Second Orbit: Open

The green eyes looked at them. They all felt fear and pressure, much more heavier than what they experienced when Vin pulled out the orbs. The Guandao that was held by the centaur is also emitting green waves of energy.

"Inspect." Vin said.

[System : Due to core being compromised, skills and abilities are not functional.]

"What?" Vin was perplexed by the words he heard. It was easy at first, but why is it too hard in the next steps?

He looked at the formations in front of him, and he was surprised on what he saw. There are no gaps in the formations they did. No dead zones, no weak points, and no mistakes. He was more surprised with Zaine, for she stayed with him for almost all the time they were there.

"Balance, like how it should be." The soul then told Vin. He then looked at the core, and then he looked back to the soul behind him, with somewhat questioning gaze.

"Do not worry, I am not interested in the Infinity Stones, and I do not have a gauntlet. Plus, I am not even violet." The soul hurriedly explained while waving has hands.

"Geez." He said, and then he looked at the giant in their front again. Intimidating, monumental and powerful. The weapon it has makes it more powerful than it seems.

"Everybody, gather around me. As closer as possible. Von, Ven, brother's gonna borrow your mana for a bit." Vin said and everybody gathered around him.

Von and Ven held his shoulders, while he was still holding his core on his hand. He then waited and looked at the monster before him.

"Do not panic. A monster like this is not here just to pass by, but they do not attack when we are not attacking them. We will first confirm hostility before we go." Vin said and then he heard a notification.

[Core Power : 9%]

[Estimated time of core destruction : ]

[05:00]

"What?" Vin blurted out, just right after he consoled his team. They then looked at him with shock, and when he realized their looks, he scratched his head and mouthed "nothing to worry about".

He then focused on the core before him. Truly, it was said in the blueprint that the next steps would be this. He probably won't miss something because all of the words in the blueprint are copied to his mind so he won't forget.

His law, is the weakest one if you would say so. Suppose you have a fire seal, and it's manifestation is the Supernova.

Supernova is a manifestation one can only get when they reached their ninth seal. This manifestation is too strong, that even Supremes are afraid of it. It gathers fire is a single point, and then it will be fired downward, being bossted by the first eight seals before it.

Basically, you just multiply the power eight times. It cannot be underestimated, just imagine the damage when it comes from a high point, and then boosted by eight more seals that points towards its target. The damage will be massive, and it can wipe out a whole country or two.

It was said that the Fire Supreme, Dragon is the only one who has that. If he wants to erase the Emperor's country, it will happen. The power of it is terrifying.

On the other hand, if, and only if, Vin managed to copy it, due to his seals not in sync with each other, it is only a line of fire and the maximum it can do is kill one person. It cannot pass by shields, or magic barriers, and it can only kill a person who is not aware of it.

And that's where the weakness lies. Supernova, being a strong spell, requires time to cast. Also, the opponent may first see it and erect defense, before Supernova can be fired. In short, Vin will have a hard time casting it.

Another example is Fireball. The most basic fire manifestation. It just hurls a fireball, and it will go where the caster wills it. It has no complex parts like the Supernova, but if Vin manages to copy it, due to the seal not being a fire seal, the damage and the size is halved. It applies to all the other elements, weapon and beast forms.

His law, when he extracted it, gave him three manifestations. The copy seal, copy mark, and copy glyph. Well, it's just that it is too weak, but it is a bit helpful too.

Vin may be abnormal in terms of skills, talents, abilities and disposition, but he is quite weak in the face of his law. So he is just copying his skills and stuff and abilities and experimenting on it.

And now, he is stuck between a hard place and a rock. The countdown won't give him much leniency, for he can't control it. Also, if he use copy, and make time go back, he will make his mana run dry, just making the problem worse.

"Balance." He said again, then he looked at the core in his hand. Looking at it, the pushing towards the nucleus force, came from the third sphere. It means the power in the nucleus is lower than the power on the spheres.

But how should he balance it? Removing the first sphere is a good idea, but will it solve the problem? Why is it that made the core imbalance?

"I see." He then grabbed three different energy strands, connected it, and then he put it in the nucleus. The energy balanced out, but still not enough because the inward pushing force is still in act.

He did that twice more and at last, it became balanced. He remembered that in the first part, he only added three in the nucleus, while the spheres have twelve strands, the dipolars and the refined ones. It was imbalance in the first place, and adding the third sphere made it more imbalanced. Adding nine more strands made the core stable. He used Ven and Von's mana to use his skills and abilities.

"Roar!" The beast then roared, looking at the core in Vin's hands. The beast then stood mightily, and started walking towards the group.

"Place Core." Vin said.

[System : Core has been detected.]

[System at normal condition.]

[Inspection Complete.]

[Species] : Wooden Centaur

[Status] : Alive

[Abilities] : Expand

[Core] : 1

[Manifestations to be acquired] :

Nature Seal : Song of Trees / Heal

Guandao Mark : Circle Swing / Sweep

Wooden Centaur Glyph : Wooden Bark

"A good catch." Vin said. The running Wooden Centaur then leaped up on air, and swung its Guandao at them.

Sweep.

