A Wolf's Howl, A Fairy's Wing

Erik gasped. His eyes widened. Finally, the core produced something. A drop of glowing white power left his fusion core, dripping through the appropriate power channel, and dropping into his stomach like a scalding piece of molten metal.

On his shoulder, Elora began to grin widely. Until now, they couldn't have been absolutely sure that the core would work under normal circumstances. But it did!

"It's the first drop of deliberately created Elorium!" she spoke with fascination and enthusiasm. It was her named discovery, and now she was seeing it in action.

Erik, meanwhile, felt somewhat the same, but his entire focus was on the drop of lava burning a hole through his stomach. He could actually feel his body vibrating slightly as power thrummed around the Elorium.

'How did I even survive this the first time?' he gulped slightly. He could already feel his body fraying at the edges from just this one drop, and before he used dozens of these things?

Elora chuckled as she guessed his thoughts, "You have to remember I'm not in your body anymore. Now you're missing not only my physical essence to strengthen your body, but also my direct healing to repair the worst of the damage. Besides, it's not like you went unscathed."

"Right…" Erik mumbled with a hint of discontent. Being reminded of the price he was paying for this Elorium was putting a damper on his enthusiasm.

Yet, he quickly refocused on the chaotic power in his stomach. The most difficult step in using this to cultivate his body was also the first: spreading it out.

The mechanics of directly enhancing his body actually weren't that difficult. The main problem with using aetherium to enhance the body was that it would encounter too much resistance when flowing directly through the body.

Normally, aetherium travelled through specific pathways between the storage, the magic core, and the so-called focal points. Focal points were usually located in the hands, the feet, and most of the head—they functioned as starting points for Arcanist spells.

Technically, aetherium could also travel through the body, but with every inch it travelled through flesh and blood, it would lose much of its power. For that reason, it couldn't be used to enhance the body effectively.

But, Runebounds solved that problem. They could infuse their body with aetherium through the pores in their body during exercise, thus limiting the distance it had to travel through their body, allowing it to use nearly all its power on enhancement.

At the same time, this enhancement would allow the Runebound body to generate a different form of power, which had been dubbed 'runic power'. This power could flow through the body without any loss in potency, and also power the Runebound's runes, but… it couldn't permanently enhance the body like aetherium could. It could only give temporary boosts.

And that was where Elorium came in. As an energy that incorporated both properties of runic power and aetherium, it could flow freely through the body, and still provide permanent enhancement.

But, here came the difficult part. He had to take this scorching piece of molten metal in his stomach, and somehow spread it throughout his body without hurting himself. Yet, he wasn't even sure how much control he had over it.

"See if you can extract thin threads of Elorium from the drop," Elora helpfully suggested.

Erik nodded slowly, deep in concentration, and began to prod the drop of molten metal.

It immediately exploded.

"Gah!" he spat out a mouthful of blood as powerful chaotic energy rampaged wildly. Pain nearly overwhelmed his disciplined mind. Instantly, Elora worriedly started providing what little healing she could without being inside his soul.

For the next few minutes, Elora and Erik worked together to contain the rampaging energy and heal the damage.

When the worst had passed, Erik was panting with a sceptical look in his eyes, "How in the hell did I use this power back then, if I can't even divide it now?!"

Elora shrugged with a playful grin, "Instinct and desperation, my love. But aren't you glad I convinced you to wait until you fully recovered?"

Erik sighed wryly, "Yes, yes, you are the best, as always."

"Hehehe," Elora chuckled smugly. "I do love hearing that!"

"Now come on, try again!" she encouraged, while patting his shoulder enthusiastically.

Erik laughed softly at her apparent disregard for the wounds and pain he suffered. He knew she cared, it was just getting a little pushed aside by the enthusiasm over Elorium… and he didn't mind. She wouldn't be herself if she didn't go a little crazy over stuff like this.

"W— What are you laughing about?" she pouted impatiently. "A— Are you trying again, or what?!"

"Of course I am, little Ember," he smirked slightly, before doing just that.

This time, he already knew the correct amount of runic power and aetherium he needed, so he instantly had another drop. Thus began a few hours of pain and experimentation. Several more attempts failed and his body took quite a beating.

But he could handle it, and, eventually, his efforts bore fruit.

Slowly, with a focused expression, he managed to break down the single drop of Elorium into various smaller threads, and guiding those to the far reaches of his body.

Then, as soon as the Elorium was spread throughout his body, he began infusing it into his cells. This was the easy part, and it showed.

A shudder went through him as he felt his muscles expand and contract, his skin tighten, and his flesh toughen. He was rapidly growing more powerful, and a wide grin appeared on his face. With just one drop of Elorium, he'd replaced the need for several hours of exercise.

Naturally, the fairy on his shoulder was no less enthused. She clapped her hands and nearly bounced up and down. "You did it!" she giggled happily. "With Elorium on our side, you'll be unbeatable eventually! And it's my discovery, hehehe!" Your next chapter awaits on empire

"Hehe, yes it is," Erik grinned, no less enthusiastic, but mostly just enjoying Elora's reaction. To become happy from your partner's happiness was the greatest proof of love.

Next, he tried to do the same with his aetherium storage, but this proved much easier. Expanding the aetherium storage simply worked by slowly infusing it with more power when it was already filled up, forcing it to expand. This worked no different with Elorium, which simply provided more bang for its buck.

He did have to be careful, however. Elorium was more unstable than aetherium, and popping the aetherium storage like a bubble would be bad.

But he managed. After a few more close calls and internal wounds, his new future was set…