Beyond The System

The smell of barbecue hung in the air, and the sound of chewing filled the camp.

“Glad,” Thea mumbled between bites, “glad you found something that wasn’t poisonous.”

I nodded while the others tore into their food like starving beasts. “Sure… Marcus?”

He glanced up, mouth full.

“You knew it wasn’t toxic, right?” I asked.

“Dogs hunted it, so… yeah. I figured.”

I felt several sets of eyes turn toward me. “What? You’re all eating it! Don’t blame me.”

“What a brilliant and selfless leader we have,” Drake, the actual prince of a country dared to dryly say.

Thea set down a cleaned-through bone. “Well, I don’t mind. We have food, Miss Star had seasoning. So I’m happy.”

A tear welled in my mind’s eye as I leaned in to kiss her cheek. “You are the—”

A hand slapped over my face. “Clean your mouth first.”

Okay, it was a little greasy, but still, there were gentler ways. “Fiiine.”

She lowered her hand, and I retaliated by ignoring the instructions, smearing as much cooked animal fat across her cheek as I could.

“Peter!”

“Good grief, you two…” the commander sighed, shaking his head.

“This is all because they haven’t been… intimate,” Elric added with a completely straight face.

I stood up and stretched. The night was calm around us and my mind wouldn’t let go of that vision, but there was nothing I could do about it now.

Only train.

Trevor was still asleep, not even stirred at a light shake, and with a little nudging from Marcus, we let him be.

“I think they’re plenty intimate,” Velea chimed in. “You should’ve seen them on the carriage. Plus what he literally just did.”

“I thought you were training!” I shot back.

She took another bite, blatantly ignoring me.

“That’s not what Elric meant,” Drake said with a sigh. “He—”

“Oh, my dear brother,” Lyda cut in sweetly, “could you get me another piece?”

“Alright,” I said, brushing past the distraction. “I’m gonna get some practice in. After that, I’ll use my Voidseed. You should absorb energy when I do… just be careful.”

I passed the dogs, who were still tearing through what was left of the carcass. “I won’t go far,” I called back. “Just need a little quiet.”

“Stay within eyesight,” the commander called after me, voice light but firm.

I nodded. For us, that meant pretty far.

I jogged off, letting the sounds of the camp fade behind me. The further I went, the easier it was to blur it all out. Still, I kept going until they completely faded.

I thought I heard something following, but it came from camp, so I didn’t bother checking.

No True Sight. No Precursor Sense. Nothing active. Just me.

I wanted to work on control. The flow of energy. Truth was, with enough concentration, I could perform most skills already. But in battle, it was much harder to keep that level of focus.

I started with Wyrem's suggestion. Changing the state of matter.

Why was it always ice? Was it even possible for me to manifest liquid matter through force?

I mean, I remembered the basics of physics from my education, conservation of energy, atomic density and all that. But none of it felt present when I was cultivating. No sensation of atoms tightening or spreading. No heat shifts. All of that was too small, even in magic I guess.

There was just… will. Intention.

More and more, the knowledge from my old world felt useless here. Not wrong, just irrelevant. A loose framework for ideas, not applicable to my new surroundings.

Wyrem, any idea how I could make water instead? I asked, extending a hand. I failed immediately, forming a small sphere of solid ice.

It dropped, landing cold in my palm.

Try starting closer. Limit how much effort you put into outside control, he said. Beyond that, your guess is as good as mine.

Keeping it simple’s probably best, Luna added.

How’s it going on your side? I asked. I haven’t really thought about what’s next. I’ve got an idea, but that’s it.

I’ll ask later, Luna replied. For now, Spiritual and Body Refinement are my focus.

I took their advice, and stopped extending my sense. No connection between body and projectile.

Just surface level, right on my left palm.

I started with a trickle, just the barest stream of Internal Force I could push outward. My focus narrowed, everything else tuning out as I tried to catch the exact moment of creation.

Just like they said, limit the variables.

Second by second, I tunneled deeper into my hand until finally, there it was. A spark of crystal. An intricate lattice of ice, no larger than a bead.

But before that, so brief I wondered whether it even happened, something else. A drop. No, less than that. A flicker of liquid, pure and fragile. Gone the instant cold took over.

Is it the amount? I asked, fishing for insight. Wouldn’t that make it too weak to use in battle, though?

You know too little to say for sure, Wyrem chided. Follow your instincts. We’re all blind here… I could have my disciple try—

Really?! Luna lit up. I could try, Peter!

