Master!

A sudden loud scream filled his room.

The mind of Ethan White turned clearer. The fog in his thoughts was disappearing. He could feel the pain in his entire body, but his attention was centered on the scream.

'What was that scream?' Ethan White was sure that he was alone in the room. While being in his previous painful state, he was too focused on the agony to hear his mother in the door. But now that he could think, he was sure that his mother did not enter the room.

Nevertheless, the burning ache did not go away. Ethan White wanted to think more about the screech that assaulted his ears, but he had to get back to focus on his breathing. Inhale and exhale. This was what the Sovereign of Light, his master, told him to do.

Ethan White had to focus on the path the air had to cross to reach his lungs. This made him expand his lungs manually by his thoughts, inhaling the various gases in the open, reaching his insides.

The relaxation this action brought to him, made him forget about the pain temporality. However, the Heart Core was still on his belly. The aching on his abdomen was enough to throw him out of focus again. The breathing exercise could not help him absorb the Stellar Energy. Its usefulness was to make him ignore the pain with the aim to avoid any trouble to happen.

Anxious, Ethan White decided to try again to move his hands toward the feathered orb. The brief lapses in his concentration would increase the soaring pain, but he was reminding himself that he needed to suffuse the Stellar Energy irradiated by the Heart Core.

Slowly but surely, Ethan White's hands reached the borderlines of the sphere, getting a warm feeling in his palms. He still could feel the pain in his fingers, and he was beginning to suspect they were broken. However, the flames in his bowels were not appeased in the slightest. Ethan White could hold up the pain, but he was worried about the Stellar Energy being too much to absorb by his body.

But Ethan White was undervaluing his Stellar Body. This kind of body was special, having the highest affinity with the Stellar Energy. The absorption was painful but steady, and a few hours later, the remains of the Heart Core were a marble in his hands.

Fortunately for him, the tiny size of the orb made his hands keep it in the air, not touching his belly anymore. The burn sensation dissipated throughout his entire body, making him sweat more than before, but it was less painful.

Ethan White could feel his body getting stronger, his breathing taking apart the air in his room. He felt excited, wanting to absorb the rest of the Heart Core quickly, to be able to go out to check his newfound strength. But Ethan White knew that he could not afford to get distracted in his thoughts, even if the pain was lower than before.

A Heart Core was the culmination of a vital organ filled up with Stellar Energy, changing its form to adapt to the wielder. The exorbitant amount of Stellar Energy in a sole Heart Core was enough to make a whole house explode.

A few hours later, the tiny orb was turning into dust. Ethan White knew that the absorption was a success. It was long and tedious, mainly caused by a large amount of pain he had to go through. But he was aware that only a few minutes were left for the sphere to turn completely into dust, ending today's suffering.

Suddenly, Ethan White heard a shriek. The howl filled his head, making his ears hurt.

"Who is screaming in my room?" said Ethan White with a loud voice, veins being visible on his neck. His eyes were wide open, his ears dripping blood. The Heart Core in his palm was almost turned to dust.

Ethan White glanced around his room, but he could see no one else than him there.

'What? It is impossible.'

He was sure that he heard someone crying loudly next to his ear. He even interrupted the absorption process when it was almost ending solely because he was sure there was someone else in his room.

Fortunately for him, the backslash of interrupting the process was not harmful. The entire Heart Core was already turned into dust, and his body was absorbing the remains of Stellar Energy. It was an amount his body could bear, even more after his body got stronger.

Ethan White had the feeling that the first one was the hardest. After getting his body to be stronger, the absorption process would be less painful, allowing the process to go smoothly.

He was sure that if he got another Heart Core right now, he could absorb the sphere in a couple of hours with little effort.

Ignoring the weird things happening to him, Ethan White decided to finish absorbing the Stellar Energy in the Core and consult his master later on about the things which happened during the process.

He only took fifteen minutes to absorb the remains of the Heart Core. After finishing, Ethan White wanted to go out and test his strength. He felt excited, but he also felt tired. All his body was aching, but fortunately for him, the pain seemed alike to beetles massaging his muscles.

Ethan White had the feeling that he would be even stronger if he took a moment to rest his body. Thrilled, he had to stop himself from moving, keeping still. Ethan White laid on the bed for fifteen minutes until he fell asleep.

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"Chirp chirp chirp" A couple of birds chirped next to a window. Their nest was between a roof tile and a window's frame, on the roof of a tall human house. They were bringing worms and some rest of unidentified food to their squabs.

It was dawn. The first rays of sunlight were going through the window glass and into the room.

The room was square, plainly decorated. A door faced the half-open window, a double bed accompanied by a nightstand on its left, and with a swivel chair on its right, facing a desk with a laptop computer above. The wooden floor exquisitely matched a bookshelf with lots of fantasy books. A few of the cleanest books on the shelf had their name being visible: "The Stellar Games", "The Lord of the Cores: The Return of the Sovereign", "Heartcraft"...

"Yawnnnnn, what a good sleep." said a white-haired young man. He was already nearing his eighteen. He was used to being skinny, with no muscles. Then, The First Descend appeared and the Stellar Age came. Now, his body had marked muscles in every zone.

Nevertheless, he was still weak. At this age, one only could call himself strong if he was an Ascended, having the ability to support his statement. Muscles were useless since every Ascended had them, and near half of the people in the World were Ascenders already.

Now, being healthy was the norm. Stellar Energy brought more than bigger strength and abilities. It also made the body able to fight against any kind of virus or bacteria. It became famous in the news, an article about a powerful and worldwide country having to close its biological warfare research facilities.

In this new age, the people did not even have to worry about malnutrition either. Stellar Energy was absorbed by breathing, and it was also giving nutrients to the body.

A golden era called the Stellar Age was starting. If it was not for Earth being at war with an alien civilization, everything would be perfect.

This was what a young man with two blazing suns for eyes thought. The young man was obviously Ethan White.

Ethan White today took the first step toward the world of the powerful. The world of conquering worlds, destroying stars, and becoming the ruler of galaxies!

'Wait, would I say "today"? I do not even know what hour it is…'

'''It is six o'clock in the morning. You slept two entire days, young man.''' A voice assaulted his mind.

Excited, Ethan White could not contain his words. 'Master! I missed you dearly all these months! Your disciple had behaved well and finally absorbed a Heart Core. I almost died, but your beloved disciple could pull it on and be successful!' Proudly said Ethan White in his mind.

He was proud of himself, and he wanted to make his master even more proud. His entire mind was filled with images of his master congratulating him and giving him gifts. Maybe any of these gifts was the Heart Core of a Monarch… because well, Monarchs also had to have Heart Cores, right?

But the reality was disappointing.

'''Master? Who is your master? In any case, you would be my master.'''

'Wait, what?' Ethan White was shocked. He could not help but suddenly blurt these words into his mind.