108 Paths

Ed felt a burning sensation spread from his stomach to the rest of his body. At first, it had little effect on him. But soon, the heat grew to be too much. He slowly slipped into unconsciousness.

A dark void. A mana-core was perfectly divided into seven colors with an additional spot of purple atop it. Ed stared at his surroundings in confusion. 'Is this what happened last time I swallowed a purple mana-core and I just don't remember it?' Not sensing anything different from his usual visits, he decided to close his eyes and sink into meditation.

He could vaguely sense the seven elements, each one tugging at his consciousness, as if urging him to come and play. However, the first few elements he tried to call for simply vanished. Fortunately, there was one element that responded. When he touched fire, an array of seven new colors entered his otherwise bland world. The colors represented red fire, blue fire, green fire, yellow fire, silver fire, black fire, and white fire. Occasionally, the mysterious fires all came together, forming a purple flame. The purple flame would only exist for a brief moment before exploding back into seven colors. Ed felt like he was taking a warm bath in the flames, both learning to understand them and being reborn by them.

Of the various flames, there was one in particular that Ed felt a deep instinctive bond with. Naturally, it was the set of white flames. They seemed to radiate destruction, refusing to allow anything to tarnish their sovereignty. It would incinerate everything to ash if given the chance. Instinctively, Ed called for the white flames, urging them to come closer. Slowly, the flames drifted near and settled over his body like a cloak.

'Such power.' Ed enjoyed the blissful ecstasy of the flames, a desire for destruction growing in his heart. What felt like a very long time passed, and he continued growing closer and more intimate with the fire. Unfortunately, he soon woke up from his trance. "Tsk." He clicked his tongue while shaking his head. 'What a God-like feeling.' He looked around his surroundings and saw he was still within the black void that represented his consciousness. However, there had been a very slight change. On his seven-colored mana-core, the tiny spot of purple had grown just slightly larger, taking over a small part of the red-colored fire element area.

Suddenly, Ed woke up. He quickly examined his surroundings, finding himself to be in an ordinary guest room. Tai was sitting at a nearby table while reading a book.

Tai looked up and smiled. "You're awake. Not bad. You were only out for a couple hours."

"A couple hours?!" He replied in shock. "I thought for sure it had been a week."

Tai nodded. "Time is difficult to grasp when meditating. Fortunately, it seems we won't have to push our plans back much if it only takes you this long to absorb a purple mana-core. How did it go?" He questioned.

"Hmm." Ed concentrated as he rose a hand into the air. Soon, the familiar purple flames appeared, just slightly larger than the last time he had used them.

"Good!" Tai nodded happily. "Looks like your mana increased. If we can keep this up, then our odds will improve drastically."

"Right..." He nodded while still focusing on the flames. Soon, the purple flames began changing from purple to white, the heat in the area rapidly rising as he did so. However, the white flames quickly sputtered out, seemingly affected by the manullium smoke in the air.

"White flames?" Tai's mouth hung wide open in surprise. "I once knew an esper that could use white flames. He was a scary bastard. Anything he touched was instantly incinerated to ash. When did you go and learn that trick?"

"Just now..." He replied while rubbing his chin. 'What I saw just now... Seven different flames. They should represent seven different paths. The purple flame is a fusion of all seven but isn't necessarily stronger than the individual paths. If anything, the purple flame is just the most balanced, which is why manullium can't interfere with it.' He frowned. 'But everything is more complicated than I originally thought. Do I really need an emotional attachment to connect with them like Tai said? Why are there seven paths, and why do the colors match up with the seven elements? Do the other elements also have seven elemental paths, making a total of forty-nine?'

"Ed..."

"ED..."

"ED!!!" Tai yelled, finally capturing his attention. "Man, pay attention will you. Why don't you go ahead and eat another purple mana-core? I'll keep watch. As long as you can keep increasing your total amount of purple mana, then we should be able to launch the plan soon."

"Ah, sure." He agreed. 'As long as I can keep mastering more of the white flame, then more of my mana-core should convert, and I'll gain more purple mana overall.' He picked up another purple mana-core and gulped it down. The heat spread to his body, and he once again entered a dark void.

Before meditating, he stared at his mana-core. 'It's too bad I won't be able to produce a bunch of purple mana chimeras with these mana-cores.' He sighed. 'It seems that eating a purple mana-core simply acts as a trigger or catalyst, sort of like an incense that helps me enter the proper state of comprehension. But ultimately, everything relies on my own abilities.'

