Reaching the barracks, Akira sat on the edge of his bed, relishing the solitude and the darkness of his corner.

  He had left Leo behind in the dining hall, where the man was likely basking in chatter and attention with other people equally as energetic as him. To Akira, Leo felt less like a companion and more like a bothersome pet, an unnecessary nuisance rather than a true ally.

  Still, one truth remained clear, Leonidas would most likely become a formidable force in the near future due to not only his charismatic personality that would easily gain him allies, but also his Epithet that would make him someone not to be trifled with.

  It was far wiser to keep Leo as a shield at his side than to face him as a spear pointed against him.

  "Now..." Akira exhaled softly, closing his eyes. Two words pulsing in his mind like a steady drumbeat, Heart Core.

  The void around him seemed to grow denser, pressing in on all sides. When he opened his eyes, his gaze lifted instinctively. There it was, his Core, a tiny, gray pebble suspended in the endless black. Its faint, milky white glow was barely noticeable, like a star on the verge of burning out.

  "Oliver and Nala mentioned there’s more than one Core." Akira muttered, his brow furrowing as his thoughts churned. "But I only have one." He paused, considering the possibilities. "The first explanation is that some people simply have multiple Cores while others don’t. But that doesn’t fit, Oliver and Nala spoke as if having more than one was universal. Which means..." His voice trailed off as he tried to piece it together. "That I have to earn another Core. Maybe by absorbing enough energy from other Cores... or maybe there’s something specific I need to do to trigger the appearance of another one.”

  Akira reached out his hand, the Core was hundreds of meters away from him, yet it felt as if he could cup it in his palm.

  "Only time will tell, I suppose..." His thoughts spiraled back to the monster and hunter rankings, the weight of it all crashing down on him. It made him feel small, insignificant, just another powerless lost soul in the grand scheme of things.

  His jaw tightened, but there was little conflict within him. He understood what survival meant. "They also mentioned something else… Keepsakes. What is that?" Survival was knowledge. Akira closed his eyes.

  Slowly he opened his eyes again, returning to the real world. He glanced toward the high window, then to the rays of light reflecting on the floor, noting with a strange detachment that the rays of light filtering through seemed to have not moved even a millimeter. Time moves differently inside the Heart Core, much slower.

  "Now... what should I do?" Akira mused to himself. Most of the others were likely still gathered in the dining hall or outside, busy forming teams, training, and testing their newly discovered Traits and Epithets, however Akira wasn’t one for showing off or making allies.

  Leonidas being his 'friend' wasn't really that important that he would go out of his way to strengthen their bond. In fact, if he could, he would break ties with the man. On friendly terms, naturally. But that would bring suspicion and unwanted gazes. Why would someone weak like him cut loose someone as strong and dependable as Leo?

  What a pain in the ass.

  If the man had chosen to befriend others and left Akira alone, it would have been for the best. Akira thrived in his solitude, his trust shattered after Ekhis. He had learned the hard way to rely on no other soul, and to trust no other heart.

  The boy's silver gaze scanned the barracks, making sure there were no peeving eyes before pulling up his own Trait with a flick of his hand, the magical runes floating in the air.

  Trait: [Spectral Shift]

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  Trait Type: Active

  Trait Description: The user can momentarily shift into an elusive ethereal state, allowing them to phase effortlessly through physical objects of their choice. This spectral form lasts only a few moments, during which time the user becomes untouchable by all that is material, as if they were nothing more than a fleeting whisper in the wind.

  “One thing is to know what my power does and another is to know how to use it.”

  Now a new problem arose. How does one activate their Trait? Is it like the Heart Core where he just thinks about it and it happens? Or does he have to do something in order to activate it?

  But that was just the tip of the iceberg. How long could he activate it for? Did it have a limit? Would it consume some type of energy? Would people notice when he activated it? Would his appearance change in any way that made it seem he wasn’t physically touchable and expose him?

  Akira furrowed his brow, pondering the questions that surfaced like bubbles in a turbulent sea. Testing the limits of his newfound power would require caution, especially if he wanted to remain unnoticed. Drawing attention to himself was the last thing he desired, especially in a barracks full of individuals just as curious and hungry for power as he was.

  He turned his attention back to the floating runes, the intricate symbols pulsating softly, almost beckoning him to act.

  With a flick of his wrist, the text disappeared into thin air.

  “It’s not really a power made for combat, but it’s not completely useless in a fight.”

  Akira sat still for a moment, allowing the silence to fill the room around him. His thoughts churned like a storm. The questions surrounding his Trait, its limitations, it brewed inside of him. I wonder if there’s a limit to how much I can use it? Does my whole body become untouchable or can I select which parts are? Would the others notice if I used it, or do I simply look the same but become intangible?

  Akira's silver eyes narrowed as he tapped a finger against his knee, his thoughts racing. The faint murmurs of voices from the outside filtered through the stone walls, but he paid them no mind. Testing his Trait now, in the barracks where anyone could walk in, was a risk, but his curiosity outweighed his caution.

  He stood, brushing nonexistent dust from his white tunic. “If I’m going to figure this out, I’ll need to start small.”

  Akira’s gaze fell to the bunk beside his, where Leo had slept last night, its wooden frame worn and cold. He reached out a tentative hand, fingers brushing against the edge.

  He focused, feeling the rough wood against the tip of his fingers, his thoughts were flooding. Thinking about his hand passing through the object, shifting into the spectral state, becoming untouchable.

  Yet the harder he focused, the farther the answer seemed. The harder he pressed his hand to get it through the bed frame, the more the feeling of it doing so happening disappeared, his undeveloped muscles working and flexing as hard as they could.

  Akira’s breath hitched in frustration as his hand refused to pass through the wooden frame. His fingers remained stubbornly solid, the rough texture of the bunk mocking his attempts. Was he doing it wrong? The runes had made it sound so simple.

  He pulled back, shaking his hand as if to get rid of the tension. “Calm down.” He muttered to himself before taking a deep breath. Alright, become a whisper in the wind.

  His silver eyes flicked around the dim barracks again, scanning the rows of empty beds for any signs of prying eyes. The last thing he needed was someone walking in and catching him fumbling with his ability.

  Inhaling deeply, he steadied his thoughts. This time, he let his mind wander, easing the tension from his body. Instead of forcing the power, he imagined what it might feel like to let go entirely, letting go of his thoughts, his worries, his body.

  The concept was foreign yet oddly natural, like the instinctive knowledge of how to breathe or blink. He pictured his hand slipping through the frame as if it were smoke, dissipating into nothingness.

  A tingling sensation crawled up his arm, like the numbing static feeling you get when you fall asleep on your arm, subtle at first, then growing stronger. His hand seemed to shimmer faintly, the edges blurring like heat waves in the summer air. And then-

  His fingers slipped effortlessly through the wood, as if it wasn’t there at all. His hand leaving a strange trace in the air as it moved, it looked translucent yet seeable, like a dispersing mist.

  Akira yanked his hand back, inspecting it with a mix of fascination and unease. It still felt like his own, solid, real, but there was an uncanny detachment to it, as though it existed yet it didn’t at the same time.

  Up close, the skin of his arm shimmered and flickered, like a mirage on the verge of vanishing. From a distance, it might seem normal, but the faint blur around the edges betrayed its unnatural state, like something caught between two different realms.

  Akira stared at his hand, flexing his fingers slowly as the shimmering effect faded, leaving his skin looking completely ordinary again.

  “How interesting…”