"Mana Zone." He said, and it boosted all their mana. He then ran forward, towards where the Guandao will pass.

"Mana Shield!" He shouted and a barrier then enveloped him. The Guandao arrived short after.

"Crack!" A loud crunching sound was heard, and Vin can be seen rolling away from the beast. He managed to bump into a tree, which made him vomit some blood in the process.

"Roaaaaaar!" The beast roared and ran towards Vin. It then held its weapon with two hands, and rushed.

"Captain!" Twenty silhouettes ran and each one of them attacked the beast.

"Pegasus Rush!" Charla was the first to arrive. She then swung her halberd towards the Centaur, bit met its resistance shortly. She was sent back a few steps, and an overhead swing came from the Centaur.

"Metal Shield!" Lily accepted the attack for her, and then, when she managed to lift up the Guandao, a scythe managed to cut its arms off. A trident from Aeriel pierced its body, but it was not enough pierce it all the way.

"Root!" Yuri shouted, making roots make hold of the Centaur in its place. A golem then made its way and punched the face of the Centaur.

"Roar!" A hydra, a qilin and a yeti nade their way to pummel the Centaur, care of Paul, Tim and Theo respectively. The Centaur then waved its tail and the three were sent back.

Riku, Sora and Kaye are the ones on the melee zone. They use their daggers and sickles to cut the feet of the Centaur, but the Centaur has a healing skill and is very fast on its feet.

Raine is with Quandor on his broomstick. They dodge and swoop under the Centaur, and then Raine would throw nebula dust to the centaur, making it explode everytime.

Aves, Von and Ven are at the mid range point. They attack, kite and taunt the Centaur away from Vin, and makes it go to circles.

Due to its regeneration, the hands that were cut earlier grew back, and the Guandao made the Centaur more aggressive.

The rush was once again enacted. Von, Ven and Aves now are above the summons of Tim, Paul and Theo. They use it as their ride, while the three now are engaging into the battle.

Sparks flew and the fight continued for a bit, and a fire bird dropped down onto the Centaur. The Centaur then screamed in pain, and used its other skill.

Circle Swing.

BAAAAAAM!

A loud crash was heard, and everyone was thrown back, but a cannon fired at the Centaur, making a hole on its chest. The cannon was none other than Dalia.

The centaur fell down, and its anguish voice was heard by the forest. It started to rumble and roots one by one were coming to the place.

"Regroup!" Von shouted but they forgot something that they shoud not have forgotten.

Kzzzt! Kzzt!

"Shit!" Vin wss startled, for he knew what comes next.

"Mana Boost! Mana Rush! Mana Wave! Mana Upgrade!" He shouted and almost inside a split second, he arrived where they are.

"MANA ZONE!" He shouted and the zone enveloped them.

BOOOOOOOM!

The heavens were split by the loud boom of thunder and the sparks of lightning.

"MANA SHIELD!" Vin shouted and received all the electric current. The residue was then distributed to the others, and they all squirmed in pain, well, except Vin.

[System : Core has been purified.]

[Opening Second Orbit.]

[Talent has been activated.]

[Talent : Fusion has been unlocked.]

Fusion : To achieve the perfect balance in mixing two elements, two weapons or two beasts.

[Classes Panel has been activated.]

[Unique Skills can be acquired.]

[Ultimate Skills can be acquired.]

[Supreme Skills can be acquired.]

[Unique Abilities can be acquired.]

[Ultimate Abilities can be acquired.]

[Supreme Abilities can be acquired.]

[Unique Talents can be acquired.]

[Ultimate Talents can be acquired.]

[Supreme Talents can be acquired.]

[Unique Talent Acquired : Mega Fusion.]

Mega Fusion : Fusion of a weapon and an element, fusion of a weapon and a beast, or a beast and an element.

[Ultimate Talent Acquired : Ultra Fusion.]

Ultra Fusion : Fusion of a weapon an element and a beast in one.

"That's awesome." He said and then he looked at the people behind him. They were all down and their bodies are like burned crisps.

"System, what is that lightning just now?" Vin asked.

[System : It is called an Outbreak, not lightning.]

"So what is an Outbreak?" He asked again.

"Vin, focus on the Centaur before you." The soul interrupted him. Vin was awakened and he looked at the monster before him.

"What can I do to protect myself from Outbreak?" Vin said.

"An Outbreak may be in any other forms. In this place, it is lightning-like. Other places have fire-like or sometimes, a tiger will appear out of nowhere and will attack relentlessly. Outbreaks have the densest and purest energies, so it can cleanse the body, the core and even the manifestations." The soul answered him.

"Thanks for the info." He then faced the Centaur.

"Ebony, Ivory." He called out.

"Who's that?" The soul asked.

Immediately, two swords came out of thin air. The swords are in two different colors, such that it represents two opposite sides. Little by little, the heterochromic eye of the boy became a single hue of gray, and his hair that was filled with black and white strands developed gray ones too.

He grabbed the swords and then changed his stance. He held the black sword on his left hand, and the white sword on his right. Feet about a foot apart from each other, with his right foot forward. His right hand lowered, sword pointing at the Centaur. His left hand holds his sword behind him, and then he made his aether flow in his body.

The new start awaits.