"Oh, shit!"

His arms and legs flailed wildly as he sailed through the air, and purple leaves slapped his face as he came into contact with the lower hanging branches. Lucian reached out, trying to catch hold of something before falling to the ground, but to no avail. He crashed down on his feet and fell to the ground.

Lucian groaned and lay on the grass, staring up into the trees above. The impact left him slightly winded, though he found that he was mostly uninjured, the only injury being a lengthy cut down his right arm. Leaves fell around him, and the limbs quivered as if they were laughing at his misfortune.

"That wasn't normal..." Lucian sat up slowly and shook his head. It had happened so fast that he scarcely had time to realize exactly what had transpired. He could still feel the energy radiating from his Core, but the intensity was lower than before.

Cautiously, Lucian got to his feet, making sure not to use more force than necessary. He wished that the [Educatus] could assist him, but he'd already been given the hateful error message. Lucian re-read the description under the [Endurance II] Microlink before making another move.

"Allows Host to manipulate Psyons to further increase the body's endurance..." Lucian read the line aloud. "But it doesn't say that it can make me jump almost as high as a two-story house!"

He felt overwhelmed by the sudden explosive strength he'd shown, but he had to grasp this ability before making another move. The Concept that he'd chosen was called Will. Did that mean that he just needed to will the Psyons to move how he wanted?

"Will it..."

With this idea in mind, he closed his eyes, concentrating on the power that flowed through him in waves. He imagined the energy traveling through the bridge between himself and the Core. Then he imagined it moving into one of his hands. Nothing happened.

"Of course, it wouldn't be that simple," he grumbled. He'd been hoping that it would happen naturally, but those hopes were shattered. "Maybe it has something to do with the [Initiate] Microlink?"

Ed said that the Core had been formed when he gained the Microlink. Maybe learning to control the energy inside was something he could have done then? It was plausible. He grimaced when this crossed his mind.

"Would that mean that some of the other participants were already taught how to use their Core?" He murmured.

[Many societies are familiar with the existence of Psyons, the Core, and the System. As such, many children learn how to access their Core from a young age]

Lucian scoffed, "Great! So I'm comparable to a child?!"

[Yes]

He rolled his eyes, waved away the [Educatus], and turned his attention back to his Core. At least Ed's unwanted commentary gave him a hint, and it was just as he'd expected. In a normal setting, Lucian would have learned, or maybe even mastered, using his [Initiate] Microlink before unlocking any other Microlinks.

"I practically had to learn to walk again. If using the Core is the same way..." he focused on the muscles around his navel, moving each muscle fiber one by one while exercising his control. He followed the ligament that attached the umbilicus to his liver, finding the Core sitting directly between the organ and his abdomen. The ligament wrapped around and connected to the Core, holding it in place and protecting it.

He could feel that the power of the Core was flowing through this attachment to reach both his internal and external organs. The end attached to his navel fed his muscular structure and skin, while the end running through his liver provided his internal organs with the same energy. Lucian had an idea of how to use it, but he wanted to take it slow and better understand it. The sudden Superman leap had him on edge.

Inside of his mind, Lucian had seen a bridge of light externally connecting the Core to his abdomen. Looking within his body, he sensed that the ligament that had once been part of his umbilical cord acted as a physical bridge to distribute the power. Lucian clicked his tongue in annoyance, wishing that he'd been a doctor instead of an engineer.

"Maybe if I treat it like electricity?" Lucian wondered. "It wouldn't be powered like a generator... maybe more like a battery?"

Lucian focused on the Core, seeing that it was slowly gaining energy once again by absorbing the nutrients from his stomach. It was somewhat similar to a cell. It held power, and it had been partially depleted after that ridiculous jump he'd performed. Now, his goal was to find a way to use part of the energy instead of it bursting forth all at once.

"If it's an organ, can I control it like I can my heart or lungs now..?"

He worked his heart and lungs, forcing his blood to speed and slow as he'd done the day prior. With more concentration, he could clinch the muscles around his veins to hinder the blood from going to certain areas. Once he was comfortable with the process, he studied the paths that the energy from the Core was taking. After many hours of studying the flow, he felt he had a basic understanding.

Lucian could feel the bridge that had connected him to the Core as if it were a physical entity, and he willed it to close. He breathed slowly and concentrated on shrinking the bridge until only a portion of the former energy was pushing through. Once he was comfortable with the amount, he began to alter the bridge.

The bridge passed through his navel and then branched into four paths, one for each of his limbs. It was rudimentary compared to the two hundred or so routes he'd felt the energy taking before, but it was all he could manage. His nerves calmed, and he knew that he could move normally again.

"Manipulate the Psyons to increase Endurance..."

Lucian closed three of the paths and forced the energy to flow into his right arm. Almost instantly, he felt his muscles tensing, and the injury on his arm began to scab over at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Lucian's eyes widened as he watched the phenomenon. After many minutes of watching the wound heal, he began to feel woozy and collapsed to the ground.

"What the hell?" Lucian grumbled and checked on his Core, only to find that it had almost been completely drained. His head throbbed shortly after, and his stomach began to ache. It felt like he hadn't eaten in weeks.

"Shit. Can't anything ever be easy?"

[Error]