FREE USE in Primitive World

Chapter 285: Chapter 285: Limitless Core

If he could map the orbital trajectories of these nine moons, he could perfectly predict the ’random’ monster stampedes, the essence tides, and the Sovereign migrations. He wouldn’t just be reacting to the Great Orrath, he would be reading its source code.

They finally reached the summit of the ramp, arriving at the ’Feline Spire’.

It was a breathtaking architectural marvel, a massive structure grown directly out of the living, petrified wood of the Great Heartwood’s highest branches.

Unlike the crude guest area he had been given before the Feline Spire boasted smooth, polished timber walls, wide balconies that offered a commanding view of the entire illuminated settlement, and intricate carvings of predatory cats interwoven with protective sapphire runes.

Kira led him down a wide, open-air corridor to a set of heavy, beautifully carved double doors. She pushed them open, revealing his new quarters.

Sol stepped inside, genuinely impressed. The room was massive, easily the size of a modern luxury penthouse. The floor was covered in thick, plush furs harvested from high-tier beasts. In the center of the room sat a large, sunken fire pit lined with smooth river stones, currently crackling with a warm, smokeless fire. There was actual ventilation, a washing area with a basin of fresh water, and a massive bed piled high with what looked like incredibly soft, downy feathers from a giant avian.

It was a monumental upgrade from the drafty, cramped little hut he had been assigned when he first arrived.

Kira lingered in the doorway, her hands clasped loosely in front of her. The soft light of the fire flickered across her face, highlighting the slight, lingering awkwardness from their earlier exchange under the sky.

“These are your new quarters,” Kira said softly. “The Warchief ordered them prepared while you were in the Vault. They belong to the highest echelon of the Vanguard. You earned them.”

“They’re incredible. Thank you, Kira,” Sol said, turning to face her. “And thank you for walking with me. It… grounds me, having you around.”

Kira’s ears twitched, a soft, incredibly endearing blush warming her cheeks once again. She bowed her head slightly, avoiding his direct gaze.

“Rest well, Sol,” Kira murmured. “If you need anything… anything at all… my quarters are just two levels down in the Spire.”

“Goodnight, Kira.”

She turned and slipped away into the corridor, pulling the heavy wooden doors shut behind her with a soft click.

Sol was finally alone.

The silence of the massive room was absolute, save for the comforting crackle of the fire pit. He walked over to the edge of the wide balcony, resting his hands on the polished wooden railing. He looked out over the Veynar tribe, watching the tiny, glowing dots of the bonfires below, and then he looked back up at the nine moons.

He had the knowledge of the Vault. He had the secret of the sky. He had a safe, luxurious haven. But none of it mattered if he was weak.

The Great Orrath was a meat grinder. The information he had absorbed today confirmed it. The deep-rot horrors, other intelligent races, the hyper-evolved beasts… they were all waiting out there in the dark. If he wanted to explore this world, unravel the mystery of the world, and conquer the nine moons, he needed power that transcended mortal limitations. He needed to step beyond Layer 3, beyond Layer 4, and touch the highest levels.

He turned away from the balcony and walked to the center of the room, sitting cross-legged on a thick, white fur pelt near the fire pit.

The Breath of Dawn technique required the actual sunrise to function at peak efficiency. He had several hours of darkness left before the first rays of light would hit the horizon. But Sol was not a man who wasted time. He didn’t need the sun to inspect his own engine.

He closed his eyes, slowing his breathing, and turned his consciousness inward.

He sank his mental focus deep into his solar plexus, diving into the core of his being.

Instantly, his perception shifted. He was no longer sitting in a luxurious wooden room, he was floating in a vast, infinite, boundless ocean of glowing, radiant gold.

Golden Liquid, Sol thought, a sense of profound awe washing over him.

Warchief Veylara had described the mythic ’Sun Core’…. the absolute pinnacle of human foundation… as a vast, radiant space flooded with light. But what Sol was looking at wasn’t just a space, it was almost a universe. It was an endless, undulating sea of hyper-dense, miraculous essence. There were no walls, no boundaries, no limitations to the internal space of his soul. It was truly an anomaly.

Floating within this infinite golden ocean were two distinct, massive presences.

To his left, resting in a state of deep, suspended animation, was the soul of the Lord Dreadwing. It didn’t look like a dead insect, it manifested as a swirling, violently churning localized hurricane of sapphire lightning and razor-sharp wind, contained within a translucent, crystalline sphere. It radiated an aura of hyper-kinetic speed and predatory malice, even in its sleep.

To his right, floating peacefully in the golden sea, was the soul of the Lord Great Badger. It manifested as a massive, impossibly dense, floating asteroid of hardened silver earth and tectonic pressure. It felt heavy, unyielding, and ancient, a sleeping mountain waiting to be awakened.

Sol realized, with a thrill of absolute power, that his core was so unfathomably vast that the two Layer 3 Sovereign spirits weren’t even crowding each other. In a normal human Vanguard, even a Sun Core would be straining to keep these two titans from violently clashing and tearing the host apart.

But in Sol’s golden ocean, they were like two small islands separated by a thousand miles of water. The Golden Liquid effortlessly suppressed their chaotic natures, forcing them into a stable, peaceful orbit.

“Level 0,” Sol whispered into the void of his own mind, observing the dormant, starved state of the massive souls.

They were incredible engines of destruction, but their fuel tanks were currently empty. They were cut off from the physical world, unable to draw in ’Wild Essence’ on their own. They relied entirely on him to feed them.

Sol opened his eyes, the physical world of the fire-lit room rushing back in.

He didn’t feel sleepy. He felt a burning, ravenous anticipation.

He had the ultimate hardware: a boundless, an almost limitless core, and two of the most devastating apex predator souls in the region. He had the ultimate software: the Breath of Dawn cultivation technique, perfectly memorized and ready to execute, alongside the encyclopedic knowledge of the Ancestor’s Vault.

Now, all he needed was the dawn.

Sol shifted his position on the white fur pelt, straightening his spine and resting his hands on his knees. He faced the wide, open balcony, looking out toward the darkline of the eastern horizon, where the petrified canopy met the starry sky.

He didn’t move. He didn’t sleep. He sat in perfect, motionless silence, his silver-crimson eyes fixed on the darkness, waiting patiently for the first light of the sun to break.

The moment the world brightened, he would begin to devour the sky.