Utopian System

After three hours of waiting, Elio approached the portal, Ember firmly settled on his shoulder. His heart raced, fear and determination coursing through his veins.

"Listen, Ember," he said, his voice grave. "What's coming probably won't be easy. It's probably the most dangerous thing we've ever done. But I want you to know that... well, I'm grateful to have you with me."

Ember rubbed her head against Elio's cheek in a gesture of affection. The warmth of her scales against his skin provided a small comfort in the face of the impending danger.

"Yeah, yeah, don't get sentimental now, well, guess I started it," Elio smiled, but his voice betrayed his emotion. He swallowed hard, trying to push down the lump in his throat. "I need you ready to set fire to everything that moves, understood?"

The salamander nodded. Elio could feel her tiny body tensing, ready for action.

"Good," Elio took a deep breath, his chest expanding with the weight of their situation. "The plan is simple: we'll use helium control to propel ourselves upward. I hope the book isn't too far down into the pile of Locus… Anyway, the Locus will be our stepping stones. We can't afford even a single mistake or they'll bite my head off."

He positioned himself, ready to shoot out as soon as the transfer finished. His muscles coiled like springs, every fiber of his being prepared for the sprint of his life.

"It'll be fast, it'll be dangerous, and it'll definitely be the stupidest thing I've ever done in my life. But it's our only chance."

As Elio began to be transported, a wave of emotions washed over him. Fear, excitement, and a strange sense of peace all battled for dominance in his mind.

"Ember," Elio said, his voice tense but resolute. "Whatever happens out there, I want you to know you've been the best companion I could have asked for. If we don't make it out of this... it's been an honor to fight by your side."

Ember emitted a soft chirp, as if saying "Likewise". Her tiny claws dug slightly into Elio's shoulder, a physical reminder of their bond.

"Here we go," Elio murmured, his body taut as a bowstring. "May the System protect us, because we're going to need all the help we can get."

♢♢♢♢

Darkness engulfed Elio the instant he crossed the portal. The sudden silence was disconcerting, a brutal contrast to the roars of the Locus he had expected to face. The abrupt transition left him momentarily disoriented, his senses struggling to adapt.

"Ember?" he whispered, his voice barely audible in the absolute gloom. He felt the slight weight of the salamander on his shoulder, a small comfort in the uncertainty that surrounded him. Her warmth was reassuring, a reminder that he wasn't alone in this void.

For a moment, panic threatened to overtake him. Had he fallen into the depths of the monster sea? Would he be crushed by thousands of beasts at any moment? His mind raced with terrifying possibilities, each more grim than the last.

With trembling hands, Elio opened his book, desperately seeking some light, some guidance in the darkness. But something wasn't right. He hadn't been instantly attacked as he expected. The absence of immediate danger was almost more unsettling than the threat itself.

"Ember, I need light," he ordered, his voice tense with anticipation.

The little salamander responded instantly, a fireball sprouting from her mouth. And then, Elio saw it.

Locus surrounding him on all sides, their eyes glowing with a predatory light in the gloom. The sight sent a chill down his spine, his body instinctively tensing for combat.

Elio's heart raced, his hand already moving towards the fifth level page. It was his only hope, his last resort in the face of imminent death. His fingers brushed against the page, ready to turn it and face whatever challenge awaited him there.

But then, something caught his attention. A flash, a reflection of Ember's flame on the ground. No, not on the ground. On what was beneath his feet.

Elio looked down and his breath froze in his throat. Cores. Thousands, perhaps millions of cores, reflecting Ember's light in a kaleidoscope of reddish hues. The sight was both beautiful and terrifying, a sea of power literally at his feet.

"Impossible," he murmured, his mind struggling to process what he was seeing. The sheer quantity of cores was beyond anything he had ever imagined. It was as if all the monsters that had ever died trying to breach the city walls had left their cores here, forming this massive, glittering mountain.

The Locus, drawn by the light, lunged towards him. Elio could feel the air displaced by their movements, the imminent danger closing in on him. Their gnashing teeth and grasping claws were mere inches away, promising a quick and brutal end.

But at that moment, something primal awakened in Elio. An instinct, a greed he had never felt before. When would he have an opportunity like this again? The prospect of such power, such resources, was intoxicating.

Without thinking twice, Elio opened the book to the page that allowed him to absorb the cores. The effect was instantaneous and devastating.

The cores at his feet began to disappear at a dizzying speed, absorbed by the book. Elio felt himself sinking, the cores vanishing beneath him, creating a tunnel that collapsed behind him. The sensation was surreal, as if he were falling through quicksand made of pure energy.

The Locus, bewildered by the sudden disappearance of their prey, began to dig frantically. But it was useless. Elio fell faster and faster, the cores disappearing around him in a whirlwind of energy. The monsters' claws raked at empty air, their roars of frustration fading as Elio plummeted deeper into the core mountain.

"Ember, hold on tight!" Elio shouted, his voice barely audible over the thunderous sound of cores being absorbed. The salamander dug her claws deeper into his shoulder, her tiny body trembling with the force of their descent.

In a matter of seconds, the counter reached a thousand. Elio felt a wave of power course through him. Now he could summon the frog, but the book didn't stop there. The influx of power was dizzying, each new threshold bringing with it a surge of energy that threatened to overwhelm him.

Ten thousand cores. The rabbit he had read about in the Genesis book, the one that was on Fathoran's head, was now within his reach. Elio could feel the power growing inside him, threatening to overflow. The count reset and quickly reached 10,000 again. Each new wave of power felt like a jolt of electricity through his body, exhilarating and terrifying in equal measure.

But the book kept absorbing. Twenty thousand, fifty thousand, seventy thousand... The numbers blurred together, a constant stream of increasing power that seemed to have no end.

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