Chapter 73: You Got New Abilities Too?

Jet woke the next morning feeling as though someone had spent the night hammering his shoulders into place.

He remained on his back for several seconds, staring at the ceiling while the soreness made itself known from his neck to the base of his spine.

It wasn’t injury, at least not anything serious. The pain was the residue of forcing an SSS-Rank Divine Rune through its first stage advancement after absorbing more Monster Cores in one sitting than he ever had before. When Jet finally sat up, the muscles across his back tightened in protest, and he rolled his shoulders carefully until some of the stiffness eased.

Last night’s notifications immediately returned to mind.

Asura Physique — Stage II.

Asura Arms.

Asura Mask.

Weapon Master.

Then Ilios.

Jet looked down at his chest for a moment. Somewhere beneath his skin rested the next SSS-Rank Divine Rune the System had determined could eventually be unsealed, provided he reached 2-Star, obtained a sufficiently powerful Fire-aligned Origin Treasure and survived the ignition of Ilios within his heart.

None of those were problems he could solve this morning.

He showered, dressed and checked his equipment before leaving the room. The Vorpal Blade rested securely at his waist, while the Monster Cores that had covered his bed the previous night had been reduced to worthless fragments and discarded.

His Palladium Fruit remained secured among his possessions. Jet checked it once before locking everything away, then headed downstairs.

Frey was already eating when Jet entered the hotel’s dining area.

That alone was enough to make Jet suspicious.

Normally Frey treated breakfast like a competitive event, but this morning he sat with one hand around a cup while barely touching the plate in front of him.

His black hair remained slightly damp from a recent shower, and although exhaustion lingered beneath his eyes, there was a barely concealed satisfaction in his expression. Frey looked up when Jet approached, gave him a slow once-over and immediately noticed the stiffness in his movement.

"You look like you lost a fight with your mattress," Frey said as Jet pulled out the chair opposite him. His gaze lingered on Jet’s shoulders before the corner of his mouth twitched. "Either that, or those Cores did something interesting."

Jet sat down and reached for the water waiting on the table. "You’re smiling too much for someone who supposedly spent last night resting."

That wiped some of the amusement from Frey’s face.

For several seconds, neither said anything. Jet drank while Frey finally cut into his breakfast, though the knowing look passing between them made the situation obvious. They had gone into separate rooms with collections of Monster Cores, and apparently neither had come out unchanged.

Frey swallowed before leaning back slightly. "Fine. How did the Core absorption go?"

"Asura advanced." Jet said casually.

Frey stopped moving.

The fork remained halfway toward his plate as his expression shifted from casual interest to genuine attention. "Advanced how?"

"Its Rune Stage changed from Dormant to Awakened." Jet shrugged his shoulders.

A grin slowly spread across Frey’s face.

Jet noticed immediately. "You too?"

"Not the Stage." Frey lowered his fork and leaned forward, clearly abandoning any attempt to hide his excitement. "Vritra gave me new abilities."

Jet stared at him for a moment before releasing a quiet laugh. "Of course it did."

That was enough to open the conversation.

Jet explained first, although carefully. Frey still believed the Eight-Armed Asura was an S-Rank Divine Rune, and Jet had no intention of correcting that assumption. The nine sealed Runes remained completely unmentioned, as did Ilios and the release conditions that had appeared after Asura’s advancement. There was still no reason to involve anyone else in the truth of what had happened during his awakening.

"Asura Physique evolved to Stage II," Jet explained while eating. "The main change is that some adaptations don’t completely disappear after combat anymore. Repeated exposure can gradually produce lasting improvements, assuming the stress is something my body can actually survive."

Frey’s expression became more serious. "So if I keep punching you, eventually punching you stops working?"

"No." Jet gave him a flat look. "If you hit me hard enough to kill me, I die. It isn’t immunity. My body needs repeated exposure, recovery and time. My Star Rank still limits what it can handle."

"That would’ve been extremely annoying otherwise." Frey smirked.

"It gets worse." Jet smiled lightly.

Frey’s eyebrows rose.

Jet told him about Asura Arms next. Two additional Mana-constructed limbs capable of striking, grasping objects and wielding weapons, although his coordination with them was currently poor. Weapon Master interested Frey even more once Jet explained that it accelerated weapon comprehension and proficiency growth without magically handing him experience he hadn’t earned.

When Jet finally described Asura Mask, Frey’s grin disappeared.

"So you can basically remove your own safety restrictions." Frey said while rubbing his chin with a thoughtful face.

