Beyond The System
Chapter 132: Team Battle

I didn’t start with the Tuning Scars right away. First, I scanned through my channel, checking the damage, mapping the spots with room for repair.

The completed circuits seemed to stretch the existing energy lines connected to the Nexus, so that’s how I planned to heal most of my body.

But when would it be done?

It had taken ten reservoirs to form the Grand Channel, and I only had a plan for five Tuning Scars. The manual suggested placing them as far from the Nexus as possible. Fists first, then feet, and finally, the head.

Wait... the book crap.

It was still in my old clothes. The dirty pile Thea had to grab. She wouldn’t have just left them, right? …Right?

Alright. It's fine. Focus.

Five scars would still leave my center untouched, the damaged portion left unrepaired. But maybe that was fine. If I left that area cracked, I could probably still extend roots through it.

No more thinking.

I’d used the Voidseed last night, so things should be stable.

I began injecting Internal Force into my Nexus, weaving around the Voidseed embedded at its core. It worried me at first, but it continued to seem that, as long as it wasn’t hungry, I could work around it.

The Voidseed had grown slightly after its last meal, but now it was still at a crawl; barely moving past the size of a peach pit. Maybe it’d take weeks to grow further.

I kept funneling more and more force into the vortex.

It swallowed about half of my reserves, and I got the feeling I wasn’t getting that energy back.

Still, it's progress. Roots began to appear.

Well… “roots.” Uhhh. There was a slight, maybe not issue, but definitely an oddity. They weren’t growing through my Nexus. I mean, technically they were, buuut yeah. That’s definitely not normal, right?

Wyrem?

Eating, he replied, mildly irritated.

Don’t care. You’ve been in other bodies before, right?

Obviously. I told you that already, he snapped.

Right. So… for Spiritual Roots, how would you describe the color?

Color? I don’t know. I guess… colorless? Depends what your Nexus looks like. It all comes from there anyway.

So mine’s not normal?

What are you— He paused. Oh.

Yeah, I said bleakly. So… why are they moving?

Maybe they’re living plants! Like me! Luna cut in cheerfully. My roots move. That’s how your I got your to arm work you now?

Why aren’t you training? Wyrem snapped.

Why aren’t you? she shot back.

Eating is my training.

Great. I was clearly not getting any help from either of them.

As they bickered, I blasted out a wave of Beast Force to drown them out.

What sprouted from my Nexus, no, from the Voidseed, was a root I guess. But like Luna implied, it writhed like a monstrous black tentacle.

Well, tentacle, singular.

One root. One squirming, unpredictable strand.

Well… progress is progress.

Next is grabbing then stretching it right?

I summoned my remaining force and latched onto the strand, trying to steady its erratic movements.

Aaaand… it didn’t budge. At all. Completely refused to respond to me.

Don’t panic. Maybe it just needs more energy.

I split my force, half to maintain the grip, the other to continue fueling the Nexus.

It sort of worked.

I sent another pulse of Beast Force.

Luna, I can’t move the root. I sent more Internal Force into it, but all that did was grow an outcrop from the main branch. I turned to the one with actual experience growing this kind of structure.

Pull harder, she suggested.

Helpful.

Well? I don’t know, it was easy for me, she bragged. Okay, maybe you’re not using enough power. You said it yourself earlier; surround the structure with a core, or at least what you can. Then fill yourself up to max again.

That sounds like a good idea. Thanks. 

Wyrem chimed in with his own advice. You could also try forming a core to grip it. I’ve seen practitioners use treasures in similar ways.

Thanks.

I took a deep breath, steadying my mind.

The core was easy enough to form, wrapping around the branch on all sides except the one extending from the Voidseed. Ideally, that would stop the energy from scattering long enough to make real progress.

I started pulling in Water Force, activating my Precursor Sense to rotate the core and let the condensed fusion of both energies pile into my Channel. Some of it still leaked out, but the healing had clearly started.

When I finally opened my eyes, I heard chewing and saw curious eyes watching me.

It seemed like the carriage had stopped, and judging by the light pouring in, it wasn’t morning anymore. Probably noon.

“That was a long nap,” Velia said, chewing on a sandwich packed with meat and some kind of orange leaf that gave off a painfully satisfying crunch.

