As my gaze remains fixed on the silver contraption at the back of the room, where Ember is contained, I feel the mind inside the pod shift. In response, the link within my rising Emperor's Domain activates, bypassing the need for direct contact through my aura to enable telepathic messages. "You've been quite busy since the B-Class exams. Our power has grown a substantial amount... While our stats and mana control are linked through our system pact, divine energy cannot be created nor destroyed. I must awaken my True Core alone, using an old technique I created." There's a brief pause—less than half a second—before a pulse of weak divine energy ripples through the room. Ember's voice then vibrates through my mind at a rapid pace. "You found yourself an amplifier too... how interesting." I raise an eyebrow, replying through the link while my peripheral vision tracks the black cube slowly rotating around me. "What is an amplifier?" There's a much longer pause before Ember replies again. "It is difficult to explain in these circumstances. I must keep my mind and body focused on compressing my core without harming your teammates or crippling my own core with too many movements before it's complete..." Another pause, even longer than the first, follows before Ember continues. "An amplifier is the result of an originator's failed ascension. This was before the era of demons and the system, and the ascension process was different. It is the echo of a dead soul that holds onto the mortal realm with a desire too strong to be broken by death alone. They cannot think, lie, act, or grow more than they already know, but often share incredible powers with those who share a common desire." Ember's cryptic description doesn't tell me much more than I could have guessed, but the fact that he says they cannot lie makes me less hesitant to leave the cube floating around me. The mention of a different process of ascension raises an eyebrow. I remember, in the statue's memories, beams of light all over the world, and its description of those beings ascending, though it didn't know how it died or have any memories before its death. I reply quickly, "How do I use it? Or activate its powers?" After no reply for a few more seconds, I assume Ember has fallen into his final state of concentration. I leave him with a final message. "Well... the faster you awaken your core the better. The throne is opening its doors in four days." As I turn around and pull out a teleport crystal, a final reply echoes through our link, slower this time. "One day for us to train together will be more than enough. Focus on what you can do in the present. All amplifiers are unique. It will most likely take an absurd amount of divine energy to activate; it was a True Core holder in its past life, after all. I must focus now. See you soon." Our link goes quiet, and I look around the room at my teammates, still cycling the divine energy in the air around them. They, too, are in total concentration. I peer into their cores to see how far along they've come and notice that Maria has the most saturated core of all. At this rate, she'll complete her breakthrough even before Ember wakes up. Abby appears to be in a similar state, lagging by about 30%, but she maintains a constant ring of restoration below everyone in the bunker. Fisher and Lydia are absorbing far fewer yellow threads than I expected. At this rate, they won't awaken their yellow cores within four days. The natural talent barrier shows itself again. At this thought, my perception expands through the city, across the dark continent, and further to Raven's nation and the eight great regions. They are the most powerful beings in all these lands, aside from a few exceptional order members who have been training since before we were even born. The only reason they seem lacking is that they're in a room full of true monsters. I smirk, whispering to myself while crushing my teleport crystal, "Good work, you four. Stay at it. I'll return soon." Disappearing in a flash of light, I think about how, once they awaken, I'll appoint them as my generals within my rising Emperor's Domain. The purple name tag of Arie floats in the back of my mind, as he is still deep within the abyss. I'd like to appoint him too. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. However, these thoughts soon fade as more important work comes to mind. I materialize in the lobby of the Apex Region's Association headquarters and sift through my memories of my doubles, I realize Bri and Rodrigo have already begun mapping out the best locations to start my tour to strengthen the numbers within my rising Emperor's Domain. I smile, connecting with them and my nearby double, and get to work. Over the next two days, everything goes exactly as planned. Still, it is a massive amount. My total stats that I can pull from has grown by over 40x since I began this venture on Palmyra, and this isn't even the final stage of my plan. Today, I'm going mainstream with my goals. The entirety of the Dark Continent and 8 Great Regions will soon hear my name. As I close my status, preparing to check on Ember and my teammates' progress before I set off on my biggest tour yet, I feel a familiar sixteen wells of gravity hit my senses. The scouts from Central have returned, and from what I gathered while eavesdropping, they won't leave until they accurately assess Ember's core and return the data to the big three.