Kaiser now found himself entirely alone in the heart of the camp, a solitary figure amidst a sea of quiet strangers. The villagers moved about their subdued routines as if he were invisible, barely glancing his way, their expressions vacant and utterly uninterested. Kaiser felt as if he were trapped in an elaborate illusion, the central character of a drama no one else seemed to acknowledge. When he'd tried speaking to them earlier, he'd been met with silence or, worse, outright dismissal.

With a sigh of resignation, Kaiser sat down on a nearby log, its rough surface grounding him in a small way against the surreal backdrop of the village. He exhaled slowly, letting the tension ease slightly from his muscles, and began the careful task of organizing his chaotic thoughts. Information, he reminded himself. Information was key, since without it, he was blind, helpless and vulnerable. And yet, the more he learned, the more he realized how desperately insufficient his knowledge truly was.

His mind wandered briefly to Lord Zilean, the armored royal whose presence and brief tutelage had proven invaluable. Zilean had been a goldmine of information, like an ancient library defended by great walls. Yet, frustratingly, Kaiser had barely scratched the surface before the warrior departed. He still had countless questions, especially about the Unborn. How exactly did one identify these creatures definitively? Were there specific signs, subtle tells he should watch for? What nuances and intricacies defined them?

He shook his head slightly in frustration. Time was against him now, and Zilean was gone, likely already far beyond his reach. Kaiser would need to seek answers elsewhere. He recalled passing by some of the libraries of the Southern Liberatorium yesterday. After this Tale concluded, that would be his destination. A wealth of information surely awaited him there, and he intended to mine it thoroughly.

Shifting his thoughts from the uncertain future to the present, Kaiser focused inward, turning his attention to Sol itself. The book he had bought had been genuinely useful, but it had clearly stated it covered only the basics. His understanding of Sol had grown significantly in recent days, but he knew he'd barely begun to tap into its true potential. His current technique was still rudimentary, simplistic: controlling his emotions and channeling raw energy through his hands.

Absently, Kaiser glanced down at his hands, placed gently on either side of the log, armored palms pressing into the wood. He felt the faint warmth of his own energy circulating beneath the skin, a subtle yet undeniable power ready to be harnessed.

He closed his eyes, carefully controlling his breathing, allowing himself to feel excitement building in his chest. He focused intently on the idea of growth, strength, and the exhilarating sense of his own increasing capabilities. The excitement felt genuine, after all, it was undeniable that he was growing stronger. Each battle, every confrontation with the monstrous Ink Cats and the strange creatures haunting the village, had pushed him further and forced him to evolve. Every fight had subtly enhanced his connection to Sol.

In the quiet, Kaiser allowed his mind to linger on the vivid memory of the cats. He recalled clearly how, when he'd struck down each creature, he had perceived something extraordinary. When any being was killed, even artificially created ones like these, a portion of the Sol contained within them transferred to the one responsible for their demise. Most of that Sol dispersed into the environment, blending seamlessly back into the world itself—a detail that had initially surprised Kaiser deeply. Yet, a smaller fraction, barely noticeable, yet undeniable had flowed directly into him.

Opening his eyes slowly, Kaiser concentrated on the sensation of energy moving through his veins, a pulse of power responding eagerly to his heightened emotions. Though he could not directly perceive his own Sol core, he had become intimately familiar with the feeling of its growth.

Now, as he sat quietly on the log, Kaiser felt certain he was edging closer toward a significant threshold. He sensed clearly that his Sol core was approaching a critical point, drawing tantalizingly near the boundary between the blue core he currently held and the rare, coveted orange core he aspired to attain. The book had described this transition vividly, explaining that breaking through to a higher tier of Sol core resulted in an immediate, dramatic enhancement of one's capabilities.

Anticipation tightened in Kaiser's chest as he imagined crossing that threshold. His already formidable abilities would magnify greatly—strength, speed, reaction time, and perhaps even his unique emotional affinity would surge dramatically. He felt hungry for that power, eager not merely for the strength itself but for the control, the freedom, and the sheer capability it promised.

Yet, beneath the excitement lingered caution. Kaiser was intelligent enough to recognize that such dramatic increases in power often came with unforeseen challenges. He would need to approach the transition carefully, thoughtfully. He had learned enough already to know that Sol was not merely a source of raw power.

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He sighed deeply, feeling a strange mixture of exhaustion and excitement swirl within him. Around him, the villagers continued their indifferent routines, their presence a constant reminder of the task still ahead. They were unaware, perhaps willfully ignorant, of the incredible forces at play around them. Kaiser felt briefly a sense of frustration toward their stubbornness, their refusal to acknowledge reality, but it quickly faded. Their ignorance made them vulnerable, yes, but it also deepened his resolve. He would see this through. He would protect them, even from themselves, if he had to.

