Glenn was thrown back into his own body with a force that felt like being hurled off a cliff without the chance to brace himself. The impact slammed him into the stone floor with a dull thud that rattled the entire small chamber. His body arched as violent convulsions seized his muscles. His eyes flew wide open, pupils dilated, staring at a spinning ceiling. The world seemed to dance without rhythm, spinning like a wheel brutally turned without purpose.
Black and white dots appeared and vanished in his vision, like dying lights flickering in a dark room. Every breath felt cut short, as if a rough hand was pressing against his throat from the inside. His throat was dry, filled with what felt like sand and blood, making every attempt to breathe a small torture that stacked upon itself.
Dilos was now kneeling beside him. His face was tense, eyes fully focused on Glenn's trembling body. Both of Dilos' hands pressed down firmly on Glenn's shoulders, yet even that pressure didn't pierce through the numbness spreading through Glenn's nerves. He couldn't feel anything on his skin. He couldn't feel the world outside. What he felt was something deep inside his body.
A presence.
An alien core now resting right in the hollow center of his being. A place that had always felt like an empty chamber waiting for something. Now that chamber was filled by a sphere of blue light pulsing with a steady rhythm. Too steady. Too stable. As if the core wasn't the result of a forced absorption, but something that had always intended to be inside him from the start.
Blood seeped from the corner of Glenn's mouth, slid past his chin, and fell onto his neck. He inhaled, and the pain stabbed him like the jagged edge of a serrated blade. His breathing was rough, shallow, choking — but beneath that pain, beneath the panic of his body, something had changed.
Something so massive it pushed aside other parts of himself.
Glenn felt different. Heavier. Fuller. More awake.
"I did it," he whispered.
His voice was hoarse, cracked like a throat forced to scream for hours. But there was something new in that voice. A certainty that wasn't fragile. Not soft. A certainty born from within the darkness of his own being. Like the conviction of someone who had embraced his shadow instead of resisting it.
Dilos slowly released his shoulders, stepping half a meter back so Glenn could breathe. He stared at Glenn's face for a long moment, as if assessing something. Something rigid was forming behind his gaze. Not a physical change, but a shift in mental foundation. A new resolve.
He no longer looked like a man searching for power.
He looked like a man preparing to take whatever stood in his way.
Glenn lifted his right hand. It still trembled. His fingers were stiff and slick with cold sweat. But beneath that trembling, he felt something else. A new energy flowing under his skin, like a thin current of unstable electricity. Not tame. Not fully his yet.
But it was there.
Something ready to explode if he asked for it.
The power was there. And he knew.
He could use it to destroy.
*******
Meanwhile, in another room, Clive's group hadn't slept. Even though none of them were on the verge of death, the tension in the room wasn't something light. Not merely exhaustion. The four of them sat in a loose half-circle, like soldiers returning from a small war yet knowing a greater one waited outside the door.
Clive sat leaning against a cold stone wall. Ted sat with his arms crossed, his eyes half-open. Zorilla sat unmoving like a large boulder contemplating something. Dorde leaned back, his breathing still slightly heavy from his wounds.
Clive pulled the core from his pocket. That small blue glow pulsed softly, reflecting off their cheeks and casting shifting shadows across the wall.
No one spoke immediately. They all understood the weight of that object. A core wasn't just a gift. Not just power. A core was a choice. A core was a risk.
Clive looked at his three companions, then spoke in a low voice that cracked the silence.
"We need more than one person reaching the first stage of Coreforge."
Ted nodded slowly. Zorilla stared at the core without blinking. Dorde watched Clive, waiting for the next sentence.
"We can't rely on one person for every fight. Not just big battles. Even small ones can kill us if we're not balanced." Clive swallowed. "The last fight proved it."
Ted agreed. "Zorilla tanked the most hits. If he were stronger… we could've held out longer."
Dorde added, his tone analytical, as if he'd been thinking this through for hours. "My agility wasn't enough to influence a battle of that scale. But Zorilla's reinforced defense could change everything. And he's the toughest among us."
Clive looked at Zorilla. Zorilla looked back.
No force. No pressure. Only truth.
Zorilla remembered the last fight. How he had nearly fallen over and over. How his punches weren't heavy enough to break the bones of the smaller monsters attacking them. How he struggled just to stand.
He wanted to be stronger.
He needed to be stronger.
"I accept," Zorilla said finally.
And as he took the core from Clive's hand, he held it as if holding someone's heart. Gentle, but firm. The blue light lit his face, highlighting the hardened resolve forming beneath his expression.