Satisfied with his deductions, he sank into meditation again. The white flames returned, once more radiating desire for wanton extermination. The heat that would normally scorch his body instead felt like the ravaging embrace of a rough lover. Unfortunately, his meditation ended in two hours once again, only allowing him to make small gains.

Repeatedly, Ed devoured the purple mana-cores and entered meditation. Before long, he had burned through the 10 he had traded for, leaving only the one he had saved from the fire hyena. However, the gains had been worth it. Nearly a seventh of the flame section of his mana-core had turned purple, indicating that he had almost mastered the white flame. He hurriedly swallowed down his last purple mana-core, hoping to finish the job.

The meditation was different this time. The white flame no longer seemed like a friend or lover. Instead Ed was the flame and the flame was him. They were indistinguishable from each other, completely becoming one. Occasionally, the other six colored flames floated towards him and fused together, turning him into a purple flame. Then he was blasted out from the combination as the purple flame exploded.

'What an odd feeling.' Ed sighed to himself as he examined his soul form. His soul was particularly colorful since he had abilities related to all seven elements. But now, it was clear that the color white was overshadowing the other colors. This was despite the fact that he was specializing in fire, which was usually represented by the color red. 'Perhaps all of the elements are far more closely related than I previously thought...'

Suddenly, a cracking sound echoed. Ed stared in shock as a series of cracks spread from his forehead down the right half of his face and neck. The cracks continued all the way to his forearm before stopping. 'Not good.' His soul trembled in fear. He felt no pain, but there was an almost instinctual terror, as if his soul was screaming for help. Fortunately, the cracks seemed to show no sign of spreading further.

'I guess the stress of mastering the origin of an element is nothing to scoff at.' He sighed. He looked hesitantly at the other flames, debating whether to use his remaining time to attempt connecting with them. He knew he shouldn't, but ultimately, he couldn't resist the temptation. He reached for the red flame, which was the one he felt the next greatest connection with. Unlike the destruction of the white flame, he vaguely sensed kindness within the red flame. A feeling of goodwill and happiness. It was something that warmed his heart, yet also made him feel disgusted. It was weakness, a hindrance, and something he wished to cast far away from himself. Unfortunately, the red flame seemed to sense these ill feelings, and it quickly broke free from his grasp. Soon, he awoke again, having mastered the white flame while scaring the red flame far away.

Tai was still reading his book at the nearby table. He glanced over and smiled, "That was your last mana-core. Think you're good to go?"

Ed frowned, feeling oddly depressed instead of successful. "Yeah." He nodded. "Just... give me some time alone. I need a few days."

"Sure." Tai agreed while standing up, closing his book as he did so. "My sect often teaches that those who have recently exited meditation should be left alone. Meditation is a very spiritual process, and the types of injuries and changes that it can cause are difficult to gauge. Those that lack proper talent or comprehension abilities fail to understand the sensitivity of these things. Fortunately, I am experienced in these matters. I'll make sure you're not disturbed and have meals left outside your room three times a day." He left the room, gently closing the door behind him.

Ed sprawled out on the bed, staring at the ugly metal ceiling. His thoughts were such a jumbled mess that he couldn't even distract himself with his usual brainstorming sessions. Soon, he fell asleep. When he awoke the next day, he lounged around doing nearly nothing. He browsed a few books on the bookshelf, all of which seemed to be rather unimportant. He skipped his meals and eventually went back to bed. Several days passed like this before he started to recover.

On this day, he once again stared at the ceiling, though this time with a much better mindset. 'The red flame. What exactly does it represent for me? My dead family? Harmony? That's part of it, but there's something else. I'm missing something, but what? It's just on the tip of my tongue...' Pulling his long curly hair in frustration, he finally gave up and left the room.

A guard outside the room greeted him and led him to the same conference room as previously. It wasn't long before Tai joined him, a smile covering his face. "Glad to see you've recovered. So?" He rose an eyebrow, encouraging Ed to show his gains.

Purple flames covered Ed's entire body. It was completely unlike before, where the thin veil of flames was practically nonexistent. Now, he looked just like an esper using their powers outside of the cage, free and full of power.

"Excellent!" Tai shouted excitedly. "With this, things really are perfect. Ha! I'd like to see the look on the Wardens face when she sees we have two espers to match her! I've got to say, you really are talented. I hit the jackpot when I helped you upon your arrival."

