A few more days slipped by in complete silence.
Theo cultivated day in, day out, barely catching more than three hours of sleep.
His core’s walls had turned a dark golden color.
It had reached the point where it was very hard to find the silver specks still remaining on them.
By noon of the third day, only a few hundred remained.
And early in the morning of the fourth day... even those had been replaced.
Theo slowly opened his eyes, a large smile on his face.
’’It’s finally done,’’ he muttered, clenching his fist excitedly. ’’And I made it just in time too!’’
Somewhere today, the storm was expected to die down.
And he’d be able to break through just in time before that.
But before he could truly savor the feeling, a sudden, loud noise startled him.
Knock! Knock!
The door swung wide open only a second later.
’’Theo!’’ Owen rushed inside, slightly out of breath.
Sliding to a halt in front of him, he raised a finger and swallowed once.
’’The storm... it’s finally dying down,’’ he said excitedly. ’’Nadia wants all the groups to gather soon. We’ll be leaving in three hours at the latest.’’
Theo’s expression slowly darkened.
’’Are you for real?’’ he muttered.
Owen nodded without hesitation.
After a moment, Owen noticed Theo’s expression and tilted his head slightly.
’’Why the long face?’’ he asked strangely. ’’Shouldn’t you be happy that we can finally do this?’’
Theo remained silent for a moment.
Finally, he let out a deep sigh as he shook his head.
’’I’m about to break through,’’ he said. ’’So, yeah, great timing as always.’’
Owen’s mouth fell wide open.
’’What?!’’ he shouted loudly, staring at him in shock. ’’Are you fucking serious?’’
Nodding slowly, Theo opened his mouth once more.
’’My core is more than ready,’’ he said slowly. ’’I just need to enter the process now.’’
For several long seconds, Owen simply stared at him.
Then he grabbed both sides of his head.
’’Fuck...’’ he muttered, letting out a low laugh. ’’You really aren’t human anymore!’’
Theo couldn’t help but smile.
’’The breakthrough itself shouldn’t take that long,’’ he said. ’’But three hours doesn’t leave much room for me to stabilize or test some things.’’
And he’d seen exactly how that went last time.
Owen immediately raised a thumbs-up.
’’Say no more,’’ he said, nodding coolly. ’’I’ll buy you all the time you need if necessary.’’
Staring at his best friend, Theo couldn’t help but let out a soft chuckle.
’’Thanks,’’ he said with a smile.
Owen waved his hand dismissively.
’’Don’t mention it,’’ he said, already turning around.
He was already halfway to the door when he suddenly stopped.
Slowly turning his head back, he couldn’t help but smile awkwardly.
’’By the way,’’ he started. ’’Where are you even planning on breaking through?’’
Theo lifted his arm and pointed through the window.
’’In the desert,’’ he answered without hesitation. ’’You know my breakthroughs are rather... damaging.’’
Remembering his own breakthroughs, Owen couldn’t help but nod.
’’Good choice,’’ he said slowly. ’’I’ll tell Jim to stall for time then.’’
He paused for a moment. ’’And I’ll ask Iris to protect you alongside me during your breakthrough.’’
Without waiting for a reply, Owen hurried out of the room.
As the door slammed shut behind him, Theo remained standing there, baffled for a few seconds.
After a moment, a faint smile began growing on his face.
’Looks like I owe them one,’ he thought.
...
Less than ten minutes later, three figures quietly made their way out of the city.
Only after walking several miles away did Theo finally stop.
Seeing no people, buildings, or anything else in sight, he nodded once.
’’Here,’’ he said, glancing back.
Owen looked around once before nodding.
’’Seems good,’’ he said, raising a thumbs-up. ’’You won’t have to worry about anything from now on!’’
Iris stared at Theo for several seconds before slowly opening her mouth.
’’Are you... really breaking through?’’ she asked, a faint disbelief in her voice.
Glancing back with a smile, Theo nodded once.
’’I am,’’ he said while stretching his body.
For a brief moment, Iris remained silent.
She slowly lowered her gaze as she bit down on the inside of her cheek.
’’You’re unbelievably fast,’’ she whispered quietly.
It hadn’t even been that long since she’d reached the Silver Core stage.
Yet Theo had already surpassed her by an entire grade.
Theo hadn’t heard her words, though.
Instead, he’d summoned several large metallic containers in front of him.
’Breakthrough resources prepared,’ he thought.
Flicking his fingers, a swirling mass opened up beside him.
A little unicorn lazily floated out on top of its emerald cloud a moment later.
’’Feng,’’ he called out. ’’Protect us, please.’’
Feng glanced at Theo for a moment.
Then he realized what was going on.
’’Yes, Contractor,’’ he nodded immediately. ’’I will do so with the utmost care.’’
Theo nodded once with a smile.
Letting out a deep breath, he glanced back at Owen and Iris for a moment.
’’Keep your distance once I begin,’’ he warned. ’’I don’t know what kind of commotion this breakthrough will cause.’’
The two of them nodded at the same time.
Before long, both had retreated into the distance.
Completely alone, Theo let out a deep breath.
For a moment... he just closed his eyes, calming his pounding heart.
He slowly sat down in the sand and flicked open the metallic cases.
A rich, mana-filled scent spread through the air almost immediately as several lightning, water, and even chaos herbs revealed themselves.
All of them were at least A-rank and worth millions.
Most would say having that many resources was a waste and completely unnecessary.
But Theo just wanted to be prepared, as anything could happen during his breakthroughs.
’All preparations are done,’ he thought, letting out a calm breath. ’Now... it’s finally time.’
Theo focused deep inside his core, finding his three affinity masses floating within it.
’Let’s get this started!’ he thought, filled with determination.