Chương 82: Pain Beyond Consciousness

Arthur once again stood staring at the Core that was turning into crystal. The excruciating pain had forced him into unconsciousness. However, if he were not able to stay awake in the real world, he would definitely turn into crystal when this was over. But what method did he have that would prevent him from falling unconscious? Arthur was helpless in this situation, or any other situation, for that matter. When he thought about it, it only made him angry at his own shortcomings.

He completely lacked problem-solving skills. Had he attended high school, he could have learned a lot of things. Dropping out of school while claiming that only the powerful awakened ruled the world was an ignorant thing to do, now that he thought about it. But what had happened was already in the past; he had no means to change it. Now, time was ticking. At any moment, he would turn into a crystal man. If that were to happen, he would not be able to meet his family.

Furthermore, the Union Government definitely would not let him live peacefully, as he would look like an anomaly. He had to do something to prevent this situation and stop this crystal invasion.

'How can I overcome pain so severe that it shuts down one's consciousness?' Arthur's mind raced as his eyes remained glued to the Core. Its light was shutting down wherever the Crystal covered it.

'Maybe more pain will help me stay awake.' In the next second, Arthur willed himself to exit the place. Boom! Instead of concentrating on the pain in his stomach, Arthur knelt on one knee and punched the ground as hard as he could. This produced an enormous punching force, driven by a staggering Strength Attribute of 32. The impact was enormous. His knuckles broke apart, revealing white bone as blood gushed out.

"Ahhhhh!" Pain assaulted him. Swaying to the ground, he had no idea what to do next. In the next second, he suddenly started to feel the pain in his stomach, rendering the pain in his fists minuscule. Afraid he would fall unconscious, he pushed his body up. Boom! Boom! Both of his forearms smashed into the ground continuously. Blood splattered across the floor. Tears rolled down his face as the pain from his fresh wounds brought them naturally. Arthur did not stop. He continued to smash while kneeling.

His forearm flesh was torn apart. In the next smash, fresh bone hit the ground. Boom! Both of Arthur's arms were mangled, looking as if a carriage had run over them. The bottom part of his forearms was completely gone. Blood gushed out like a river from both hands. His hands trembled and fell limply. Arthur finally stopped this cruel action. Sitting cross-legged, he hoped he would not fall unconscious. He willed Rouka, the Life Mage, to heal him.

Meanwhile, Arthur directly went into meditation, his mind trying to focus on a single point. As soon as Rouka's cloud-like fog engulfed Arthur, he felt a sensation of peace. The pain he felt in his hands, and even in his stomach, went away. His focused mind tried to locate his Core Layer. It had not even been an hour since he evolved his first Core Layer, so he simply had no idea how to do that. However, he had to do it somehow, because his life depended on it.

If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it. With Rouka's cloud flowing through him, the agonizing pain of Arthur's self-inflicted wounds started to fade. The pale, cloud-like fog wrapped around his mangled forearms, knitting shredded flesh and fractured bone back together. More importantly, the blinding, sucking agony in his stomach receded just enough for his rational mind to finally take control of his body. Arthur did not waste a single second.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath in order to control his thumping heartbeat. Though he now controlled his body, how was he going to control the Crystal to subdue it? He did not have the means to fight right now, since he could neither see nor feel the Core from the outside. Thinking about this unknown problem, his heart started to agitate again. However, Arthur soon controlled his heart and mind.

He decided to first focus his mental state into a single point, organizing his thoughts into one place in hopes that it would give him a revelation or something of the sort. With that, he simply discarded everything that had happened in his life and everything he worried about regarding the future. His mind saw, heard, and perceived nothing but blankness. With Rouka's healing cloud, achieving this was not difficult. Soon, after concentrating for a moment, Arthur's mind focused onto a single point. Tick.

When Arthur's concentration hit one hundred percent, something clicked inside him, and his surrounding presence changed. Sweeping his gaze, he saw only darkness.

'Is this the same place as the Core Layer Space?' Arthur wondered. Since he had experienced something similar earlier, Arthur wondered about it, but before he could think further, something caught his eye. It was a white dot, similar to the ember he had seen at the time of the Core Layer's creation. Arthur ran towards it. When he reached the white dot, he realized it was not a white dot or an ember. It was a tether that stretched far into the distance, waving like a thread floating in water.

Without any delay, he followed the thread. As he ran, the darkness around him started to disperse, revealing the Core. Arthur finally found the Core Layer. He could see that the Crystal had already half-encroached upon it. Surprisingly, Arthur was not stopped by the invisible wall that used to block him. Now, however, he could walk as close as he wanted, and he possessed a strange connection to the Core. The Core was a part of him; he could access it.

He could increase the burning sensation of the Core with a simple intent. Earlier, when he evolved, he had stood outside of the invisible barrier and felt no connection. He had watched how the Core formed from the beginning. He had observed how, from a single ember, the light burned and swirled, turning from a raging ball of light into a serene light Core. Witnessing all these things from outside the barrier, he did not feel anything. But now that he was inside, he could kindle that rage within the Core.

Using that raging burst of light, he would shatter the Crystal. He raised his palm towards the ball that hung above him. All the rage inside him was directly sent towards the Core. In the next second, the calm, peaceful Core started to emit a single ember, as if someone had disturbed a peaceful predator in the jungle. The Core roared as a bright white light began to shine from it. The connection between himself and the Core grew stronger the more he channeled his rage.

Although one part of the Core emitted a violent light, the area covered by the Crystal remained completely silent. Seeing this, Arthur's mind went berserk. He thought about what he had done just to prevent himself from falling unconscious. The pain and agony he had endured at that moment were something he would never forget. Arthur directed that pain straight into the Core, recalling the peak of his grief when his bare bones hit the stone floor.

Suddenly, the Core exploded into ember particles, swirling like a massive typhoon. The encroaching Crystal shattered into a million pieces, becoming completely incinerated by the violent swirling of the ember particles. After witnessing the Crystal being destroyed, Arthur slowly pulled himself out of his grief to let the violent particles settle down. He previously did not know the Core was capable of exploding as it just did. Thus, he simply retracted his anger, shifting his intent to calmness.

As his intent turned from angry to calm, the swirling, violent, typhoon-like particles started to settle in a single location, gathering once again to form the serene white Core. With a sigh of relief, Arthur looked around. The Crystal was nowhere to be seen. Did the Core get destroyed? the thought crossed his mind. He believed it was highly likely. The sheer violence of the explosion could have easily pulverized the Core into nothingness.

However, before he could fall into despair over how much effort he had wasted, he caught sight of something out of the corner of his eye. Something was suspended in mid-air. It was round and roughly the size of two golf balls. It stayed far away from the Core Layer, acting as if it was afraid and knew it would be destroyed if it went any closer. At that moment, Arthur knew he had successfully subdued the Crystal. Suddenly, an uncontrollable joy washed over him.

Through great effort and immense pain, he had finally achieved what he dreamed of.