The name lingered in the shared mental space, reverberating faintly between the three of us. I could feel Wyrem settle, quiet and poised, waiting for one of us to speak again.
'You already gave it a name?!' Luna flared to a sharp silver-green, curling tightly around my wrist.
Not sure what that color means… but definitely not calm. 'No,' I answered.
'It's my name, you ridiculous plant,' Wyrem snapped, with pride. 'No one names me.'
I blinked. That was… unexpected. A parasite with pride? Not just base survival instinct, but an identity. Did he name himself? Does his species have culture? The thought of an entire society of hyper-intelligent, energy-draining worms sent a ripple of discomfort down my spine.
And despite Beast Force handling most of the mental translation work, the name still felt... natural. Like I didn't need to work to understand it.
'Everyone gets named by someone!' Luna shot back, defensive now for reasons I couldn't quite trace.
Wyrem ignored her.
'Alright,' I cut in, before they could escalate. 'Let's focus on the partnership.'
'Good,' Wyrem agreed. 'First condition: no bindings. Keep that little creature away from me.'
'L. U. N. A.' she bit out, each letter a verbal dagger. Her stalk darkened, red bleeding outward like a slow-burning ember.
'Fine by me,' I said, raising a hand figuratively. 'Just don't try to kill me and we'll get along great.'
'Naturally.'
I pressed on. 'Now, about what you can offer. My ability lets me share powers with other creatures… I think.'
'You think?' His tone dripped with disbelief, like he was mentally raising an eyebrow at me. 'Why so unsure?'
'Because he can see like me!' Luna chimed in, proud as ever. 'My sight's special, I can see all types of energy!'
'That is... unique enough,' Wyrem admitted. 'But what could you possibly gain from me?'
'Well, your sight, for starters?'
'Do you need my permission for that?' he asked, casual but probing.
Hmm. Good question. I hadn't really thought about that. It's not like Luna ever gave explicit consent when I used Beast Force on her, though I usually tried to warn her. Mostly out of politeness.
'Nnnooo... I guess I don't,' I admitted, a bit sheepishly.
He sighed, the sound rolling through my head like the exasperated breath of a disappointed teacher. 'Before I share anything, answer me this. Luna, have you always been able to see energy like that? Since birth?'
'That's just how I see,' she replied, her tone calmer now, simmered down from earlier. Still defensive, but less on edge.
'Well, if you couldn't use my abilities when you tried, I assume you did, then maybe it's not something you can share. If you can't use abilities from her... it might mean they're learned, not innate. Think about it, can he use anything she had to develop?'
I paused, turning the idea over. And yeah... it made sense. My current power-sharing felt instinctual, Luna's sight, the way she used her roots. Obviously more tests would be needed, but maybe all I could do was use a creature's natural born traits.
Still, considering how easily this parasite almost hijacked my entire brain, this power was already feeling more dangerous than I wanted to admit, so the test might be best limited to unintelligent, not that I could tell anymore which was which, creatures.
'Alright,' I said, 'I think you've got a point.' Then, something clicked. 'Hey, what about that whole forcing 'humans to be more honest' thing?'
'...What?' Wyrem deadpanned.
'You know, when you're inside a human, they get... more willing to share, or so I've heard.' Ramus didn't seem like he was bluffing at that time considering his interrogation.
'Ah.' A thoughtful pause. 'That might be the toxin I store in my body. It's released when I attach to the Nexus of a host. Could be that.'
If Luna had ears, I swear they would've perked up. 'Toxin? Do you know what its make-up is?' she asked, way too eager, like a kid discovering a new toy.
'You want to know about poison?' Wyrem replied, slow and amused.
I stayed quiet, pretty sure that one was aimed at her.
'Yes,' she said, without hesitation.
'Offer?'
'What?' Luna sounded genuinely confused.
'What can you offer?' Wyrem clarified.
Great. Now both of them us had to negotiate with him, and honestly, while Wyrem didn't have the upper hand anymore, I didn't want to build a habit of strong-arming allies for knowledge. If a fair deal was on the table, I'd rather take that route.
'I can share a refining skill,' she offered instantly, no hesitation.
'We'll talk later.'
Do I… have to listen to that conversation? Could they talk without me? And wait, was Wyrem going to keep slowly creeping through my mind the more I used Beast Force on him, like how Luna did? God. Three voices in my head.
I refocused, throwing thoughts of my future plights away. 'Why do you call my Internal Force "bland"?'
'Because it is.'
Helpful.
'Okay, fine, how do I make it more "flavorful?"' I snapped back, a little sharper than intended.
This time, he actually answered. 'You can't. At least, I've only ever seen a creature contain one type at a time.'
