Chapter 21

(Cyrus POV)

After my father and I got back to our quarters and ate, he immediately left, heading back to the astral gate to talk to Adam. Left alone, I decided to do what I've always done with my downtime: train. Rested, with my mind and body brought back to equilibrium, I focused on refilling my celestial core. Now that it had almost doubled in size, the process of filling it took longer than before.

With a larger pool of cosmic energy to draw from, the effect of the cosmic energy leak started to feel a little less debilitating. I could hear my father's voice in the back of my mind: "You can't be reckless with your power." It's hard to follow those directions sometimes. He mistakes my recklessness for drive and determination to get stronger. He knows why I push myself so hard; he knows what my goal is—and honestly, it should be his goal too.

I don't know why he doesn't see things the way I do... I took a deep breath and pushed those thoughts away. I don't need resentment for my father clouding my mind right now. We're just trying to survive and escape this hellhole of a continent.

Once my core was filled to its new peak level, I decided to head into my nexus. Slowing my breath and centering my mind, I astral-projected back into my private oasis.

Upon arriving in my nexus, I didn't waste time floating around like last time—I wasn't trying to have Dox lecture me again. For just being a glowing orb in my personal dimension, he has quite the personality. As the manifestation of the Pardoxen constellation, he's not one to mince words. "I wonder if there's a similar manifestation of Solaris in Dad's and Grandpa's nexuses," I thought as I drifted toward Dox and the stellar pathway.

Dox activated, brimming with life once more.

"I take it you're ready to challenge the resonance trial again?" he asked.

"What gave it away?" I replied sarcastically.

"Your core has grown in size, and you want to test it out."

"So you've been spying on me, huh, Dox?"

"I sense everything that involves you. We are forever connected by that tattoo of yours."

"Alright, since you put it that way, I guess it's not spying. But yes, I've come to take the trial again," I said, activating the runes on my stellar pathway. I was transported to the Pool of Reflections, where the humanoid shapes made of stardust awaited me once more.

"You may begin," Dox informed me.

Immediately, I poured all but a small bit of my cosmic energy into my astral tattoo. The explosive rush of energy was like being hit by a roaring tidal wave. It was much harder to control compared to the last time I dumped my cosmic energy into the first rune. Using my breathwork to guide myself, I visualized the expansion of my gravitational field. With each exhale, I felt my field push farther and farther.

Managing so many elements at once felt like an eternity, though in reality, only a few seconds had passed. When I finally opened my eyes, I saw that the humanoid stardust structure had changed colors, glowing with a radiant magenta light.

"Congratulations. You've reached the first target. Your current max output is seven and a half meters," Dox stated.

Excitement surged through me, but I knew I still had a lot of work ahead. I had to continue growing my core to pass this test and unlock the other abilities tied to the first rune.

"Dox, how much does my core need to grow to pass this test?" I asked, plopping my astral body into the Pool of Reflections to catch my breath.

"You would need to reach the upper limit that your embryonic stage core can obtain. For someone like you, with a black hole celestial core, that means growing it to the peak mass of a primordial black hole," Dox replied.

"How big is that, exactly?"

"The equivalent of a mountain."

"What?!"

"Yes. The mass you must absorb would be equivalent to a mountain. The difference in mass between a stage one core and a stage two core is twentyfold."

"So, it looks like I've got a lot of hunting to do," I said, thinking aloud. "This is going to be a pain—I'm not strong enough to take out a stage two astral behemoth on my own."

"It appears so," Dox said, its orb flickering. That's when I noticed Dox had grown—roughly twice the size it was last time. "He must reflect the evolution of my core," I thought, analyzing him further.

After sitting in the Pool of Reflections for a while, an idea struck me.

"Hey, Dox, have you sensed the cosmic batteries in this town?"

"Yes. They are strong concentrations of cosmic energy."

"Would you consider them cosmic bodies that I could absorb?"

"Yes, but they are raw and unrefined compared to a core from a human or an astral behemoth. There is only a small chance it would work."

"But it could work?"

"Correct."

"Alright, that's all I needed to hear. I'll see you later, Dox."

Leaving my nexus, I was eager to see if Adam would let me use the batteries. Returning to my physical body, I realized there might be a slight wrench in my plan—my father. He was already opposed to Adam using the batteries for mining. "Let's just hope he has a change of heart," I thought.