Ray sat cross-legged on the cold stone floor, his breath steady, his mind sharp. The flickering blue fungus on the walls cast shifting shadows, their glow the only source of light in this secluded part of the labyrinth.

  It had been nearly a month since he had begun the final step of his awakening—learning to move the soul essence within him. At first, it had been impossible. The energy felt foreign, something untouchable and intangible. No matter how much he focused, no matter how much he willed it, it simply would not move.

  Now, however, things were beginning to change.

  A faint warmth pulsed at the center of his being, a whisper of something vast yet contained. It wasn’t much—just a flicker—but it was enough. Enough to tell him that he was making progress.

  Alkan sat across from him, silent, watching with his unseeing eyes. His face remained neutral, but his thoughts churned with conflicting emotions.

  'Impossible. This should take years...'

  He had seen countless hopefuls try this before, had watched men and women struggle for years just to grasp the basics of moving their essence. Some never even reached this stage. And yet, here was Ray—a mere mortal who had no prior knowledge of this process—achieving in months what should have taken a lifetime.

  'What kind of monster are you...?' Alkan thought, suppressing a shudder. He had believed Ray to be talented, had seen his rapid adaptation in combat, but this? This was beyond anything he had ever witnessed.

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  Ray exhaled slowly, his brows furrowed in deep concentration. He could feel it now—the soul essence, flowing sluggishly through his limbs, like thick, molten metal refusing to obey his command. But it was moving. Even if just barely.

  He tightened his focus, trying to guide it, push it toward his core, but the moment he exerted too much force, the energy dissipated, slipping away like water through his fingers. He gritted his teeth, frustration creeping in.

  "You’re forcing it," Alkan said suddenly, his voice calm but firm. "Stop treating it like a muscle. It’s not something you push. It’s something you guide. Feel it. Let it move naturally."

  Ray sighed, adjusting his posture. He had heard those words a hundred times before, but doing it was something else entirely. He let his mind settle, focusing on the warmth within. Instead of trying to force it, he simply observed it, let it flow as it wished.

  Slowly, it began to move again.

  Alkan leaned back against the wall, his own body aching. He was training as well, but his struggle was different. He wasn’t just trying to refine his soul essence—he was trying to compress it, to force it into something greater than what it was. Unlike Ray, his path was one that no human had ever successfully taken.

  And it was killing him.

  The pressure within his body was unbearable at times, like his very soul was trying to crush him from the inside out. He could feel the limits of his core, the fragile container that held his essence, straining under the unnatural force he was exerting. And yet, he had no choice. If they wanted to survive, he had to succeed.

  He exhaled, suppressing the pain. 'No point in complaining. If Ray can fight against impossible odds, then so can I.'

  His mind drifted back to Ray’s progress. Three years. That was the timeframe he had always believed necessary for someone to reach the point Ray was at now. And yet, Ray was already close. Too close.

  'At this rate... he could complete his awakening in a year. Maybe even less.'

  It was absurd. No human could be this fast. Even the most gifted warriors he had known took years to refine their essence, and even then, many of them failed. But Ray was different. The labyrinth had forged him into something unnatural—something terrifying.

  Ray exhaled sharply, his fingers twitching. Alkan focused on him again, pushing his own thoughts aside.

  "Again," he instructed. "This time, don’t try to move it too far. Just let it settle in one place before you try to guide it further."

  Ray nodded, closing his eyes once more. He was learning. Slowly, painfully, but he was learning.

  And Alkan could not shake the feeling that whatever Ray became by the end of this... it would be unlike anything the world had ever seen.