"Temporarily," Jet replied. "More output from Asura Physique, but my body still has the same structural limits. If I push too far, I can tear muscles, damage bones or wreck my Mana pathways."

Frey chewed slowly while considering that. "That sounds like the kind of ability you’re supposed to use when the other option is dying."

"That’s approximately how I interpreted it."

Frey nodded, then smiled again. "Good. Because Vritra gave me something much less responsible."

Jet had expected that expression to mean trouble.

He wasn’t disappointed.

Frey explained Calamity Reservoir first. Vritra’s Coil could now capture a portion of energy from forces it successfully intercepted, constricted or compressed. Kinetic impacts, heat, electricity, explosions and compatible Mana attacks could all potentially contribute, although Vritra only retained a fraction and anything too powerful for the Coil to contain would simply break through.

"The System converts whatever it captures into Calamity Mana and stores it inside Vritra," Frey continued, tapping two fingers against the table. "There’s a capacity limit, and I can’t keep it forever. It dissipates if I sit around doing nothing."

Jet immediately understood the combat implications. "So someone attacking you can charge the ability."

"If I catch the attack properly." Frey corrected.

"And the second ability spends it." Jet added.

Frey pointed at him with his fork. "Exactly."

Calamity Release turned the stored energy into offense. Frey described the available discharge methods with increasing enthusiasm: explosive strikes through his fists, acceleration through his feet, destructive releases through his weapons, a concentrated beam through his mouth and broader discharges through his palm or body. Then he mentioned Total Discharge.

Jet stopped eating. "You can release the entire Reservoir at once?"

Frey grinned widely. "Every last bit."

"How much did you test?" Jet stared at him and said.

Frey’s expression answered before he spoke. "Two percent."

Jet stared at him.

"I was in a hotel." Frey shrugged.

For once, Jet couldn’t argue with the restraint. Neither of them knew what even a partially charged Calamity Release would do to ordinary walls, and discovering the answer by destroying their accommodations would be idiotic.

That created an obvious problem.

Jet hadn’t properly tested Asura Arms beyond lifting a glass and moving the limbs around his room. He hadn’t activated Asura Mask at all. Frey had barely tested Calamity Reservoir and hadn’t used Calamity Release.

Descriptions weren’t enough.

They needed space.

Frey reached the conclusion at nearly the same moment. "We could go outside."

Jet considered it. "Not anywhere near the main routes."

"Then we go farther into the Thousand Boughs and find somewhere empty." Frey finally returned his attention to breakfast, though his food disappeared considerably faster now that they had a plan. "We’re not hunting. We find a clearing, test everything, come back."

Jet nodded. Sparring against Frey would be far more useful than striking trees. Asura Arms required coordination against a moving opponent, while Calamity Reservoir specifically needed incoming force to test its mechanics properly. More importantly, both of them knew enough about the other’s fighting style to recognize when something changed.

They finished breakfast and returned upstairs for their equipment.

Jet secured the Vorpal Blade at his waist and checked his armor, choosing lighter protection rather than dressing for a prolonged expedition. Frey emerged several minutes later carrying both curved swords across his back.

They packed water and basic medical supplies but left everything unnecessary behind. Their Palladium Fruits remained secured at the hotel. Neither intended to wander far enough into the Thousand Boughs for this to become another expedition.

Zenith Citadel was already fully awake when they stepped outside.

Walkers filled the streets, trading houses had opened their doors, and expedition parties moved toward the gates beneath the ancient walls.

Jet and Frey joined the outward traffic, passed through the normal exit procedures and followed one of the maintained routes into the forest.

They remained on established paths initially, putting distance between themselves and Zenith before turning onto a lesser trail. From there they moved deeper, deliberately avoiding signs of recent Walker traffic.

The towering trees swallowed the distant Citadel walls, and human voices gradually disappeared beneath rustling leaves and the strange sounds of the Beyond.

It took nearly an hour before they found somewhere suitable.

The clearing was broad, roughly circular and surrounded by ancient trees thick enough to survive stray impacts better than anything near Zenith. Low vegetation covered parts of the ground, but the center offered enough open space for movement.

Jet checked the surrounding area for obvious monster traces while Frey walked the perimeter. Neither found anything suggesting a nest or recent territorial activity.

Frey returned to the center and drew both curved swords.

Jet stepped opposite him and pulled the Vorpal Blade free, its iridescent silver edge catching the light filtering through the canopy.

Frey rolled his shoulders, settling naturally into his stance. The usual grin appeared, but his attention had already sharpened.

Jet adjusted his grip.

Neither of them intended to seriously injure the other.

Neither had come all this way for a meaningless spar either.