POV Dex and Echidna:
The Level 3 Cultivation Hall was filled with the low hum of concentrated energy.
Dex and Echidna occupied their positions from the previous day, separated from most of the other students. Tiamat circled slowly through the hall, her tail swaying with elegance as she observed each student with clinical attention.
"Begin," ordered Tiamat, her voice resonating through the hall. "Two hours of uninterrupted cultivation. Do not awaken until I order it."
Dex closed his eyes and crossed his legs in the lotus position. Beside him, Echidna did the same, their breathing synchronizing automatically.
And together, they spoke in unison within their minds:
"Demonic Soul Realm!"
The transition was instantaneous.
One moment they were in the Cultivation Hall, surrounded by students and ambient energy. The next, they floated above the crimson island suspended in the infinite void of their realm.
The single star that shone above—result of the fusion of their two souls—pulsed.
But what dominated the landscape was Yggdrasil.
The colossal tree of black-crimson energy completely enveloped the black sun at the center of the realm—ten main trunks extending like inverted roots, each branching into a hundred perfect limbs, each limb dividing into ten sub-branches.
Thum. Thum. Thum.
The heartbeat of the tree echoed through the void—constant, rhythmic, powerful.
Dex and Echidna materialized simultaneously in their two separate bodies, landing softly on the crimson grass of the island.
"The passive absorption is working," said Dex aloud, observing Yggdrasil with admiration. "But now is the time to test active absorption."
"Yes, we need to test its efficiency, after all," she said, frowning. "With passive absorption, we're gaining perhaps... the equivalent of three days of manual cultivation per week. It's impressive for normal standards, which could only have one day in a month, but for us it would be completely ridiculous."
Dex then continued.
"If active absorption works as it theoretically should, then with two daily sessions of controlled meditation, we could easily compress an entire week of cultivation into a single day."
Echidna walked to him, her crimson eyes shining with calm determination.
"It's not 'could,' darling. It's exactly what we're going to do," she said, extending both her hands. "But it will be different from passive absorption. We need total concentration. No distractions."
Dex took her hands, and they immediately felt the rhythm change. Thum. Thum. Thum. The heartbeat of Yggdrasil accelerated slightly, as if recognizing the intention.
"How do we activate it?" asked Dex.
"We focus. Consciously. And we allow the tree to hear us," answered Echidna. "It's not incantation. It's... asking."
They walked together to the center of the island, positioning themselves face to face, hands still intertwined. The silence was profound.
Dex closed his eyes.
Thum.
A deeper heartbeat. Almost imperceptible, but present.
Thum. Thum.
Dex felt it first as pressure in his lungs. Then in his fingers. A sensation of something—energy, power, will—being gently pulled into his pores.
"It's beginning," murmured Echidna, eyes still closed. Her face was calm, but Dex felt the tension through their intertwined hands.
The ten thousand paths of Yggdrasil did not explode in light. Instead, they began to shine—a gradual progression from dark to gold, like dawn slowly revealing a sky.
The heartbeat accelerated.
Thum. Thum. Thum.
Constant. Rhythmic. Not aggressive, just... more present.
Dex felt each cell of his body responding. Not like injury or burning. Like... refinement. As if each part of him was being polished, perfected.
Minutes passed. Or were they hours? No one could know.
"How many minutes have passed?" Dex asked telepathically.
"Approximately fifteen," answered Echidna. "And I already feel as if we've cultivated for half a day."
The black core at the center of Yggdrasil began to pulse—not frantically, but with a hypnotic constancy.
The crimson veins beneath the twins' skin became more visible, brighter. Not like burn scars. Like Erica's gold ring flowing under glass.
"So what will it be like in two hours?"
…
Two hours later:
The heartbeat of Yggdrasil gradually decelerated.
Thum...
thum...
thum...
And finally... the heart returned to its typical beat.
Dex and Echidna opened their eyes simultaneously.
And they were quickly pulled back to reality by an unknown force.
The transition was smooth. One moment they were in the crimson realm. The next, their bodies breathed in unison, meditation positions still intact, the Level 3 Cultivation Hall around them.
But something had changed.
They opened their eyes slowly.
Immediately they noticed that the hall, once filled, was now occupied by only three people.
And before them, their professor looking down at them from above.
"Ten minutes," observed Tiamat, crossing her arms. "Class ended ten minutes ago. And you didn't awaken even when I called."
Silence hung.
Then Tiamat paused, her eyes fixed on the two.
"Do you have some secret realm?" she asked, her voice laden with curiosity. "I felt that you were in another location when I pulled you back."
But before they could answer, she raised her hand in a gesture of resignation.
"Actually, that doesn't matter right now."
Tiamat moved closer, and her already pearlescent eyes seemed to become pearls.
"What matters is the aura you carry now. After just two hours, you achieved something that should take a week or more of uninterrupted cultivation."
She made a pause, letting the weight of her words settle.
"And that just shows that I'm right..."
"I'm certain now. More certain than before. You're not just anomalies. You are..." she made a dramatic pause, "...half primordial dragons."
The silence that followed was charged.
"Primordials," repeated Dex slowly. "How did you reach that conclusion?"
"Because," said Tiamat, her eyes shining with ancestral recognition, "my father told me about them. And you are exactly as he described: creatures that transcend logic and comprehension."
"And that's exactly what you are," she then moved even closer to them. "Everything from the beginning until now shows exactly this—that tree, those veins that carry aura, the secret realm, the aura you carry and the power of the awakening that shook the entire academy."
Echidna took a deep breath. "And if we say you're wrong?"
Tiamat smiled—a small but genuine smile.
"Then you'd be lying."
She walked to the door of the hall, her tail swaying slowly.
"For now, I won't insist."
She then turned to them.
"But one day you'll tell me willingly."
And with that, she left, leaving the twins alone in the hall.
The silence that followed Tiamat's departure was deafening.
But then, Echidna began to laugh.
"What?" asked Dex, turning to her with a confused expression.
"Isn't it hilarious?" said Echidna, her eyes shining with genuine amusement. "Tiamat was so preoccupied with revealing that she knows what we are that she didn't notice..."
She walked to the center of the hall where they had meditated, pointing to the large mana crystal resting on a golden base.
"...that she left us alone with this mana and aura crystal. This crystal alone must be worth the price of a mansion."
Dex turned to observe the crystal, immediately understanding the point.
"Echidna," said Dex, with a tone of realization. "We could have—"
"Stolen it," completed Echidna with a malicious smile while gesturing at the number of options. "Purposely damaged it. Sold it to black market smugglers. Anything we wanted."
Dex walked to the crystal, observing it without touching it.
"The professor should have expelled us from the hall," continued Echidna. "Leaving the hall that houses such a precious artifact and leaving us here was reckless."
"But I think we have a bigger concern, don't you?" she said.
Dex, confused, then asked. "A bigger concern?"
"Well, I don't know if you remember, but Erica, this morning, said she would kill us if we left her waiting again at the end of classes."
Dex, hearing this, widened his eyes and began to run toward the door. "Come quick!"
Echidna, seeing this, just laughed and prepared to run beside him. "Are you afraid of her?"
"Of course!"