The ship humd through warp space.
Stars stretched into lines outside the viewport, elongated bands of light that never quite touched the hull. Three days to the Argentus Nebula. Three days of enforced stillness while the cosmos rushed past at impossible speeds.
Owen sat cross-legged in the cargo bay, eyes closed, breathing controlled.
His CE core pulsed at 487. So close to 500. So close to the threshold for Tier 5, two-stars.
He cycled the Restoration-Cultivation-Technique. Drawing ambient cosmic energy from the ship’s surroundings and a core laid before him, filtering it through his center mass, letting it settle and compress. The process was slow and thodical. Each cycle added a single point of CE. Maybe two, if he focused perfectly.
489.
490.
His system chid softly.
[Cosmic Rank: Tier 5, One star]
[Cosmic Energy: 491]
He exhaled and opened his eyes.
Gorvax stood in the doorway, watching. The void-black covering still hid his face, but his posture was less rigid than before.
"You’re improving..." Gorvax said.
"Not fast enough."
"Fast enough for soone who’s only been cosmic for a week" He stepped into the bay. "Most beings take years to break through from one-star to two-star."
"Most beings don’t have a Tier 4 gardener training them and tier 4 Enforcers hunting them."
Gorvax’s shoulders shifted. Almost a shrug. "Fair point."
He sat across from Owen, cross-legged, mirroring his position. For a mont, neither spoke.
Awkward silence.
"So, uh... tell about the Argentus Nebula..." Owen finally said to break the tension.
Gorvax’s hands rested on his knees. "It’s a cosmic phenonon. A region of space where the boundaries between dinsions are thin. Cosmic dungeons appear there more frequently than anywhere else in this sector."
"Whoa, dungeons! That, I am used to"
"It is not like the mortal imitations on your lesser world, these are more... profound"
"Alright. And this dungeon? The one we’re heading toward?"
"It manifested two weeks ago. Grade 4 difficulty. Tied to the Law of Resonance." He paused. "Resonance amplifies inherent power. If you enter with weak foundations, you’ll be crushed. If you enter with strong foundations, you’ll grow exponentially."
Owen’s jaw tightened. "And my foundations?"
"I am Uncertain." Gorvax tilted his head. "Your mana-to-CE conversion is an anomaly. It might resonate. It might not."
"How comforting."
"I’m not here to comfort you." Gorvax’s voice was flat. "I’m here to keep you alive long enough to be useful."
Owen almost smiled. "You’re terrible at pep talks."
"I know."
Silence fell again.
Then Owen spoke. "How did you et her? Seri?"
Gorvax’s posture stiffened. "And Why do you care?"
"Because I’m trying to understand you. And because we have three days of nothing else to do, co on man."
Gorvax was quiet for a long mont. Then he exhaled.
"Five hundred years ago. I was still Tier 4, three-stars. Struggling. Every harvest barely kept from slipping backward." His voice was distant, like recalling a dream. "I beca greedy and desperate, I found a lesser world that had just transcended into a basic world, a proper civilization. Advanced technology. Billions upon billions of lives."
Owen’s eyes narrowed. "You harvested billions?"
"No." Gorvax shook his head. "I was going to. But then I t her."
He leaned back against the cargo bay wall. "Seri was a researcher. Studying cosmic energy flow patterns. She detected my seeding signature and tracked down. Confronted in my own ship."
"What did she say?"
"She called a coward. Said that if I was going to kill her world, I should at least have the decency to look her in the eye."
Owen blinked. "And?"
"I did. I looked her in the eye." Gorvax’s voice softened. "And I couldn’t do it."
"So you abandoned the harvest?"
"Yes." He paused. "After that seri went into the cosmos with , and that’s when she fell into the cosmic power Deviation, it was all my fault, if she didn’t follow ..."
"Oh man, that isn’t..."
"No, it is" Gorvax cut Owen from speaking. "After that I did everything in my power to find a cure, I even robbed one of the vaults that belonged to the noble races, that’s where I found the vial of DNA that I used to create your species"
"She gave up everything." Gorvax’s hands curled into fists. "Her family. Her career. Her ho. And I can’t even save her from an illness! All because of ! Why!?"
Owen thought of Yuki. Of the choice he’d made to leave his world behind. "Because..."
But Gorvax waved him aside and said nothing.
The ship’s engines humd in the silence.
---
Day two of the warp travel.
Owen sparred with Gorvax in the cargo bay.
Not real combat. Controlled exchanges. Gorvax held back to Tier 5, four-star equivalent, forcing Owen to adapt without the threat of instant death.
Owen threw a 30 CE punch. Gorvax deflected with minimal movent. Owen pivoted, kicked low, 20 CE. Gorvax sidestepped.
"You’re still telegraphing..." Gorvax said.
"I know."
"Then stop, already"
Owen reset his stance. He activated Dragon’s Eye, not to track Gorvax’s movents, but to observe his own. The micro-shifts in weight. The tension in his shoulders before a punch. The way his breath hitched before a feint.
He struck again. This ti, no telegraph. Just movent.
Gorvax blocked, but a fraction slower than before.
"Better."
They continued. Punch. Block. Kick. Dodge. A rhythm ford. Owen’s CE reserves dropped steadily as he invested energy into each strike, each movent.
Gorvax called a halt. "Enough. You’re burning energy you need for recovery."
Owen dropped his stance, breathing hard. Sweat dripped from his chin.
Gorvax tossed him a small vial. "Drink this."
Owen caught it. The liquid inside was violet, glowing faintly. "What is it?"
"Refined Desolate essence. Grade 2. It’ll push you over the threshold."
Owen hesitated. "I thought you said cores had to be absorbed slowly."
"Normally, yes. But you’re at 495. You need 5 more CE. This will give you exactly that." Gorvax’s voice was firm. "Drink it before we arrive. The nebula’s energy density will make breakthrough harder, not easier."
Owen uncorked the vial, the liquid slled like copper but he drank it still.
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