My stomach dropped. 'H–how many have you seen?' I asked, voice barely a whisper.
'Creatures?' he echoed. 'I've lived a long time. Hundreds? Thousands? I lost track when I was a child.'
"No." The word slipped out, soft but heavy. Was that it? Was I doomed to be unable to pursue fusion? Destined to only manipulate other forces for techniques like Synthia instead of absorbing them.
'No, Peter,' Luna cut in, her voice like an anchor, steady and confident. 'I can do it. Maybe it's because of what I am, but clearly, he just hasn't seen it yet.'
I forced myself to keep thinking, pushing the rising despair to the back of my mind. Luna can absorb almost everything... except fire. That alone proved Wyrem wasn't entirely right.
'Never seen it? Have you?' he asked, clearly stunned by Luna's claim.
Apparently, she was in a bragging mood. 'I can take in four types.' Her tone was smug.
Wyrem snapped something about her being a liar, and Luna fired back with a request to 'share her sight,' with him. No idea how she expected me to manage that. I tuned them out. The bickering was background noise now.
My thoughts were spinning too fast.
Maybe it wasn't about limits or space, not entirely anyway. I'd already theorized before, but if the Grand Channel filled up, maybe I could store energy somewhere else like a core. That idea was still more or less the plan, but since I couldn't absorb the water energy earlier, I thought there might have been no point.
But now? Maybe I'd been looking at it wrong.
What if it wasn't a capacity issue... but an interference one? What if the Natural Force inside me was pushing the others out?
If I could store it and seal it away, maybe I could open myself to the other elements.
The argument ramped up, snapping me from my thoughts.
'You're a liar!' Luna shouted, glowing rose-red with indignation. 'You're smaller than me! What do you know?!'
'I am not small! I am majestic!' Wyrem barked back. 'My ancestors were Great Dragons!'
'What does that even mean? Who cares about some older dumb worm grandpas?'
'DUMB WORM?!'
I sighed. 'Uh... hello?' I tried, gently interjecting.
'You little baby weed!' Wyrem growled. 'You'd pale in size and power next to my lineage!'
'If size is so impressive, explain your current state.' Luna snapped, smug and unrelenting.
Yeah... this is going to be a problem.
'My current sta–'
'Enough!' I interrupted before they could loop into round three. 'My head is starting to hurt. Listen, I need to test something. Also... Luna isn't lying.'
'Thank you!' she chirped, still glowing like victory incarnate.
'She may be childish, but she hasn't lied to me yet,' I said, defending her.
'I see... then I would very much like to see her insides,' Wyrem replied calmly.
The way he said it... ew. A shiver slid down my spine.
'I don't know if I should be grateful or mad, Peter,' Luna muttered.
I pushed past it. 'Wyrem, just to be clear, you've never seen a human contain multiple energy types in one body?'
'Not that I've ever seen. No.'
That was it. I made up my mind. I'm going to do it.
I'll for a Core and seal all my Internal Force into it, clear out the Grand Channel, and then see if I can absorb Water Force.
'Thanks. One more thing, what was that technique you used to look around inside my channel?'
'Your what?' Wyrem sounded totally confused.
'His insides, genius,' Luna supplied with zero hesitation.
'Oh. I'm glad you recognize my genius,' Wyrem said not detecting the clear sarcasm.
I resisted the overwhelming urge to facepalm.
'First, we haven't finished discussing what I get out of this,' he added smoothly.
He paused, then continued, his voice steady. 'Energy and freedom are obvious, but you also need to find a way to restore my body.'
'Uh... okay.' I didn't really have a problem with that. 'Buuuut... how exactly?'
'Goodness, you really are clueless. Beast Crystals should do it. One with Earth Force ideally, it should contain the right mixture of energy to at least begin the process.'
Great. More vague magical nonsense. 'Sure. Got it.' I definitely didn't get it. But that sounded like a future-me problem. 'Now about my question.'
'First,' he said, slipping smoothly back into lecture mode, 'it's not a technique. Yes, it's learned, but not something you activate. Once you understand it, it becomes part of you, something instinctual.'
Seriously, how the hell does he know so much?
'It takes immense time and effort to master without shortcuts, but even at a basic level, where most stop progression, you can vastly enhance your perception. Not just defensively, but observationally.'
'And at a higher level?' I pressed, leaning in mentally.
'I only know rumors,' Wyrem admitted. 'But they say masters can magnify the size of objects to such a scale that entire new lifeforms appear… and eventually, time itself begins to lose meaning.'
I sat in stunned silence.
'Wow.' That was all I could manage. 'What do you call it?'
'I don't call it anything. It has a name.' A pause. 'Spiritual Sense.'