Only I Am A Reader-Chapter 535: Secondary Energy Storage, Hidden Potential

'It's completely silent.'

Although the illusory Dantian wasn't as active as a heart or a lung that were part of the necessities of life, it still showed signs of life comparable to other body organs.

In fact, it also followed the same pattern as the human body.

Similar to a muscle that could adapt to certain actions and movements through training, with enough time, the Dantian itself could assist with the Circulation Cycles that every Martial Artist used.

With even more specialized training, one could customize that adaptation in a way that would increase Internal Energy efficiency. However, that required extreme control and familiarity with the Dantian.

'Doing that was simple, but this is completely different.'

Now that he had taken the time to give the Secondary Energy Storage a proper check, Leo could summarize the whole difference within a single comparison.

'It's like a transplant.'

While he hadn't actually received any transplant in the lives that he lived so far, that was the only way Leo could describe the coldness that he felt.

Unlike the Dantian which bloomed within his body, absorbed, and released the same internal warmth, the Secondary Energy Storage was no different from a mechanical piece planted to make up for the lack of a certain function.

Faced with these conclusions, Leo felt even more alienated by the reward that had suddenly become part of him. However, before he started dealing with it like a malignant tumor that needed to be removed, he decided to test everything he could.

'Then would you like some?'

This transplanted Dantian might have been unable to react or absorb energy on its own, but what if it was force-fed to it?

After all, the idea of it being a transplant still presented the fact that it was there to do something, no matter how strange that was.

There was no better way to make a transplant spring into action than finding the purpose that it was created for!

'Have at it.'

Although Leo felt like Internal Energy would be the best experimenting tool in this situation, Enigma was the only energy that he could control at the moment.

Since light testing wasn't going to cut it, he was just going to push his Enigma into the Secondary Energy Storage!

Just as one would expect from an illusory object, the Enigma went through. Once it finally entered, the frozen storage finally made its move.

'...There we go.'

It was as if the Secondary Energy Storage had its own gravity source, plucking the Enigma from the rope-like stream that Leo dangled inside. Before he knew it, the Enigma blob was now stuck at the center.

'This… It's spinning around itself?'

With acute observation, Leo was able to realize that the sudden attraction force didn't stop at collecting energy, its further application was the reason why his Enigma was imitating Earth's movement.

'But it's still mine.'

Regardless of the storage's actions, Leo still felt his connection with the Enigma inside of it. Rather than being stolen, it was basically taken from one hand and put on the other… If the other hand somehow turned out to be the dominant one.

'Is it just me or…'

Taking the test one step further, Leo manifested a small Shadow Nightmare on the ground. That was practically the biggest size he could make with the stored Enigma, but…

'Did its quality go up by another notch?'

Although the changes were barely visible, Leo noticed that the Nightmare's outline was more solidified than usual.

It wasn't something that could make a great difference in battle. However, it confirmed Leo's doubts that the spinning Enigma didn't feel the same.

The reason he could spot the difference this quickly was simply because he felt it very recently when his Enigma experienced its first overall evolution.

'More.'

Putting more Enigma into the storage, as he let it spin for a few minutes, Leo took out a physical sword before using that Enigma to coat it with Shadow Armament.

Swish.

Reusing it as a test subject one more time, Leo slashed the Shadow Nightmare, dispersing it into nothingness.

'It's sharper.'

Shadow Nightmare might have been a subjective ability that kept changing just as his mastery became better, making it untrustworthy as a measurement tool, but Shadow Armament was the perfect answer.

Although its many applications made it worth exploring, its basic manifestations were very straightforward. A sharper sword coating directly meant that better Enigma had been used.

'After all, the Ability itself hasn't advanced.'

Of course, the difference in sharpness wasn't as astonishing as the recent advancement, but just that much meant that the so-called Secondary Energy Storage wasn't just a 'storage'.

In addition, while the spinning seemed to be the reason behind the Enigma's change, both the Enigma charges that he used didn't get to spin for that long!

'Does this also count as refinement?'

Before he went any deeper in thought, Leo fed the storage more Enigma. The energy started gathering at the center, but as more and more entered, the central blob kept expanding until it filled it whole.

While he was familiar with the concept of refining natural or medicinal energy into Internal Energy, Leo wasn't sure about refining an already usable form of energy like Enigma.

Without proper refinement, both natural and medicinal energy would disperse from the body in due time, on the other hand, Enigma was there to stay. However…

'Is it even meant to be refined?'

Although Leo and other Special Ability Users possessed Enigma Stone, it was merely a connection that allowed them to manifest Enigma rather than a storage.

Just by possessing that Enigma, everyone could do various things depending on their abilities at no additional cost. Nonetheless, the Secondary Energy Storage suggested that such use didn't realize the true potential of Enigma.

'What if…'

What if the manifested Enigma was actually more of a raw energy form like natural energy, but instead of being readily available in the air, it chained itself to the user's body, waiting for them to harness that hidden potential?

'Isn't that too far of a reach out?'

Even as the person who was putting out that theory, Leo had many doubts. How were Ability Users supposed to concoct their own Dantians out of nowhere? Or…

'Unless…'

Was the power system that was handed down to humanity innately flawed?