Beyond The System
Chapter 108: How Long?

“I’m pretty sure they’re gone,” I said, trying to ease the tension, but Marcus didn’t lower his weapon, and the dogs… well, I don’t think they understood me.

He stepped closer, still watching the treeline. “Ho–how were you able to fight the Homunculus?”

“Just an ability,” I replied, quick and vague. I saw another question forming on his lips, so I cut in first. “What’s your daughter’s name?”

He gave me a strange look which was fair. The question was a bit out of place at the moment. “It’s, uh, it’s Sia. Why?”

My heart damn near exploded, and I couldn’t help but smile at the odds. Of all the people I could’ve met in this world… I ran into the dad of one of my friends. “Redhead? Bit of a sharp edge to her?”

“What?” His eyes widened. He lowered the trident, letting its prongs sink into the dirt. The dogs didn’t follow his lead. They stayed tense, fangs bared, taking turns sniffing the air.

“How long have you been here, Marcus?” I asked, starting to wonder if he even knew Sia. He seem taken aback by the 'sharp edge' comment, but then again, many parents would probably see the best in their child.

“I… I don’t know,” he said, voice hollow. He realized it too, I knew his daughter, his family. “Last time I saw Sia, she was a baby. Three years after that… I got lost here.”

His eyes met mine, flickering with disbelief and despair.

“How old are you, Peter?” he asked, maybe hoping I could help anchor his timeline.

I didn’t answer directly. I knew Lyra and Sia were technically my senior by a year at camp, so I answered with Sia's age rather than mine. “Sia should be around nineteen.”

He turned around and spoke softly, so softly that I probably wouldn’t have heard him if not for the changes from forming my Grand Channel. “Thirteen years… Thirteen.”

He started walking, and as if ordered, the dogs stopped scanning the trees and fell in behind him. “Let’s go back, Peter.”

I didn’t argue choosing to follow instead. We walked in silence the whole way.

‘I could’ve used those bodies,’ Luna chimed in.

‘Not the time.’ I fired back.

‘You are connected to this man, then?’ Wyrem asked.

‘Seems like it,’ I answered.

‘Well, if you’re trying to escape this place, use that,’ he said, a bit too coldly for my taste. I mean… he wasn’t wrong. But still, the delivery could use some work.

‘How have you two been learning together?’ I asked, curious whether Luna had gotten anything useful out of him.

‘He lied,’ she pouted.

‘I did not,’ Wyrem replied, his tone that of a smug old man. ‘You just didn’t like the answer.’

‘YOU SAID YOU KNEW WHAT YOUR POISON IS MADE OF!’ she shouted, and my mind rattled from the sudden volume.

‘Yes. My bodily fluids. That’s the answer,’ he confirmed, completely unfazed.

Ah. She’d been tricked.

‘You already told him the technique you learned, didn’t you, Luna?’ I asked. Honestly, I couldn’t even blame her. So far, anytime I made a deal, it ended with someone being a surprisingly good mentor, at least, I thought so.

Who knows how many times I would've been tricked if commander Griffith wasn't there.

‘Yes, and I expected to get something back. But he didn’t tell me anything,’ she grumbled. ‘He reminds me of the wilting weeds from my family.’

The pace shifted. Marcus had picked up speed, not quite running, but definitely not in the mood for a stroll. The group slipped into a light jog, weaving through hostile underbrush with practiced ease.

I tried to match his steps, doing my best to only land where he did, and still barely keeping up.

‘Alright, simple. When we get his body back, we can figure out exactly what Wyrem’s made of, Luna. No arguments.’ I tried to settle into meditation.

‘Alright.’

Wyrem pulsed inside me, like that was exactly what he’d been waiting for. ‘Guess that means both of you should focus on that, then.’

He was too clever. I focused in on Luna, channeling my awareness to speak to her alone. As far as I could tell, it worked. ‘Try to get closer to him.’

