I just wanted to watch TV! But now, I'm in a Fantasy World!-Chapter 72: Second-Fold Breath of the Spirit

The core glowed with a strange, prismatic light, colors folding into one another like oil on water. It was no longer merely beautiful in the way polished gemstones were beautiful. This glow carried depth, weight, and intention. Compared to when it had been lodged within the Blast Serpent’s body, this radiance was calmer yet far more profound, as if the violence of battle had burned away impurities and left behind something closer to its true essence.

Thane held the core carefully with both hands, his fingers trembling despite himself. The surface was warm, not with heat but with life. Each pulse beat like a slow heart, and with every rhythm, Thane felt something echo within his own chest. It was as though the serpent had not truly died, but had instead curled inward, its vast presence compressed into something small enough to cradle.

For a fleeting moment, he could almost see it, not with his eyes but with something deeper. A colossal spectral serpent coiled lazily around his forearms, its azure scales flickering with contained flame, its ancient eyes half-lidded yet watchful. The image vanished as quickly as it had appeared, but the impression lingered.

"Divine Grade?!" Thane cried out, his voice cracking as the notification hovered in his vision.

Libra hovered nearby, his skull flickering faintly as the ambient light from the core reflected off his shock, even with hollow eye sockets.

"How intriguing. A Core that contains the soul. And I thought beasts would not have this... This is something that has surpassed Aetherion’s teachings and theories and has surpassed the abilities of the known powers the peak of Cores could make!"

Thane swallowed.

"To think I made a Core that even the legendary scholar whose lectures I had binged through the Celestial TV! The man who had spent his lifetime categorizing, theorizing, and systematizing the madness of magic and power that ruled this world!"

"And Cancer was the strongest in Soul Binding. But we cannot do this very thing that you have. And yet, here it is, crafted by your very hands!"

Aetherion had theorized how cores could provide powers based on their extraction methods during his lifetime. The more perfectly a core was preserved, the more intact those aspects remained. The core was both source and trigger. It was the key that allowed the monsters to use their abilities. Preserving not only the structure of the core but also the flow of life energy within it allowed the activation of Power or Magic, enabling those who absorbed it to retain and wield abilities that are caused by magic. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

"Flawless Grade Cores of Power and Magic could have up to three spells or abilities, but you managed to acquire two skills, two magical abilities, and, from the looks of it, two soul abilities! And that ability to store fire magic is quite interesting. It’s very rare to gain a power that can regenerate mana! The stronger you grow, and the stronger this core becomes, you could gain."

Without another word, Thane quickly sat down in a cross-legged position, settling himself on the cavern floor. Dust stirred around him, but he ignored it. His eyes glowed faintly with anticipation, excitement, and a very real fear that if he delayed any longer, this opportunity might slip away.

"If it’s this high," Thane muttered, more to himself than to Libra, "then that suggested episode would work."

He remembered it clearly. A recommended show that had appeared earlier, flagged by the Celestial TV with a warning-like emphasis. In one of the episodes, Libra had explicitly told him not to touch, yet not until his foundations were solid, not until his Spirit was more developed.

But foundations were meant to be built upon. And Thane was holding something that defied foundations entirely.

The Celestial TV’s screen shimmered into existence once more, hovering in front of him with its familiar soft hum. Libra noticed the sharp focus in Thane’s eyes, the same look he had worn during his most dangerous binges, the kind that ended with him emerging hours later fundamentally changed.

The search function bloomed across the screen. Thane’s fingers hovered for a brief moment before moving. He had already noticed the suggested channel before, the one he had deliberately ignored until now. But circumstances had shifted. The equation had changed.

Within the Mastery Magic Channel, an episode was highlighted.

Pneumamaegis.

The selected episode read: "High Grade Direct Core Absorption."

Thane inhaled slowly, then selected it.

The screen burst into motion.

"Hello Magetubers!" a loud, energetic voice boomed from the screen. "It’s everyone’s favorite Stud, Stud Myers!"

A short, strangely muscular man appeared, standing in what could only be described as an absurdly oversized magical laboratory. Glowing runes crawled along the walls, massive containment arrays pulsed behind him, and arcane devices hummed in every corner. He flexed casually as if unaware of how unnatural his proportions were.

"Today," Stud Myers continued, grinning broadly, "I’m gonna teach you how to directly absorb a Core into your body!"

Thane blinked.

Stud Myers wagged a finger at the camera. "Now, if you just went straight to this episode without watching my other shows, then I’m disappointed. Go back and watch them, please, to show your love and support to me!"

Thane coughed awkwardly.

"In any case," Stud Myers went on, tone shifting slightly, "High Grade Core absorption can only happen if you meet the following criteria. First, you have a powerful High Grade Flawless Core with three skills. This is because the life energy of the core has been retained so thoroughly that a portion of the creature’s soul is still present."

Thane glanced down at the core in his hands.

"The second requirement is that you can wield Spirit. And not just the first level, but the second one! The Second Fold Spirit! The Breath of Wisdom!"