Just then, as Kaiser sat on the log, a subtle shift rippled through him, a moment he'd anticipated. Since childhood, his emotions had been both his curse and his blessing. Once, they had burned wild and uncontrolled, igniting recklessly and leaving scorched earth behind. But years of careful discipline, the forging of an iron mind, had dulled those outbursts, teaching him restraint, and how to cloak every feeling beneath layers of icy rationality.

Yet there was one truth he had realized since coming into this world: his fire, that fierce manifestation of Sol, always erupted in moments of positive emotion. Battle-lust, triumph, ambition… Those rare flashes of genuine excitement were the sparks that set his arm alight, summoned those hungry flames that danced at his command. And now, after the realization of his incremental growth, he felt it surge again.

A small blaze flickered to life on his right arm. The wood hissed and cracked under the heat, blackening and smoking. Kaiser didn't even look down. He forced himself not to acknowledge it, not to give the phenomenon any oxygen beyond the Sol he'd summoned. Instead, with a deft mental gesture, he cut the flow of energy, snuffing out the flame as if it had never existed.

That single, silent spectacle proved something essential to him. Control was possible, even in these moments. The experiment was private, none of the villagers noticed, nor did the Viz-Bot capture anything. For the first time, Kaiser felt a kernel of confidence bloom in his chest.

He rose from the half-charred log, turning his attention to his hand, flexing his fingers with an absent-minded fascination. 'If fire is born from joy,' he thought, 'What is born from cold?'

He searched for that chill, hunting for a negative emotion sharp enough to anchor him. He thought of Lord Zilean. But thinking of Zilean didn't freeze him; it only brought a twisted thrill, admiration, and the raw desire for such overwhelming strength. That, too, was fire.

No, cold was something else, colder still than envy or awe. For a brief, treacherous instant, Kaiser allowed a single face to float to the surface of his mind: Sabel Stoorm.

Instantly, as if a dam had shattered within him, the world changed. Sol flooded his limbs, his senses, his entire being, not as fire but as a blizzard. Frost exploded outward from his hand, racing up his arm, crystallizing the log, snuffing out every dying ember, devouring the earth itself in a spiderweb of ice. The ground at his feet cracked with frozen veins, a visible ring of rime radiating outward. The air itself seemed to constrict and howl; his breath emerged in white clouds, and the temperature plunged so abruptly the villagers nearest to him shivered and pulled away.

Kaiser exhaled, breath streaming like smoke, and muttered under his breath, "Figures. Even now, there is still more work to do…"

He took a steadying breath, forced himself to let go of Sabel's face, and the frost receded, though slowly, as if it wanted to stay. The temperature rose by degrees, the world returning to its muted, stagnant norm. For a moment, he just stood there, flexing his hands, marveling at the scale of the response.

But as he collected himself, preparing to move, the world changed again. At first it was only by a little. Kaiser paused, frowning. Since he was extremely sensitive to Sol, he had felt it flowing and bleeding from every living thing he encountered. But this… This was different.

He was plunged, suddenly and without warning, into a river of Sol.

Every cell in his body screamed with sensation. He felt as if he'd been submerged in a sea of blue light. The ground beneath him thrummed and the air pressed in on all sides, thick with raw power, as if every molecule had been replaced by condensed Sol. The colors of the world shifted as every shadow deepened.

This was no ordinary influx. Sol wasn't coming from the teleportation building, wasn't leaking from a single point or being. No—this was everywhere. All around him, through him, above and below, the camp and the fields and the very earth were saturated, overflowing. For a moment, the distinction between his own Sol and the world's dissolved. He could feel the pulse of a hundred villagers, the sluggish, muted thrum of their souls, all blurred into a single, overwhelming symphony. Every trace of living energy in the village was thrown into sharp, blinding relief.

It was as if the world itself had gone mad.

Kaiser staggered, clutching at his chest. The sensation was nearly unbearable. Instinctively, he tried to center himself, drawing in his awareness, focusing on his own heartbeat, the familiar feel of his Sol core. But even that felt changed—expanded, threatened, as if something from outside was attempting to merge with or overwhelm him.

He looked toward the teleportation building, eyes searching for the flicker of blue that marked Ivan or Aria's return, and even tho it happened, that faint glimmer was drowned out in the tidal wave of sensation. Whatever was happening, it was not because of their arrival.

He whispered, half in awe, half in dread, "What the hell is this…?"

And all the while, the river of Sol grew stronger, louder, brighter and impossible to ignore. It felt as if the very laws of reality were being rewritten, the boundaries between flesh and spirit dissolving into raw, blinding energy.

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