The absorption chamber was stone and silence.
Five platforms. Five orbs. Five people who might die.
"Sit." Kane placed the orbs carefully. "When you absorb, your body will fight. Let it happen. Fight back and you'll tear apart from inside."
"Encouraging," Marcus muttered.
"I'm not here to encourage. I'm here to keep you alive." Kane stepped back. "Jayden first. Then if he survives, the rest."
"Why me?"
"Your broken limiter. If anyone can handle this, you can."
Jayden sat. Took the orb. Warm. Pulsing.
[A+ PURE ESSENCE ORB DETECTED]
[WARNING: ABSORPTION MAY CAUSE SEVERE PHYSICAL TRAUMA]
Great.
He crushed it.
Essence exploded into him.
Pain.
White hot. Immediate. Total.
His body seized. Every muscle locked. Veins bulged. Skin cracked.
[ESSENCE FLOODING SYSTEM]
[BODY RESTRUCTURING: 23%]
Can't scream. Jaw locked.
Bones broke. Healed. Broke again. His regeneration fighting the essence. War inside him.
Don't fight it. Let it happen.
He stopped resisting.
The essence tore through. Rebuilding. Optimizing. Destroying weakness.
[RESTRUCTURING: 67%]
Blood poured from his eyes. Nose. Ears.
Cinna moved forward. Kane stopped her. "He dies or he doesn't. We can't help."
Five minutes. Felt like hours.
[RESTRUCTURING: 100%]
[ABSORPTION COMPLETE]
The pain stopped.
Jayden collapsed forward. Gasping. Everything hurt.
But his stats
[SPEED: 89 → 104 UNITS]
[ATTACK: 81 → 93 UNITS]
"Fifteen and twelve," Kane said. "Exactly as calculated."
"Fuck." Jayden stood. Shaking. "That was "
"Hell. Yes." Kane turned to the others. "Who's next?"
Marcus stepped forward. "Me."
He absorbed.
Screamed.
His durability helped. Barely. The essence still tore him apart.
Ten minutes. He survived.
[DURABILITY: 142 → 157]
[POWER: 24 → 36]
Elena went third. Ice forming around her. Fighting. Failing.
She survived.
Zain fourth. Stone cracking. Reforming. Holding.
Survived.
Cinna last. Her healing fought the damage in real time. Buying seconds.
She survived.
All five. Breathing. Broken. Alive.
"Day one complete." Kane collected the empty orbs. "Tomorrow. Two orbs each."
"TWO?" Marcus coughed blood.
"You adapt faster each time. By week two, you'll handle five per day." Kane helped Cinna stand. "Rest now. Heal. Tomorrow's worse."
Day two. Two orbs each.
Worse than Kane promised.
Jayden's body tried to reject the second. His regeneration fought harder.
But he survived.
[SPEED: 104 → 119]
[ATTACK: 93 → 105]
Team survived too. Barely.
Day three. Two orbs. Pain was normal now.
Day four. Three orbs. Jayden's eye started bleeding constantly.
[SPEED: 119 → 134]
[ATTACK: 105 → 117]
Day seven. Five orbs. Kane was right. They'd adapted.
[SPEED: 134 → 149]
[ATTACK: 117 → 129]
One week. Thirty five orbs consumed. Fifteen remaining.
"You're all Apex rank now," Kane said. "Minimum."
Jayden checked. The team had climbed impossibly.
[MARCUS: 157 → 189 DURABILITY]
[ELENA: 31 → 67 SPEED, 38 → 71 ATTACK]
[ZAIN: 23 → 58 SPEED, 29 → 64 POWER]
[CINNA: 24 → 59 SPEED, HEALING RANGE 90M → 140M]
"Warlord to Apex in seven days." Marcus stared at his hands. "That's impossible."
"You're proof it's not." Kane opened the vault deeper. "But we're not done. Fifteen orbs left. Plus what's in here."
He revealed weapons. Armor. Artifacts.
"Lucian's collection. Apex tier equipment." Kane pulled out a massive shield. "Marcus. Your durability's godly. But you need offense."
The shield pulsed. Black metal. Essence formations etched deep.
[COLOSSUS SHIELD S RANK]
[PROPERTY: REDIRECTS DAMAGE AS SHOCKWAVES]
Marcus took it. Heavy. Perfect.
"Elena." Kane handed her a crown. Ice crystal. "Doubles ice manifestation speed."
[FROST DIADEM A+ RANK]
"Zain." Gauntlets that turned stone to spatial cuts.
[RIFT GAUNTLETS A+ RANK]
"Cinna." A staff that amplified healing tenfold.
[LIFE'S BREATH STAFF S RANK]
"Jayden." Kane pulled out a cloak. Pure black. Lightning etched.
[VOID MANTLE S RANK]
[PROPERTY: SHADOWS BECOME SOLID. LIGHTNING BECOMES ERASURE.]
Jayden put it on. Felt his Black Lightning surge.
[BLACK LIGHTNING: TIER 3 → TIER 4]
Power flooded. The cloak synchronized perfectly.
"Week two starts tomorrow." Kane sealed the vault. "Fifteen orbs. Then real training begins."
"Real training?" Marcus asked. "What was THIS?"
"Preparation. Next week I teach you how to actually fight at Apex level." Kane's expression was stone. "Kaelos demons won't care about your stats. They'll care about skill."
Week two. Days blurred.
Three orbs per day. Bodies adapted fully now.
[SPEED: 149 → 164 → 179]
[ATTACK: 129 → 144 → 159]
Combat training between absorptions. Kane was brutal.
"Faster!"
"Your positioning is shit!"
"MOVE LIKE YOU MEAN IT!"
By day fourteen, Jayden hit the threshold.
[SPEED: 179 UNITS APEX TIER]
[ATTACK: 159 UNITS APEX TIER]
The team followed.
[MARCUS: 189 → 214 DURABILITY CALAMITY TIER]
[ELENA: 67 → 102 SPEED APEX TIER]
[ZAIN: 58 → 93 SPEED APEX TIER]
[CINNA: 59 → 94 SPEED APEX TIER]
All fifty orbs consumed. The vault empty.
"Two weeks. You went from Warlord to Apex." Kane actually smiled. "Lucian would've been proud."
"Six more weeks until Kaelos," Jayden said. "What now?"
"Now you hunt." Kane marked locations on a map. "Ashenfell's Abyssal Zone. Where S rank corrupted beasts live. You kill ten. Bring back proof. Then you're ready."
"S rank?" Marcus checked his shield. "We just hit Apex."
"Which means S ranks will test you properly." Kane's smile died. "Go. Don't come back until you've got ten cores."
The team left Haven that afternoon.
Apex ranked warriors marching into the abyss.
Jayden's white hair caught wind. His Void Mantle billowed.
Black lightning crackled.
Six weeks until war.
Time to hunt gods.