Dylan remained still for a moment, his knees anchored in the still-warm soil of his inner battle. He took a deep breath. The air felt different—denser, more... saturated. Every smell, every vibration, every nuance of light struck his senses with newfound precision. As if the entire universe was breathing with him.
He slowly stood up, his legs still numb from exertion, but his body moved with a strange lightness. As if his muscles, despite the fatigue, had found a kind of harmony. His center of gravity seemed shifted—or rather… expanded. Broader. More stable.
His eyes scanned the surroundings—and what he saw was no longer the same world.
The flows were visible now. Not with his physical eyes, but with a deeper, subtler, almost instinctive perception. Currents of energy snaked through the stones, the trees, the air itself. Threads of light, barely perceptible, pulsed in rhythm with a heartbeat only the awakened could hear.
A breeze passed, and Dylan shivered—not from cold, but from clarity.
The wind carried information.
The direction of the flows. The tension in the area.
Even emotions left hanging in the traces of footsteps.
He walked.
His feet barely touched the ground, as if he could sense exactly where to place each step before his body moved. His hearing was so sharp he could make out the resonance of his own heartbeat against the stones. And somewhere, in the distance, a raven's cry echoed like a muffled alarm.
He stopped cold.
His eyes instinctively traced the source, as if paths were opening to him and all he had to do was follow them.
As a soldier, Dylan had learned to sharpen his senses, but not to this extent.
He felt like a stranger in his own body.
He couldn't help but smile. He turned his head toward Maggie. She was already standing. Her eyes were fixed on Dylan—or so it seemed—for she didn't appear to see this world at all. As if she were still trapped in her meditation, despite being upright.
Dylan slowly approached, careful not to startle her, then made his way to Élisa, still sitting near the fire, devouring what remained of the roasted meat.
"At least she's staying normal through all this."
Dylan stepped closer to Élisa, his eyes still glowing with that new perception dancing around him. She briefly looked up from her meal, a small smirk on her lips, and silently handed him a piece of meat.
He took it, accepted it, but didn't take a bite.
"I saw the flows. I still feel them. Like… the world just took off a mask." He spoke softly, as if afraid of breaking something fragile inside him.
Élisa nodded calmly.
"The awakening of perception. That's the first step." She chewed slowly, then added, pointing a finger to her temple,
"Three steps in total: first, perception. Then, the formation of the spiritual core. And finally, the engraving of the stigmata."
Dylan frowned slightly.
"So I actually succeeded in the first step?"
"Yes, but…" She paused.
"For many, this is the awakening. Because it's the moment the body truly becomes aware of the soul. A fine, subtle harmony between the two. The rest is just consolidation."
Dylan looked at his hands. He clenched his fists.
"I feel like I've doubled, maybe even tripled in strength. But… my body responds with a slight delay. Like it's still trying to understand."
Élisa let out a soft breath through her nose.
"That's why I said you need a trained body. Otherwise, the spiritual essence ends up destroying from within. Too much power, not enough structure to contain it."
She put down the rest of the meat, wiped her mouth, and continued in a more technical tone:
"Spiritual essence acts like a limit breaker. If the body's trained, it enhances the process and boosts efficiency. And if you hone your senses, they too can grow endlessly. You've got a solid foundation now. Time to forge it."
A soft rustle interrupted their exchange.
Maggie had quietly approached. She sat beside them without a word, her gaze calm but hungry for answers. Her impassive demeanor had given way to a flicker of restrained curiosity.
Élisa raised a brow with a smirk.
"Ah. So the topic does interest you."
Maggie slowly nodded.
"I was half-present. But now, I want to hear the rest."
---
Without them needing to ask a single question, Élisa continued, almost with a mischievous smile, as if reading their thoughts.
"Now that you've reached the first step, I'm guessing you're curious about the other two, right?"
She glanced at Maggie, then at Dylan, before stretching slightly, her fingers laced behind her neck.
"Well… now that your bodies are aware of your souls, the spiritual essence becomes a kind of fuel. A link that flows between the two and powers them."
She straightened up, more seriously.
"To form the spiritual core, you'll need to repeat what you just experienced… but on a whole other level. You must saturate your bodies and souls entirely with spiritual essence. Immerse yourselves in it until it overflows. And eventually… I don't know exactly how, but the core begins to form. Like a crystal born under pressure, deep inside you."
She paused, her gaze lost in the campfire flames.
"And the engraving of the stigmata… that's even more obscure. You can't force it. It awakens. It takes shape from the soul's deep understanding of itself and its true nature."
She shrugged, almost fatalistically.
"For some, it's immediate. For others, it takes years. Sometimes, it never happens. You have to understand your soul—not just feel it. That's where many fail."
Maggie frowned slightly.
"And you?"
Élisa turned to her, smiled faintly.
"I never reached perception. I guess the anima gems you gave me weren't enough."
Dylan shook his head gently and finally bit into his meat, grateful for her explanations. Honestly, without her, they wouldn't stand a chance in this forest...
What would we have done without her? he thought, chewing without restraint.
Probably die fighting one of the hobgoblin villages… or get caught up in their war. Worse still: end up as offerings to the Hystrix—especially if they'd had the bad idea of heading to the elven village where Élisa came from.
His gaze shifted to Maggie, who was joining them for a second round of food. This time, she seemed more enthusiastic, as if the effort of awakening had left her famished.
He glanced at Élisa and smiled.
"Let's say you'll reach that step soon. If it's anima gems you're missing, we can get more easily now that we're stronger."
Élisa smiled back… but with that look a parent gives a child speaking dreamy nonsense.
"Dylan… if only you knew how many high-ranked demonic beasts live in this forest… Even if you reached the stigmata engraving, you couldn't even hold their gaze. That confidence of yours would vanish instantly."
She tilted her head slightly, as if to make sure he grasped the weight of her words.
"You see, the Hystrix is a second-rank demonic beast, and a hundred awakened warriors from my clan couldn't even get close to it. Still feeling confident?"
She chuckled softly, almost mockingly.
"And by the way, all those hobgoblins you've killed so far… they weren't even first-rank, haha."