Dawn arrived slowly, the morning light spilling through the branches of the Forest of Whispers. Aria Nightweaver stood on a small hill overlooking the village, her Core of Emotion glowing faintly beneath her chest.
Yesterday's absorption of objects and life energy had left her body tired, but her mind was sharper than ever.
She had learned patience, subtlety, and how to listen to the faint whispers of energy lingering in objects and creatures alike.
Today, however, she sought a new kind of power: the intangible.
She had realized that life energy and objects alone were not enough to rebuild her former strength.
There were currents in the world invisible to the untrained eye: emotions, luck, fears, desires—all intangible, yet potent. To master the Eternal Dao, she would need them as well.
A soft breeze carried faint tremors of Qi toward her. Happiness, fear, jealousy, hope—all mingled subtly in the air. Villagers went about their morning routines, unaware that each emotion they carried was a tiny pulse of power, a fragment waiting to be drawn.
Aria closed her eyes, reaching out not with her hands, but with her awareness. She felt the currents bending toward her, faint at first, teasing her senses like threads of silk.
Mila Ashbreeze crept closer, hidden behind a tree. Her wide eyes followed Aria's movements as the girl raised her hands, palms open toward the village. "Is she… taking their feelings?" Mila whispered. She had never imagined that emotions could be sensed, let alone absorbed.
Aria's lips curved faintly. "Yes," she murmured softly. "Everything has energy… even what cannot be touched."
She extended her focus, drawing threads of joy, sadness, and fear from the villagers. The sensation was unlike absorbing life energy or objects. It was fluid, chaotic, unpredictable.
Some emotions were subtle, like a gentle sigh of happiness. Others were violent, raw—jealousy, rage, despair. Each pulled at her Core, forcing her to adapt.
The first obstacle appeared quickly. Bran Thornclaw, curious as always, had noticed her strange movements. He tried to resist the pull, focusing his own Qi in defiance, but Aria barely registered him.
The currents of his petty arrogance and envy added directly to her Core, unnoticed by the boy. She let the emotions flow in, studying how they intertwined with her own growing aura.
"Aria… what are you doing?" Mila asked again, stepping slightly closer, nervous but unable to resist her curiosity. "It's… it's not like absorbing energy or objects. It's… personal."
Aria's eyes flicked briefly toward her, golden and calm.
"Yes. The intangible is the most dangerous, and the most potent. Every emotion carries weight. Every desire, fear, or hope can shape the world if one knows how to harness it."
From the edge of the forest, small obstacles emerged naturally.
The wind shifted unpredictably, carrying whispers of fear from hidden creatures. A fox barked nervously, a hawk shrieked above. Even the river seemed agitated, rippling with currents of unease. Aria smiled faintly.
This was the challenge she had anticipated: intangible forces were harder to control, harder to predict. Every absorbed emotion sent small tremors through her Core, testing her patience and control.
Hours passed. Slowly, she wove the emotions into her Core, letting them merge with the fragments of life and objects she had absorbed previously.
Happiness tempered anger, fear sharpened insight, hope strengthened resolve. Each emotion taught her something new, added nuance to her understanding of the world and herself.
Suddenly, the Sisters of the Crimson Lily appeared again.
This time, their intention was clearer—they had gathered minor artifacts and were attempting a coordinated effort to test her control.
Aria sensed the fear and envy within them, subtle but potent. She adjusted, letting their energy flow into her gradually.
The sisters gasped as they realized their attacks had not harmed her; instead, their own emotions strengthened her.
Mila watched in awe. "So… even when they try to stop you, they give you power?" she asked, trembling.
Aria nodded faintly. "Exactly. Everything can be used, if you understand it. Strength is not just raw energy; it is understanding, patience, and adaptation."
By midday, Aria had absorbed enough subtle currents to feel a marked growth in her Core. Her mortal body was weary, but her mind hummed with awareness.
Even small moments—childhood fears, fleeting happiness, quiet sadness—had added threads to her growing tapestry of power.
As the sun reached its zenith, a new challenge arrived in the form of the Forest of Whispers itself. Hidden currents of ancient, lingering Qi, tied to emotions from centuries past, rose to confront her.
Panic and rage, love and betrayal, sorrow and longing—all swirled like a storm around her. She extended her awareness, gently guiding these energies into her Core.
The process was painstaking. Each misstep could cause backlash, pain, or disorientation.
Mila gasped as she watched the golden glow of Aria's Core pulse and flare with each absorbed thread.
The girl had never imagined emotions could weigh so heavily, yet here Aria was, not only absorbing them, but learning from each, integrating them seamlessly.
The day ended slowly, with Aria seated at the edge of a small cliff, overlooking the village and forest.
The Core of Emotion pulsed steadily beneath her chest, glowing brighter than before. Even the intangible—the fears, hopes, anger, and desires of those around her—had been woven into her growing reservoir of power.
"Tomorrow," she murmured softly, "I will go deeper. Not just objects, not just life… the currents that shape fate, that flow through chance, luck, and dreams. They too will teach me, and they too will become part of me."
Mila stayed behind her, heart racing, mind spinning. She had never imagined cultivation could be like this—so subtle, so powerful, so terrifying.
Yet she could not look away. Aria's journey was just beginning, and every heartbeat, every absorbed fragment of the world, was a step toward power that no mortal could rival.
The night settled, cool and quiet, but Aria's Core of Emotion hummed steadily.
She had begun to grasp the essence of the intangible, to harvest the hidden energies of the world itself. Slowly, carefully, deliberately, she was becoming stronger than anyone in the village—or even the forest—could imagine.
One day, she would surpass even the whispers of fate itself. And for now, that day remained just beyond the horizon, a distant goal she would reach one deliberate step at a time.