After naming the energy within him Energy Flow, Shad Darc decided to rest.
His brief battle with the giant snake had not exhausted him completely, but his injured ribs and battered body still needed time to recover. He settled beneath the enormous tree and allowed himself to relax.
About an hour later, he woke feeling refreshed.
His body felt lighter, and his energy had returned. However, the moment he moved, an unpleasant smell reached his nose.
Blood.
His clothes were torn in several places, stained with dirt and dried blood. Looking down at himself, Shad felt thoroughly miserable.
"Damn. I smell like a corpse."
He glanced toward the fog-covered forest, trying to estimate the time. The strange passage of time in this world continued to disrupt his sense of direction, but the light filtering through the fog suggested that it was early afternoon.
The smell did not bother him for long. He had experienced worse conditions during his time on Earth.
Shad stretched his body and considered what had happened.
*Whenever I sleep and allow my body to rest completely, it seems to repair itself.*
He frowned slightly.
"Still, I need to experiment with it before I can understand what's actually happening."
His attention shifted toward Energy Flow.
Until now, he had primarily used it to reinforce his body, increase his physical capabilities, and strengthen his weapons. But perhaps he could use it for something more deliberate.
"Maybe I shouldn't focus only on increasing my strength. I should find a way to make Energy Flow actively heal me whenever necessary."
He thought through several approaches.
After a few moments of silence, the Pondering Fighter spoke.
"Why not use it in reverse? Instead of directing it toward your strength and physical capabilities, focus on your vitality."
Shad raised an eyebrow.
"What exactly does that mean?"
"Rather than boosting your physical strength, internalize the Energy Flow into your inner body. Use it to improve your vitality, which should correspond to your endurance, durability, and stamina."
Shad considered the explanation.
The Pondering Fighter continued.
"It shouldn't necessarily make you stronger in the conventional sense. Think of it as supporting your body when it is under pressure. Your overall physical output might decrease slightly while you maintain the process, but the trade-off could be worthwhile. If you can properly control Energy Flow outside your body, especially through weapons, you won't need to rely entirely on physical reinforcement."
Shad remained silent, examining the idea.
"And how am I supposed to achieve that?"
The Lonely King answered before the Pondering Fighter could respond.
"You wouldn't focus entirely on strengthening your physical power. Instead, you would internalize the Energy Flow and use it to increase your recovery rate, even while you're active."
He paused.
"And don't ask me how I know. I don't know either."
Shad opened his mouth to respond, but another voice interrupted him.
"The first step is to improve your control over Energy Flow, both inwardly and outwardly," the Meditating Advisor explained. "Your current control is too crude. You need to manipulate it more precisely, whether you're directing it through your body or into a weapon."
"Second, you should internalize Energy Flow as much as possible. That may increase your current storage capacity. Fortunately, the quality of your Energy Flow has already improved."
"Third, you need to increase the speed at which you absorb and control it. If you can make sufficient progress in these three areas, improving your vitality should become more manageable."
The voice paused.
"And don't ask me how I know."
Shad's expression tightened.
"Damn you all. Stop saying that!"
He rubbed his forehead.
"Why do you keep explaining something and then telling me not to ask how you know? What the hell is wrong with you?"
The voices fell silent for a moment.
Shad exhaled sharply.
"I can't believe I'm getting annoyed at myself for no reason. I'm either going mad, or I've already gone mad."
"Of course you're mad," the Bored Observer said.
"Shut up. I didn't ask you anything. In fact, can you all just be quiet? I'm trying to think."
"Talking to yourself can be annoying sometimes," one of the identities remarked.
"But useful," another added.
"Yes, useful at times. Wait, I just told you all to shut up!"
"And what exactly are you trying to think about?" the Pondering Fighter asked. "We've already done most of the thinking for you."
"You truly are crazy, you know that?" the Lonely King said plainly.
Shad released a long, stressed sigh.
Sometimes, it genuinely felt as though his mind was preparing to produce another version of himself.
'Why do I even have these split identities and personalities?'
He did not expect an answer.
Instead, he organized the information they had given him and established a short-term goal.
First, he needed to improve his control over Energy Flow, both internally and externally. To achieve that, he would have to observe how Energy Flow behaved within his body and how it interacted with the world around him.
He also needed to test his control through combat, weapons, and different materials.
Most importantly, he wanted to learn how to detect changes and movements in Energy Flow.
The internal aspect concerned his own body.
The external aspect concerned the world.
If he could recognize the movement of Energy Flow in both, his understanding and control would improve considerably.
Shad gave himself one week to achieve a reasonable result.
"First, I need to find water."
He looked out into the cold, fog-filled forest.
He might have been able to survive a week without food, but water was different. He was still human, regardless of how much his body had changed. In an unfamiliar environment where danger could appear at any moment, remaining hydrated was essential.
With that in mind, he decided to move farther away from the enormous tree in search of a water source.
He would also use the journey to train his control over Energy Flow.
Shad descended from the tree with the two horns in his hands. The giant snake's dagger-like fangs were secured around his waist, ready to serve as emergency weapons if necessary.
Before leaving, he turned and looked at the enormous tree.
An unusual feeling stirred within him.
"I'll be back soon, my dear friend."
The words escaped naturally.
Shad paused.
'Why do I feel sad about leaving the tree?'
His gaze remained fixed on its massive trunk.
"And why do I feel as though I'm leaving it alone?"
He rubbed his chin, trying to understand the thought. The feeling was unfamiliar, and he could not identify its source.
After a moment, he looked away.
"I'd better get going. I can't waste time on things I don't understand yet."
He turned and walked into the forest.
For several hours, Shad encountered no beasts or creatures. That did not mean he stopped training.
As he moved, he continuously experimented with Energy Flow.
He began by directing it into the horns he carried, attempting to reinforce them while also manipulating the Energy Flow surrounding their surfaces.
The process proved far more difficult than he had expected.
He had previously managed to channel Energy Flow into his short dagger with some degree of success. Naturally, he assumed controlling the horns would be easier now that his Energy Flow had improved.
He was wrong.
The horns resisted his control in ways the dagger had not.
Shad did not become frustrated. Instead, he regarded the difficulty as another obstacle worth overcoming.
Through several experiments, he began to notice a pattern.
The difficulty of controlling Energy Flow through an object depended partly on the material and origin of that object.
Inorganic materials were easier to manipulate.
Organic materials, especially those that had once belonged to living things, were more difficult.
To confirm his observation, Shad tested several objects along the way. He directed Energy Flow into stones, leaves, and fallen branches.
The results were consistent.
A stone accepted his Energy Flow more readily than a stick. A dry branch was more difficult to control than a stone, while a fallen leaf presented even greater resistance.
It was as though Energy Flow could distinguish between materials that had once belonged to living things and those that had not.
Shad stopped beside a large stone and examined the faint energy surrounding his hand.
"Does Energy Flow produce life force, or does it strengthen something that already exists?"
He did not know.
What he did know was that Energy Flow seemed to interact more efficiently with inorganic materials than with organic ones.
That discovery intrigued him.
He looked at the stone in his hand.
"It's like helping the poorest person among the poor become rich by the standards of the poor."
He paused, considering the comparison.
"Interesting."
Shad continued walking through the fog-covered forest, carrying the horns and experimenting with the invisible energy that connected him to this strange world.
His journey had only just begun.