‘I don’t like him... but if you’re asking, I’m guessing you have a reason?’ Her curiosity peeked through the irritation.

‘He feels… almost human. Not like you did at first. The way he talks, how he behaves, what he knows, it’s just… off. Like he’s not really a parasite. Just try to get along, please.’ I laid it out as plainly as I could.

‘Alright, no problem. I’ll just be his student then. He wouldn’t shut up about it anyway.’ She shifted into imitation mode, quoting him with exaggerated arrogance. ‘“My knowledge is boundless. To be selected by me should be your honor.”’ More platitudes spilled out, thick with sarcasm.

Yeah. That kind of speech was exactly what I meant, too polished, almost poetic. Not something I’d expect from a literal worm inside my body. Just… not normal.

I let the two of them continue talking privately as the treehouse came into view. We all stepped onto the elevator and rose in silence.

Inside, the dogs each found their own cozy spot. Some curled together, and a couple others literally dog-piled.

Cute.

“Marcus?” I asked, as he moved to his chair and let out a long sigh.

“We’ll go hunting another day, Peter. I need to think.” He spoke without turning, voice low, eyes on the table. “Yo–you mind heading down?”

I didn’t say anything, instead just headed down to the storage area. I needed to cultivate anyway.

I sat on the wooden floor and took a breath, letting myself settle. It didn’t take long to slip into the rhythm I knew so well. But as I turned inward, something still nagged at me.

How was the core supposed to work?

Thea had said it was like a mini Internal Force generator, but so far, mine had done absolutely nothing. Maybe it was like when I couldn’t absorb Water Force, but that was just with World Force back then. Could this be the same thing, just with internal energy?

I looked at the core. Perfectly gold, perfectly round, smooth on every infinite surface. It floated serenely at the center of my Nexus, suspended above the Voidseed, surrounded by roiling waves of powerful energy.

Everything else around it churned in chaotic harmony. The core itself? Still as stone. Yeah… it was starting to make sense why most cultivators stopped progressing after forming a core. If this was it, this little golden paperweight, no wonder.

I nudged the tiny bit of internal Water energy I had, spinning it gently around the Nexus. Then I focused it upward, toward the core, trying to coax a response.

And yeah. There we go. A spin.

As it rotated, tiny, tiiiny, flecks of internal energy floated out. Gold and turquoise merged together into a darker, richer marine-blue. Even after a while, the volume in my channel didn’t increase. It looked like the energies fused perfectly.

I would be frustrated with this too if I didn't have other ways of fighting. A normal system user would go through the process of cultivation, with already few rewards, be forced to circulate the energy on their own, and when they finally reached this point, more management? I would probably solely focus on my blessing too.

So… yeah. Add that to the list of crap I needed to automate. Wait.

‘Luuuuuunnaaaa?’

‘What?’ she replied, sounding exhausted. ‘Do you have any idea how hard it is dealing with my new “master”?’

‘What could you possibly mean, my young apprentice?’ Wyrem chimed in, faking a perfect blend of innocence and offense.

‘You didn’t make this private?’ Luna asked, sounding more than a little overwhelmed.

‘Private?’

I ignored Wyrem.

‘Luna, can you circulate force around my Nexus? I need you to spin my core for a bit.’

‘I—sure. I think I can, but I’m also building my internal structures and trying to Body Refine, y’know.’

‘Yeah, sorry. We’ll work on that soon, I promise.’ I didn’t want to hold her back, but I needed a little more progress on my end first. 

Still, maybe I could watch her create a tuning scar too. ‘When you finish a reservoir and start the scar, call out. I’ll check if it’s safe, and I can watch your Body Refinement while I’m at it.’

‘Thanks.’

I turned my focus inward again and ran a quick test. To my relief, I had no problem absorbing more World Force. Encouraged, I tried for Natural World Force again… and still nothing.

Not a huge problem, but why?

Was the human body, my body, only able to attune to one world energy type at a time? I could sense both, hold both, as long as one was converted. But I couldn’t absorb both directly.

