Damien was still in his head about the things Gray said he could do—the implications of what he could do. He was ecstatic. At least now I don't have to worry about finding powerful weapons and armor, he thought to himself, feeling a strange kind of relief. That was when a strange thought struck him. Voicing it, he asked. "Can your armor form be destroyed?"

  [Yes. Don't look so surprised,] Gray said, motioning at Damien's surprised face.

  Truthfully, Damien hadn't expected the answer. He had begun having his strange belief that the little grey figurine couldn't be destroyed, judging by the apocalyptic power it seemed to contain. So hearing it prove him wrong was kind of a surprise.

  [Don't despair, it'll take a massive amount of damage to truly damage me.]

  Damien frowned, confused.

  "What levels would you say is appropriate to truly damage you?" Keilan asked.

  [What, already began planning my destruction?] Gray said, to which Keilan only rolled his eyes. [To answer your question, it would take an ascendant level of power to even damage me.]

  Keilan whistled, turning to Damien. "Damn, that's going to make you pretty overpowered."

  Damien could only nod slowly, still thinking about the implications. He knew very little about ascendants and even less about their levels of power. All he knew about them was that their powers were planetary, they couldn't be contained to a single world. So for Gray to imply that only an ascendant could do any sort of damage to him, he laughed. Overpowered didn't even come close to defining what Damien was going to become.

  [Pause whatever you're thinking right now; it isn't going to do you any good.] Gray swiftly interrupted Damien's wild imagination of grand cosmic battles. [Let me warn you now, nothing good comes without a price. Wielding me isn't something that should be taken lightly. Yes, you'll become pretty overpowered for your tier, but you will still die if you become reckless.]

  Seeing their confusion, Gray expounded.

  [Wielding me only in weapon form puts a strain on your soul, but it's so minimal it might as well not exist. Wielding me in armor form is another matter entirely, you would be protected to an insane degree, sure, but the price for power would fall heavily on your soul. You will not incur any physical damage, but your soul will take half the damage incurred. In normal circumstances, you would have been trained for years and your soul enforced to be able to handle me long term. But I'll admit this is far from normal. We should have been together since your awakening, with me helping you through any delicate hurdles you wouldn't be able to come back from. I will admit, your soul is strong, so strong that it'll be able to handle me, but for only a brief period of time. Luckily, danger brings progress.] Gray finished ominously.

  Damien pouted, his idea of battling a certain ascendant quashed.

  "That's still insanely overpowered, fighting with armor that cannot be damaged by anyone under ascendant level," Keilan said, cheering Damien up a little.

  [Yes,] Gray confirmed. [Unless the strain on your soul kills you first. My advice is for you to abstain from using the armor until you're at a higher stage, hopefully Spirit King.

  [Although I was given a solution to that,] he continued, a look of confusion on his little face. [Did any of you happen to see a small orb, a little larger than me and glowing kind of purple?]

  "You mean this?" Keilan said, a purple glowing orb appearing on his hand.

  Damien and Gray looked at him.

  Keilan looked at them both, shrugging, "What? I took it when you fell unconscious. Been looking for a way to bring it up but haven't had the chance." He held out the orb to Gray. "What does it do anyway? It doesn't emit any kind of energy that I can detect."

  The orb floated out of his hands, levitating closer to Gray until it came to a stop, floating beside him. [This is your ticket to easily wielding me and also a road to faster progression,] he said, his knuckles ringing on the orb. [With this, you wouldn't have as much strain wielding me as you would have. It'll reduce the weight on your soul manifold and also help you progress faster, without drawbacks.]

  If Damien wasn't shocked before, he was now. More powerful beings that he would pay a lifetime worth for this orb. And considering that the people who could come close to affording it were the ones who'd lived for a very long time, making them extremely powerful. Damien couldn't even begin to imagine the amount this thing would bring

  This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  The one thing every essence wielder searched for at one point in life was a way to speed up their progression. Even he wasn't innocent in this. They always get disappointed eventually. It wasn't that there weren't things to speed up their progression, there was, but the drawbacks were always unpredictable and not worth the results.

  Finding something that'll progress you faster without drawbacks was something every wielder would kill for. Razing civilizations to nothing and committing genocides just to lay hands on any kind of object believed to speed up your progression without drawbacks.

  "That's not possible," Keilan said, his face, a mask of shock. "There are always drawbacks."

  [Not when they are constructed by Damien's father. It was made for him, so why would his father create something that'll lead to heavy drawbacks?]

