Torrin stared down at the sheet of paper in front of him. Moving his hand, he marked through the first two items on his list.

'Study all recordings and information on Saen body enhancement. Done. Strengthen body through rigorous exercise without the use of mana. Check.' He tapped the pen--a new device he'd found for writing--on his lips as he looked at the final thing on his list.

"Enhance body with Saen, while also using energy to form Mana Core..." Torrin leaned back in the chair and sighed.

He had known this would not be an easy process, but he hadn't expected it to take so long to completely memorize all of the information and get his body to a level he felt comfortable with.

Several months had passed since finding the lab, he had now been in this hellhole of torture for over two years in total, though he didn't have a clear understanding of the passage of time as there was no day and night cycle. Focusing on training his body and studying for his body enhancement was the only thing that had kept him sane.

Torrin thought back on the information he'd learned over the past few months, making sure that he was prepared for the process.

'Nim used over 300 of his descendants to perfect this method, so it had better work. He first allowed himself to adapt to the fierceness of Saen, funnily enough following my method of sticking his hand in the energy.' Torrin unconsciously looked down to his own hand.

'He did that multiple times, only allowing a small bit into his pathways, cycling it up and down his arm in a controlled manner so that his Mana Pathways became accustomed to the energy and slowly enhanced...' He thought as he held a page of indecipherable text; the part he was focused on was the circulation method drawn out in great detail, thinking of the way that Nim had described the cycling technique in the final recording.

This page came directly from the Dromo in the recordings. He'd learned the Dromo's name was Dormisu. The page described a method of body enhancement that most high-class Dromos learned. First focusing on the pathways then on infusing the energy into the body slowly.

Torrin stood from the chair, setting the paper down on the table, and walked over to the container of energy. In the final recording, the density of Saen was nearly the same consistency it currently was, just far less in quantity. It had taken years upon years for the energy to condense itself.

"To think they used a formation to actually gather and purify mana and transform it into Saen... Never would have expected that to be possible..." Torrin thought aloud as he walked around the container, analyzing the formation composed of thousands of runes that lined the bottom of it.

According to the second journal that Nim had left, it was theorized by researchers in the Highest World that Saen was the energy used to create all of the worlds originally, and as it was used up it began to weaken, diminishing in power into lower forms of energy as it spread to various worlds.

Torrin couldn't verify this fact, nor did he really care about the authenticity of it. The proof of mana being formed into Saen was evident in front of him. He didn't know how it worked, but he knew this artifact was insanely powerful.

A smile crossed Torrin's face as he thought, 'Once I get out of here, I'll have to tell Grams about this, she'd probably be able to analyze it much more thoroughly.'

Torrin shook his head, clearing the nagging thought that continued creeping into his mind when he thought of leaving--he didn't know the way out. He realized he was holding off on beginning the process.

He took a few deep breaths, bouncing on the balls of his feet to hype himself up, 'Honestly... I'm scared. Forming the extensive network of Mana Pathways hurt terribly and I know this won't be any better...'

He sighed before shoving his hand directly into the containment barrier. Fire leapt across his hand and he pulled it back, the Saen burning itself through the myriad of pathways in his hand, he forced the energy up his arm before moving it back down.

In theory, the process of acclimatizing his pathways to Saen should be easier since the pathway design Grams had made was based on Dromo physiology and the diagram used for body enhancement was for Dromos.

The process was excruciating, but Torrin stood firm, teeth bared so hard he thought they might crack. He ignored it, redoubling his focus on the energy, bringing the picture of the circulation method to the forefront of his mind.

Slowly, instead of a raging inferno in his arm, it became a much milder burn, more akin to a nice campfire coursing through his veins instead of lava. He nearly laughed at the thought that a burning campfire in his Mana Pathways was comforting.

Sweat poured down his face, and the pain was finally too much to continue, needling itself into his awareness. He forced the energy from his hand in an uncontrolled burst of power that he shot towards the line of cages, turning them into a mass of twisted metal.

He took a potion from his pocket and downed it. The low-tier healing potion did almost nothing to soothe his charred pathways, but it was all he had to work with.

Torrin flexed his hand, the pain was beginning to diminish quite quickly. He sat beside the container and entered meditation to view his pathways. Instead of the silvery tunnels he usually visualized, they now shone with a golden luster from the tips of his fingers all the way to the joint where arm met shoulder and were roughly twice the size as they used to be.

