Chapter 367: Nobody’s Energy

Chapter 367: Nobody’s Energy

"Five casts," Brand said. "At your own pace."

Jin stood beside the pressure mat and chose a patch near its centre.

Small. Keep it there.

Gravity Press settled over the marked area. He held it briefly, then released it. The readout returned to its starting value.

The second cast was much the same. On the fourth, maintaining the edges took more attention. On the fifth, one side blurred before he could steady it.

He let the skill go and lowered his hand.

Brand glanced up from her tablet. "Finished?"

"The edges started going."

"And?"

"Trying harder won’t make me less tired."

"Good. Receiving next."

Glitch lay along the practice-room wall, watching. Jin sat beside his shoulder and rested a hand against the warm armour. With the drake’s cooperation, he opened himself to the slow transfer through their bond.

The energy settled into his Core. He stopped before Glitch had to give much, though part of him wanted to keep going until he felt completely fresh.

Brand checked the readings.

"Cleaner," she said. "You’re stopping without dragging the connection out. Keep practising that."

Jin’s shoulders eased. He’d expected her to find something wrong immediately.

She set down the tablet. "Now show me what you bought."

He placed the pouch on the mat and tipped out the three Astral Stones. Brand selected one and held it against a small reader.

"Thornwatch?"

"The resource exchange. Breck sold them to me. Six hundred and forty each."

"What did he tell you?"

"Draw slowly. Don’t try to take everything at once."

"Sensible advice." She returned the stone. "We’ll start with this one. Leave the others in the pouch."

Jin tucked them away. The remaining stone felt cool in his palm, with a dim brightness suspended inside it.

"Glitch actively sends energy through the bond," Brand said. "This won’t. You’ll have to draw from it, then refine what you take. Start smaller than you think you need."

He closed his fingers and reached for the energy.

Nothing happened.

For a moment he had the ridiculous suspicion that Breck had sold him an expensive night-light. Then he caught a faint resistance, pulled against it, and felt something coarse slide into his arm.

His wrist tightened.

"Less," Brand said immediately. "Ease off."

He stopped drawing. Under her direction, he worked slowly through the small amount he’d already taken, letting the rough sensation settle before guiding it into his Core.

It was unpleasant rather than painful, like trying to swallow a drink with grit in it.

"That’s different," he muttered.

"It hasn’t been prepared through your bond. You have to do more of the work yourself."

"Nobody’s energy."

Brand considered that. "Close enough. Try again. Thinner."

His second attempt was too tentative. He lost the thread almost as soon as he found it.

On the third, he caught a steady trickle. He kept his attention on it, refining the incoming energy until the coarse feel softened. Only then did he let it settle properly into the Core.

Nothing scraped. Nothing tightened.

"There," Brand said. "Remember how much effort that took."

Jin wanted to grin, but he was afraid of losing it.

The next draw went more smoothly. So did the one after that. Glitch shifted against his shoulder, interested in the concentration Jin usually reserved for something happening on his phone.

"I’m busy," Jin murmured.

The drake rested his chin again.

For several minutes, Jin did little beyond drawing, refining, and waiting. When the energy he’d spent earlier had been restored, Brand had him pause while she checked the readings.

"A little more," she said. "Slowly. Watch the pressure."

He followed her instructions. This time the refined energy did more than fill an absence. Working it through his cultivation cycle took effort, and he felt a faint, persistent tightness before it settled.

Brand stopped him there.

"Enough for today."

He opened his eyes. His palm was damp around the stone.

She turned the tablet towards him. The change was small enough that she had to point it out.

"Some cultivation progress," she said. "Don’t expect every extra thread to become useful growth. You still have to refine it properly, and your foundation can only accommodate so much at a time. Forcing more in would give us a problem to fix."

Jin looked down at his chest, though there was nothing to see.

"I thought it would feel bigger."

"You practised with one stone for part of an appointment."

"When you put it like that."

Brand took the stone and examined its remaining brightness. "Plenty left. Bring it next session. We’ll check that you can repeat this before you practise alone."

He put it in a separate fold of the pouch, away from the two untouched stones.

It was a tiny improvement. He still wanted to check the tablet once more before leaving.

"Could Glitch use the stones too?" he asked.

"Suitable stones can supply beasts as well as tamers," Brand said. "His capacity and absorption rate won’t be the same as yours. Don’t judge his needs by what we did today."

Jin glanced at the pouch. Three had seemed like quite a lot at Breck’s stall. Between himself and two beasts, he could suddenly imagine them disappearing very quickly.

He tucked the pouch securely inside his jacket. For now, he wanted to learn how to use the first one properly.

* * *

Afterwards, Jin went into the commercial district for a sturdier carrier strap and replacement rope for Flicker’s perch.

She had discovered that pulling fibres free was more entertaining than sitting on them. He bought extra rope this time.

The route back to the transit took him past an egg shop he’d visited during his search for Elsa. He recognised the narrow frontage before he read the sign.

A cold cabinet hummed along the wall inside. Water species occupied the lower shelves, their eggs held in carefully controlled conditions. He’d spent so much time looking through displays like it that his eyes went to the labels automatically.

Then he stopped.

The blue-grey egg at the far end had a pale patch near its blunt tip, like a cloudy thumbprint. He remembered leaning towards that mark while his legs ached, disappointed by another ordinary appraisal.

The lot number beneath it was familiar too.

He stepped inside.

"Back for another look?" the shopkeeper asked from behind the counter.

"Maybe."

Jin set down his shopping and checked the egg. ⅇℯ𝚕.

[Brinecoat Penguin — Egg]

[Quality: Silver (Low)]

[Affinity: Water]

[Condition: Healthy — cold-dormant]

[Hidden Potential: S]

His hand stopped halfway to his phone.

He read the appraisal again, following each line. The Quality was the same. So were the affinity and condition. He checked the cloudy patch, then the lot tag, as though he’d somehow mistaken it for the egg beside it.

No. This was the one.

"Still here," the shopkeeper said. "There’s been more interest in the flying species lately."

Jin nodded without looking round.

He remembered the old scan. He’d been searching every shop he could reach, hoping to find something for his family, and this egg had given him no reason to stay.

He had also been recovering from Highmarch. Walking between shops had tired him out. The hospital had still been concerned about his blood readings.

Now an S sat beneath the ordinary Silver label.

What did I miss?

He brought out his phone and opened the details.