Chapter 13: Forming The Core.

Fucking scam.

My eyes snapped open. I was sitting in the middle of a massive training room, and I was pissed.

The room stretched far and was completely empty, aside from yours truly.

One corner held an impressive set of weapons. The other had sleek, high-tech machinery and automated training dummies.

Not that I could use any of it yet.

So here I was, sitting cross-legged in the centre of the hall… where someone in their infinite genius had placed a pond.

Yep. A small pond in the middle of a training facility.

And in the centre of that pond? A raised island meant for meditation.

That’s where I was now, pretending to find inner peace while resisting the urge to punch the water.

It has been two days since my “friendly” chat with Duke Astravore and I still haven’t managed to form my mana core.

Why the hell could all those other transmigrated MCs summon fireballs by Chapter one while I was here struggling just to unlock the basics?

Fucking Noah.

Why did he have to design such a complicated power system?

Couldn’t he have just made it simple, like, “Congratulations, you’ve awakened! Here’s your starter pack and a free mana core!”

No.

He just had to be different.

In this world, awakening didn’t mean instant power.

You had to form a core first.

And not just any core. You had options—don’t ask me why.

There were three main types:

Aura Cores

Mana Cores

Aether Cores

Most people didn’t even know the last one existed. Ninety per cent just stuck with aura or mana.

Each core drew from nature’s energy in a different way.

Hand-to-hand combatants typically formed aura cores. Which helped reinforce their bodies but they couldn’t emit mana outwards.

Mages went for mana cores. Which helped them conjure spells outside of their bodies.

And then there were the nutcases who wanted both paths. So, they aimed for the rare Aether Core.

I was also trying to be one of those nutcases. Well, I mean, what kind of idiot would choose anything else if that was available, right?

Aether Core had its perks, yeah but also some brutal drawbacks.

Mainly the time it took to rank up.

It needed almost twice the effort compared to the other two.

Which, honestly, made sense if you looked closely.

A Mana Core user only needed to raise mage-specific stats to progress. Same for Aura Core users, you could just focus on the physical stats and you’re good.

But Aether Core users?

They had to level everything. Be it physical or magical, before they could even think about ranking up.

It was brutal.

And right now, I didn’t even know how to form any of them.

Thankfully, having an influential family came with perks. I had access to rare manuals for all three.

I read through the manual to form the aether core again. It wasn’t diffrent from the other two types and didn’t use some special, god-tier energy.

Nope.

It drew from the same old mana that other cores used.

The only difference was— location.

An aura core was usually formed into the dantian in the lower abdomen, and a mana core is created within the heart.

But the Aether Core?

It was forged at the intersection of the heart and dantian — the solar plexus. A pressure point where body and soul converged. It could supply energy to both the body and mind.

That was the whole point.

Versatility.

But with that came complexity.

And pain.

The process, in theory, was simple:

First, sense mana.

Then, form energy pathways throughout the body.

And finally, create a core at the intersection of the heart and the dantian.

But it is as fucking difficult.

The air around us was filled with nature’s energy or as most people called it… mana.

It wasn’t just floating there — it moved in threads.

Invisible strands of energy that were spread throughout the world like nature’s nervous system.

That’s why awakened individuals were called Resonants. Because forming a core wasn’t about brute force, it was about tuning yourself just right and resonating your frequency with the world’s.

Each of those threads held a staggering amount of energy. And my first step was to find one. Just one.

I needed to sense it… Reach out… and pull it toward me.

Simple on paper. In practice? A nightmare.

I had been stuck on the mana-sensing part for the last two days. And frankly? I was starting to think I’d never manage it.

But I wasn’t one to give up so easily. I kept grinding. Failing. Cursing. Trying again.

__

The days blurred together, each one stacking my frustration higher. And turns out, desperation is a hell of a teacher. Because on my fifth day, something finally changed. I felt a flicker of something cold, ancient and heavy.

The energy of the world. I wanted to scream, but I held it in. For now, I needed focus.

I locked onto that tiny thread of energy and tried to pull it toward me.

At first, it didn’t budge. Like some ex, who swore she’d never talk to me again. So, I did what any reasonable person would do—I whispered sweet nothings and told her I loved her… Then pulled her close. So I could use her.

Was I weird for visualizing it like that?

Nope.

Blame the sadistic bastard who wrote that manual.

It literally said to “visualize a realistic situation to pull the energy closer.” So really, I was just following instructions. Like a good boy. And honestly, it was working like a charm.

The energy was inching closer to me. And finally, it entered me. A steady stream poured through my body.

Now.

I followed the method from the manual, channelling the flow through a precise route.

Then the pain hit me.

It felt like I was pouring molten lava through my veins. But I gritted my teeth and held on.

Just a little more.

I guided the energy to my solar plexus and began compressing it.

A sphere started to form.

My core.

But I wasn’t done. I kept pushing, forcing more energy inside, filling it past the brim. And once it hit the threshold—

Crack!

The core exploded.

The energy tried to disperse. But I dragged it back, forcing it into shape again.

Crack!

It broke once more and I reforged it again. Over and over.

Each time it broke, a fresh wave of pain tore through my body as if my insides were being split apart and stitched back together.

But I endured. Not because I could but because I had to. This was my foundation. And the stronger it is, the more stable my growth would be.

Pain was a small price to pay.

I kept going until the last thread of energy I had latched onto ran dry. Until there was nothing left to take.

Only then… did I stop.

Only then… did it stay whole. A perfect sphere pulsing in a blue light.

My aether core.

I opened my eyes slowly.

My pale skin was covered in some black material, probably the impurities that had been forced out during the core formation.

But I didn’t care. Because I finally succeeded.

After five whole days of training, I finally formed my core.

A system window appeared in front of me with a soft chime.

<DING>

[YOU HAVE SUCCESSFULLY FORMED AN AETHER CORE]

[JESTER CLASS EXCLUSIVE SKILL UNLOCKED]

[CORE AFFINITY HAS BEEN DETECTED]

A smile tugged at the corners of my lips as I stared at the notifications.

Finally… I am on the starting line.

__

Author’s Note:

Hey guys,

Sorry for the shaky update schedule recently.

I’ll try to maintain regular updates from here on out.

If you enjoyed the Chapter, don’t forget to leave a comment and send some Power Stones my way. Your support means a lot and keeps me going.

Thanks as always for reading!

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep