Ryn hit the pool below the waterfall hard enough for his bones to rattle. The cold punched the air out of his lungs, numbing him from the ribs down.

For a moment, he couldn't tell which way was up. All he could see were bubbles and the flare coming from the sun's rays.

He forced his limbs to move, survival instincts kicking in as he finally broke the water's surface with a gasp.

A second splash erupted beside him as Jay burst out of the water, flailing like he was being electrocuted.

"ITS…FREEZING."

"You'll be fine," Ryn groaned, already paddling toward the nearest ledge of rock.

He grabbed the edge, hauled himself out, and collapsed onto the stone floor. It was slick with mist but solid, thankfully. He coughed out a mouthful of water and pushed the hair out of his eyes.

Jay dragged himself onto the ledge a moment later, shivering uncontrollably.

"Ryn… I can't… I can't feel any part of me. And the parts I can feel—I wish I couldn't."

"Get up," Ryn said. "We need shelter, or we're gonna freeze to death."

Jay let out a weak whine but staggered to his feet. The waterfall thundered behind them, like an unending wall of white crashing into the basin. Mist drifted everywhere, cold and sharp against their skin.

Ahead of them, carved into the cliffside, was a narrow opening. A cave. Dark, but dry.

Ryn headed for it without hesitation.

Jay hobbled after him. "Is it safe?"

"No clue."

"Then why are we—"

"It's dry."

Jay considered that for half a second. "…Fair enough."

They slipped inside.

The air shifted instantly. The cave was cool but at least it was dry. Drops of water dripped from their clothes onto the stone floor, echoing faintly. The cave widened the deeper they went, opening into a hollow space lit only by faint light seeping from cracks above.

Ryn sat down first, peeling off his soaked cloak and wringing it out.

Jay collapsed beside him, shaking violently. "I think the waterfall tried to murder me personally."

Ryn didn't look up. "You're alive."

"Barely!"

Ryn wrung out his sleeve next, water pooling on the stone below. His fingers were stiff, but his breathing was already steadying. The adrenaline was fading.

"Let's get a fire going," Ryn said through gritted teeth.

Jay nodded.

Ryn pushed himself back to his feet and disappeared deeper into the cave mouth. A minute later, he returned with an armful of smaller sticks and logs, half dried but usable. He arranged them carefully into a little teepee-shaped pile, propping the logs up so air could flow through them.

Jay reached into his bag and produced a device. A handheld one, that used a piece of metal to strike at flint in order to create a spark.

Tiny flames licked upward, then blossomed into a steady fire. Warmth spread outward in gentle waves, pushing back the chill that clung to their clothes and skin.

Within a matter of seconds, the cave was warm, and they both could breathe a little bit easier.

For a while, both of them said nothing.

The fire crackled softly. Steam lifted off their soaked clothes and drifted off into the ceiling.

Jay stretched both hands toward the flames with a blissful groan.

"I can feel my body again. That's a good sign, right?"

Ryn didn't answer immediately. He wished he could say the same, but for some reason, he couldn't.

A shiver crawled up his spine.

Ryn wasn't warming up. If anything, he was getting colder.

A creeping chill began to coil inside his chest, threading through his limbs. His breath fogged slightly in the warm cave air.

Jay didn't notice. He was too busy rotating his socks over the fire.

Ryn's heart tightened.

No. No, that's not normal.

The cold deepened, and Ryn finally noticed something.

A thin, ghostly mist drifted from his fingertips. The same mist seeped up from the sleeves of his shirt, tendrils of cold vapor pooling around his wrists before dissolving into the air.

Ryn knew what this was…it was his residual Cold Essence. He'd seen it every time he used Frost Bloom.

But why was it leaking?

His stomach tightened…something was wrong.

Ryn forced himself to focus inward, tracing the chill running through his limbs. What he initially thought was his physiology acting wildly… was actually completely normal.

In fact, it was better than normal.

He felt stimulated, like a surge of adrenaline coursing through him despite the fact he wasn't moving. Every nerve felt awake, heightened, alive.

He felt the energy being drawn outward—as if something was pulling at his heart, coaxing his very Essence to the surface.

Ryn's gaze shifted around the cave, senses sharpening without him willing it.

He inhaled. A dense, vibrant pulse in the air, saturating every inhale. The same pulse he felt when they had first stepped on the Isles, and the same one prickling his skin right now.

Life Energy.

The Isles were abundant with it.

And his Essence was responding instinctively to the foreign energy.

Ryn focused inward once more, this time with a purpose.