I shook the thought off. Smarter scholars than me could unravel that puzzle.

Then, I began.

I focused on filling my Grand Channel to the brim. The passage of time worried me, but there wasn’t much I could do. If elemental force took longer to absorb, then so be it.

The cool energy flowed into me without resistance. With each wave of nausea, I paused to do some heavy exercise, though honestly, it was starting to feel pointless. Ineffective and even worse, boring. What I really needed was a proper fight. Someone who could push me. Someone like… Marcus.

I perked my ears, listening for any sounds from above. I caught something, but pulled my focus back immediately. Better to let him have his space.

Instead, I stopped at around twenty percent capacity in my Grand Channel. Back when I started, this part used to take hours. Maybe it still did.

And that twenty percent? It was growing darker by the moment with the fusion of gold.

‘Luna, you can stop. Let’s start with your stuff.’ I offered, letting my breath settle. Watching her work might clear up a few things.

‘I haven’t started the reservoir yet,’ she informed casually, but I could feel her preparing. The pulse of excitement was impossible to miss.

‘Well, if I check in during Body Refinement, there shouldn’t be any problems, if that goes well, then you can move on safely.’ I did feel a bit nervous to be honest. If the violet power interfered, Luna would be a target of that monster.

I reminded her of the process briefly then focused on our connection, my awareness diving into her forming body. I was honestly shocked. Luna had made serious progress already on her spiritual roots. They had spread inward, branching around carefully cleared spaces, probably her planned points for scars and reservoirs neatly laid out like a blueprint made from instinct and purpose.

She began.

I monitored the flow of World Force as it filled her body, circulating as her roots pulled it in. Gradually, the strain on my wrist grew. It was subtle at first, but built steadily, an unmistakable sign of her reaching capacity.

‘I thi–think this is the limit,’ she finally called out, her voice strained but clear.

‘Alright, you can stop and consolidate,’ I told her quickly, tension unwinding in my chest.

She released it all at once, the grass coiled around my wrist relaxing, then morphing, twisting, and stretching up my hand, circling my fingers and reaching up toward my elbow. Her form of 'exercise'. Reinforcing herself with movement, and from the look of it, she was getting much better at it.

‘I think you should be fine,’ I told her, but now I had more questions.

That violent pull, created by the god-like being causing my friends and me to nearly die from when we tried to refine my body the first time. There was none of it. Not even a trace. I checked again, double-checked her channels, her growing structures, and thankfully still nothing.

No Precursor Energy or signs of instability.

‘Maybe it’s just humans that have an issue…' I murmured inwardly, still trying to process what I wasn’t seeing.

Maybe that was it. Or maybe there was more going on than I’d thought. But either way, Luna wasn’t in danger, and for now, that was enough.

I let Luna continue, watching the grass shift and stretch as she reinforced her forming body. Then, Wyrem’s voice drifted in, a curious hum behind it. ‘You strengthen your body this way?’

Was he observing her too? That was... unsettling, but I didn’t sense any harm behind the question. ‘Yeah,’ I answered. ‘That’s the starting point, anyway.’

‘Fascinating,’ he mused. ‘It reminds me of my ancestors.’

I raised an eyebrow. ‘You mean your so-called Dragons?’ I smirked, picturing the massive, regal beasts I'd always associated with the word powerful, then comparing that image to the tiny worm curled somewhere inside my body. The contrast was more than ridiculous.

‘That’s correct. Good memory.’ He didn’t take offense, of course. Wyrem seemed too self-assured for that. ‘Still, the way you and Luna grow it’s genuinely interesting.’

‘You want to learn? I could walk you through cultivation… structure-building, the works.’

‘No need,’ he said confidently. ‘I have my own path. You keep growing your way and I’ll grow mine.’

Before I could press further, I heard movement above. A faint thud. Then Marcus’s voice called down, steady and a little heavier than before. “Peter, I’d like to ask you some questions.”