The time to connect the first Blazing Ether Gate to my weave had finally come. Feeding the smallest wick, resembling the first 1-Star Gate I filled a year ago, was similar to feeding any ordinary Ether Gate. If I had to name a difference, it was probably that the wick absorbed my ether infusion and altered it. Neutral ether transformed into fire-attuned ether within the Blazing Ether Gate. Once transmuted, the wick acknowledged and annexed the fire ether and continued to grow until it reached its limit.

  It was only when the first Blazing Gate could no longer expand that I noticed another difference. The wicks were spread throughout the weave’s network–that part was normal. However, these wicks were far more closely connected to the weave itself. So much so that the full Blazing Gate connected naturally to the weave. I didn’t do anything as the flame settled into the weave, leaking fire-attuned ether through my body and stimulating the weave wherever it passed. That, too, included the refined Gates.

  They leak as well? I grumbled inwardly and shifted my attention to the flame in my inner World. It responded to the fire-attuned ether flowing through my body and flickered. The World trembled, and it felt as though a bridge between the World and the weave had formed. Only traces of fire-attuned ether had flowed out of the Blazing Gate as it connected to the weave, but the ether sloshed toward the World and seeped into it on command.

  One moment, my core was filled to the brim with neutral ether, and in the next, traces of fiery ether forced their way into the already-brimming core.

  That was unexpected–and a little painful–so I hurriedly distributed the leftover ether into the second-smallest Blazing Gate. More ether entered my body, mostly remnants of the jerky I’d eaten with Soulfusion active, but at least my core was no longer strained.

  Testing what I had just experienced, I released the fire-attuned ether from my core back into the weave. I relinquished control of it and watched it flow smoothly through the weave–until I willed it back to the core.

  The response was instant. The flame in my inner World obeyed and retrieved the fire-attuned ether within me at once. It was back in my core within seconds.

  That could be useful.

  Although they leaked just like my other Gates, I could make far more use of the Blazing Gates if my assumption was correct. If the Elemental Phoenix granted me full authority over the fire-attuned ether formed within me, I could easily retract leaky fire ether and redirect it into the Blazing Gates. It might take some time to come up with the most cost-efficient method of losing as little ether as possible, but I would be able to circumvent the issue with my physique.

  Mostly–only with Blazing Ether Gates–but that was more than enough. If I wasn’t terribly mistaken, I could fill and connect all Blazing Gates with no repercussions. A minor loss of ether was expected, but it wouldn’t be nearly as bad as with the regular Ether Gates. It would be leagues better.

  Elemental ether was not a bad thing to have either. Depending on the elemental purity rating, elemental ether could amplify the power of certain traits. The destructive power of my Major Fire Aspect could reach an even greater level as I filled and connected more Blazing Gates to the weave.

  However, in the same instance, using fire-attuned ether for the Earthen Aspect would diminish that trait’s power.

  That requires some more research. If I can elevate my traits’ power with elemental ether, I need to know.

  I doubted Nullblade, Predator, or Paralyze would function more efficiently with fire-attuned ether, but it was worth researching.

  Regardless, I was more than happy with my findings. Excited at the prospects, my chest burning hot, I was ready to fill the remaining four 1-Star wicks when something caught my attention. My chest was warm. No–not warm. It didn’t hurt, but it felt as though it had been set ablaze.

  Eyes wide, I lifted my shirt, thinking I had accidentally sparked a fire. Unfortunately, that wasn’t what had happened. There was no fire, no burning clothes–though I half-wished that were the case. It would have been the far better scenario.

  But no. Nothing was ablaze except for the mark on my chest. The mark had come with the Elemental Phoenix, and it had remained unmoving ever since it was etched into my skin. Resembling a vibrant flame, it stretched halfway across my chest and reached up toward my neck. And now it looked alive. It pulsed and spread heat through my body. As pleasant as the heat was–it widened the weave’s channels–I couldn’t help but curse the mark.

  “Stop doing that shit!” I hissed.

  As always, nothing could be perfect. If it looked perfect, it wasn’t. You were simply too blind to the truth. That was what happened to me. I was too happy, too excited about the situation. Of course something had to go wrong.

  The flame etched on my chest burned vibrantly for a while. It couldn’t have been longer than a few minutes, but it felt like hours to me. Yet even as the flame died down and the mark lost its lively luster, it looked different–permanently, as I feared.

  It was more vibrant than before. Looking at it intently revealed that it wasn’t anything like a tattoo, but that wasn’t the problem. The researchers in the underground facility had already documented the mark, theorizing that my sacred flame was among the highest grades and had placed a Baptism on me upon blooming. Apparently, sacred flames did that when they reached higher Tiers.

  Putting aside the topic of sacred flames, a Baptism was permanent and rarely changed. Hence, the problem.

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  If nobody had been searching for an Elemental Phoenix, or if the researcher hadn’t taken hundreds of pictures of the mark, nobody would care if it changed. Alas, that wasn’t the case.

  The change occurred after the Blazing Gate connected to the weave, didn’t it? I sighed deeply. It could have been a coincidence, but that was unlikely.

  “Shit.” I kicked the ground with enough force to crack it open.

  One minor alteration to the mark wasn’t important. Nobody would notice anything amiss. But what about two alterations? A dozen? Someone would notice. It was inevitable.

  By then the Council would find out and realize that I did not have a sacred flame. I’d be examined again, and the Blazing Gates would be found.

