Tyler spent the next hour moving between different people and asking general questions about their professions and life in this small town. He never asked anything too direct, instead just letting the conversation flow naturally.

  He had always preferred this method when he wanted to know something. Asking direct questions often led to people being guarded and unresponsive, but just chatting, throwing in a light-hearted joke, he found people to be more relaxed, offering information without needing to force the subject.

  He found out loads about the people and what they were up to. They all seemed to be on the same page — that the system inherently promoted violence and they were championing a different form of progression. It was slower to progress this way, taking several years to reach level ten, a milestone confirming that one’s path had been chosen.

  He even learned a little about Magda — that he was the longest resident of Pilton Hays at seven years and was the most likely to confirm his path next, with him already at level nine. He wanted to ask what profession Magda undertook, but resisted, preferring the conversation to follow its natural course. He did n9tice people avoid his subtle questioning on what happens when someone reached level ten but again didn’t push to hard on the subject.

  After an hour or so, people started to leave and, not wanting to be the last to go, he said his goodbyes and headed back to his small house, where he found Seshka’s door still shut. Not disturbing her, he decided to head to bed himself, quite looking forward to sleeping in a proper bed and not on the ground.

  As he lay on the bed thinking about the people he had just met, the idea that to follow a path like this might take longer — and that he’d have to give up finishing this event for years — he absently tried to push his core to an even faster rotational speed. He only realised he was doing it when he let out a long breath from holding it as he infused his will into his core.

  The amount of effort was almost becoming too much. It was like trying to push a boulder up a flight of stairs, only getting a little relief when the boulder rolled up another step, leaning back slightly — and if he took his focus off it, the boulder would tumble back down.

  As he pushed his core one step further, Al seemed to take notice. Tyler could feel his presence watching as he strained to drive his core to what he hoped would be some sort of maximum rotation. His thoughts of paths, professions and Seshka drifted away as more and more focus was needed to push his core.

  His body started to tighten, muscles aching as the ever-present force of his core felt more real — a spinning motion now intertwined with the heartbeat in his chest. The strain became stronger and his hands grabbed the rail of the bed to steady himself as he focused all his attention. He could feel his core maxing out. It just needed a little more.

  His head went light and a dizzy spell set in, but all other thought had gone from his mind — a solitary focus on his core held a tight grip. Someone could have walked into the room and slapped him in the face and he wouldn’t have noticed as he pushed harder, speeding his core a fraction at a time. His bed was now soaked with sweat as he felt the final push of mana propel his rotating core to the precipice — and explode.

  It wasn’t like the other times he had increased the speed of his core. The other times he had met a threshold, pushed past it, and his core had clicked into place, keeping this new increased speed. This time, when he pushed past the threshold, his core exploded, causing his whole body to flood with energy, his back arching from the force.

  For a moment Tyler froze, thinking he had just destroyed his core. Overloaded it beyond its capacity. The energy from the core continued outwards through his body in waves, that washed him in what felt like an electric field, goose bumps but more static.

  It wasn’t painful — or if it was, he never noticed. His thoughts had originally been on nothing but pushing and holding on to the idea of making his core faster. He felt his body thud back against the bed as his core flexed out and then shrank back, now feeling quite different — more solid, more real, more physical.

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  It was if it had been hiding under a shell, that he infused energy into, enough now to explode that shell and release his real core.

  A notification popped up, a flash in that space just behind his eyes.

  Congratulations:

  Lesser Stable Core created – Upgradable

  Tyler wiped sweat from his eyes and tried to blink the tears away, even though they never obscured his vision of the notification.

  “Ha…” he said out loud, his breath shallow as he heaved slightly. It felt like he’d just run a marathon.

  “Isn’t it nice? Looks much better,” Al said, seemingly incredibly pleased with himself.

  Tyler reached inward for his core and was shocked at what he felt. Before, it had been as if his core was metaphysical — like a ghost in that place just below his ribs. He could sense it, interact with it, but it had felt strained, non-corporeal, almost imagined.

  Now though, his core felt solid. It felt like a real organ, and he could feel every part of it like he could feel his arm or leg. He could feel the weight of it just below his ribs, he could feel the energy rotating around in a steady flow

  His core was no longer spinning at an insane rate either. It was slower, more controlled, and the energy that spun around it was thicker, more solid — making what he had before feel like smoke, while this now felt like a fluid metal.

  The chaotic leakage that surged from his core before was gone, even now with it spinning slower all the energies stayed within his core. He felt before it was like passing water around a hose with holes in it, now all the holes were sealed up.

  “I think I can…” Tyler’s words trailed off as he allowed the denser, more stable mana to flow from his core and out through the existing channels in his body. He guided it slowly, feeling it expand each channel it passed through and toward his right hand.

  The mana condensed in his palm into a thick, stable ball of pure, brilliant white. He could feel the difference from his earlier attempts. This was richer, more solid. It was like the difference between an illusion and reality.

  He really wanted to test this new mana out, but he had a feeling, just from holding it, that this was a lot more powerful — and if he threw it at the wall, it might just blast straight through it. Since he was still a guest here, maybe that wasn’t the best idea.

  Instead, he thought he’d try Al. He was the one who had told him to increase his core and had pushed him to do it. Maybe he could explain a little more.

  “So it looks like I’ve upgraded my core to a stable lesser core. All that extra velocity has made it denser, like I passed a threshold. Is this what you expected to happen?” Tyler asked Al.

  “Yeah. What else did you think would happen?”

  Tyler thought about this for a minute and honestly didn’t have an answer. He had just seen improvement from Al’s instructions and continued with it.

  “I guess I wasn’t sure what would happen.”

  “Need a tempered mindspace, I reckon, next. But need more numbers for that. Definitely more numbers,” Al said, seemingly pretty pleased with himself.

  “A tempered minspace what’s that?” Tyler asked, he’d seen no notification or heard Seshka mention it. Was it some type of new ability, or an object, some device he needed to acquire.

  Al never replied, he just seemed to linger somewhere Tyler couldn’t quite place.

  Tyler tried to get more out of Al, but he remained quiet, though there was still a sense of achievement coming from him. Tyler let the mana in his hand fade away and leaned back into the bed. It looked like Al was a lot more clued up than he had first thought. He felt a little disappointed that Al had gone quiet, but he couldn’t really complain.

  He had guided him to creating this lesser stable core, something he was sure Seshka wasn’t aware of. This might give him a true advantage in this system-dominated universe. Tyler felt his core again, letting the mana flow around his body. He sensed it moving, guiding it along the channels. It was just easier now — not like he had mastered control, but more like his mana actually listened to what he wanted it to do.

  Pulling his mana into his left arm, he thrust his right fist forward, simulating a punch. The mana stayed circulating around his left arm. He smiled to himself. He was no longer chaotic with his mana, no longer a glowing sign saying, look what I’m about to do.

  Letting his mana flow back to his core, he tried giving it a little push, a little shove, to see if he could make it rotate faster. But no matter how hard he tried, it wouldn’t increase. It was just too dense now to make any meaningful gain. Maybe Al had a plan to upgrade it further — something Tyler was quite looking forward to now.

  Tyler lay there in the quiet, feeling his heartbeat thud slow and steady in his chest. Beneath it, just below his ribs, his core rotated in perfect rhythm — smooth, controlled, obedient.

  For the first time since stepping onto the Intertwining Path, even since all this had started, nothing felt chaotic. Nothing felt out of control, everything seemed to flow and link together in a calm tranquil rhythm.

  Tyler closed his eyes, letting the twin pulses carry him into sleep.