He sighed a breath of relief, nodding at the progress. He stood once more and promptly shoved his left hand into the terrible energy, repeating the same process for the pathways of his left arm.

Once finished, he downed another potion. He moved back to the table and let his mind wander. After taking two potions, he would need to wait for roughly week before continuing with the next part of the process. Taking too many potions in too short a time could lead to poisoning himself, especially the low-tier variety he was chugging. He'd read it in one of the alchemy books he'd purchased from Bolin Town, thankful that he'd avoided the mistake.

A week passed swiftly. Training took up most of his time as he wanted his body to be in peak condition for when he began to enhance it. The break was also necessary to be sure that his mind stayed healthy.

Torrin approached the stage and absorbed the energy once more through his right hand, the fiery feeling was much diminished this time around and he was able to cycle the energy twice as long before giving in. After repeating the process with his left arm, he drank a potion to help with soothing the pain.

Since he'd only needed one potion this time, he went ahead and--as silly as it made him feel--removed his boots and socks, before sitting on the ground and extending his leg, placing his foot through the containment barrier.

The pain was once again like hellfire as the virgin pathways in his leg were stretched and scorched by the vicious energy. He was only able to do one leg before downing another potion, the pain in his leg causing him to limp back to the table without checking on his progress.

He kept up his routine of enhancing as much as he could, chugging down potions, and then training for a week. Two months quickly passed with this simple routine and his pathways were now adapted to Saen. He felt no discomfort by cycling the energy through his body.

Actually using the energy still eluded him as he could barely hold onto it once it left his body, and using it to enhance his young frame brought about pain, though it was definitely less intense than when he adapted his pathways.

Torrin sat at the table, planning his biggest feat yet, enchanting his Mana Core. He scribbled on a page, drawing out the design and the rune placement carefully. Torrin would need to delicately sear the runes into his core, enduring the pain and holding his concentration all the while, or else he might lose control--shattering his inactive core.

Once he began the inscription process, he wouldn't be able to stop or else his core would most likely be too unstable, and he'd have to destroy it to form a normal core. Once the enchanting was finished, he should be able to absorb some energy and imbue the core. After the core was filled up, he would begin the process of enhancing his body.

He had been working on the design for weeks and had finally come up with what he felt was the most efficient design for each rune. His brows furrowed as he stared at the drawing with a fierce intensity.

He planned to carve all six runes first, before connecting them with intricate line work that would be a delicate process. He was definitely nervous to get started.

"This had better work..." He allowed his face to relax and leaned back in the chair he occupied, stretching his body and preparing himself for what came next.

Standing up, Torrin shook his arms out, trying to rid himself of nervous jitters. He took deep breaths as he walked up the stairs onto the platform, centering his mind on the task he had to accomplish. There was no room for error.

Torrin stared into the glowing golden energy, slowly reaching up both hands and pushing them into the golden tides. He pulled the energy into his body, circulating it around and familiarizing himself with it.

He removed his hands and sat on the floor, entering a meditative state as he let the energy flow through his body. It felt uncomfortable to use so much Saen, as some always inevitably escaped into his flesh, causing a slight burning sensation. He ignored the feeling and guided the energy to his core.

The energy soon arrived in the small cavern that housed his core. It floated in the middle of the space like a rough, pockmarked meteor surrounded by flowing golden energy.

The small crack in his core from so long ago tried greedily sucking in the energy, but Torrin held a firm control on it, only allowing it to slowly circulate around the dead core. With a deep breath in, he began his work, as the river of energy kept circling the core, he split off a fine thread of it and began inscribing the core with the design he had made.

The pain was instantaneous and fierce. Blackness encroached on the edge of his consciousness but he continued on, forcing himself to stay awake. He began separating himself from the pain, his actions almost automatic.

He inscribed the core first with the rune of Restoration, the marks slowly forming together as his will imbued the rune with the proper intent; To give his energy the properties to restore what has been damaged, fixing what's broken. As the rune was finished, the small crack in his core sealed itself up and no longer tried absorbing the circling Saen.

This was the first and most important part of his plan, to seal the core so he wouldn't have to split his focus between keeping the energy from being absorbed and painstakingly forming the rest of his runes, all while distancing his mind from the pain.

