Required pos detected within the User's Soul Well. Do you wish to proceed with this mutatioimated time to plete: 1 hour.

  Of course, I do. Go on System. Do your job.

  Choice Aowledged. Beginning Mutation. Please be mindful of your body during this process. Even the lightest strain impact this process.

  Got it. Leo nodded, letting his body rex as rig spread all over his unique heart. The lo went, the more he wao cw at his chest, but he held back, gritting his teeth. Yeah, that's fug unfortable.

  Within a few mihe pain slowly ed his whole body, boiling his ans, muscles, and skin. Nothing was safe from the process, not his tails or even eyelids. At times, he had to bite back a scream or a whimper as his iwisted, their molten surfaces grazing against each other.

  I swear. He gasped, cws digging into the roof. If this is how every mutation is going to feel, I won't be held responsible for my as. This is bullshit!

  Yet there was nothing Leo could do to stop it, and so for the whole hour, he y on the roof, writhing and trembling in pain. The hot knives digging into his skin didn't give out until the st minute, leaving him gasping for air and drowning i even as the process finished.

  'Leo?' Nyx's voice suddenly reached his jumbled mind. 'Is everything fine? You almost pletely cut off our link when the pain came.'

  He groaned, climbing to his knees. Just peachy. He coughed. Sorry, I have no idea how I did that. I definitely didn't mean to. Must have been some survival instinct.

  'It's fine. Don't worry about it,' the feline pcated. 'I knew you were still there. I just couldn't feel what you felt.'

  "Maybe that's for the best," Leo sighed, sitting cross-legged. "No reason for both of us to gh this bullshit... Speaking of. Do you feel any different? You said you're supposed to be from my mutations."

  'Different?' Nyx hummed, pausing for a moment. 'Not quite. A little more energized might be a better way to describe it. And you?'

  He scowled. "Just ag all over and feeling a bit tired, the plete opposite of you. Apart from that, Mineratioo have no obvious effects until we get hurt."

  'Are you... going to test it?' The feline asked with a bit of apprehension seeping into her voice.

  His eyebrows jumped up. "After what just happened?" He snorted. "Hell no. Let's put self-harm away for ter… or never. I had enough pain for one day. Besides, a small wound won't cut it noill need something major to see how my healing factor really improved."

  Nyx sighed over the link. 'As long as you don't let anything harm you on purpose, I won’t pin.'

  "Your trust in me is really incredible," Leo muttered dryly. "I swear you weren't this bad a few days ago."

  'You only have yourself to bme,' she practically chirped. 'You're a terrible influence. Although, memories of Nikra's plicated past and Hunter's short life might have also pyed a small part in this.'

  "I'm sure," he grumbled, pg his hand on his knees. "Now, if you don't mind. I'll try this meditation thing again. I think I'm slowly getting somewhere."

  'As you wish. I'll take a nap then. Please wake me up if you need me,' Nyx announced, promptly bag away from their link.

  Right....

  Leo took a deep break, closing his eyes. Rex. Clear your mind and fill it with Essence. Focus on your soul. Use Soul Well as the blueprint.

  Meditation was definitely not his forte. He just didn't know how to use it the right way, which was why he came up with his owhod. A method that soon would hopefully lead him back to his soulscape. He o reach it; he had no other choice.

  Why?

  Because despite being aware of Adam resting inside his soul, he didn't know much more. The boy still slept; that was obvious. However, apart from that, Leo could only feel oher thing. And that was how his own Essence slowly fed the boy, keeping him alive with just enough energy.

  He had no way to trol it for now; his soul did it all on its own, unasked. At first, when he found out about this, he didn't mind. Why would he, after all?

  Yet after a quick talk with Nyx, Leo realized that in the long run, this might not be so good if he didn't get this process under trol. For now, his soul was only feeding the boy, but what if that ged? What if Adam awoke and started draining Essence from the inside?

  He couldn't let that happen, at least not without any way to stop it. As such, he had to find a way into his soulscape. Both to iigate and to take full and of what was happening there.

  Just like with the items. Pull your mind in. Slowly.

  Leo already tried this st night with limited success, and it seemed not much would ge today. heless, he still pushed, testing different teiques and other ways of eg with his soul.

  All this for almost nothing.

  "Shit!" He hissed, eyes snapping open. "I fug felt it. The pull is simir to what happens when I use Soul Well. But why did it fail? Again... Shit!"

  As much as Leo pined, he knew what was wrong, or rather, he uood that something was missing. There was always a gap in his teique, a gap that destroyed each attempt at diving into his soul. And to make matters worse, each time, it happe the end of the process.

  "o switch it up," he muttered, shaking his head. "No reason to get too frustrated. I try again ter."

  Deade, he rexed his muscles and, this time only brought out a tiny k of Esseo his hand. Just like he tried yesterday, he fuelled the energy with the right i and snapped his fingers.

  A spark, if he could even call it that, ignited on his cws, a sudden warmth spreading over them. Yet before it could transform into something more, the Essence flickered out, disappearing into the wind.

  "At least not a total failure," Leed and tried again, switg up his i and amount of energy with each attempt.

  Some would say there was no point in what he was doing. But no one, including Nikra, ever told him that summoning base elements was impossible. He probably wouldn't be able to trol them like someoh true or even false affinity, but it didn't mean he couldn't try creating at least a small fme.

  Besides, even if this failed, Leo found this exercise to be an excellent way to practice his Essence trol.

  "Wait. I have a on that trols fire now. Maybe..." With a shrug, he summoned a -scythe into one hand while the athered more Essence. "Okay. And now..."

  Activating ignition, he trated on the feeling of the fire ing the s. He melded it all with his own i and snapped his fingers once more.

  Wow.

  A tiny fme, smaller than one usually ing from a lighter, sparked to life on his thumb. It dahere for a few seds, growing smaller and rger, warming his hand before finally flickering out.

  Yeah, another e to fire definitely helps. Leo snorted, dismissing the oried again then, but except for a slightly stronger spark, nothing else happened. Still better, though.

  Just as he was about to practiore, an idea came to his mind. While the Bdes of ed Inferno provided him with a weak link to fire, he possessed one more Install item. Ahat, together with another mutation, gave him a e to a much more unique affinity.

  'Are you sure you want to do this?' Nyx's voice suddenly rang in his head.

  "Yeah," Leo nodded without hesitation. "I know Nikra feared using it, but I 't make the same mistake. We saw what happeo her. Ending up like that just isn't in my pns."

  'But do you o do it now? Why not wait? Why not get a bit stronger?'

  He shook his head. "Nyx... Stop letting Nikra's past influence you. I've been using Void affinity for quite some time now. Minor Takeover, remember? Now, I just want to go a bit further. See what I really do."

  'I...' The feline mumbled. 'I uand... Please be careful.'

  As their link quietened, Leo rolled his shoulders and closed his eyes again. Esseirred within his soul, ready for the task ahead. He could almost feel its enthusiasm as if it knew what was ing.

  Not yet. He ordered, grabbing his Esseightly. What did Nikra say about the Void? Ah, yes, it exists to only corrupt, e, aroy.

  Well then...

  A tiny smile pulled at his lips as he gave the three principles everything he had. At the same time, he summoned forth the Spark of the Void while reag out with a small tendril of Esseowards his heart, Nikra's shard.

  Show me what you got!

  Chaos65