The result?
An explosion.
A terrifying screaming lecture.
And a full week of avoiding Ivy like the plague.
That was why Scott looked so shaken now.
Ivy letting soone into her workshop was shocking enough.
Well...
Except for Redy.
But Redy was different.
Redy’s expression shifted slightly.
"Don’t tell —"
Before she could finish the sentence, she turned and rushed out of the kitchen.
Straight toward the workshop.
Felecia and Scott exchanged a quick look.
Then imdiately ran after her.
Monts later they reached the workshop entrance.
Redy didn’t hesitate.
She pushed the door open and went inside.
Felecia stopped at the doorway.
Scott stopped beside her.
The two of them stared into the room from outside.
Felecia crossed her arms.
"The air feels fresher out here."
Scott nodded instantly.
"Yeah."
"We can observe just fine from here."
Neither of them had any intention of entering.
The small pink-haired artisan might look harmless, but when it ca to her creations?
She was terrifying.
Inside the workshop, Redy imdiately spotted Adam.
He was lying on the floor.
Nearby, Judgent was clamped inside a massive machine.
Essence was flooding into the weapon at an alarming rate.
The scythe glowed violently.
And Ivy was frantically trying to shut the device down.
Redy’s eyes widened.
"...Shit."
****
A few minutes earlier, Ivy activated the essence generators and the twin emitters fired beams of condensed essence directly into Judgent.
At first, everything looked normal.
This was the standard procedure for supercharging a conduit before analysis.
Nothing unusual.
Nothing dangerous.
Or at least...
That was what Ivy expected.
Until Adam suddenly collapsed.
His body hit the floor with a dull thud.
Pain exploded through his nerves as the connection between him and Judgent flared violently.
Ivy froze for half a second.
Then imdiately understood the problem.
"Damn it..."
Judgent was an Adaptive Conduit.
That ant it maintained an active resonance with its wielder.
Normally the connection was mild.
But it seed like the link was stronger than what she had expected..
Which ant the conduit wasn’t just absorbing essence.
It was transferring the feedback directly into Adam.
And that feedback was brutal.
Ivy rushed to the control panel.
Her fingers slamd against the shutdown switch.
The machine powered down instantly.
But Judgent kept glowing.
Still absorbing essence.
"What?"
Ivy flipped more switches.
She cut the power to the entire machine array.
Nothing changed.
The scythe continued pulling in essence like a black hole.
Ivy’s eyes widened.
"That’s impossible..."
Without the generators, the flow should have stopped imdiately.
Unless—
Her mind raced.
Then the realization hit.
"The conduit is drawing essence on its own."
Judgent had already established a stable essence flow.
And now the process had beco self-sustaining.
Which ant the generators were no longer required.
Ivy clenched her teeth.
Because the situation had just beco far more dangerous.
The essence flooding the weapon wasn’t normal energy.
It was Wild Essence.
There were three known forms of essence.
The first was Natural Essence.
This was the energy martial artists used to cultivate and execute techniques.
The second was Artificial Essence.
Energy extracted from resources and temporarily stored.
It couldn’t permanently increase a martial artist’s power.
But it could provide a temporary boost.
Or fuel rapid cultivation.
Then there was the third type.
The most unstable one.
Wild Essence.
Wild Essence existed naturally in uncontrolled environnts.
It couldn’t be used safely by martial artists.
But it had one unique function.
It was extrely effective at refining conduits.
Which ant Judgent was currently undergoing a forced refinent process.
And the flow wasn’t stopping.
Ivy stared at the glowing scythe.
Then glanced at Adam lying on the floor.
"...Crap."
****
Redy moved instantly.
The mont she saw the situation, she rushed toward the machine.
Ivy was still at the control panel, flipping switches frantically.
"Turn it off!"
"I did!" Ivy snapped back. "The power’s already cut!"
Redy’s eyes shifted to the glowing scythe.
Judgent continued pulling essence into itself.
The energy around it surged like a violent current.
Ivy started explaining rapidly.
"It’s drawing essence on its own—"
Redy raised a hand.
Her cold gaze cut Ivy off imdiately.
"We need another essence signature to interrupt the flow."
Ivy blinked.
"I tried!" she said quickly. "I used multiple conduits, but the energy density is too high. They couldn’t handle it."
Redy stared at the raging essence storm.
"A conduit won’t be enough."
Her voice was calm.
"Only sothing with a soul can disrupt that flow."
Ivy’s eyes widened.
Realization hit instantly.
"You can’t be serious—"
But Redy had already moved.
She stepped directly into the unstable essence currents.
The mont she entered the flow, the raging energy shuddered.
Her presence forced the unstable essence to shift.
For a mont, the storm destabilized and the flow broke as Redy collapsed soon after.
Her body hitting the floor as unconsciousness took her.
At the sa mont, the feedback connecting Adam to Judgent finally stopped.
Adam’s writhing body went still.
Then he passed out as well.
"Redy!"
Ivy’s scream echoed through the workshop.
Outside the doorway, Felecia and Scott had only seen fragnts of what happened.
Their view had been partially blocked.
All they saw was the scythe glowing violently...
Then Redy stepping into the energy.
And collapsing.
Both of them rushed inside imdiately.
Their eyes landed on the scene.
Adam unconscious on the floor.
Redy lying beside the machine.
The glowing conduit finally going quiet.
The situation clearly wasn’t simple.
Felecia’s expression hardened instantly.
She turned toward Ivy.
Her gaze was ice cold.
"What the hell happened here?"
Ivy stood frozen.
Her hands trembled slightly.
Her eyes were downcast.
"...I don’t know."
****
Redy’s eyes suddenly opened.
But she wasn’t in Ivy’s workshop.
Instead, she lay in a quiet garden.
Soft sunlight filtered through the trees.
Flowers lined the stone pathway.
Birds chirped sowhere in the distance and for a mont, everything felt peaceful.
Then Redy slowly looked around.
And her eyes narrowed.
She recognized this place.
It was not the Eden Manor.
This was her family ho.
But not the one in Tristan.
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