"Maybe." Ed made a slight smile, a mix of pride and depression both somehow mixed within it. It seemed that the issue of the red flame was still bothering him.

"Anyways." Tai continued. "We can finally begin the final steps. I've investigated your records, and your trial is supposed to start in just over two weeks. So, we'll plan to launch the operation before then. I need to hold meetings with the other gang leaders on both sides of the wall. In the meantime..." He hesitated for a moment, seemingly unsure of how much of his plan he should expose. However, his eyes soon sharpened, and he continued. "In the meantime, I want you to help create gear for my men. Naturally, I'll pay you for your services, but you absolutely can't tell a soul about it! Understood?"

"Sure, sure." He waved his hand dismissively. "Not like I've got anything to do down here anyways. Hell, I even planned to recruit for my army down here only to find out that everyone's either in a racist gang or got taken by you. I really got screwed, so you better pay well."

"Heh." Tai chuckled. "You can't blame me for beating you to the punch. Great minds think alike. If you really wanted to recruit them, you should've just got yourself arrested a few years earlier."

"When I was fourteen?" He snorted. "I couldn't even defend myself against ordinary school bullies back then."

"Ah, I forget how young you are sometimes." Tai sighed while stifling his laughter. "Especially since you came back from the maze. You were so short when we first met!"

"Whatever." Ed crossed his arms. "How old are you anyways?"

Tai's face went dark for a moment before quickly recovering. He stood up from the table and placed his hands on Ed's shoulders. "I'm eternally 18." He said seriously.

"Eh?" Ed tilted his head sideways. "I mean, you look like you're only 18, but most espers age slowly. I'd guess you're probably closer to twenty-n"

"I'm eternally 18!" Tai interrupted while glaring into his eyes. "Now that that's established, let's start our preparations." He dragged Ed by the arm out of the room, leading him out of the mansion.

Soon, they reached the maze. Tai continuously checked his surroundings as they walked, constantly on the lookout for any unwanted followers. Two days passed as they travelled through one room after another, each of which seemed increasingly dangerous. However, Tai always had a simple method to bypass the dangers, almost as if he had planted the hazards himself. "Here we are." He smiled. "We're about a day's march from the shipment gate, and I've built a temporary headquarters here."

Ed gaped in shock. They had squeezed through an unassuming crevice only to find a massive complex. It was far bigger than Tai's mansion, and there were hundreds of espers. Guards marched in patrols while carrying steam weapons. Factories were producing tanks and other weapons. No one would ever think these men were espers based on the way they carried themselves about their duties. "What is all this?" He questioned Tai.

"This is where most of my time has been spent these last two years." He smiled. "I slowly worked to inflate the death rate of those that went hunting within the maze. But in reality, I was transferring those espers here. Some came to be protected from their trials. Others just wanted to live a simpler life. Of course, the majority have hopes to escape someday. This is my esper army that I'll take to China with me, earning me great merits with my sect!"

Ed looked around the cavern, awe covering his face. "So, what exactly do you want me to do here?" He asked.

"Manullium mechs." Tai confidently replied. "I believe they'll make a huge difference during our war to escape."

"Manullium mechs?!" Ed repeated while rubbing his chin. "I suppose it's possible now that I have an easy method to melt and mold manullium, though it'll create a lot of purple smoke as a byproduct."

"That's fine." Tai nodded. "Not like I've got a shortage of manullium ore down here, and I'll hardly be able to take most of it with me. Might as well invest all of it into improving our chances at a successful escape. Follow me." He led Ed towards a factory and entered inside. "Stone!" He shouted.

"Yes Boss!" A bulky man hurriedly replied as he ran over. He stopped in front of Tai and bowed respectfully.

"Stone?" Ed questioned while staring at the man. "The same Stone from Blood-Lust?" He recognized the name and remembered getting his ass kicked by the Blood-Lust member when he first joined. However, that man was literally a walking 2.4-meter-tall rock, while the man currently in front of him was about 2 meters tall and looked like an ordinary human.

"Ah." The man nodded. "That's me. Have we met before?"

"Mm." Ed nodded while cracking his neck. "You could say that I owe you a bit of a debt. I guess we'll get that squared away first." He pummeled his fist into his hand. "Don't worry, I'll try not to kill you."