"Fine. I'll tell you."

  They were back at Nexus. Shogai had just reported the successful mission, and Kiara had gone to train with Ryukyu. Jade was behind Shogai as he approached Raven in the lounge, forcing her to look up from her book.

  "Do you remember how you felt when your power was boosted? Your heartbeat, namely?"

  "Sorta? It was sort of like a…"

  Shogai tried to mimic the beat of his heart at the time with his hands, but failed spectacularly. Raven was still looking dead serious.

  "So you do remember. It's impossible to replicate it or explain it to someone else. Well my advice is the same as before. Don't do it again."

  "Why not? I'm a Nexean now. You promised me an explanation."

  "I didn't promise anything. It's dangerous."

  "Then I need to know-"

  "It'll kill you."

  Shogai blankly blinked, and looked back at Jade, who'd gone pale. Raven closed her book and sighed.

  "Well, not unless you're careful. This power boost is called Elano's Heart. It's a bit of a long story…"

  "Elano?" Jade spoke up, "I read about her in a book in the library. She's a goddess, isn't she? She created all the islands in the archipelago, and then lay dormant underneath Tenebris. Underneath our island."

  Shogai had also heard something about this. He was sceptical.

  "She's just a myth though. A legend."

  "I agree," Raven said, "there's no reason for me to believe that some all-powerful being lies underground. But it doesn't matter whether we believe in her or not.

  The legend states that her beating heart pumps her energy throughout the island, and that all sentient creatures can harness this power. That latter part is true, and we know it. I don't know where the energy comes from, whether it's Elano or not, but I know it exists.

  Anyway, it's said in the myth that the heartbeat of all Aberrants is identical to that of Elano. Their glowing eyes are a sign of that. The Aberrants were the original species of this island before we came along. And by having the same heartbeat as Elano, they are all stronger than they otherwise would be.

  Humans are sentient too. That's how we get our supernatural abilities. But our heartbeats fluctuate wildly, unlike Aberrants. So, on average, we aren't as powerful. In a life-threatening situation, our heartbeats race. And rarely, very very rarely, they can match the heartbeat of Elano. Our eyes glow. Our power increases. That's what you did, Shogai. You awakened what we call Elano's Heart."

  The room was silent for a little while longer. Jade snapped back to her senses before Shogai.

  "And what's the consequence of this boost? What's the cost?"

  Raven's eyes began glowing a bright purple, completely hiding her pupils, and Shogai remembered that she'd done this against Valerie a couple of months ago. She'd used Elano's Heart.

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  "Well, for the most part, there's none. That's because, in the one in a million chance that someone awakens the boost, it'll fade away as soon as their heartbeat changes. Then they never replicate the feeling again. It's another one in a thousand chance that they can manipulate their heartbeat to match Elano. Remember, this is unexplainable to someone who hasn't awakened Elano's Heart. It's entirely a personal challenge. And that's your challenge, Shogai. You remember the feeling. Can you replicate it?"

  It took Shogai a while to realise that Raven wasn't being rhetorical.

  "You want me to try? I thought you said not to."

  "I know what I said. I need to know if this is going to be a problem at all. Don't worry. I'll stop you if anything goes wrong."

  "But-"

  Raven's eyes were still glowing. She gave off an aura of power. Shogai looked at Jade for advice, and she nodded.

  "Alright… here I go."

  Shogai could never explain what he was trying to do. It was possible to manipulate your own heartbeat, for sure. Think of scary stuff to speed it up. Think of calming stuff to slow it down. But Elano's Heart was in a weird balance of fear and resignation. It was so incredibly specific that he thought he'd never be able to do it.

  But he did.

  "Now stop." Raven said, standing up. Shogai nodded, and felt his eyes getting hot. That must have been the glowing. He tried to calm himself down. But this state… it was reminding him of the battlefield. The place where Mira died. The threat of Sekara.

  "Shogai… calm down. Now."

  It wasn't happening. The only thoughts in Shogai's head were that of danger. His heart wasn't slowing down.

  "Shogai. Something relaxing. Please." Jade was grabbing onto his arm. Shogai was feeling unstable, as if the slightest movement would cause devastation. A presence entered his mind.

  Shogai. Relax.

  Shogai stopped resisting. He let his mind go limp, and felt Jade taking over his body. She was better at this than he was. She filled his body with calming memories, and slowly his heart rate dropped, his eyes going back to normal. Jade released him, and he stumbled.

  Shogai put a hand on his forehead, which was burning, and slowly looked up. Raven was holding a spear made of smoke, and was clearly prepared to attack him. She shook her head and whacked him with the butt of the spear. Despite being made of smoke, it hurt.

  "So you can't control it. Idiot. Well, now we know. Never use it."

  "What would have happened if I couldn't deactivate it?"

  "Well, humans aren't really adapted to power increases of this size. Continued use of it can cause you to lose your mind. I myself don't use it for longer than a few minutes at a time. But you can't even turn it off at will. Do not activate Elano’s Heart. Understand?"

  Shogai nodded. This was a terrifying power. No wonder Aberrants were mindless. It seemed to take the body of a Deviant to keep Elano's Heart on permanently.

  "Hey Raven, how did you awaken Elano's Heart? What kind of life-threatening situation were you in?"

  Raven scoffed and turned away, picking up her book. She didn't open it, and instead sighed.

  "My birth. I almost didn't make it. I had this power since birth. That's special. So I was hoping I'd be able to rank higher. Maybe even an Inner Rank. But no. Can't even get to Outer 1…"

  Jade pulled Shogai away. Her message was clear. Now was not the time to stick around.

  On their way outside, they bumped into Katro, who had a blueprint in his hands. He didn't notice them at first.

  "Hey Katro, what's this about?"

  "Oh hi. These are the plans for the golems outside. They malfunctioned, so Wright and I are trying to figure out what went wrong. It's a very complex machine, very hard to mess up and just as hard to fix."

  Shogai and Jade glanced at each other.

  "Who's Wright?"

  "Oh that's right. You haven't met him yet. Normally he's around a lot more, but he's been busy with Deviant attacks becoming more frequent. Wright is Inner Rank 5, and there is no way I could fix these stupid robots without him."

  "An Inner Rank is here?"

  "Ah, you've just missed him. He left to go find some resources. He'll be back by evening, if you want to meet him."

  "Got it. Thanks Katro."

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