Everyone cleaned up and dried themselves off before changing into fresh sets of clothes.

Michael and I decided it was finally time to gather everyone and start teaching them the Essence Circulation Technique. Finally!

I won't bother you with the details, because I can't stress enough how long it took.

By now, you must already know these people possessed an unmatched ability to lose the thread of a conversation and veer off-topic every single time.

On top of that, Michael kept tripping over his own words and dancing around the subject. He wasn't the best liar in the world.

So more than once, I had to step in and help him explain things in a way that wouldn't reveal his secret or make anyone suspicious.

We told them he had found this technique in an ancient tome he discovered in the Academy library, and that he'd shared it with me for a price.

We also told them we hadn't taught it to them earlier because the technique required practice to get used to. A lot of practice.

So yeah. Let's skip over that part.

The important detail to note was that, by the end of the discussion, we managed to convince everyone to learn it.

Since the task was monumental and time was limited, Michael and I decided to split them up to ease the workload.

He took Lily and Kang.

I took Juliana, Alexia, and Vince.

Over the next two to three days, we helped everyone form their pathways and instructed them on how to manipulate Essence. They managed and were able to enhance their bodies at a very rudimentary level.

But that was the easy part.

After that, they had to learn how to control the amount of Essence needed to reinforce their bodies.

Because C-rankers can't sense Essence, this stage was pure trial and error. More than once, Vince and Lily came dangerously close to shattering their arms.

They also had to learn how to keep their breathing steady at all times, even while being hit or stabbed. Since once their breathing rhythm broke, the circulation would collapse with it.

The only one who grasped the whole concept without much trouble was Alexia. She said it was because her powers worked in a very similar way when she used Aura to strengthen herself.

Juliana and Kang followed soon after, both taking eleven days to fully master the technique. And both breaking my record by three days.

While that was going on, Michael started teaching Ray and me the advanced application of the same Circulation Technique, one that allowed Essence to be channeled into objects and weapons.

The advanced application was simple in theory, but brutal in execution.

Instead of circulating Essence purely within the body to reinforce flesh and bone, we had to extend that circulation outward, maintaining a stable loop while letting Essence bleed into an external medium without collapsing the pathway.

The problem was that we were wasting far too much Essence, enough to drain us in under an hour. That wasn't a good sign, because in a real fight, we'd be using even more and draining even faster.

That realization alone was enough to kill any initial excitement we'd had about the technique.

Ray managed to coat his spear in Essence for a grand total of twenty minutes before the circulation destabilized and dumped everything at once.

He nearly fainted on the spot and spent the next half hour lying on his back, staring at the shattered sky while swearing he could see stars that definitely weren't there.

I wasn't doing much better.

Every time I tried to extend the circulation into my axe, it felt like pouring water through a cracked vessel.

My Essence bled out uncontrollably, and within half an hour, my core felt hollowed out.

"This is stupid," I muttered after my seventh failure, throwing the Scorched Oath aside. "The theory makes sense. The execution is garbage."

Michael shot me a frustrated glare. "That's because, like I keep telling you idiots, you're forcing it."

I gave him a pointed look. "That's rich, coming from the guy who taught it to us."

He ignored the jab. "You're thinking of it like an extension. Like you're pushing Essence outward. That creates resistance and friction and leakage."

I frowned. "Then what the hell is the alternative?"

He clenched his fists before his face and grunted, looking like he was barely restraining himself from committing violence.

I had no idea why he was getting so worked up. (Probably because I was raising that question for the nth time?)

"Think of the weapon as part of your body," he said slowly, enunciating every word like he was talking to a mentally challenged child. "Not something separate you're feeding Essence into. Think of it as something already inside the loop."

Ray groaned from the ground. "That sounds like mystical nonsense. Essence pathways exist inside our bodies. If we could extend them, the problem would be solved."

"Exactly, you dumbo!" Michael snapped, tossing his saint-like patience out the window. "That's exactly what I'm telling you to do! Think of it as extending the pathways! It's just perspective!"

Ray started arguing with him.

I stayed quiet and thought about his words.

Then I tried again.

…And failed again.

So I also started cursing him along with Ray.

•••

After reaching the foothills of the caldera, we decided to pause our journey and dedicate our full time to preparing as best we could.

Fifteen days.

That's the average of how long it took for every main character to master the Essence Circulation Technique. Lily and Vince were the last to get it right.

During that time, I constantly fed Juliana and Alexia Essence Stones to help them level up.

And level up they did.

The Circulation Technique allowed them to absorb Essence faster, and since they were already close to ascension, it didn't take long.

What it did take was all of my Stones. By the end of it, I didn't have a single one left.

It stung a little to spend a literal fortune like that on people other than myself, but I preferred to think of it as an investment.

And we Theosbanes were always good at extracting profit from our investments, so I didn't dwell on it too much. Because I knew that I would too.

Alexia reached B-rank first. Her Origin Card evolved into Aura Enforcement, allowing her to fortify not just her body, but objects and weapons as well.

Yeah, just like the advanced Circulation Technique.

Her abilities made her a powerhouse, especially since her Aura worked flawlessly with her mastery of Essence.

And once she learned Essence Channeling, her attack potency only doubled. Now she could reinforce things with both her power and Essence.

It was safe to say that, in terms of raw strength, she had all of us beat. Maybe Michael could challenge her if he were to go all out by copying her Origin Card, but the rest of us stood little chance.

She also grew a bit taller after her ascension. Or so she claimed. We didn't see it, but by then we were too scared of her to argue.

Juliana's new power, on the other hand, gave her control over her own time.

In simple terms, she could wrap time around her body, making herself move faster or fall slower.

That personal temporal control of hers, combined with her eventual mastery of advanced Circulation Technique, made her movements mesmerizingly dangerous.

She could slow herself to a near crawl or accelerate into a blur that even the sharpest eye struggled to track. It wasn't just her combat potential that was terrifying. It was how quickly and creatively she could execute it.

If Alexia was strong, then Juliana was talented in a way that made her just as much of a threat.

By then, Ray and I had also mastered advanced Circulation and could coat our weapons in Essence.

In short, we were ready.

Now, all that was left was to cross the caldera.

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