Ysa led Lee Seng back to where everyone was working on dinner. Halys was working with the others to coordinate what the lizard meat was going to be used for. A couple of other workers weren't there and Lee Seng assumed they were probably sent out on fetch quests for Halys.
"Hey, Victoria." Ysa waved her hand. Victoria was sitting and watching a large cauldron of lizard meat and water boiling.
"Oh, Ysa." Victoria stood up and turned her attention to her younger sister. "What's up? You're already done with Lee Seng's stuff?"
"Not yet." Ysa shook her head. "I actually came to ask for your help with something."
"What's up?" Victoria looked at Ysa before looking at Lee Seng. The different colors of his eyes seemed to catch her attention, keeping her gaze on them for a while before looking back at Ysa.
"I've detected that Lee Seng has damaged energy channels and I was wondering if you could do some repair on it."
"Alright. It won't heal everything, but it'll repair some damage done. How bad is it?"
"Captain Halys cleared his body of some black gunk. There's indication that something was blocking his channels as the energy channel usage seems newer, but there's tears in the spots that used to be clogged." Ysa explained. Victoria nodded.
"Hey, Captain, I'm gonna step to the side for a moment. Lee Seng needs an energy repair treatment." Victoria shouted.
"Huh? Alright!" Halys nodded. "Does he need some natural remedies for that?!?"
"Yeah, loads!" Ysa answered.
"Okay!" Halys nodded. He points at someone. "You go watch the pot while Vic steps away."
"Ah, Captain!" Ysa shouted. Halys looked up again as one of the Fox Spirits started over towards them. "Can you create a stone surface for Tori to do her work?"
"Sure! I'll go with you guys!" Halys answered. "You guys handle it here. Y'know what to do, Vedi. Lead the newbies well."
"We've done this enough, Captain. You can leave this to us!" One of the Fox Spirits proudly spoke.
"You haven't perfected it yet! We've been off Realm for years, so you might've gotten rusty!" Halys chuckled. "Take care of this for me, Vedi."
"Sure thing, sir." Vedi nodded. Ysa, Victoria, Lee Seng and Halys met up and wandered back over to the shaded spot.
"Here," Ysa pointed.
"Alright, give me a second." Halys raised his hands, green energy sparkling off of him as smooth stone rose from the ground. Without missing a beat, Victoria sprayed the rock of dirt. Ysa motioned for Lee Seng to follow her and they moved to the shaded area.
"You can lie on the stone." Ysa pointed. Lee Seng looked down at his shoes and pulled his shoes and socks off before stepping onto the wet stone. Water rose from the stone and pulled into Victoria's tail. She stood next to General Halys as Lee Seng sat down, lowering himself onto the stone.
"Sir, you wanna stay here to watch this, too?" Victoria asked.
"Mmm, it's better to be safe than sorry. " Halys nodded. Victoria rose her hands and looked at Lee Seng.
"This is gonna be strange to feel at first, but it'll be fine after awhile. I'll keep an air bubble around your nose and mouth area. I would surround your whole head, but we might need to cleanse those energy channels as well." Victoria explained.
"Is this… going to hurt?" Lee Seng asked.
"A little bit." Victoria lied.
"A lot." Halys told him. Lee Seng gulped.
"Sir."
"It's better to tell him the truth." Halys told Victoria. "Look, Lee Seng, if your energy channels are damaged like Ysa observed then it's going to hurt."
"Since the damage has been only for a couple of months or so, it shouldn't be too bad." Ysa told him. "But it'll hurt." Victoria shook her head, a bit disappointed her teammates couldn't even give him a sliver of hope to push through this.
"A small lie wouldn't have hurt him." Victoria whispered. She raised her hands and looked at Lee Seng. "Ready?"
"Y-yeah." Lee Seng nodded. He rested his head on the stone. A water bubble full of air appeared around his nose and mouth. Victoria started to move her hands in circles, pulling her hands towards her and then back out. Water pulled into existence, circling and arcing around Lee Seng and the stone. Water quickly filled the space, submerging Lee Seng in cold water.