  After that, it would only be a matter of hours–days if I was lucky–until Raffael Torch found me, knowing that the Emperor beast was with me.

  That meant I’d either have to hide the changes to the mark beneath the lie of “tiering up the sacred flame,” which was feasible, if a little cumbersome, or I’d have to stop filling and linking more Blazing Gates even before I could start powering through properly.

  As crucial as the decision was, I first had to understand the extent of the changes a single 1-Star Blazing Gate caused. To grasp those changes, I spent the next two days filling one more Gate and connecting a second flame to the weave. The result was minuscule, yet slightly more prominent than the first. The mark etched on my chest appeared a little bit more lifelike.

  It was not easy to recognize yet, but if I were to fill and connect the remaining 1-Star Blazing Gates, everyone who had seen my mark before would notice. Surely 2-Star Gates and higher would have an even greater effect on the mark.

  Sighing, I discarded the plan to fill all Wild, Awakened, and Evolved Blazing Gates for the time being. Instead, the regular Ether Gates became my priority as I returned to work.

  ***

  Days turned into weeks in the blink of an eye, and weeks shaped into months. Life in the Grand Camp couldn’t be more… insignificant after everything I had experienced. I spent many hours in the Sanctuary, taking care of the beasts seeking asylum from the terrors of the outside world, but the months in the Grand Camp offered little support.

  Only my friends and the young beasts–be they newborn Mirage Serpents, young but brutish Crimson Orcs, or the cubs of the Tycoon Lioness–brought me comfort. Yet that comfort diminished whenever I saw the cadets playing around, acting like life hadn’t been turned upside down for the last few months. But that was the point. Life had changed for most, but it did not affect the cadets–not in our district nor in most of the others. Only the second and ninth districts were slightly more desperate, their ranks rising quickly as they went above and beyond to grow stronger. For they had only a little time before they would return to their homes alongside the Instructors to fight the Firthar Alliance.

  News of the state of war in the second and ninth Bastions was depressing enough to transform what little comfort I had left into nothingness. The Fija and Tarthon races, both considered highly dangerous due to their high population and immense aggression–worsened further by their disregard for life–were incredibly dangerous to face. They wreaked havoc and forced mankind’s greatest forces to gather and protect the Bastions now that the Rulers could no longer stop all their advances.

  The armies were in full motion, the forums on Nexus filled with fear, anger, and a severe lack of understanding. After all, the Council tried to keep information regarding Outsider races vague–“to protect their citizens.”

  At this point, it would have been much better to come clean. Preferably about their actions against the Caldera as well, but that was wishful thinking. Nonetheless, the public had to understand how much danger we were in and to prepare for the worst-case scenario at all times.

  If I were on the Council, I would have invested more heavily in the development of the Blessed. Ensured all unblessed would receive a Soulkin and spread the knowledge of all techniques needed to empower the human race. Alas, the Council was stuck-up, filled with old pieces of shit who only thought of their own benefit–first and foremost the Ruler of Fire.

  No matter how much the public loved him, I had seen his true self, and I hated it to the core. He may have given Kazriel’s inheritance to me, may have promised to teach me if I needed guidance with the sacred flame, but all of that was just a scheme. I was sure of it.

  Raffael Torch had been seen often in the Elemental Spires in the last few months, his Molten Dragon attracting a lot of attention.

  As much as it concerned my life, I felt detached from most of the things happening around me. Well, except that my World had grown considerably, and that Nox was breaking through to the Unblemished rank. The Ferronox Mantis reached the peak of the Evolved rank two months ago, yet it took him almost until a few days before graduation to break through his racial shackles and become the strongest of his kind.

  Nox reached new heights. His power increased greatly, and he shed his exoskeleton once more, acquiring the defense of a powerful Unblemished defense-focused beast with the attack power of a mighty Minotaur. The Ferronox Mantis did not grow by more than a few centimeters, but it would be foolish to underestimate the predatory beast. His traits underwent a qualitative change as he broke through.

  But as impressive as his advancement was, the changes caused by a bond with an Unblemished beast were… lackluster. For lack of a better word, it was disappointing.

  My physique was supposed to undergo a qualitative change when Nox became an Unblemished beast. I was supposed to attain the constitution worthy of an Expert, but while there had been considerable improvements to my physique, they were not as intense as I remembered them being.

  But that was to be expected. With five filled Evolved Ether Gates–also known as 3-Star Gates–I couldn’t hope for world-shattering improvements. I was already the equivalent of a decently powerful Expert with my tempered body through Body Tempering. My Gates were more of a boon than a bane, although I had to be very careful to keep the leaks into my weave at bay nowadays.

  Anyway, my advancement to the rank of Expert was no more than a formality. I was already stronger than most, and now that Nox had advanced, the officials would naturally update my status. And now… now I was an Expert, reaching a Rank I could only dream of in the past. Yet, as powerful as Experts had always been in my eyes, it was not enough. It was far from enough.

  Reliving my youthful foolishness, I could only chuckle.

  Life in the last two years had been filled with ups and downs. And as much as I wanted to hate it, I could not help but love my life. The good events, as well as the bad ones, pushed me to strive for more– to gain the power needed to protect myself, my family, and those I held dear. Yet that, too, was only part of the truth.

  I wanted power. I wanted to see the world of Razarn, to learn more about the Outsiders, and to fix those most deemed unfixable.

  Foolish? 100%.

  Was it worth it? I had no idea.

  Maybe, maybe not. I still wanted to try.

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