Chapter 206: Tricking The Collar

I sat cross-legged in the center of the quiet hall, my eyes closed, breathing slow and steady. My thoughts were sharp, focused only on the collar around my neck.

I called forth my skill.

“Absolute,” I whispered.

Essence shifted. A strange calm spread through my mind as the skill activated. The world around me felt clearer, sharper. But I didn’t use Absolute on the world. I turned it inward.

“Enhance: Focus.”

A wave passed through my brain, as if a heavy fog had lifted. My thoughts became faster. Cleaner. More precise.

Immediately, I followed it up with [Psynapse Overdrive].

The effect was near-instant. My perception spiked. I could feel the vibrations in the walls, the gentle thrum of Essence in the floor, even the subtle resistance of the collar around my neck. My body sat still, but my mind moved at a speed I had never felt before.

I directed my focus to the collar.

It was wrapped tight around my neck. Cold, black metal with thin lines of etched runes along its inner rim. I sent a slow pulse of violet Essence toward it, wrapping the energy around the collar like a fog. As expected, the Essence couldn’t sink in.

But now, with my boosted focus and perception, I didn’t just feel the rejection—I saw it.

Not all runes were reacting the same way.

I studied the runes one by one. I ran small, precise streams of Essence across them, like brushing fingers over keyboard keys. I kept going over the runes and one… one rune flared.

It pulsed. A tiny shimmer appeared above it—barely visible, even with [Psynapse Overdrive] and boosted focus. A translucent shield pushed my Essence away like it was oil meeting water.

“Found it.”

The repelling rune.

If I could remove it, the rest of the collar would become vulnerable.

But Essence alone wouldn’t touch it. So I had to trick it.

I created a small drop of water in the air. It floated in front of me, clear and innocent. Then I gently guided it to land on the repelling rune.

The rune didn’t react. No field. No shimmer. Just a calm ripple of contact. To the rune, it wasn’t Essence. Just water.

Perfect.

Now came the second step.

“Revert,” I whispered, calling the second of my unique skills.

The droplet shimmered. Then, in an instant, it changed—not in appearance, but in nature. The moment it reverted to raw Essence, the rune beneath it shuddered.

A faint crack formed.

I grinned.

I repeated the process. Create a drop. Let it fall. Revert. Again. Again.

Ten more times.

Each droplet reverted at the exact moment of contact. The field weakened more and more. On the eleventh hit, the rune flashed red—then dimmed completely.

The repelling rune was erased.

I didn’t waste a second. I sent Essence flowing over the remaining runes. Without the field blocking me, the violet energy ate away at them easily. The etchings sizzled, burned out one by one. Within seconds, the collar had no runes left.

Then something changed.

The color of the collar shifted. From its usual black, it changed to red. That was it. The runes were truly gone. Now, it was just metal.

I reached up with both hands. Fingers curled around the collar. I pulled.

It didn’t stand a chance.

The metal bent with a sharp screech, cracked at the edges, and broke in half. I tossed it aside.

It clattered across the marble floor.

I stood up slowly and stretched my body, rolling my shoulders and neck. The collar… it had been a constant, cold reminder. Even if it wasn’t draining me anymore, no one liked having a slave collar wrapped around their neck.

I didn’t waste time. I stepped out of the house and walked straight toward the temple where Steve was still speaking with Ana. The sun overhead felt brighter than usual.

As I approached, Steve noticed me first. His eyes went wide when he saw no collar in my neck.

“You did it?” he asked.

I nodded.

“We’re not done yet. Your turn.”

We went to the same house. I had him sit in the same position, and I guided him through the steps. He didn’t have [Absolute] or [Revert], so I had to do everything for him.

I activated [Absolute] again, this time boosting my Perception instead of Focus to help coordinate the process better while working on another person.

With [Psynapse Overdrive] active again, my mind worked like a machine.

I searched for the repelling rune on his collar. It took less time now, since I already knew what to look for. Once I found it, I repeated the same method—droplet after droplet, each reverted at the point of contact.

After the eleventh hit, the field broke.

I flooded the collar with Essence and erased the remaining runes.

The collar flashed red—just like mine—and I crushed it with both hands. The metal snapped clean.

Steve rubbed his neck and took a deep breath. Then he looked at me, smiling cheekily.

“You really pulled it off.”

I smiled. “Told you.”

We stood in silence for a while. It had taken nearly four hours to deal with both our collars.

I broke the silence.

“So, what did you talk about with Ana?”

Steve slid his hands into his pockets and replied,

“Mostly about her family. She’s the only child. Strength-wise, she’s a bit above average in her clan. But here’s the interesting part—turns out, they don’t think much of humans. We’re not a big deal in the Blue Spiral Galaxy.”

I raised an eyebrow.

“Is that so?”

He chuckled.

“Yeah. When I told her we plan to head to the Prime Galaxy someday, she said it’s incredibly dangerous over there. Basically warned me we’re walking into hell.”

I shrugged.

“We’ll see what happens when we get there.”

Steve nodded.

“She did say there are exceptions. A few humans have made a name for themselves out there—but most of them never return.”

I walked over to the doorway, looking out at the quiet sky above the pocket realm.

“Then we’ll be the exception. We’re not going out there to just survive—we’re going to carve our names into it.”

Steve grinned.

“You sound confident.”

I chuckled.

“And you know the reason already.”

Steve gave me a sideways glance, a faint smile on his face.

“So what’s the next move?”

I crossed my arms and looked out the window at the soft, quiet horizon.

“I’m going to head out and create some fake trails. If the Holts start sniffing around, I don’t want them getting anywhere close to this place, even by mistake.”

Steve nodded slowly.

“Smart. Better to mislead them now than fight them here.”

I turned to him.

“You stay here with Ana. If anything strange happens, help her as much as you can.”

He gave a confident nod.

“Don’t worry. I’ll keep her safe.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at his usual antics. No matter how serious things got, Steve always found a way to sound casual. With a shake of my head, I made my way out of the hut and toward Ana.

She was still inside the main temple. When she noticed me, she paused.

I thanked her and left quickly. There was no time to waste.

Back in the hut, I stepped onto the teleportation circle. A pulse of light wrapped around me, and in a flash, I found myself back inside the old hollow tree.

I crouched down, checking the area briefly to confirm no one had wandered nearby. The forest was still, almost too quiet but I didn’t sense any threats. I rushed out, and dove into the dark pool once more.

A few moments later, I emerged on the surface, took a deep breath, and pulled myself out of the water.

Your gift is the motivation for my creation. Give me more motivation!