Chapter 365: Introspection

"Absorb!"

As soon as he uttered these words, Aiden felt a strangely familiar warmth radiated from his connecting palms and swiftly seep into the two torn, mutilated remains of the sahuagins' shark-headed champion. 

In the next moment, the carcass pieces began to churn, ripples expanded, and traveled across their surfaces originating from Aiden's palms. They started out sparse and slow, but as the seconds continued to pass they rapidly increased in their pace and intensity.

Soon, both bodies were being visibly distorted and were convulsing on the ground.

While this was happening, behind the boy, the royal siblings, Drake and Scarlet were watching with wide eyes and their mouths agape. Although not experts, they were still fairly strong and could more or less feel the vibrations in the air, mostly conversing around Aiden. They could feel that whatever he was currently doing wasn't a simple matter, causing them to instinctively take a step back, and clench their fists.

They were slightly worried, and couldn't help but look at their friend with a new, fearful light.

On the other hand, Lily, who now has taken her place at her brother's right, was looking at the wobbling, twitching bodies with the same cheerful smile that she mostly had. Her eyes were shining with a mixture of excitement and expectation, she wished for nothing but her brother growing even stronger. 

Meanwhile, the sahuagin champion's remains began to violently shake as the ripples and visual distortions seemed to have crossed a threshold. The hard flesh began to liquefy, its color changed from the multi-colored bloodied mess into a dark grey amorphous gooey substance before it once again became animated as it began to flow towards the respectively connected palms of the boy and get suck into the abyss of Aiden's body.

At a frightening pace, the two halves vanished, sucked away, and merged with the last known Primal's mass, adding to his ever-growing collection of creature data. 

While Drake and Scarlet couldn't even register what was happening anymore as they stood in their place frozen with shock and Lily was acting as calm and elated as before, Aiden was also going through newfound emotions of his own.

Unlike when using the system, the process was vastly different, much more intense. What was a simple and mostly a process devoid of any feeling, sensation, or emotion, this time, it was extreme, powerful, fierce even.

For the first time, he could feel like something, possibly an organ, a solid object around his heart turned active. A now-familiar sensation, the warmth of radiating energy began to flow, course inside his body with a pang of growing hunger, or more likely thirst towards the liquefied mass of extrinsic organism.

The crystal hungrily began to devour all of the incoming mass. In a rhythmic, repeated manner, energy was released, waves of the pulsating power restored and refilled Aiden's used up stamina and power reserves.

It was at this moment that his eyes snapped wide open, and his face revealed shock and astonishment!

He could feel something new, something he didn't know existed before. As the new mass of life essences was assimilated as his own, he could now clearly and cleanly feel the latter parts of the process. Aiden could feel as this newly accepted essence began to resonate, gathering together and forming into a shape of a seed. 

Maybe it was due to this event, or maybe he was just not paying close enough attention, but before now, Aiden could never access inside his own core. He could never see behind the crystalline walls, heck, he didn't even know he had one for the first place!

With great curiosity, he kept focusing, barely being able to contain his startled surprise mixed with fear and shock as he suddenly slipped past and found himself in something keenly similar to the dark world of his own soul space. 

A new, previously unknown, and peculiar scene, an unfamiliar world expanded before his mental cognitive eyes. 

At the center of this new enclosed space, a large, bright golden orb floated, shining proudly, similar to a star, a sun. Around it, several smaller balls of energy could be seen orbiting. Each donning a unique color and slightly different size and shape from the other.

Baffled by what he could see, Aiden floated closer to the nearest celestial-like body, which was also the one that has just been formed. Being close to the largest, or at the very least second largest if the central star wasn't taken into consideration, it had a light, pale blue hue around it. Unlike the rest, this one was still emitting quite a bit of heat, small ripples could be seen contorting its ball-like shape. 

Without even thinking, Aiden suddenly reached out, the tip of his fingers gently touched its surface. As soon as they made contact, information began to rapidly flow into his mind, causing him to flick his arm away in the next moment and turn wide-eyed once again.

He looked at the floating orb that slowly drifted away, going back to its predestined circulation.

Watching the slowly traversing orb, Aiden's lips parted apart, the newly received information began to make its escape into this strange reality.

"Sahuagin Champion form…" He muttered with a wondrous, distant look in his eyes. He was confused, trying his best to process all the information his mind was being assaulted with.

'[This is your Primal Core, Aiden.]' Suddenly a bright milky white speck of light appeared next to Aiden's spiritual body, speaking in the familiar mature tone of voice.

Not surprised by the slightest of her presence, Aiden continued to look at all the other orbs, slowly scanning his eyes over them.

"Are these… the forms I have, the ones I created with the system?" He muttered, asking the question with the same distant look and tone as before.

'[Yes. Each orb that is formed here means that enough life essence of the type has been collected to form a new body. Each new body that is created here is another lifeform you have created.]' Enya answered.

Her small, formless body floated forward, pointing towards the center, where the largest, a colossal golden orb, the central star radiated endless warmth and life towards all around its domain. Even from this distance, Aiden could feel it. It was an ancient, but strangely familiar power. Something he was keenly aware of and has been relying gradually on more and more.

"Is that… my Ancient Dragon form?" He asked, his gaze lost in its brilliant, vibrant luster.

'[Yes it is. Before you ask the obvious, it is your central, most important form, not just due to its endless, limitless potential but because it is the one that is your heritage. Your Primal self, your original being is one that has no definite appearance.]'

Listening to her explanation, a strange new feeling began to emerge in Aiden's heart. He kept looking around these orbs, looking at each of them for a moment, before shifting his attention, growing more and more worried as he went on. 

A sense of dread, a fear of what he never thought of before began to creep up at Aiden's heart. Looking at all of these... Amidst all these different, unique forms, all these alternative lives he absolved into his own existence, he realized he just doesn't know which one is his own. 

All of these were gained, created, they are unique shapes, sizes, having their qualitative traits and desires in life. But amidst these growing stars and globes, which one was the first? Which one was the one that represents himself? 

"But… Which one am I?…" He meekly whispered, feeling lost. "Just who am I?"

For a while, Enya kept her silence, merely floating in place, giving a bit of time to the boy to gather his own thoughts. 

Eventually, however, seeing as he was falling deeper and deeper into the abyss of his own despair, she flew closer to him. Although she had no visible form any more, Aiden could still feel an invisible touch at his chest, pointing at his heart.

'[Here. This is all you. Everything here is you. Everything here was created through your work and effort.]' He pointed to his heart. Before swiftly flying around the boy and turning towards the central star again.

'[Look at it again. Go closer, don't just look at the surface, see behind it!]'

Confused by what she meant, Aiden looked at the central star, representing his most powerful and most important form to date, the Ancient Dragon again.

It was a colossal, huge star, radiating the powerful golden hue, the same warmth, the same ancient, dominant, proudness that he was all too familiar with.

However, as he kept looking at it, focusing on it, he could feel something else… something more. Under the outer layers, he could feel another source of power, another small, unfamiliar seed of energy.

Surprised to feel the presence of another source inside the large star, he looked shocked, turning towards Enya as he asked…