The road stretched before them in winding paths of dirt and stone, the morning air crisp enough to sting the lungs.

Arden led with the map in hand, his finger occasionally tracing the lines and markings that guided their route.

"We keep east until the river bend," he said without slowing, eyes flicking between the parchment and the land around them. "From there it's another day's walk before we hit the first marker."

Rael cracked his neck with a grin. "Plenty of time for a warm-up then. These arms aren't just for carrying packs, you know."

Nyra raised a brow. "You call flailing around your fist training?"

"Hey, it works. You've seen me land hits."

"Accidentally," she replied dryly.

Arden chuckled, folding the map. "Save the argument for the beasts. They won't mind listening."

It didn't take long for the first ambush. A pair of tusked boars burst from the undergrowth, foam dripping from their mouths.

Rael's grin widened as he met the first charge head-on, his new conduit sparking alive along his arms. Lightning bled into the steel of his gauntlet, and with one swing of his fist split the air in a crack that sent the beast tumbling.

"See? Not an accident!" he shouted over the squeal.

The second boar circled, aiming for Nyra. She stepped forward calmly, the frostwoven threads around her hands glowing as they pulled the air taut.

A gust of chilled wind whipped forward, slowing the boar's charge before shards of ice sealed its legs to the earth. She finished it with a short incantation, a spear of frozen air piercing through.

Rael whistled. "Cold as ever."

Nyra didn't look at him, only brushed frost from her sleeve. "Efficiency isn't cold. It's survival."

Zephyra leapt from the side, her claws striking the last struggling boar with a fiery burst that scattered sparks through the brush. She growled low, not in words, but the pride in her strike was clear enough.

Arden stayed back, watching them with a half-smile. "Not bad. You're getting used to those gifts already."

Rael wiped sweat from his brow, grinning ear to ear. "Feels like I've got juice to spare now. Before, mixing lightning and ice would've strained me a bit. Now? I can keep attacking longer than before."

Nyra gave a small nod. "The weave makes my channels flow smoother. No wasted time."

Arden tapped the map against his leg. "Then keep testing yourselves. We've got days ahead, might as well use the road for training."

And so it became their routine. Beasts came, sometimes in twos, sometimes in packs, but none stood a chance.

Each fight became less about survival and more about refinement. Rael tested combinations of lightning bursts and frost arcs, laughing when he managed to chain them without burning out.

Nyra grew faster, her spells weaving one into another with little pause, frost following wind, shield flowing into strike. Zephyra's claws flared brighter with every battle, fire and wind swirling together as though her blood had learned a new rhythm.

They fought and bantered in equal measure.

"Don't hog all the fun, Rael," Arden called once, when Rael had already flattened three lizards before anyone else moved.

"Sorry," Rael shouted back, clearly not sorry. "They like me!"

Nyra muttered, "More like they see easy prey."

Evenings were calmer. They shared meals from the packs they had bought in Caelum, smoked fish, dried fruit, bread thick enough to last. Rael always ate twice as much as anyone else, which drew Nyra's glares, but Arden let it slide with a smirk.

Afterward their meals, each settled into cultivation. Rael and Nyra drained the last of their vials, pushing their cores further.

The results were clear. Their auras grew denser by the day, the barrier to the next realm thinning faster than either had expected.

Arden's evenings were different. While the others closed their eyes to cultivate, he sat with the crimson parasite bloom in his hand, studying its pulse. It throbbed with unstable vitality, its energy prickling his skin like fire pressed against nerves.

Rael noticed one night and frowned. "Still poking that thing? you'd burn yourself sooner or later."

Arden shrugged. "That's half the point."

Nyra opened her eyes, her tone flat. "You won't get anything stable from it. It's poison."

Arden only smirked. "Or it's wasted potential. Poison's just medicine in the wrong dose."

They exchanged looks but didn't press further. Arden had that way of speaking, half careless, half sharp, as though he'd already decided the risk was his alone.

But when the others slept, he experimented.

The bloom's energy rushed into him the first time he let it, a flood of raw essence too wild to control.

His veins seared, his chest locked, and for a heartbeat he thought he'd lose himself. Only by flaring the Lotus Core Bloom did he survive, forcing the energy into order. Sweat poured from him, his pulse hammering.

"Too much," he muttered to himself, breath ragged. "Like swallowing fire and venom at once."

The second attempt was more cautious. He activated the Lotusfang Aegis within him, its stabilizing flow dulling the sharpest edges.

He let the bloom bleed essence slowly, a trickle instead of a flood. His circuits screamed, but he endured, moving his body to trigger the Feedback Loop.

The exertion burned away parts of the corruption, leaving behind fragments of clean vitality.

Bit by bit, he learned. The bloom wasn't refining anything, it just consumed and expelled in endless hunger.

But his body wasn't a parasite. His core refined by nature. If he set the pace, if he filtered the flow through his circuits, he could make it docile.

Another night, Nyra woke and found him pale, gripping his arm as the veins glowed faintly red. "You're reckless," she said quietly.

Arden smirked through the pain. "Reckless, or stubborn enough to make it work?"

She didn't answer, only watched until his breathing steadied again.

By the fifth night, he found balance. The bloom pulsed, but its rhythm no longer overpowered his. His circuits carried the essence, refining it piece by piece, like turning rough ore into clean steel. His core absorbed it, a new vitality weaving into his life energy.

The next morning, he walked lighter, his grin sharper. Rael raised a brow. "You look like a man who just won a bet no one knew about."

"Maybe I did," Arden replied, patting the pouch where the bloom rested.

Days passed like that, travel by day, training through battle, cultivation by night.

The closer they came to the mission site, the stronger they felt. The path itself became proof of their growth, each fight a marker of how far they had come.

A/N:

Today is my birthday!!! Please show some love with your Gifts😭❤..

Vote for me with Powerstones, and Golden Tickets.

Don't leave out the Gifts.. it's been a really tough month.. I really need the motivation.🤲🏽🥺💔

But Also, Engage by leaving Comments and Reviews.

Thanks for the support thus far really 🔥.

But i still do need more support and motivation this end of month! Please!!!! Your Gifts is very well appreciated...❤

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