Chapter 14: Stabilizing the Spark

Eli sat at the kitchen table, deep in thought, staring into his cup of tea. The gentle warmth from the tea was soothing, but something bothered him. Boiling water took too long. Each experiment required waiting, and Eli knew he needed something faster—something that could give him results in real time.

He thought back to his previous experiment, where the room had changed when the mint leaves burned and their essence had released into the air. Maybe fire was the answer.

His eyes widened with excitement. Fire could extract essence quickly, but what if he combined the essences of different plants over an open flame? He glanced around the kitchen and spotted a candle on the table, its small flame flickering gently. Nearby, several of his mother's plants sat on the windowsill, waiting to be tested.

Without hesitation, Eli grabbed two plants—mint and lion's mane mushroom—and carefully held them over the fire.

As the mint and lion's mane mushroom began to burn, a thin trail of smoke rose into the air, but it wasn't the smoke that caught Eli's attention—it was the small sparks of essence that appeared in the smoke, flickering briefly before collapsing in on themselves.

Eli's heart raced. The tiny sparks were proof that the essence of the plants was being released, but they weren't stable. Why was the essence collapsing? He frowned, his excitement giving way to frustration.

He thought back to how his ring would lose energy if he didn't finish its upgrade. Was this the same thing? Was the essence of the plants incomplete, unable to maintain its form?

Eli decided to test more plants, burning different combinations to see if he could create a more stable spark. But no matter what he tried, the sparks would flicker and fade, disappearing as quickly as they appeared.

He even tried mixing three different plants together, but some combinations would prevent the sparks from forming altogether, while others created new, more unstable sparks. Nothing was working.

Just when Eli was about to give up, something strange happened. A fly buzzed through the kitchen, zipping past the candle flame and through one of the forming sparks.

Eli gasped as he watched the spark attach itself to the fly, clinging to its tiny body. The fly slowed down, its movements becoming sluggish, almost as if the spark was feeding on its energy to sustain itself.

What was that?

Eli's eyes widened as he realized what was happening. The spark had stabilized, feeding off the fly's energy. But before he could observe it further, the spark flickered out, and the fly zipped away, returning to its normal speed.

Eli's mind raced with possibilities. The spark had maintained its form when it came into contact with the fly's energy. Was that the key? Could living creatures help stabilize the essence?

An idea formed in Eli's mind. He dashed downstairs, grabbing a small beaker from his father's workshop. His father, who was busy working on one of his projects, gave him a curious look as Eli hurried back upstairs.

"What's going on with him?" his father muttered to himself, shaking his head before returning to his work.

Eli ran outside into the garden, shovel in hand, his heart pounding with excitement. He spotted an anthill by the edge of the yard and carefully dug out a small portion, collecting several ants in the beaker.

Back in the kitchen, Eli placed a mesh over the top of the beaker, turning it upside down and positioning it over the flame. The ants scurried inside, unaware of the experiment they were about to become part of.

Eli placed the mint and lion's mane mushroom over the fire again, watching closely as the smoke rose into the beaker. The first few sparks fizzled out like before, but then—it happened.

A spark formed inside the beaker, but this time, it didn't collapse. Instead, it attached itself to one of the ants. Eli's eyes widened in amazement as he watched the spark jump from one ant to another, its glow flickering as it moved between them.

The spark would burn brightly for a moment, then dim as it leaped to the next ant, but it never disappeared. It was stable. Eli had finally managed to create a stable spark of essence, and it was moving between the ants, feeding on their energy.

He could hardly believe his eyes. He had done it—he had stabilized a supernatural spark.

Eli jumped for joy, his heart soaring. This was more than just a small experiment—this was a breakthrough in his understanding of essence. Living creatures could sustain the energy, and now that he had discovered it, there was no telling what he could do next.

Eli couldn't contain his excitement. He had stumbled upon something extraordinary, something no one else knew. Essence could be stabilized by living energy, and now that he had found a way to keep the sparks alive, the possibilities were endless.

He watched the ants for a while longer, marveling at how the spark continued to move between them, never fading. The discovery filled him with a sense of accomplishment, but also curiosity. What else could essence fuse with? Could it be used to enhance not just living creatures, but objects, like his ring?

Eli's mind raced with ideas. He had unlocked a new layer of his powers, but there was still so much more to learn.

For now, though, he was content to watch the sparks dance between the ants, knowing that this was only the beginning.