Re:Ant Lord-Chapter 153: Essence Pool!

Descent into Silver

Miryam curled up again near Kai’s side, her tail wrapped around his wrist like a ribbon of warm light. Her breath was even. Her aura was stable.

Skyweaver remained perched above, half dozing but always scanning. Tunnel Crown and Stone Ram took first watch, alternating positions along the ridge line.

Kai set up the trip-grid, a line of stinglets hidden in rock crevices, each primed to spike with lightning if unauthorized aura crossed them. A low, invisible wall.

He glanced back at Luna, who had already nestled into the tent they shared. Her white silver hair caught the dim glow, eyes half lidded, fingers brushing Miryam’s cheek before sleep claimed her.

But Kai couldn’t sleep yet. He stared up at the storm sky, at the shifting runes etched by lightning. And felt the pull in his chest again. This time not just the desire to grow, but the responsibility to lead. To choose.

They’d reached the Vein Gate. They’d done it without losses. But tomorrow... Everything would change. Tomorrow the essence pool will form.

A few hours later....

The second surge came with a sound like stone cracking underwater. Kai felt it in his instinct long before the others heard the echo: a low, grinding moan that rolled up the spiral cliffs and rattled the mirror poles they had planted earlier.

"Time has come," he said.

He took point. Luna followed, cloak hooded, a crystal lantern in each hand. Skyweaver gilded overhead, her wings half furled to catch rising heat; the boar brothers trudged behind, dragging the empty essence casks the way miners haul treasure chests in reverse. Tunnel Crown and Heart Mason carried rune stakes and rope.

The narrow stair of rock tongues corkscrewed down the cliff face. Essence vapor brushed their ankles, swirling like low fog. Far above, their ledge grew small until it vanished behind veils of silver mist.

At the base of the spiral they found a gap in the megalith floor. It was an impact crater perhaps fifty strides wide. It wasn’t empty.

It glowed.

Inside, a shallow basin, no deeper than Kai’s body, roiled with liquid essence. It wasn’t the thin motes that drifted from the sky; this was pure lifeblood of the rift, dense as mercury, luminous as starlight. A low susurrus rose from it, as if the pool itself whispered in a thousand forgotten tongues.

Kai’s system chimed at once:

[Ding! System notifications- Detected: Essence Reservoir — approx. 1,050 L (90% purity).]

He knelt at the rim. The liquid moved with sluggish weight, but when he dipped a finger in the pool, it reached back, crawling up his skin like curious silk. Only his innate devourer aura stopped it from burrowing straight into his flesh.

"Careful," Luna breathed, eyes wide. Even at a distance she felt the tug, the promise of effortless power.

[System Warning: Direct ingestion by non Devourer entities will cause catastrophic aura overload (approx. 2–3 s before corporeal rupture).

Safe consumers detected: Host (Kai). Bonded Companion daughter (Miryam).

All others: Intake prohibited.] frёeωebɳovel.com

Kai exhaled slowly. The scent of the pool was metallic, sweet, and almost floral, like lightning trapped in syrup.

"Only Miryam and I can drink," he said.

Stone Ram grunted, disappointment plain in the flare of his nostrils. Heart Mason simply nodded; he had expected as much. They aren’t worthy enough to drink it.

"But everyone will still benefit," Kai added. "We store it. One day I’ll refine it in doses you can handle. I need some for that. Don’t be disappointed."

Miryam peeked from Luna’s sling, eyes round with longing. Kai scooped a spoonful into a palm sized cup and held it to her snout. She drank greedily; runes flared along her spine, brilliant gold.

[+1.0 aura,+1.0 aura, +1.0 aura, +1.0 aura,+1.0 aura, +1.0 aura,+1.0 aura,+1.0 aura, +1.0 aura,+1.0 aura,+1.0 aura, +1.0 aura, +1.0 aura,+1.0 aura, +1.0 aura, +1.0 aura,+1.0 aura, +1.0 aura, many more notifications comes in Kai’s mind.]

She burped a puff of hot sand and squealed with delight. Kai allowed himself a grin. "Her aura grows so much by a sip."

Another ripple passed through Kai’s mind like the whisper of shifting dunes.

[Ding! Your daughter has awakened a new skill.

Skill Unlocked: Sand-Spark Glide (Basic)

Description: It can momentarily ride currents of heated air and charged sand particles to accelerate in short bursts across ground or low air. Grants a temporary evasion boost and leaves behind a trail of fine sparks. Increases agility and mobility on desert terrain. Scales with heat intensity and elemental affinity.]

Kai blinked as the words scrolled across his vision, crisp and glowing with fresh energy.

He didn’t even have to look toward her. The soul link pulsed, curious, proud, a little wild. Miryam was sitting on Luna’s sling. Her scales faintly gleaming under a thin sheen of ambient heat. Her tiny wings fluttered once, sending up a scattering of golden dust.

"You felt that?" Kai sent through the bond, his thoughts tinged with awe.

She answers mentally, <<New power>> her emotions like warm static against his spine. Pride. Curiosity. Confidence. And underneath it all was something deeper... a hunger to grow.

He knelt down beside her, brushing a hand gently along the back of her scaled neck. "You just awakened your new skill," he whispered aloud, half to her, half to himself. "And not just any skill. Sand-Spark Glide... You’re already tapping into elemental mobility."

She tilted her head, nuzzling his palm, eyes flashing in the dim glow like polished amber.

Kai’s mind was racing. "That skill... It’s not brute force. It’s control. Precision. Adaptability. A wyrmling shouldn’t awaken skills like this so early unless..."

Unless the bloodline is stronger than her mother’s. Stronger than all. Maybe even... a mutation because of their soul link. But the system didn’t give any information about that. He knew it because of their soul link.

His gaze sharpened. "So that’s it," he murmured. "Our soul link, it’s accelerating your growth."

Her tail twitched, flinging a tiny spark off the cave wall.

He grinned. "Fine. Let’s test it. If you’re ready to glide across sand and sparks... we’ll give the world and readers something to remember."