Before he could continue his experimentation, he heard a voice behind him.
“If you keep slacking off, you might be trapped here forever.” Eric turned around.
A young man stood behind him, dressed entirely in black.
His eyes were green, but his pupils resembled orbs of deep darkness.
And his soul… There was none.
He was like a walking corpse.
Curious, Eric extended several threads of his soul toward the man to examine his body.
But before they could reach him, they suddenly disintegrated.
Eric instinctively stepped back.
This man was his natural enemy.
The strange man smiled and took a step forward.
“Quite a predictable reaction from a Child of the Life God.” His smile widened.
“But I am merely a vessel of Death.
You should save that reaction for when you meet the children of the Shadow God.” His dark pupils seemed to deepen.
“They are the true embodiment of death itself.” The man then transformed into a familiar black wolf before returning to his human form.
“Night Hunter,” Eric called, his expression filled with relief.
“What do you mean you’re just a vessel and not the actual thing?
I still don’t sense any sign of life from you,” Eric asked, confused.
Hunter was annoyed.
Hadn’t Eric just learned that human cultivators and beasts were fundamentally different?
Nevertheless, he answered his question.
“Have you forgotten what the Mistress told you?
Humans don’t simply gain control over their elements.
They become one with them.
Though I don’t like to admit it, beasts are a lesser representation of their elements.” Eric nodded in understanding.
Just like him, they had to shed their mortal bodies and become a true embodiment of their element.
“Wait…
does that mean they have to die to awaken?” Eric asked.
Hunter nodded.
“For most cultivators, no.
They destroy their mortal bodies, but that doesn’t mean they die.
Their souls remain, and as long as the soul remains, so does Life.” Eric’s eyes widened slightly.
“But Shadow cultivators are different,” Hunter continued.
“Shadow represents Death.
Those who possess its bloodline must destroy their own souls to become true Shadow.
And when the soul is destroyed, Life disappears with it.” Eric fell silent as the meaning of Hunter’s words sank in.
“Then…
what I did was the opposite.” Hunter glanced at him.
“Exactly.
You destroyed the fragment of Shadow within you—the representation of Death—and became a true Child of Life.” Eric instinctively looked down at the shadow beneath his feet.
“Then why can I still cast a shadow?” Hunter sighed.
“That is merely the absence of light.
It has nothing to do with the Shadow you destroyed.” Eric nodded slowly.
“I understand.” “Good.
Now get back to swinging.
and don’t rest on” Eric picked up the glowing sword.
His body crackled with electric current as he swung it with all his might.
As his hands began to ache, his soul healed the damage at the cost of itself.
It then converted mana into breath and absorbed it.
Even though his soul was constantly absorbing breath to replace what had been expended, it was still being consumed.
As his soul gradually became paler, his body also began to adjust.
His body constantly flickered as its structure changed, instinctively creating a balance between him and the sword.
The sword did not become lighter, nor did Eric become stronger.
Instead, his body simply developed a natural balance with the weapon.
His bones protested, and his muscles groaned with every movement.
Even when he reached his tenth swing, he refused to stop.
He could feel it.
He was getting closer to his goal.
On his twentieth swing, his body finally reached a fixed state.
Eric suddenly felt the balance between himself and the sword become perfect.
The weapon no longer felt like something he was holding.
It felt like an extension of his own body.
Then, without warning, the sword disintegrated into countless sparks of electricity.
Eric fell to the floor, gasping for air.
Night Hunter smiled and began clapping enthusiastically.
“Good, good.
You have passed the first phase of your training,” he said, still clapping.
Eric looked at him and grinned.
“You bet I did.” He then looked down at his hands.
“But I don’t know why the sword disintegrated, though,” Eric said, confused.
“Don’t worry.
That was the Mistress’s doing.
The goal was for the sword to become an extension of your body, not just a tool,” he clarified.
Eric crossed his legs and began absorbing the breath derived from the mana around him.
His soul was constantly regaining its luster.
“Now absorb that energy into your body, not your soul,” Hunter suddenly said.
Eric opened his eyes and shot him a confused look.
“Do you want to remain an Awakened forever?” Hunter asked.
“Of course not,” he replied.
“Then do what I tell you.” Eric complied and began absorbing mana directly into his bloodstream.
The breath mixed with his blood like a welcomed guest before slowly seeping toward the center of his chest.
More and more breath gathered there until a ball of gas was formed.
Eric remained in that state for an entire day, continuously converting mana into breath and absorbing it into the ball.
Eventually, the mass of breath became so large that he had to force it to condense into a drop of greenish liquid.
“Keep going.
Don’t stop there,” Hunter’s words resounded in his ears.
So he didn’t.
Eric compressed the liquid with his will, but it resisted him.
He then formed a static field around it.
He might not be able to control lightning yet, but the lightning constituting his body was his own.
He could control it to some extent.
The static field pressed against the liquid as Eric exerted his will upon it.
The liquid finally gave in.
It shrank and shrank until it became a deep, dark greenish solid.
It was no larger than a grain of sand.
Yet despite its tiny size, it actively drew mana into itself, converted it into breath, and sent it into Eric’s body, giving him a microscopic boost.
Eric opened his eyes and found Hunter staring at him with a focused gaze.
“What is that?” Eric asked.
“That will be your second core, at least when it reaches the size of a fist.
Once completed, it will raise your body and soul to the Ascended realm and activate your soul sea,” he replied.
“So the first core was meant to establish the structure of my body, while the second is meant to raise my rank?” Eric asked.
Hunter nodded.