I grit my teeth.

The air stinks of burnt skin and something metallic.

I don't know… how long it's been.

My breath is shallow.

When was the last time I rested?

My whole body aches. There's blood in my mouth—a faint, coppery line trailing down my lips.

Sweat clings to my skin. My armor smells like shit. I smell like shit.

Fuck.

I strip it all off.

Every piece. Chest, arms, legs.

I drop onto the cold stone, letting my back slam against it with a dull thud.

It helps a little.

Still hungry too.

Yeah… probably should've eaten before diving headfirst into this damn trial.

I exhale through my teeth.

"Houston, take me in."

Instantly, I feel the disconnection. That strange pull as the senses fade from flesh—and shift.

Light blooms instantly.

But this is my mind, so no need to adjust. No sting in the eyes. No burn.

I breathe in. Salt and air.

A gentle wind moves past me.

The internal space's gotten sharper since reaching the First Pillar. Cleaner. More coherent. I can still tell it's not real, but damn close.

Then I see him.

Houston stands a few meters away. Same as always—my face, my body. Just… different. Glasses. Lab coat. Calm like he's about to hand me a thesis review.

"It's been a while," I mutter. "How are things over here?"

He adjusts his glasses.

"Us? Good." He pauses. "You? Not so much."

"Yeah, don't tell me," I mutter, glancing around and zooming in on a random leaf. "You really put a lot of effort into the details."

"Trying to make the place more stylish," he shrugs. "Also a good mental exercise. Keeps the neurons from committing collective suicide while you're out there frying yourself."

He taps a tree and it lets out a suspiciously mechanical rustle. "Still working on the acoustics though. Budget cuts, you know."

"But let's focus on you. I've been analysing the technique you're using to create what are basically cellular-level capacitors. The principle is rather fascinating—and by that I mean I can't fully explain it, but it seems to work."

Houston flicks his fingers and a nervous system diagram floats mid-air, rotating slowly.

"You're inducing localized dielectric realignment. Two waves collide at the body nodes at just the right harmonic delay and… something folds. Might be protein lattice restructuring. Might be ionic shell entrapment. Shouldn't hold charge that long—but it does. And rather smoothly at that."

"Well, not exactly a 'smooth' transition." I rub the back of my neck. "Let's hope it's worth the effort."

"Oh, it is. Applications are endless. Controlled energy storage. Reflex enhancements. Even phased bio-discharge if you figure out the layering properly."

I raise an eyebrow. "Still, what's your take on it? I mean, I can see the direction—sort of. And the goal. But how does it tie to the name of those who reach it: Stone Jaguar? I feel like I'm missing something important."

Houston doesn't answer right away. He smiles faintly, adjusting his glasses.

"You have an idea but you're not gonna tell me, are you?" I sigh. "You really are getting deep into the whole 'I'm just the car, you're the driver' thing."

He chuckles under his breath. "I'm not sure. I have guesses. Lots of guesses. But nothing concrete. Besides, isn't it better if you find out mid-trauma? Builds character."

I stare at him.

He just smiles wider, like a cat pretending not to know what 'pushing the glass off the table' means.

"But let's talk about something else." Houston stretches lazily. "This stage… it's very different from those before. Feels more grounded. Like The Tower's pulling more and more from Earth. History, mythology, sociology. Moving from prehistoric-based monsters to primitive human civilizations. Advancement in both time and complexity."

"I'm sure you've already filled half your library with notes on them."

"Half is too much... but I'm getting there." He tilts his head. "Working titles include: 'How to Avoid Conquer by Sentient Half-Reptiles' and 'Mesoamerican Warfare for the Biophysically Unstable'. Bestseller material."

I chuckle under my breath.

Houston shifts his gaze back toward me.

"How are you feeling, really?" he asks. "Not physically. Mentally. This stage's built to drag. The Tower clearly decided hack and slash isn't enough anymore. Strength still matters, but now… you need more. Endurance. Patience. Allies. A strategy longer than 'stab it harder'."