  "I don't know who his father is, since you refused to even tell us his name," Keilan said with disbelief. "But I find it hard to believe that one man could create this and not make it public, right? The money one would make if he sold the orb would be beyond imaginable, You'd be a universally rich man!" He exclaimed.

  Gray remained quiet, giving nothing away.

  [So that's another lead I've just given you.] Damien sat up, shocked. [Use it to find out his identity, but make sure you're strong as hell to handle anything that comes your way when you find out.

  [Now, to get back on topic, this artifact was made as a countermeasure to the strain of wielding me, and also to other problem. So r—]

  "What does it do exactly?" Damien interrupted. "All that you've been telling us are the aftereffects, but you haven't said what this thing was exactly made to do?"

  Gray looked at them both for a moment before answering. [It increases the soul strength.]

  Everything was now coming together. "By increasing the soul strength, it removes the strain that affects the soul when you accumulate too much power too quickly, entirely bypassing the stalling effect."

  Gray nodded. [You don't actually need that effect; I can perceive your soul, and it hasn't reached that stage.]

  "But he would," Damien nodded at Keilan. "He's pushed himself to Spirit lord in such short years that I'm sure he's going to need to hold off on advancing for a while. We're already seeing the signs."

  That was the problem with progressing too fast, there was always a drawback. Damien and Keilan had done it as a necessity to be free from the whims of the powerful who either wanted them dead or put in chains.

  Essence wielding was something that began with the soul and eventually leaked out into the body. The body was always fortified anytime the soul and spirit advanced bathed. The body was a physical manifestation of the soul's power. Since the actual power to wield essence resided in the soul, it also dictated how fast you got to advance before the stalling effect kicked in.

  Everybody would need to slow down at some point, it was a universal law, as he'd learned. The soul could only take a certain amount of energy too quickly before it needed to slow down to digest.

  That was why, after rushing to Spirit in case quickly, they'd known Keilan was reaching his limits; he'd already noticed. Damien, on the other hand, didn't even feel any sort of thing that he could qualify as a strain on his soul. He could continue advancing, but he'd restrained himself just Incase.

  Gray looked at him. [I know what you're about to s—]

  "I want to give the orb to Keilan," he said before Gray could finish, which made the little grey man visibly grimace.

  "Damien," Keilan started.

  "Why do you sound so surprised," he interrupted. "Did you think I was going to leave you behind?"

  "It's not that. Damien, this thing is too important for you to just hand to me," Keilan said with obvious reluctance. "From what Gray has said, I take it that there's a bigger plan in work here, which would require you to rise quickly. Giving this to me might disrupt that plan, and I don't want to be the reason you slow down."

  Damien looked at him for a moment, the boyish face with blond hair and ocean-blue eyes. The closest friend he'd had since his awakening. They'd both faced tragedies together and had grown from it. Keilan had always been the only person who could rein his anger in, always able to calm Damien when he was too enraged. He'd never leave him behind. "I'd rather slow down my advancement than leave you behind. To be honest, it'll pain me, but I'd do it for you. We've been through a lot together and I'm not ready to leave you behind. We're brothers," he said, averting his face so they wouldn't see the raw emotion peeking through his expression.

  Everybody was quiet for some time. Both Damien and Keilan took the time to compose themselves, while Gray just floated there, looking from one man to another.

  Keilan smiled, his eyes a little bit red. "We're brothers," he repeated.

  Damien nodded. "And I'm not about to leave my brother behind. We're going to climb heights of power together, and you more than deserve to stand beside me through it all," he said, to which Keilan immediately hugged him fiercely.

  "I love you, Dame."

  "I love you too," Damien replied.

  When they were done, they both looked at Gray.

  [I'd support this whole brotherly love thingy if Keilan wasn't about to plan my demise.]

  Damien rolled his eyes and Keilan snorted.

  "I want to give him the orb," he repeated.

  [You do know that you'll go through huge amounts of pain if you wield me without that orb?]

  "Like you said, danger brings progress."

  [Urgh, using my own words against me. I can't force you, but are you willing to go through with this decision, For him?]

  Damien was steadfast. "Yes."

  Gray sighed, [You're soo soo confusing. Alright, get ready,] he said, levitating the orb closer to Keilan's chest. When it got to Keilan's pale skin, it slowly sank into his body like water, making Keilan visibly shiver. The moment it fully sank in, Keilan froze, collapsing into unconsciousness.

  Lacking something to balance on, he crashed onto the ground.

  Damien looked at Gray questioningly, to which the tiny man shrugged.

  [Oops, forgot to mention that.]