The rough, cold ground was a torment. It leeched the warmth from every muscle, sending shivers that had nothing to do with fear. Jai jolted awake, the memory of his unsettling sleep dissolving instantly. He immediately sat up, his movements economical and swift, already assessing their grim shelter.
"Rise, James! We can't linger here," Jai commanded, his voice a low, rough whisper. "Did you forget? We have to move on."
James, startled from his own weary slumber, scrambled up. His body protested with aches from the hard, dark earth. He blinked, his vision a blur of black and grey, before vigorously rubbing the sleep from his eyes. As his sight cleared, he saw Jai's face—sharp, determined, framed by the shadows of the cave mouth.
Before stepping into the uncertain dawn, Jai performed a critical, almost subconscious, ritual. He activated the Noise Specter, a subtle application of his unique elemental power, sending out faint, golden ripples to map the acoustic environment. It was their only reliable early warning system. He strained, listening for the telltale sounds of heavy breathing, a snapping twig, or a distant snarl. After a tense minute, he was satisfied. The immediate surroundings were silent.
"The coast is clear. Let's head to the lake and wash up before anything big decides to wander this way," Jai said, gesturing toward the soft glow filtering through the trees.
They moved quickly to the nearby lake. The water here was breathtakingly clear—a liquid mirror that perfectly reflected the emerging light of the morning sky. As Jai watched the sunlight penetrate the water's depths, he was struck by a thought, a sudden flash of profound realization, and he silently recalled a quote his father once shared:
"The spring flows clear, its truth laid bare and bright;
The human spirit seeks that honest grace.
We strive to be a vessel of the light,
Reflecting love upon a steady face."
As clear as this water is, he thought, that's how a person should be. Transparent, honest, and unclouded. It was a clarity he deeply craved but knew his own life had long denied him.
They simultaneously deactivated the Disguise Artifact, a charm gifted by Jai's mother that masked their true appearances, turning them from the rugged Jai and James into the unremarkable Arthur and Clement. As the illusion dropped, James gasped softly. His eyes were fixed on the deep, extensive bruises mottling Jai's arms and torso—deep purple and yellow marks barely healed.
"Jai, what happened to your body?" James asked, his voice thick with concern. "Why are there so many bruises? They look old."
Jai let out a long, weary sigh, the sound barely audible over the gentle lapping of the water. He dipped his head, splashing water over his face before answering in a low, pained voice.
"My father… he always pushed me to the edge. Hard combat work. He wanted to ensure I could call upon and control my elemental power instantly, perfectly, no matter the pain. He called it 'conditioning.' It's the price for being a high-tier prodigy."
James felt a wave of empathy, his sorrow mixing with a strange sense of protective admiration. He noticed the stark contrast: Jai's face, even when grim, held an almost beautiful, refined quality, yet his body told a story of brutal endurance.
After cleaning themselves, they approached the cave entrance again. This time, Jai paused, his Noise Specter still active. A distinct sound, a gentle, rhythmic snoring, was emanating from the dark interior.
"There's a beast inside our cave," Jai whispered, his hand instinctively resting on the hilt of his divine golden sword.
They both instantly reactivated their disguise, transforming back into Arthur and Clement, and slowly, cautiously, peered inside. Curled peacefully on the rough sleeping cloth they had left behind was a baby Borren—a wild, pig-like creature known for its powerful, fiercely protective mothers.
"Let's just grab our bags and leave immediately," Jai urged, already preparing to sneak past.
But James dug in his heels. "No. I want to kill it," he stated with cold practicality. "We're running low on meat. If we kill this Borren, we have rations for another week."
Jai looked at the sleeping creature, its tiny snout twitching with harmless dreams, then turned to James, his voice softening into a beautiful, persuasive murmur.
"Bro, no. We've already taken and eaten one baby. The mother Borren will know the pain of loss. We're not hunters seeking survival; we're survivors seeking to move on. Let's just take the bags and leave. We're close to the Dwarf Kingdom now."
Reluctantly, James yielded to Jai's unexpected display of mercy. They slipped into the cave, grabbed their packs, and melted back into the forest, leaving the sleeping infant beast undisturbed.
They continued their journey, pushing through the dense, unforgiving forest. As the sun began to set, painting the sky in fiery hues, Jai spoke.
"The sun's almost gone. Let's make camp. James, use your power to build a cave for the night."
"Roger that," James replied, eager to test his Tier 10 spells.
He took a deep breath and channeled his strength into his space elemental core, speaking the incantation: "Gravitas Crush!"
Immediately, an immense, unseen gravitational force emanated from his hands, striking a massive boulder twenty feet in front of them. The air seemed to warp, and the rock imploded with a muffled thoom, instantly reduced to a pile of rubble and dust, leaving behind a perfectly formed, if rough, cave opening. It was a raw demonstration of Tier 10 space magic.