“Not napping. Cultivating. Have you made any progress?”

She rolled her eyes, probably a family trait, and shrugged. “Still just my Nexus. I got hungry, and so did the blond boy, so we stopped. Plus, aching backs or something.”

I nodded. “Don’t worry about it. It’ll come along eventually.”

She took another bite and looked down. “Everyone already knows how to…”

I felt a bit bad seeing her like that. She wasn't quite dejected, but there was some disappointment in her voice.

“Yeah, maybe. Buuut you’re several years younger than everyone else here. Just imagine how strong you’ll be when you finally get your system.”

Another bite. “How long does it usually take?” she asked, eyes hopeful.

Lie, Wyrem said without hesitation.

“Weeks,” I said, pouring every drop of confidence I had into the word. “Even sensing your Nexus this quickly is impressive.”

She gave me a look. “Really?”

“Why would I lie?”

“Lots of reasons,” she shot back.

“Eat your sandwich,” I ordered.

She took another bite, leaving just one left. “Gladly.”

Marvelously done. One day, you might even touch upon my instructional prowess, Wyrem said, with absolutely zero sarcasm.

From outside came the sounds of shifting feet, heavy panting from dogs, and the occasional blast. That had to be sparring.

“Wanna take a look?” I asked Velea.

She popped the last bite into her mouth and nodded. “I did already, but some dirt got on my food, so I came back in.”

The moment I stepped outside, the chaos hit me.

We’d stopped in a clearing wide enough for a proper battle.

The only one not moving was Trevor, who sat calmly... hopefully cultivating. Probably not the safest place for it though.

“Oh for the—I've seen you move way better in the arena!” Drake yelled at his younger brother. “I know Marcus said it, but really? Does anyone even know anything there?”

Drake had thrown a feint, which Elric dodged cleanly, only for Drake to almost instantly shift with him mid-step, landing a roundhouse kick against Elric’s raised guard.

“Not everyone got the royal training,” Elric protested. “How the hell can you even see?!”

Drake didn’t answer. He just kept pressing forward, completely relentless.

Behind him, Thea sent out a gust of energy. Of course, that ability would affect Elric too, but even with a disrupted system, he’d be fine.

As the Silencing Current surged toward the fighters, a thick wall of earth shot up from the ground, intercepting it.

“Wooow,” Velea whispered, wide-eyed. “It wasn’t like this before.”

Griffith had dropped to one knee, both palms pressed to the dirt. With another push, two more walls rose around Thea, shifting to trap her.

She reacted quickly, cloaking herself in deep violet lightning before the earthen prison could seal.

There was no dramatic scream, just the sound of lightning crackling in all directions, followed by a boom as rock and dust exploded outward. 

She charged toward Elric, who was still very much on the losing end, only to slam into a mountain, one moving far faster than something that size should

Thump.

They collided, and one fell. The other stood, towering like a cliff.

Elric hit the ground a second later.

Meanwhile, in another part of the clearing, Lyra and Sia were battling six spirit hounds and one handler.

Apparently, Bristle had decided to support his former master over my friends.

And man, those pups had gotten faster. Way faster.

I must’ve caught the tail end of the fight as both girls were panting, bodies low, magic flickering.

There was a strange red-orange glow around Sia. Along with four fire orbs, two on each side of her head, surrounding her, but as soon as they formed, an equal number of icicles appeared and began to dissolve them.

“Ah!” they both squealed as a fluffy ambush of dogs leapt onto them, flopping onto their conquered enemies like smug blankets.

“…Maybe I’ll just go back in—”

“Peter!” the commander’s voice snapped through the air. “You need to move around anyway, right?”

I shook my head furiously. “Pushups are fine.”

“I haven’t had a one-on-one with you yet,” he said, waving me over. “Let’s have some fun.”

From across the tent, Sia’s mother approached, a large cube in her hands. “Start finishing up. We should leave soon.”

“You heard her, boy,” Marcus called out. “Hurry it up.”

“Go, Peter,” Elric said flatly, as Drake helped him off the ground.

Equally deadpan was my caring partner. “I’ll cheer for you.”

The others were still struggling under a pile of spirit dogs.

“…Fine.”