'Ahh, it's cold.' Lee Seng thought. The water slowly began to pulse a bright color, growing as time went on.
"Now it begins." Victoria quietly spoke. Her eyes glowed bright turquoise. The water grew bright and Lee Seng began to feel his body sting. Gold, black and white energy poured out of him. He could feel Victoria's energy seeping into him.
"Argh!" Lee Seng shouted. His body began to flare with pain. His screams grew louder as the waters began to take on the mixed colors. The Dark Matter suit began to squirm, shifting across his body. Dark Matter shot out of him, Halys flicking his wrist as stone walls blocked the attacks. Victoria and Ysa barely flinched. Victoria continued, watching more spikes and Dark Matter expand all across Lee Seng. The stone walls began to crumble as Halys continued to raise more walls.
"It looks like he's gonna fill the space with Dark Matter before we can even finish." Ysa pointed out.
"The excess water is only there to give me an easier connection." Victoria told Ysa. "Most of the energy I need is already within him. The repairs have begun. It's up to him how long we go." Lee Seng's screams continued as Dark Matter shot out in every direction.
Stone walls flew out from the top, locking him in. The stones started to turn a darker color and the cracks quickly faded.
"How's his energy levels, Ysa?" Halys asked.
"I-it's…!" Ysa gulped. "Sir, can it be so high?"
"What do you mean?"
"It surpassed what he showed me. It's skyrocketed ten fold." Ysa's eyes shimmered as she continued to stare past the rock walls. She could see Lee Seng squirming around. The Dark Matter made it hard for her to see his actual body, but she focused hard to keep tabs on him.
"ARGH!" Lee Seng shouted. The rocks all shook. The rock walls grew black as green energies began to carve into the walls.
"Runes? Sir, why runes?" Victoria asked, slightly turning to face him.
"This one may be a young Fox, but we shouldn't underestimate his power." Halys told her. "He has Eshra's mutation ability, so who knows if this will trigger him to accidentally mutate and make the powers stronger than it needs to be." Victoria gulped.
"Just how powerful is he, sir?" Victoria's curiosity grew bigger. She continued to keep water flowing in the black stone box.
Cori led Keng out of the forest and into the plains. The curly haired woman turned, arms folded. She was built from what Keng could tell. She wore a sports bra and seemed to have sweats on. She looked at Keng with dissatisfaction. It looked like she was straight up telling Keng she didn't want to be here.
"We'll train here as I can get a bit explosive." Cori told him. Keng nodded. She took a long pause as she seemed to just stare straight at him. She never budged and after awhile, she looked down and took a couple steps back. "What I hear is you're the Fox Spirit and that boy's the vessel. Why're you like that?"
"The Saviors foretold this would happen." Keng answered. When she didn't immediately understand that, Keng continued. "They would all vanish and the next generation of the Saviors sect would be led by someone who could wield two suns. Most of them thought it would be a single person, but it was a Fox Spirit and his vessel that intertwined souls."
"Fate has something grand for you and you're sure you want to follow it?" Cori asked. "The God King has his plans and I will acknowledge them, but it doesn't mean I'll agree to it. Especially since you're the first to not fully combine with your vessel."
"And you think this way because…?" Keng gave her a strange look. Cori didn't like it and shook her head. She stepped very close to him. Her brown eyes were shimmering with red energy. He could feel the heat radiating off of Cori.
"Won't that just make you weaker? You have to share everything with your vessel. Go on the same path as your vessel. You may or may not be able to choose how you advance as you gain your tails. Tell me, who's been choosing your abilities all this time, huh?"
"Lee Seng has been choosing for the both of—"
"And will it stay that way?" Cori bumped into Keng, forcing him to pull backwards. "You couldn't fully bind with your vessel because you're incapable of doing it. You thought too much of your vessel and now the vessel's in control while you sit idly by and do nothing."