Inside the hastily formed shelter, they lit a small fire, cooked their remaining meat, and quickly ate. After a brief discussion of the next day's route, they drifted into a heavy sleep.
Their journey settled into a grueling routine over the next one month and ten days: walking, hunting small game, and constantly evading or battling the larger, territorial beasts.
During these skirmishes, Jai focused on his own advancement. He would train intensely, wielding his divine golden sword and practicing his elemental spells. Every time he fought or trained, a faint shimmer of yellow light—a sign of pure, raw elemental energy—would sprinkle around him. Jai's specialized internal advanced core acted like a magnet, drawing in this stray energy, steadily filling its reserves.
In this span of forty days, Jai's powerful Tier 10 core filled up to nineteen percent of its total capacity.
James, possessing a much simpler Zero Core (the starting point for space elementals), was able to achieve a higher percentage gain: his core filled up to twenty-five percent. The path to power was ironically faster for James at the lower tiers, as the scale was far less demanding.
James's rapid advancement was due to the simpler requirements of space elemental power. His method, called "Controlling," focused purely on mental and spiritual mastery:
Meditation: Go into a deep meditative state.
Visualization: Locate and observe the internal core.
Collection: Mentally collect all surrounding spatial energy and "light" seen within the meditation, directing it into the core..
Mastery: Successfully execute and control his space spells in the physical world.
However, the preferred and most powerful method for permanent advancement, especially at higher tiers, was "Invention":
The Invention method required collecting specific, often legendary, materials (such as artifacts, or the flesh or blood of powerful, higher-tier creatures) to craft an artifact that permanently upgrades the user's core capacity, enabling them to leap from one tier to the next.
This method was the most effective for dramatic, permanent power boosts, but it carried two severe drawbacks:
The materials required become exponentially harder to find and acquire with each successful tier advance.
There is also a risk in this method When the artifact is finally crafted and absorbed, if the user's body is not physically and spiritually prepared to contain the massive jump in power, they face certain death.
James yearned to use this method. He already possessed two rare ingredients: the Varees Wings and Swehan Flesh, both derived from high-tier bird-like creatures. While he could use them to craft a Tier 9 advance artifact to advance from tier 10 to tier 9, or even attempt to buy one, they had to reach the Dwarf Kingdom first—the only place with the infrastructure for high-level crafting or trade.
For Jai, the Invention path was currently blocked; there was simply no known method or schematic to craft an artifact that could advance him from Tier 9 to Tier 10. His only path was the slow, dangerous process of internal accumulation through training and combat.
Seventy kilometers from the Dwarf Kingdom, they rested in their stone cave, the darkness absolute. They were abruptly woken by the sound of voices—loud, crude, and close.
"She'll fetch a fine price in the Kingdom," a rough voice declared.
"Make sure that lock holds, or the Overseer will have our hides," a second voice grumbled.
Jai and James instantly sprang into alert. They peered out from a crack in the rock. Two men stood near a white, two-horse-drawn cart. One man wore a blue shirt and black pants; the other was heavily cloaked. Between them, there was a heavy cage.
Inside the cage was a small girl, no older than twelve, wearing a once-beautiful but now-tattered blue dress. Her face was streaked with dirt and tears, and she was huddled, sobbing silently.
A cold, primal rage settled deep in Jai's advanced core. Slavery and human trafficking were rare but dark stains on their world, and the sight of the crying child ignited a fierce determination in him.
"We have to rescue her," Jai stated, his voice tight.
James, wary of unnecessary confrontation, hesitated. "Wait, Jai. We don't know how strong they are. We need a plan, and our main goal is the Dwarf Kingdom."
But the hard-edged look of determination on Jai's face was unshakeable. Seeing the absolute certainty in his friend, James eventually conceded. "Fine. But no direct fighting if we can help it. We make a plan."
They waited until the sun fully rose and the traffickers prepared to depart. As the cart lumbered away, Jai and James, using their Arthur and Clement disguises, stealthily crept up and clung to the rear edge of the vehicle, hidden by a heavy flap of canvas and the dust kicked up by the horses.
They rode like this for an entire day, their bodies aching from the concealed position. Finally, the cart stopped. They had reached their destination—the edge of the Dwarf Kingdom.
The traffickers began to move the cage, confirming their darkest fear: they were here to sell the girl in the city's underbelly.
James and Jai exchanged a look of shock and grim resolve. The cart was now inside a sprawling, busy encampment just outside the great stone walls. Confrontation was now almost impossible without drawing the attention of dozens of armed guards.
The problem, once simple, had become an overwhelming challenge: How were they going to rescue the girl from within the walls of the Dwarf Kingdom without alerting the authorities or engaging in a massive, tier-risking fight?
The next phase of their journey was no longer about survival, but about salvation.