BXBX NOVEL 168. One Way Out
Ike twisted his lips. He couldn\'t just wait for the pillars to show up the way he had the first time. Or whatever happened at Rank 2. He had to keep charging to Rank 3, by force if necessary.
His mind instantly went to the Body Reforging Art. He grinned to himself. If it isn\'t going to happen on its own, why don\'t I make it happen myself? Why leave to fate what I can take into my own hands?
He turned his attention inward. In silence, he closely examined his core. He didn\'t want to be in the same place as last time. He needed to know what to do before he activated the skill. If there were any tiny structures in his core already, he could use the reforging art to draw them out.
For a long time, he found nothing. The aether in his core was placid, or as placid as aether could be. The pillar from his first Rank advancement stood alone. Nothing joined it in his core. Nothing decorated it. There was merely it, and his aether.
Ike narrowed his eyes. If there\'s nothing, then I\'ll create something! He gathered his aether together. For Rank 2, he\'d created a pillar. Why not create another pillar? A pillar of aether this time. After all, his first pillar was mana. Now he was using aether. It made sense that he\'d make the second pillar out of aether.
He activated the Body Reforging Art and pointed it at his core. The skill swung around randomly, swirling in his core along with his aether. Ike sent his awareness into his core and took manual control of the skill. It wrapped around him. Ike\'s perception swirled. Off-balance, he shut his eyes for a second, and when he opened them, he stood in a swirling world of red energy.
Ike looked around. What the…
Aether swirled past him, slamming into his face. His hair flew back. Ike lifted his hands to block, but the aether passed harmlessly through him. He opened his eyes and looked around. Aether everywhere, forming a loose orb around him.
Am I… in my core? Ike turned slowly. Aether circulated around him. He could still feel his core, even though he appeared to stand in his core. Tenatively, he circulated his aether. Aether spun faster around him.
Yep. I\'m in my core. Ike looked at his hands. He reached out and grabbed the aether around him. It formed into a loose clump, like wet mud. The clump only held for a few seconds before slipping between his fingers and forming into aether again.
I need something to give it structure. Something to form it and hold its shape. Ike drew the Body Reforming Art out from within the him in the core. He pushed it in front of him. It formed a loose lump of structural aether vaguely in the shape of his body.
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Ike adjusted the shape of the Body Reforging Art into a column. He pulled aether into the column. The loose mud-like aether gathered in the shape of the column, but it didn\'t harden or firm the way the first column did.
Ike pursed his lips. He waved his hand, dismissing the sad attempt at building a second pillar himself. The mud wouldn\'t hold up. He didn\'t even need to test that to know it. The second he left this space and stopped actively using the skill, the pillar he\'d built would collapse.
I need to compress my aether. Create firm bricks for the foundation of the pillar. This pillar needs to last for as long as I do. If I create it sloppily, I might create a pillar, but it won\'t last very long. I won\'t be able to advance past third Rank. As much as I want to Rank up, I can\'t do it at the price of my future Ranks. I\'m building a sturdy foundation upon which I will continue to build. If I\'m sloppy here, I can forget Rank 4 or 5. Even if Rank 4 and 5 are unlikely for a slumrat like me to reach, I might as well try for them. No point throwing them away now.
He drew out the form of the Body Reforging Art again. Once more, he filled it with aether. Rather than forming a column, he formed a small, rectangular brick. Ike filled up that brick with aether, sloppy, wet aether. This time, though, he didn\'t stop there. He pushed on the aether on all sides. The aether shrank within the brick, falling down to half the original size. Ike filled the structure with more aether and shrank it down again, over and over again until at last he had a single brick.
He breathed in, then out. It had taken him three days to form a single brick. How long would it take him to form a column?
It doesn\'t matter. If I\'m going to face a Rank 4, I need to be the most powerful possible Rank 3. I can\'t cheap out or take shortcuts. I need to face this head on and take it all properly. Wisp, I\'m sorry. I can\'t finish this quickly. I simply can\'t.
But no… I shouldn\'t apologize. If I moved any faster, I wouldn\'t succeed at rescuing her. The only way to defeat the person who\'s holding Wisp—holding us hostage here, is to Rank up as powerfully as I possibly can. I have no chance of hitting Rank 4. I have to nail Rank 3 the way I nailed Rank 2. Rank up so well that I can fight above my Rank. It\'s my only chance.
He breathed in the solam-rich smoke rising from Rosamund\'s head and refilled his core. Starting again, he created the framework of a brick with the Body Reforging Art, then compressed aether into it. It was total guesswork that building a second pillar would allow him to Rank up, let alone Rank up powerfully. But it was all he had to go off of.
Once again, time passed. Ike built up his pillar. He didn\'t create a hollow cylinder, but a filled pillar, with the center full as well. It took more time, but the filled pillar stood far more sturdily than a hollow column would have.
I know my original pillar was based off my skills… or rather, I\'m guessing that. But there\'s nothing saying I have to base my pillars off the same thing every time. As long as it works, and works well, I\'m not going to be picky.
It was winter the next time he opened his eyes. The people below went through the now-familiar actions, paying no mind to the snow that coated their streets. Within Ike, a brick tower to match his initial pillar now stood.
Rank 3 was still out of his reach. He felt that instinctively, without having to try. But that was fine. He wasn\'t done yet.
Ike gripped the pillar in his core. With all the aether he\'d collected, all the aether he hadn\'t invested in the pillar, he shoved down on the pillar, compressing it. At the same time, he activated all the instances of Body Reforging Art he\'d put into each brick of the pillar.
Everything poured into it all at once. Ike focused his all on it, losing himself to everything but the moment itself. The moment it all came together, or shattered.