Hadeon was standing a few meters away from crimson cactus trees that looked like someone had painted the green cacti red and set them on fire.
The temperature around him had drastically increased, making him uncomfortable as beads of sweat formed all over his body.
Hadeon, after pondering for a few seconds, finally decided to set his foot in the burning forest.
The red cactus trees were giants, reaching over thirty feet. Their stems were wide and protected by foot-long thorns, with violet leaves and inflorescences sitting on top, decorating the shoot.
The whole place was filled with nothing but this extinct breed of lifeform; the ground was cracking, baked red like bricks.
He carefully studied the cracks as he saw crimson flames rising from the chasms.
’’Truly unbelievable! To think a tree could survive and adapt to this temperature.’’ Hadeon admired the cactus’s resilience to fire.
Hadeon silently entered the core of the crimson forest as the temperature slowly started to increase. His crimson hair caught on fire and started to burn, producing a foul sulphur-like smell.
He stopped.
In the next second, he was standing near a red cactus; he gently touched the upper layer of the stem as it felt more like leather than something hard like bark.
First, he removed all the black thorns forming a small circle.
Using his stick as a spear, he struck the hard, leathery crimson stem of the cactus with all his strength.
*Thud*
The bark of the crimson tree started to chip away slowly under the constant barrage of the stick.
-ONE-
’This thing is tough!’ He thought as he struck the leathery stem once again with more force.
-TEN-
*Exhale*
-THIRTY-
*Inhale*
Hadeon was sweating profusely under the high labour and temperature, but he kept punching the cactus with his obsidian stick.
Even the filthy stick’s corners had been damaged slightly because of the constant banging on the cactus.
*Hmpphh*
-FIFTY-
Finally, after striking the wood almost fifty times, a small rupture appeared.
’’Fuck! I should have sharpened the stick first. Who knew harvesting the crimson sap would be this hard?!’’ Hadeon cursed.
He watched red liquid pour out of the small hole he had just created.
He quickly covered it with his mouth as he drank the red sap, not wasting a single drop of it.
A fragrance hit his nasal passages as it entered his mouth; it didn’t smell like anything he had ever experienced, nor did it taste like anything he had ever eaten.
The closest thing he could think of was a juice of pomegranate and apple mixed in a perfect ratio, not too tangy, not too sweet
The smell reminded him of lime leaves and rose. It was one of the nicest things he had ever smelled too.
As if enchanted by it, he found himself drinking the sap like a man who hadn’t drunk anything in a week.
The sap entered his stomach as it started to burn his insides, but soon he found a warm sensation spreading from his chest; it reached his stomach as another wave of pleasure spread across his whole body.
His soul core was resonating with the fluid he had just consumed.
The next moment, the feminine voice rejoiced in his mind.
< You have consumed 100ml of Crimson Flame Cactus Sap!>
< Your body has grown resistant to high temperatures!>
< Your affinity with flames has increased slightly!>
Hadeon, thrilled by the status notification, began to drink more of it.
The sound of the system kept ringing quietly in his head.
< You have consumed 300ml of Crimson Sap!>
< You have consumed 700ml of crimson Sap!>
< You have consumed 300.....
After a while, he received some new messages.
< Your flames have grown stronger!>
< Congratulations, Host! Your heat resistance is increased by one level.>
< Your heat resistance is increased by one level.>
Heat Resistance (Lvl.3)
Hadeon, after sucking the tree dry, finally let go of it, looking disappointed by the next messages that had appeared, reminding him of harsh reality.
< Your body has gained resistance against the Crimson Sap! The effects will be diminished in the future.>
< Consume different resources to boost your affinity and resistance.>
Either way, he was too full to care; his stomach was now round and his torn leather jacket stained with red.
After gaining heat resistance, he found that his body no longer resorted to sweating under the high temperature.
It didn’t feel uncomfortable at all, even after he was sitting near a chasm that was emitting crimson flames.
He opened his status to examine the new section that had appeared below the core affinity.
×××××××××××××××××××
Name: Hadeon Rhenson
Title: [ Regressor ] [ Anomaly ] [ Ashborne ]
Tier: Awakened; Level: 05
Core Grade: Extraordinary
Core Affinity: [ Flame; superior] [ Soul; flawed ]
Resistance: Heat (lvl.3)
Talent: [ Pyromancy ]
Acquired Skill:
Enhanced Flame Ball (lvl.1)
Spirit Imprint: [ Sacred Samadhi Flame; innate]
Spirit Relic: None
Spirit Summon: None
××××××××××××××××××××
’Finally, I don’t have to worry about burns while using my skills.’ Hadeon sighed as he looked at his right hand.
There was a burn mark on his palm, though it had already started to heal.
Using a flame ball skill didn’t cause any problem, but he wasn’t using a normal one; he was using an enhanced version of the flame ball that he had created using his past knowledge.
By spinning the ball of flame on its axis, one can make it consume more spirit energy and thus make it burn brighter with hotter flames.
After experimenting with the enhanced flame ball for days in the desert, he had noticed he could only use it seven times before completely depleting his spirit energy.
Spirit energy was a source of all magical abilities for any awakened creature drawn from their soul core. The stronger you become, the more spirit energy you would possess in your soul core.
The stronger the abilities you have, the more spirit energy it would consume to use.
So having a large pool and fast recovery was a very necessary thing for any awakened.
That’s why the status had differentiated the cores into seven grades based on the amount of spirit energy and recovery rate, the flawed core being at the bottom and flawless at the top.
Anyone with a flawless grade soul core could fight for hours without depleting it, even as a newly Awakener because of the fast recovery and large pool of spirit energy.
Hadeon closed his status and shook his head. He only had an extraordinary grade soul core.
He had to be careful of using his abilities and not depleting them all at once.
He cannot just throw a hundred flame balls at his enemies. He had to fight carefully, or he might find himself cornered one day.