But, she is busy advancing in different ways.

I see it, the veins of her petals burning a deep red.

You did that on purpose! she snapped.

Alright, I sighed. Are you even able to separate your energy to be purely water? I’ve never seen you use anything but shapeshifting techniques.

…

…

They both stayed quiet.

It is an issue of size, one of them finally muttered.

Oh. Okay…

Back to the task.

I repeated the process again. And again. Trying to catch that perfect moment, stop at the edge of the shift. But no matter how hard I tried, I missed it.

It wasn’t random. There was a threshold, just one that shifted slightly each time. Always different. Just far enough out of reach.

It felt like mockery.

All the speed, all the boosts, all the training I’d stacked for myself, none of it mattered here.

I couldn’t catch it.

“Screw this.”

I activated Precursor Sense and tried again.

Hmm… That’s— that isn't quite right.

“What the heck!” I yelled louder than I meant to. “ARGH!”

I don’t know why, but the frustration bubbled over. I screamed. Raw, furious helplessness.

Why was it always like this? Why did everything I used to know feel so utterly useless here? 

A few moments later, footsteps approached behind me.

“What’s wrong, Peter?” Thea asked gently. “Everything alright?”

I slumped as she sat down beside me.

“It’s impossible,” I muttered. “There’s no water with my domain. It makes no sense.”

She took my hand, squeezed it and chuckled. “What are you even talking about?”

Just that laugh… it cracked the pressure. Let a little bit go.

“I need to be stronger. Better at everything, Thea. But every step forward I take... it feels like I end up three more behind.”

“Stronger?” She shifted to face me fully, gripping both my shoulders. “Peter, you crushed Mister Ironscribe’s shield. A royal armament. You are already—”

“And so can you, Thea,” I breathed out, forcing the heat back down. “And Elric. And Drake. Everyone. I’m always behind. Every benefit I have, I plan to share. One day, I’m sure, if we keep surviving, we’ll all absorb every World Force type.”

I gently pulled one of her hands off my shoulder and placed it in her lap.

“But then what? We’re right back to equal—actually, not even that. I want to be more. I can’t be the reason...”

“The reason for what?” she asked, voice quiet but tight with concern.

I mumbled something half-formed and uncertain before the final word broke free, clearer than the rest. “Die.”

“What?”

I stood, fists tight at my sides. “I can’t be the reason you die! So many might have already—” I shook my head. “I just... I need to be more. That’s all.”

“Sit down.”

Her voice was stern. Firmer than I’d ever heard it.

“I didn’t mean—”

“Just sit!”

I sat.

My body just moved. I’d never heard her angry before. Not really.

She brushed her hair behind her ear, jaw tight. “Do you really think you're responsible for us? That we can’t take care of ourselves?”

I shook my head. “No. That’s my point, Thea.”

“Then how does that—rrng,” she growled in frustration. “Okay. Okay. This has always been a team effort, right? We chose this. Together. It’s not your job to be the strongest. It never was.”

“I know it doesn’t make sense,” I admitted, pacing in place. “I’m sorry. Really. It’s just… gotten to me. Or maybe it’s been building for a while. I don’t know.”

I let out a breath.

“Maybe I just wanted something—anything—to work.”

I knew how I sounded. Petty. Pouting. Like a sulking kid who hadn’t realized how much had piled up until it spilled out. The child in the corner, jealous of gifted friends, finally breaking in the presence of true geniuses.

“I’m sorry,” she said softly. “But you have to know how amazing you are, right?”

I bumped her shoulder with mine, just enough to shift the mood. “Why are you apologizing?”

“It felt right.”

She pulled me into a hug, one arm tight around my back, the other curling around my neck.

“Weirdo.”

“You’re the weirdo!” she shot back, and shoved me hard.

I shoved her back, down onto the soft forest floor.

Her hair had grown longer. That color of acorn, spilling past her shoulders and fanning out behind her like it belonged there, perfectly blended with the world around us.

We lay there, still. Eyes locked.

That electric bolt behind her gaze. The one that had stunned me the very first time we met.

Our breathing synced. Chest to chest, rising and falling in rhythm. Time froze.

“Thea?”

“Mm?”

“I love you.”

“Yeah?” she asked, soft but playful.

I nodded, leaning closer. “Yes.”

I could feel her breath on mine.

And then, no games. No teasing. Just sincerity, her voice as serious as mine. “I love you, Peter.”

We closed the distance.