"I know… but I'm not sure." I scratch the side of my jaw. "On one hand, it's exciting—interacting with the Ajnals, learning how they think, live, fight, studying their methods. Seeing a civilization evolve with EM wave control as the base... it's pretty insane."

I pause.

"But on the other…" I exhale slowly. "It sucks that we got separated at the start. And there's this nagging thought that maybe none of this is real. I mean, where do these people, these Ajnal even come from? Created from scratch? Computer-generated? Am I shaking hands with someone's AI hobby project?"

"You're starting to sound like me," Houston chuckles. "Careful. Next thing you know, you'll be complaining about wave-particle duality and writing conspiracy notes on digital napkins."

I smirk. "I'll pass. You're enough existential crisis for both of us."

He gives a mock offended huff, then smiles.

I sit up slightly, feeling the weight of the mental fatigue creeping back.

"Anyway, I should get back. I was thinking of a spar with Darius, but maybe next time." I flex my fingers. "I can't burn any more mental energy—not when the Ajnal might've just locked me in a do-or-die chamber."

"Alright. Good luck with that." Houston taps his temple. "But no pressure. Your body should be able to survive several more days without food or water, if needed. Just think of it as... extreme fasting. Very zen. Very deadly."

"Let's hope it doesn't come to that."

I give a short nod—and the next thing I notice is the sharp pain crashing back into my senses, like getting slammed into the walls of an Iron Maiden.

I sit straight, take a deep breath, and start again.

The pulses collide in a new body node. This is the 97th one.

It takes between 400 to 500 collisions for each body node to stabilize as a capacitor.

I feel the sharp pain. But I go again.

And again.

Pulse after pulse—

The process monotonous, but I need to keep focus.

Any small misalignment can affect the balance and throw the effect of the last dozen pulses to waste.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

So I have to keep myself focused.

It's hard.

It feels like self torture.

Like voluntarily stabbing one's own body over and over again…

But I already reached this point.

I cannot afford to back down.

Any point in this fucking hell called The Tower—

If I back down, the moment I think it's too much—

That's the moment I lose it all:

My life. Ayu. Hope.

Everything—gone.

So it's good pain.

Pain is good. Pain makes you tougher. Pain—

"Argh…"

Shit…

That was too much.

I need to calm.

Calm.

I spit blood onto the ground.

I take a deep breath.

And I continue.

The next pulses collide. The capacitor slowly expands.

And so a dozen more.

A hundred more.

A thousand more.

I lose sense of time again.

There is nothing in my head but pulses forming, colliding, repeating.

Pain slowly fades away.

There is nothing left.

Only darkness and the occasional sparks in my body.

My body is stone.

Stone holds fire.

Fire breaks stone.

But no break… no flame.

Every collision, every strike lights a spark.

One after another, each slowly showing the path ahead.

And the path is painful, is long, it's not straight, not safe… but it's the path I walk.

I spit blood again.

I have grown used to the smell of burnt flesh.

Thirst sears my throat and hunger gnaws at my stomach.

But I go on.

And on.

And on…

Until there is no node left.

I open my eyes.

I cannot see anything.

I register the pain, the sensation I had so long ignored.

I notice my clothes are stained with a mix of black and blood. It stinks.

I arch my back to stretch, and the pain sharpens. I grit my teeth.

I send waves inside me, studying my body.

All the nodes are active. All have become capacitors. But… is that it?

I feel I am still missing something.

I send waves toward the nodes. I start slowly charging them.

It takes time, but slowly, I go from one to the next, energy being transferred from the Pillar toward my body nodes.

I feel the energy. I feel I can release it.

But I wait.

I patiently wait as I fill all to full capacity.

One after another.

But as I charge the last, I feel something.

Not inside. Out.

Light?

I open my eyes. They widen.

In front of me, drawn into the plain wall, are a series of dots. Dots of light that look like stars in the night. But they are no random dots. They form a pattern.

A creature. A tiger… no. A jaguar.