"Wisdom?" Thane frowned, his brows knitting together.

"Spirit? Is it that strange ability that you take your powers from the Soul to make your attacks stronger?" Libra asked, floating slightly to his side.

"Yes. But I can only do the First Fold. The Breath of Power! But I don’t have the time to binge the Get Fit Channel again!"

Merodoth’s teaching echoed in his mind. The Sevenfold Breath of the Spirit. Each Breath represented a different alignment, a different function of Spirit. Thane had only ever managed to activate the first.

"The Spirit Circulation of Wisdom allows those who master it to move and let the Spirit control intangible objects. This includes Power and Mana. In some of the Middling Kingdoms, they use a method known as Magic Drain to devour a Mana Core. Yet, it’s imperfect. Even in my Home kingdom, Magic Drain is considered a weak ability as it only has a staggering 40% chance to absorb Mana Core abilities! That’s why we use Core Pill Crafting to convert the Core into an ingestible object, as it has a higher chance of 67%. But these methods are insufficient! I learned that in High Kingdoms, like the one that my dear friend, Garron Duskbane, his kingdom uses direct absorption! We were just ignorant of the ways of magic!"

"Garron Duskbane again? This guy is everywhere!" Thane was amazed.

Stud Myers leaned closer to the camera, his expression turning serious.

"The method I am about to show you is direct. I heard of this from Garron Duskbane, and I studied it. I managed to stumble across a powerful master, limited by this world. Merodoth the Tower Breaker! He taught me a rather unique form of Spirit, which I believe even surpasses that of Garrron’s home kingdom! And with that Breath! You draw and take in the Core yourself!"

On screen, Stud Myers raised a glowing core of his own, placing it between his palms. He closed his eyes, and the air around him shifted. His breathing slowed, deepened, and then something invisible began to move.

Threads of luminous energy peeled away from the surface of the core, like silk being drawn from a cocoon. These threads drifted into Stud Myers’ body, slipping into his skin as though it were water. His muscles tensed, veins glowing faintly as the power circulated through him.

"Master, you should be able to clearly see it with your Supreme Perception."

"Yes. But... Seeing and being able to draw magic are two different concepts. I can move my own mana, because It’s my own and I can activate magic cores and draw rocks, but to use Spirit and move it like that... That’s a different thing! It’s like I’m commanding my thoughts to cover my blood or something!" Thane frowned.

The core shrank slowly and steadily. Its once brilliant glow dimmed as its essence was siphoned away, not forcibly, but willingly, as though answering a call it had been waiting for.

"This is Full Magic Drain. The one that our kingdom uses. But it is just in fact, a very incomplete method of Spirit Breathing! If I apply spirit..."

Suddenly, the power changed. It took more than just magic. It was as if it was calling out the life!

Libra watched intently, then clicked his spectral tongue.

"Hmp. So humans copied even our abilities to draw magic like that! Now I understand!"

"It’s your ability?" Thane asked, eyes still glued to the screen.

Libra’s voice turned contemplative.

"I noticed you were using Spirit, and I could not help but sense familiarity. I thought it was just some power that helps the physical. But I understand now. Apart from Aetherion, one who could harness Spirit as us arose among the humans. He probably studied how we use our Spirits, and he divided what we see as one into seven. You are wielding a very diminished version of our power. But this makes it all clearer. What he is using is a binding ability that calls souls into beings. Monsters don’t have Spirits, unlike Humans. But this ability uses the Spirit to draw out the soul!"

"So you know how, right?" Thane asked quickly, hope flaring.

"Of course," Libra replied.

"I am of the Spirit. And we wield this power to a supreme level. But right now, in my current state, I can do very little. That Temple diminished me by over ninety-nine percent of my true power."

"Well," Thane said after a beat, "I don’t have the time to learn the breathing. I don’t think I’m close to getting it either. Could you... possess me and help me do that?"

Libra froze.

"...Possess you?" Libra repeated flatly. "I can’t do that. You are a Son of God after all."

"Well, not possess me," Thane corrected quickly.

"But move within my body. While you couldn’t possess me, you did do that when we met. I could feel your spirit close to mine. I just need you to harness and try to move and draw the magic from the Core with your spirit. At the very least, that will show me how it works. If your spirit and my spirit somehow interact, I might be able to learn how to do it."

Libra was silent for a long moment.

"...Well," he finally said,

"... you did manage to learn Spirit so fast. I suppose it could work."

His skull flickered, then drifted forward. The air grew heavy as Libra’s form pressed closer to Thane’s chest.

But just as before, Libra was able to ’enter’ Thane’s physical body.

Thane could feel the strange presence once more.

Libra circulated his Spirit.

And Thane felt it move!

"I can let my Spirit flow through your body. I can’t control it, but I can use it as a bridge. But in my current state, I can’t draw the Power in the Core, but only the Mana. I’ll start drawing the mana now."

A strange flow of power began to seep into Thane’s arms.

But Thane only frowned. He could not understand the sensation.