Clive gave a small smile. "We'll guard your process. Just like you guarded mine."
Dorde and Ted nodded. No hesitation left.
That night, Clive's group prepared for another absorption.
*******
In a secluded room filled with carved numbers and names, four figures stood like four judges weighing someone's fate.
Raimon stood before a massive stone tablet. His eyes focused on the newly added inscription. Odvan sat slanted in his chair, his left hand tapping the wooden table — fast, irregular. Sendley leaned against a shelf, eyes half-closed. Warden Zago stood with his back to them, staring at a dark wall as if reading an unseen future.
Raimon began his report.
"The cooperation efficiency of Glenn and Clive's groups has increased to ninety-four percent. The dual-core monster was successfully killed. No internal conflict, no dispute over the core."
Odvan looked up. "Their first cooperative mission? Numbers like that… impossible for a new team."
"More than that," Raimon continued. "The absorbed cores went to Glenn and Zorilla. Glenn absorbed his while in critical condition. That should have been impossible, even with stabilization techniques."
Sendley's eyes opened fully. "And he survived."
Raimon nodded. "He reached the first stage of Coreforge."
Sendley smiled faintly. "That boy is dangerous now. The stronger someone becomes when their heart is fragile, the easier they break. And when they break, they often drag others down with them."
Zago spoke without turning. "Monitor Glenn. If his mutation index rises, intervene."
Raimon bowed slightly. "Understood."
Zago continued, now in a deeper tone. "Prepare the fourth corridor. Increase the difficulty. Add one old test subject."
The room fell silent.
Odvan finally spoke. "The old test subjects… they're still alive?"
"They aren't alive in the proper sense," Zago replied flatly. "They exist as reminders. And tomorrow, Glenn, Dilos, and Clive will see that reminder."
No one dared to respond.
*******
Zago looked at his three subordinates. His eyes were sharp, devoid of mercy.
"The fourth corridor will show whether their new strength is enough. Or whether they'll simply end up as another carving on this wall."
Raimon stared at the tablet. There were many names there. Many numbers. Many deaths counted, measured, and forgotten.
In that silence, Zago added one final sentence.
"Open the fourth corridor gate at dawn."
Everyone turned.
"Dawn," Raimon repeated, as if confirming it. "What should we do if there is… an incident?"
Zago finally turned fully toward them. His face was illuminated by the torchlight from the side, making half of it appear like a mask of shadow and light.
"Record everything. Every reaction. Every change. If any of them show signs of mutation beyond the threshold, isolate them. But do not kill them. They're still useful."
Sendley raised an eyebrow. "Useful as what? Examples of failure?"
"As reminders," Zago replied. "And sometimes, as the next test subjects. A body exposed to a core yet still alive… that's rare. That's valuable."
Odvan pressed the stump of his severed arm, a reflex he often did when thinking about uncomfortable things.
*******
Dawn arrived without sunlight.
In this underground world, dawn only meant a shift change for the guards and torches burning slightly brighter in the main corridor. But this morning, something was different in the air. A tension even those without sensitivity could feel.
Clive and his group were already awake, preparing in front of their room. Zorilla, who had successfully absorbed the core last night, was already testing his new strength by lifting a boulder that usually required two people to move.
Ted and Dorde had checked every piece of equipment, making sure nothing was damaged.
Glenn and his group appeared from the other end of the corridor. Glenn walked in front, his steps steady. Dilos followed behind him, along with the other two members who still looked exhausted but were able to walk.
When the two groups met, there was an unusual silence.
They looked at each other, and all of them could see the changes.
In Clive, there was a new calmness. Strength that had been integrated.
In Glenn, there was a new tension. Strength that had been forced.
In Zorilla, there was new density. Strength that had been hardened.
"We enter together again," Clive said, breaking the quiet.
But before they could move, two guards emerged from the darkness of the corridor. Their faces were as expressionless as usual, but this time, there was something else in their eyes. Something like… anticipation.
"The fourth corridor is open," said one of the guards. "But a warning. This corridor is different."
"Different how?" Dilos asked.
The guard looked at them one by one. "The monsters inside aren't like the others. And there is… something else. Something that used to be human."
Clive felt a cold spike run down his spine. "What do you mean?"
"You'll see for yourselves," the second guard answered. "The orders are simple: survive. And this time, you may retreat whenever you choose. You're given the freedom to stay inside or withdraw."