Somehow it seems to react to the nodes in my body, the EM energy stored in them resonating with whatever material these walls, or dots are made of.

For a moment I am entranced by its beauty. Its presence. Its might.

I feel my nodes resonate. There is a slight connection between them.

I remember the next words of the Ahau K'awiil.

Sky holds stars.

But stars sleep in day.

Only night shows them.

Only dark speaks truth.

The truth? Is this the truth hidden in the darkness? Stars that come to light after forming my node capacitors?

But what does this truth entail? What relation does this pattern have to the principles itself? Why a jaguar? Is it just part of their spiritual belief, religion, or is there actual scientific meaning behind it?

I stare at it for several more seconds.

The door does not open. I feel no further reaction.

That could only mean: the trial is not over. I am not a Stone Jaguar yet.

I focus on the pattern, and treat it as a puzzle. The nodes in the wall form a jaguar. But the ones in my body do not.

I take a deep breath.

I then release the charge in several of my nodes.

Fuck!

I gasp.

Why is it so painful?

It makes no sense.

The release shouldn't be like this. The technique would be flawed if each time I release the energy from the capacitors it hurts this much, like being shocked from the inside.

Dammit.

Why is there no fucking manual for all this shit? Enlightenment my ass.

I steady my breathing. Cursing will not help.

I grit my teeth and continue.

I discharge one after another, trying to do so slower or in a different way.

I touch my armor on the ground and try to discharge it toward it, but it makes no difference. The pulse released is strong but the pain is proportional.

But eventually, I reach the point I wanted. I discharge roughly 60% of the nodes in my body, and those that remain resemble, quite accurately, the pattern of the jaguar depicted on the wall.

And just as I do, I feel it. The resonance grows stronger.

I feel the energy inside my capacitors resonate with the pattern on the wall, which in return shines brighter now… and brighter.

I feel the energy growing stronger and stronger, as if some sort of vibration of the internal fields… it grows and grows, and… it comes to life.

The bright dots on the wall react. They float in the air. They move.

The jaguar goes from a two-dimensional depiction to a holographic 3D creature, gently walking through the air.

It stares at me. Its eyes shine deeper, deeper than the rest—like piercing through the soul.

I look back, my eyes locked onto it.

But then I notice.

The dots are just a projection, a result of the resonance reached between the room's natural frequency and the EM energy stored in my nodes.

It's reacting to them.

The jaguar paces slowly, silent.

Then it stops.

It lowers its head slightly, almost like a bow.

A pulse reaches me.

Not a wave of words. Not an image. Something raw. Primal.

I feel it in my body. My nodes shiver, still resonating with the beast.

I clench my fists.

It's not enough to watch.

I have to answer.

I push. I force the EM stored in my nodes to align—not just charge and release, but shape. Guide. Bend into a single coherent resonance matching the jaguar's pulse.

It feels like trying to wrestle a storm into a bottle.

My hands tremble. My heart pounds.

The energy contained is too volatile. If I release… the pain…

But the words come back.

Fear walks soft.

Heart walks loud.

Step not fast.

Step not back.

I calm myself. I focus.

I need to align it all.

I cannot fear the pain.

I have to… prepare it.

I visualize it in my mind. Both a mix of calculation and feel. Of rationality and intuition. Letting the balance of both guide it. Form the answer. Form the alignment. Form the jaguar inside me.

Slowly, it begins to take shape.

The numbers feel right.

The concept feels right.

I take a deep breath.

Fall, rise.

Bleed, burn.

Hold nothing.

And then another breath.

My chest rises. Falls.

I push Overdrive. Higher.

I want to feel it. The moment. The beat. The burn of my blood.

And then I hold nothing back.

All at once.

I release it.

Discharging all the energy stored inside, matching the pulse—the call—the pattern.

It pains, it hurts, it bleeds, it burns… but it glows.

A breath, a blaze, a soul that grows.

I light the fire sealed within,

I carve my mark across the skin.

I shine where shadows fear to tread,

A jaguar born where stars have bled.

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