NOVEL NEXT Chapter 88: Ability Chamber
Nova was fully recovered, standing next to the love doovy couple that Adam and Elesch had transformed into. Marcus was in front of them, in the basement, wearing his training attire, as he told them that today was not going to be a vigorous day, but a calmer and relaxing day, refining their abilities.
"Today, we are going to focus on meditation and refining your abilities until you're mature enough to reach further into the Circle of Pillars," Marcus stated as he got into his meditation pose. "Elesch, since you're still F-rank, I want you to refine your first pillar, while Nova and Adam refine your two pillars, and just play connect the dots with your ability, go and dive into your mind to learn more about your ability and manifest it to train in your mind itself, until you are ready for the next steps."
The trio got into a meditation position, sitting down, crossing their legs, until they felt comfortable, then leapt into their minds to unlock a structure called the Ability Chamber. Nova entered his chamber first, followed by Elesch and Adam. Marcus had one eye open, half meditating, and half inspecting the trio.
The Ability Chamber was a place in the mind that wasn't found in brain scans, since it was a metaphysical structure, where your ability manifests into the wielder's physical form, appearing like the wielder. The chamber was a place where the actual user connects on a deeper level with the ability that they wield. And the deeper they connect, the stronger the ability gets, unlocking further evolution, beyond triple evolution.
Nova saw himself standing in front of himself. He moved, and so did his duplicate. They both took gradual steps toward each other, walking in uniform motion. Both their eyes betrayed curiosity since the duplicate Nova was an aspect of Nova that even he didn't realize until now.
The two Novas were now inches away, tilting their heads, pulling up their hands to see that their prints on their palms, the lines, the arcs of the lines, were all the same. They were like a child who just saw a goth girl for the first time.
"Who, and what are you?" Nova inquired, the real one, as he interlocked his eyes with his duplicate.
"I am you." The duplicate Nova responded, his voice low and curious. "I am an aspect of you that has been alive since you transformed into a mortal. I am your ability. I am you."
"Interesting to say the least," Nova murmured, smiling, as he inspected the duplicate Nova, who got a little creeped out. "I guess this is what the Ability Chamber is."
---
Elesch entered her Ability Chamber, seeing the Void all around her, which makes sense considering how she was chosen to be the Queen of the Void and also how she was chosen to have void manipulation. Something like this doesn't really happen often.
Elesch went closer to her duplicate, who was sitting on a swing, connected to something imaginary, going back and forth, smiling, as she manipulated the essence of the Void around her. Then, sharply, her duplicate looked at her, her smile softening, delighted to meet the real deal.
"Are you my ability...?" Elesch inquired, as she drew closer, tilting her head. She put a finger on her lower lip, curiosity gnawing at her, as she wanted to confirm the fact.
"Yes, I am you, and you are me." The duplicate replied slowly, controlling each syllable. Her smile deepened as she tilted her head, and an intimate smile appeared, one that acknowledged the truth. "I am an aspect of you that you've now discovered. I am your ability, and as we bond over time, inching closer and closer to becoming a whole, we can unlock the world beyond these mere Circle of Pillars." She rested a fingertip against the swing's arc, a single, graceful motion that made the Void ripple. "Of course, I know you possess the Divinity of Void, one of the strongest divinities to exist, and as the most powerful wielder of the Void, I am glad to make your acquaintance in your mortal journey to assist our brother."
"Sweet!" Elesch giggled, hugging the duplicate, as she felt at peace with her.
The duplicate simply smiled, embracing her further, as she closed her eyes, nothing malicious lingering between them.
---
Though the same thing couldn't be said about Adam.
"Why the fuck are you resting. Stand up and do more squats!" his duplicate screamed at him. Adam nervously continued to do his squats. For the past half an hour with his duplicate, he had just been doing exercise upon exercises, upon fucking exercises.
His duplicate didn't resemble an inch like the real Adam. It was hard if this duplicate Adam was refined to be hard, to not be a pussy like real Adam, to not shed a tear, to not show emotions, to not shudder under any conditions, as if he were to shudder, it would mean a fate worse than death.
This duplicate, Adam, looked like he had been from the training ever since the first cell appeared in his mother's womb. Scars running across his body, as if he had survived the two previous World Wars. It was a fresh view for the real Adam to see what he could have become, or what he would eventually transform into.
Adam continued his exercises, sweating profusely in real life. He was panting hard, but he dared not stop again, and just pushed his heart beyond failure, since the word "failure" meant absolutely fucking nothing.
The duplicate Adam also had his claws out, but they weren't brown like they usually are for Adam; they were grey, like the fur of a gray wolf. They were harder and more durable, and way stronger.
Then, from the Ability Chamber, a loud slap pierced through, echoing like a breeze. The duplicate Adam knew what was happening, so he let the real Adam go back to his world until night approached, where the real fun would begin.
---
The trio slowly opened their eyes, Nova and Elesch immediately looking at Adam, who was sweating buckets, and then he fell to the ground, not a single muscle twitching. He was in deep shock.
Marcus tried not to laugh, but the trio would hear his muffled laughter. "Aside from the mental challenges Adam faced," his voice was low, though it echoed through the basement. He stood up to stretch, then jumped down as Nova and Elesch got up, leaving Adam on the floor. "We will be doing this type of meditation every day together, but you're also required to do this on your own every day for at least thirty minutes, where you connect and learn more about that ability aspect of you that you weren't able to learn previously."