift."
He turned around to see Callista who had her arms crossed, smiling fainting looking at him.
Sara paused as well, she had heard her words too.
Ruis adjusted his coat.
"Where?"
In front of Sara's eyes, darkness surrounded Callista and Ruis, when it disappeared, they were no longer here.
She sighed, of course she knew he'll be fine, whilst going to her room.
Moments Later...
Time was quite literally impossible to know how it was passing here, only the clocks ticking over the walls were the evidence that time did pass here.
In the room Ender was in, staring at the clock over the ceiling. It was 3:00 AM now.
His eyes weren't sleepy at all, just sitting on the bed. Looking at the ceiling tirelessly like a machine.
TAP!
TAP!
He heard some light knocking coming outside from his door. Getting up cautiously he goes to open it.
"Sorrrry... Can't sleep."
Misha was standing on the other side, her hair kinda messed up which actually showed she did try to sleep.
"Why come here then? Go to your gang."
He spoke in his usual blunt tone of voice.
"You really are a piece of crap... Anyways I wanna discuss something that's troubling me lately."
She entered without his consent. Sat on his bed, yawning reflexively.
He sighed before closing the door, switching on the lights whilst off the zero light bulbs.
He tried to offer her a glass of water but she denied so at last after taking a chair; placing by her side.
"Is it that important that your sleep schedule is ruined?"
He mumbled while sitting on it.
"Well, it's just some nightmares I've been having lately."
She twirled a lock of her coffee-colored hair around her finger.
Ender moved his lips to say something but before he could. She had already made her move.
"I've been having this same dream for three days straight. Ever since the day Zack panicked like crazy when he saw me."
The darkness in Ender's eyes became curious as it widened more and more.
"You're just overthinking about it."
"You think I am a kid?"
She said in an irritated tone. Ender exhaled.
"Do you remember your dreams?"
Misha wondered for a few moments before closing her eyes before concentrating, slowly some golden strings started flowing around her fingers.
"This is the best I could remember."
Ender reached his hand for the strings dancing around her fingers.
....
The day arrived, Ender's fellows were standing by a room, some were hastily waiting, some were curious. Azon and Callista were here as well.
Everyone was either standing, strolling or leaning to the wall by a door where Ender and Tucker were present.
Considering the room's layout, maybe it was one of the secret rooms like the hospital room of yesterday.
On the other side...
Ender was standing while Tucker had a type of an artifact in his hand. It was a small wooden chest, with an indescribable pattern over it.
The chest was so small that it could fit easily in his palm.
"We'll make sure if you have fully digested the potion."
"Why didn't you do this with him then?"
"...Not needed every time, well we could. It's just we didn't want to..."
Hearing the biggest blunt excuse possible, Ender's expression went deadpan. Tucker cleared up his throat, before saying in a solemn tone.
"Are you ready?"
He nodded consciously. Tucker took a deep breath before opening the chest.
"It'll just check if your digestion is complete and your spirituality is stable."
As blue-aura tentacles started emerging from within it.
Before Tucker's words could fully fade into the air. The tentacles shoved their way to his heart without damaging physical body. It was as though they were checking his soul.
Ender didn't feel anything from them, nothing but a sense of tranquility. After 10 seconds of examining his heart. They started pulling themselves out and went back in the chest as it closed on its own.
The pattern over the chest started emitting the same blue aura.
"-2.853. Reliquary of Resonance."
Tucker's whispers surprised him, so this was the chest name. He thought.
Tucker thrust it into his coat pocket, before explaining to him.
"It looks pretty good. You see, if it emitted a red aura, that would mean your potion digestion isn't complete and your spirituality is unstable. But since it is blue, you are fine."
"So should we proceed with the next step?"
He asked after calmly listening.
"Of course!"