Flow and Condense were next, and they formed easily. Flow was imbued with the proper intent, granting fluidity and finesse of control on energy, as if he had full control of a waterway, directing the flow where it needed to go with impunity. Condense, once activated, would allow the energy he imbued it with to condense, not unlike water vapor forming into liquid droplets.

Absorb followed next, imbued with the intent that once activated, it would help absorb ambient energy like a sponge soaking up water. He left the rune inactive for the time being, as he didn't need the core to absorb anything just yet.

As he finished the fourth rune, his breathing was becoming unsteady so he took a moment to allow himself to regain his composure.

The fifth rune he carved was Harden, it would solidify and add fortitude to whatever it was imbued into. He left this one inactive as well for now.

He carved out the final rune, Change, imbuing the rune with the immense intent that Grams had originally scrawled the rune down with, the idea of matter changing forms, life and death, all sorts of ambiguous examples and a deeper sense of profound understanding.

As he finished the final rune, he began forming connections between each of the six, forming them into a greater whole. As the final line was etched, he imbued Saen into the core, activating the six runes simultaneously.

If one stood in the room, they would see a young boy, face scrunched in concentration, a look of pain in the set of lips. His chest glowed with a golden light.

The core began to spin in place, absorbing the energy into itself, the energy slowly absorbing and replacing the inert core, before hardening into a new vessel. As the available energy diminished, the core began to dim, no longer glowing with a brilliant radiance. It seemed to be slowly unraveling itself.

'Not enough! Fuck! Not enough!' Torrin shouted in his mind, standing up and reaching both hands into the container, keeping his concentration on forging his new core. As a torrent of Saen flowed through his pathways, his arms began to burn. He didn't let the agony stop him, forcing the spinning core to absorb more and more energy.

He never would have expected the core to be able to soak up so much, had he only tried using the ring to form the thing, he was sure it wouldn't have been enough. The core was still not satisfied, even though it was absorbing more Saen than he'd ever drawn to date. The core kept spinning, sucking in the energy with a ferocious speed.

The core began to slow as if unsatisfied with its feast, as if it would reject the energy that had failed to satiate it. It began to unravel once more.

Torrin opened his eyes in panic, staring at the container of energy. It had actually diminished some, but the energy flow was not enough and his fledgling core only allowed so much control on absorbing the high-tier energy.

"Fuck it!" Torrin shouted, bending his legs and jumping up into the container, dousing his entire body in the violent energy. He regretted his action instantly. Hot fire ran across his entire body, soaking into every pore and burning him away, but he didn't give up.

With the Mana Core enchantment having been placed, he had a modicum of control over the energy now. He formed a small film over his skin and hardened it, trying to protect himself as much as he could, adding a restorative affect to the barrier so his skin wouldn't just slough off.

He began cycling the energy furiously throughout his entire body, following the body enhancement diagram with the energy, allowing it to burn him from the inside out as his core drank deeply.

To prevent his body from completely disintegrating, he imbued all the energy he touched with Restoration, his body breaking apart and reforming just as quickly. It was hell and he detached himself mentally, only the image of the body enhancement technique in his mind.

He sat cross-legged in the container of energy, completely covered. Each breath drew in not air, but more scalding hot fire. The energy destroyed him and sustained him at the same time in an endless cycle as his body was being remade.

Torrin had no idea how long this would take, or how long he could hold out, but he was definitely not giving up. If he quit now, only death waited for him and his revenge would never be fulfilled. Seconds turned into minutes, and minutes into hours. Days passed as time flowed as surely as the hot fire energy through Torrin's body.

His core finally had its fill and the rough blackened surface now shone like gold. The runes shone brighter than ever, mixing a silvery and golden color together in the light they emitted.

Torrin's eyes finally shot open and looked around, his formerly hazel eyes now shone gold with flecks of silver swirling within. He was surprised to see Grams standing in front of him on the raised platform, grinning from ear to ear.

"Well, boy! That was quite some show!" She cheered, clapping her hands vigorously and laughing merrily.

Torrin wanted to reply, but as his mouth opened, he fell backwards with darkness enveloping his sight and mind, falling off the rune-lined container he'd been using as a seat and crumpling to the floor, passed out.