That's what his body was doing. It was absorbing the Life Energy, fueling his essence and refining it. The excess mixed with his Cold Affinity, escaping his skin as drifting frost mist.

He understood it now, this was one of the opportunities to get stronger that he wanted. And Ryn was determine to get as much as he can.

He closed his eyes again and sank deeper into the sensation, following the pulse of Life Energy through the cave.

It was everywhere, woven into the air, the stone, and even the water dripping from the ceiling.

He drew a slow breath through his nose.

His Essence stirred.

Ryn inhaled deeper this time, intentional and steady. The Life Energy rushed into him like a tide.

His pulse quickened. It spread all over his body, running through his veins and seeping into every blood cell it could.

Cold Essence unspooled from his fingertips in a thicker mist, reacting immediately to the influx of strength.

However, it moved too quick. The cold was consuming him, his body felt as if it had been dipped in a negative degree lake of ice.

Jay finally realized what was going on, frantically he asked.

"R—RYN! What's going on!? Why's there mist coming from you?!"

Ryn clenched his teeth, focusing on the sensation. He barely managed to reply:

"Fan…the fire. It's…cold."

He clenched his jaw and focused, controlling the pace.

Jay didn't question him. He scrambled to the flames, fanning frantically. The heat pushed outward, wrapping around Ryn's skin, battling the rising frost.

Ryn fed the Life Energy into his existence, letting it refine himself, letting the Essence drink deeply from the abundant Isles.

Finally, he took enough. His mind cleared. His muscles tightened as if they had just worked out for a month straight without stop.

His Essence… swelled.

Not in a visible way, but in a way he felt beneath skin and bone. A strengthening of the everything that made him, him.

Then, he heard a ding.

[Essence: 4 → 10]

[Essence Rank: Trainee → Mid-Trainee.]

Ryn finally drew his Essence inward, tightening it, compressing it, anchoring it into the center of himself where it belonged.

He opened his eyes.

Jay was kneeling by the fire, clutching his striker like a weapon, staring at Ryn as if he'd watched him get possessed by a winter spirit.

"Ryn… you—you were literally freezing yourself alive—!"

"I'm fine," Ryn said, voice calm.

Then, he studied Jay carefully.

The Isles were overflowing with Life Energy. It wasn't just affecting him—it would affect anyone with even a drop of potential.

Jay had Life Affinity. This place was practically designed to empower him.

He wouldn't have to refine it into another Affinity, he already had the correct one.

Ryn's eyes narrowed slightly.

"You can benefit from this too," he said quietly.

Jay froze. "…I can what?"

"Absorb the Life Energy."

Jay stared at him like he'd lost his mind, but decided to listen because he'd seen Ryn do worse.

Ryn shifted closer to him and spoke with the same focus he used when preparing for a fight.

"Sit up straight. Drawing in energy from your surroundings requires concentration, it has to be felt through your skin."

Jay obeyed on instinct, straightening his back and closing his eyes.

A beat passed.

Then another.

Ryn opened his mouth to instruct him further, and stopped.

Jay's breathing had already slowed.

His posture eased naturally.

The air around him shimmered with faint green-gold motes, gathering on his arms and shoulders like drifting fireflies.

Ryn blinked.

Jay wasn't just following instructions.

He was already absorbing the Life Energy.

Effortlessly.

Ryn sighed in relief and let the kid be.

After about five minutes, Jay opened his eyes again.

"Ugh…where am I? I felt like I just had the best nap of my life."

Ryn stared at him.

"That's because you just strengthened your Essence."

Jay blinked slowly. "…I did?"

"Yeah. Check your status."

Jay looked down at the panel, then his eyes started shining.

"Ryn look! A new stat showed up on my panel! It says I'm Low-Trainee Rank?"

Ryn sighed and waved him off with a hand.

"Only you can see your panel, stupid. But yeah, congrats. You've officially stepped into the mortal realm."

Jay was still admiring his status panel when Ryn pushed himself to his feet. His breath steadied, his Cold Essence no longer leaking uncontrollably.

He glanced toward the mouth of the cave, the misty waterfall beyond, the shivering trees, the strange, and ever-present hum of Life Energy.

"Come on," Ryn said quietly.

Jay blinked. "Huh? Already? I just leveled up from a nap."

"We don't have time to rest."

Jay let out a wounded noise. "Why not?!"

Ryn's eyes narrowed, scanning the dense jungle below the cave's ledge.

"Remember, we're not here on vacation."

He exhaled.

"I know our next objective."

Jay perked up nervously. "Which is…?"

"We find a hall," Ryn said.

"A temple. The swordsman acquired a technique there, and we're going to claim it before anyone else."

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