Aris did not open his eyes when the training ended.
He remained seated… still… as if his body feared breaking something sacred if he moved too quickly.
His breaths came out slow, deep, and steady in a way he had never felt before. This was not the calm of rest… but the calm of something that had reorganized itself from the inside.
For the first time in a long while — or perhaps since his birth in this world — he felt that his body was no longer just a fragile vessel trying to catch up with his soul.
It had become… aligned with it.
He opened his eyes slowly.
The world had not changed.
The walls were the same.
The air was the same.
The silence was the same.
And yet…
Everything looked clearer.
As if a thin layer had been covering existence… and was suddenly removed.
He heard the friction of air against his clothes when he moved slightly.
He felt the weight of his body on the ground, but it was not an uncomfortable weight… it was the weight of something rooted.
Even his heartbeat…
was no longer chaotic.
It was steady.
Strong.
As if it had learned a new rhythm.
A strange feeling slipped into him…
Not euphoria.
Not pride.
But a quiet realization:
He was no longer the same person who had sat here hours ago.
Something had… risen.
Not a huge leap.
But a silent transition… from one form of existence to another.
He watched his fingers.
He clenched them slowly.
The muscles responded immediately — without trembling, without delay.
"This… is my body?"
He did not say it.
He only thought it.
Then he closed his eyes again…
and sank inward.
To the place he once did not dare approach.
The Black Hole Dantian.
In the past, its presence felt like a sleeping beast inside him.
Absorbing… devouring… deciding on its own.
But now —
the moment his awareness touched it…
he felt no resistance.
No rejection.
No chaos.
Only response.
Calm… but absolute.
As if the beast had finally opened its eye… and allowed him to come closer.
There…
in a depth that did not feel like depth…
he saw it.
A core.
Small… so small that his mind almost overlooked it.
But the moment he truly tried to sense it —
it expanded.
Not in size…
but in presence.
Like looking at a distant star… then suddenly realizing it is larger than entire worlds.
At the center of that core —
there was a spark.
Black.
Compressed to the point that the light around it looked weak.
It was not dark…
it was dense.
As if darkness itself had condensed until it became something that could exist.
Around it, other sparks revolved…
pure.
Almost transparent.
Shining as if they had just been born.
He extended his awareness toward one of those small sparks.
It responded instantly.
It moved.
It slid into his energy channel…
and suddenly —
his muscles tightened.
Not violently.
But with clear enhancement.
A doubled sense of strength… enough to make him steady his breathing without realizing it.
"I can use it…"
It was not just energy.
It felt like fuel ready to ignite whenever he wished.
But…
when his awareness approached the black spark at the center —
he stopped.
Not out of fear.
But because his instinct… whispered to him.
That was not a spark meant to be used.
That… was an origin.
He felt a vague certainty:
if he released it now…
he would explode with power beyond his level.
But afterward —
he would be emptied.
A fall that could not be avoided.
He kept watching it for a long time…
until it began to look like a second heart.
Slower than his real heart.
But… deeper.
"What is this?" he asked internally.
The system's voice came this time lower than usual, without its sharp analytical tone:
[Initial Core.]
It paused for a moment…
then continued:
[It is the center of the energy gathered inside the Dantian.]
[As for the central spark… it is the Origin Spark.]
The system did not add anything immediately.
As if giving the words their weight.
[The first energy condensed by the practitioner.]
[From it, the other sparks are born.]
[And from it… the path begins.]
Aris felt his view of that spark change.
It was no longer just a source of power…
but a seed.
An entire energetic life… compressed into a point.
The system continued:
[When the core fills with sparks, the practitioner compresses them into the Origin Spark.]
[When it transforms from a gaseous state… into a liquid drop —]
The voice paused briefly.
[The breakthrough occurs.]
He did not need an explanation of the name.
Aris felt it before hearing it.
Energy Stream.
Just thinking about it made the black spark tremble… or perhaps that was only an illusion.
He exhaled slowly.
Not from fatigue.
But from understanding.
"Alright…"
This time he opened his eyes.
Stillness surrounded him.
But it was no longer empty stillness.
It was the stillness before movement.
"Should I begin the Elemental Path now?"
Silence filled the space.
Then —
[Analyzing…]
The wait lasted a little longer this time.
Longer than usual.
[Analyzing…]
[Analysis complete.]
[The ideal recommendation is that the host should not begin training in the Elemental Path now. He has only just started the Ascension Path and does not yet have full control over his energy or a clear understanding of it.]
[The spiritual energy produced by the Elemental Path is completely different from the spiritual energy produced by the Eternal Ascension Path. Therefore, the probability that the host will fail to control both is very high, which could cause serious consequences for the host.]
[It is better to train first on using the energy and controlling it freely.]
It did not say injury.
It did not say "danger."
Only… consequences.
And sometimes, the missing word… is more frightening than the complete sentence.
Aris let out a faint hum.
"Logical…"
He stood up slowly.
When he rose —
the ground felt different.
Not because it had changed…
but because his balance had become more precise.
He suddenly moved his hand in front of him.
The motion cut through the air with a soft sound.
Faster than he expected.
He smiled.
A small smile…
but it was not the smile of a child who got a new toy.
It was the smile of someone…
who had waited a long time.
"Since I was born into this world…" he thought,
"my body has been asking for battle."
How many times had his soul raced forward… while his body stumbled behind it?
How many times had something ignited inside him… yet he lacked the strength to release it?
But now —
his body was no longer a chain.
It was a weapon.
He lowered his gaze to his palm.
He clenched it.
Slowly.
Then tighter.
The veins swelled slightly…
and energy danced beneath the skin.
At that moment…
he did not think about techniques.
Nor levels.
Nor breakthroughs.
He thought of only one thing —
The sound of impact.
Power colliding with power.
Testing the limits.
He raised his head slowly…
and his eyes shone with something new.
Not excitement.
Not recklessness.
But a quiet hunger.
Dangerous.
Then he whispered inwardly:
"I want… a battlefield."
Deep within the Black Hole Dantian —
the black spark rotated…
one turn slower than usual.
As if…
it had heard.