Chapter 29: Red matter

Eren’s eyes burned grievously. He winced and blinked and cried, but nothing could soothe the agony assaulting his visual cortex.

Feeling as if he’d submerged his eyes in acid, he floundered out of his bed, almost tripping–why was his room so big?!–before he finally found the faucet in the bathroom.

He flooded his eyes with cold water, instinctually trying to rinse off whatever chemical had done damage to his irises.

But in truth, the change came from inside his eyes. Ræzoň began to metamorphosize the physical aspects of his vision, evolving it, enhancing its visible spectrum to accommodate a new layer of reality.

He took a deep breath once the initial panic subsided. Pain was temporary. A pure mental aspect that he could block out.

Eventually, his training with the [Masochist’s Dream] allowed him to calm himself as the transformation continued.

An inordinate amount of time passed, until finally, the pain subsided.

He carefully opened his eyes and looked at the mirror.

Beneath the moisture, he saw his own countenance staring back at him. Slightly curly brown hair, sharp jaw, and a thin nose. His cheeks were no longer sunken in. Skin plumper than before.

And his eyes. For a brief, transient second, a deep red hue flashed across his irises. Then it was gone, returning to the cool, tamed blue that it was before.

He pulled himself closer to the mirror. And there, hidden around the ridges of his pupils, were small streaks of red that resembled that initial change in his eye color.

They were few and far in between. No one would even notice the difference.

[Rejoice, for you have gained a dream.

The universe will present beauty in every shape.

Still, foresight remains supreme.

Body, mind, and soul, beauty shall not escape.]

Athan’s words dripped in his mind like the trickling water of the faucet.

He thought back to his visualization, that image of his inner body with his meridians, his soul, and now, the connection between his eyes and his Dantian.

Red particulate matter sprang into life around his skin. Finer than sand. Moving like liquid droplets bouncing on boiling water.

Ræzoň.

Finally, he laid his eyes upon the true glory of the universe. And now, they were his to cultivate.

He constricted his Dantian. The almost-microscopical grit of red matter descended into his skin, seemingly drawn in by the organ in his navel.

As they passed through his body, he felt that prickly feeling again. But this time, he saw perfectly how Ræzoň permeated his muscles, his bones, and his organs, until it reached its eventual destination.

A new drop of liquid Ræzoň trickled into his Dantian. And then another. And another.

He continued his meditation for hours and hours until a small puddle had formed in his Dantian. A red, swirling, granular body of liquid.

His body could take no more after that. It was the current limit of his cultivation and his so-called talent.

Taking a deep breath, he let the excitement settle into his heart. Finally, he’d reached the first step to the pinnacle.

Finally, he’d achieved the Genesis Phase.

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Eren walked into the Physical Rehabilitation room. And already, he was nostalgic. Just a few days ago, he could barely even walk without crutches. Now, he came here to practice his cultivation.

Now, he needed to prepare for the License Exams.

"How’s my favorite insane patient?" Geister leaned against the door, hands crossed against his chest, and with that signature half-grin half-scowl on his face.

He wasn’t wearing green scrubs. Instead, he wore a black, tight-fitting suit with pads where his armor should be. Eren guessed that this was a staple training get-up for Awakeners.

"Better than you," he replied. "The whole hospital turns into the Arctic whenever you and Dr. Reid come anywhere close to each other. Love troubles?"

"Brat," Geister snarled, smiling. "Come on. Take your stance. Let me see if you’ve really practiced the Primal Strike—"

Eren snapped his right fist at Geister’s palm just as he raised it.

"Motherf—," Geister looked at his hand as he waved off the stinging pain. The annoyance in the burly man quickly made way for excitement. "You’ve really reached the Lower Proficiency rank! That’s fucking awesome!

Oh, let me explain. Martial Manuals like the Foundational Movesets have different levels of Mastery. The first rank is the Lower Proficiency, after that is the Middle Proficiency, and then the Higher Proficiency. But you don’t have to worry about the latter two for now."

Mastery levels here didn’t differ to that of cultivators back home.

There were higher levels of mastery after the Proficient rank, but that wouldn’t apply to the Genesis Phase.

Eren just nodded along, feigning an avidness as if he’d learned something new.

"Most Awakeners take months to even reach your level of mastery with the Primal Strike. Maybe you’ll have a chance at getting a License, after all hahahaha!

Not to sound pessimistic, but the odds are stacked against you, kiddo.

You’ll be competing against those scions from the Prominent Families who treat the License Exam as just a formality. And even people without connections get to train in those fancy-schmancy Martial schools for years.

Everyone has been preparing to be an Awakener from the start of the Cataclysm itself. So, you don’t have to rush this. You can still enroll in those Martial Schools."

Eren tried not to scoff. I’ve been preparing for millenia.

"Someone once told me: experience is the wisest teacher of all," he replied.

Smiling, Geister took him by the shoulders. "Hahaha! Whoever told you that was smart. Alright, straight to the License Exams it is! Just do me a favor and tell Elena that I was a lot more convincing, okay? Maybe tell her you hesitated for at least a minute."

Eren laughed.

"You’ve absorbed your Ascension Art as I’ve instructed?"

"Yes," he replied. "The [Art of the Volcanic Mantra]." The beginning parts of most Ascension Arts were virtually the same, so Geister wouldn’t be able to tell the difference.

"Good! One of the requirements for passing the License Exam will be achieving the Genesis Phase. So that leaves you... Monday, Tuesday... six days to meditate and practice. It’ll take a miracle, but I love an impossible challenge."

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Eren wasn’t talented. But it felt damn well good being perceived as one.

Geister’s face was priceless once he saw Eren cultivate those red, particulate matter ever present in the new world. A significant evidence of the fact that the ’coma boy’ had indeed reached the very first stage of Awakening.

Blabbering, Geister gave him all sorts of reasons and logic and excuses as to why this was considered an anomaly. Achieving that in only a single day? Monstrous talent, he was called.

Geister almost busted down Dr. Reid’s door to complain about the inaccuracies of the Psion Talent Assessor. No way he’s just a 5-star, he said.

Eren stayed silent. He listened as his physical therapist explained the steps normal Awakeners took to reach the Genesis Phase. A week for visualization, a month for cultivation. That’s what’s normal.

And as the days passed, and as he continued to learn what’s ’normal’ in preparation for the License Exam, Eren came to an eye-opening discovery.

Ten thousand years. That’s how behind this world was in terms of cultivation.