Ringo was shining, literally, like a new and powerful light bulb, he could illuminate thousands of meters on a dark night.
Looking directly at it was like looking at a small sun.
Ringo didn't move, he just sat there in that sealed training chamber, sighing slightly, dissatisfied with the current results.
He managed to generate light, lots of light, but the energy cost was still high, so he didn't consider it a victory. Instead, his evolutionary energy continued to work on improving this "useless" ability.
With a sigh, the light slowly died, the room becoming completely dark, with the lights off, no light entering.
Ringo didn't stop, but raised a hand and let his Chi accumulate on it. Slowly, in his palm, a small orb of bright energy was formed. This was a great breakthrough in terms of energy emission, he was using this to practice not only emission but also strengthening the luminous property.
However, while the light emitted through the Chi circulating in his body was acceptable, emitting energy and maintaining it while strengthening the luminous aspect was even more costly.
He could feel his cells struggling to produce more energy, tiring him quickly, so the light didn't last long before it went out.
He remained in that dark room while the radiation in his heart continued to slowly nourish his cells, restoring his energy, only for him to repeat the process time and time again.
It was tedious, but at the same time incredibly interesting.
The Super system for Ringo was incredibly simple to progress through, he just needed to keep getting hurt to advance. Even Super Esper knowledge was like a facet of the evolutionary aspect, simple to learn, after all, it was a knowledge tree based on DNA enhancement, which is basically controlled evolution.
Chi is different, it involves precise control of an energy that his cells have learned to emit. His evolution helped a lot, but compared to simple enhancement through passive damage and the application of genetic serums, it was much more complicated.
Sure, if he had a role model, like a Chi master far ahead of him, constantly battling him, he would probably have an easier life, but he didn't, he could only rely on himself.
This led to a situation where Ringo had to fight for every advance and... he loved it.
Because the ship couldn't withstand Ames' power, his practice with her was limited to continuously squeezing him with her force field, like crushing an insect between her fingers. This was incredibly painful, and he couldn't even say how many bones he broke and how many organs were crushed to the point of becoming pulp. Even his brain, if it weren't for the passive aspect of his energy, he probably would have already died.
In the Floating Dragon, training at least involved combat, although each advance ended with him being thrown away with a ball, it was much more stimulating.
Therefore, when he didn't need to be squeezed by Ames, he found himself immersed in Chi.
His emission practice was still in its early stages, so he didn't see himself firing "Kamehamehas" around anytime soon, but it was a clear goal, something to look forward to.
Shaking his head, Ringo decided to add a new aspect to his emission and transmutation (light), he began to practice manipulation.
To do this, he tried to give form to the Chi he emitted, maintaining the luminous cadence while attempting to change the shape of the sphere of light, but trying 3 processes at the same time was incredibly exhausting, both physically and mentally.
Even so, he didn't stop, the animation didn't die. Perhaps learning Chi wasn't as fast as evolving and gaining racial powers through evolution, but it was a power that grew as his own body grew, it would never be useless, and it did wonders for his control.
While Ringo focused on perfecting his Chi, he paused for a moment, his eyes widening, he had grasped a new ability!
Not a Chi ability or a racial ability, but an ability he should have awakened long ago, as soon as he entered Grade A, an ability stemming from his own Super gene, just like Degeneration and Super Silence. He knew he had gained some kind of ability, but without the interface, it was very difficult to figure out what it was.
He simply never managed to figure it out, but it wasn't really him who discovered it, but the clone with the Black Spider, something completely random led to it, because he never found the trigger for that ability, but knowing it now, he understood the reason, letting out a weak sigh.
//-//
(Black Spider's POV - minutes before)
-Are you sure about this?- Vanessa asked Korak, who remained silent, but the voices in his mind never stopped.
Black Spider was sitting across from the pair, inside the Triple Six common area, only the three of them were there, because Black Spider had volunteered to help Korak with his... problem.
-Is this going to hurt him?- Vanessa turned to Black Spider's bald, sinister face with the spider tattoo on his neck, which stared at them unhurriedly, he could scare a child to tears just by smiling at them.
The plan was simple, use evolutionary energy to strengthen Korak's soul, he wanted to see if he could help the Raven-Man that way.
-It's hard to say, as I said, I can strengthen his soul, that will make it much simpler to remove the soul fragments lodged in it. It will be a long process and I've never done it before, but I know Korak will be alright.- Ringo shrugged.
Vanessa frowned, especially when Ringo said he'd never done that, but just as she was about to speak, Korak spoke up.
-Do it.- It was a simple word, but Korak's serious and assertive look made it clear that he had made a decision.
Vanessa looked at Korak with concern for a moment before sighing. She considered Korak part of the family, the last one she had left. She didn't want to see him suffer, but at the same time, she didn't want him to take any risks.
But what could she say? Should she ask Black Spider to try this on others first? Where would they find a situation as peculiar as Korak's to use as a test subject?
Black Spider simply stared at them for a moment, his face expressionless, before nodding, he too was curious about the outcome.
He stood up and went to Korak, who was still seated, placed his hand on his bird's head and closed his eyes, a whitish evolutionary energy enveloped the raven-man, and Ringo began to act, channeling his energy directly into Korak's soul.
His energy coursed through it, sensing each soul lodged there. He was ready to begin trying to strengthen Korak's soul, but he sensed something strange.
It was as if he had discovered an appendage he possessed but had never felt or used before. He recognized this sensation, it was an ability based on his evolutionary power. As soon as his evolutionary power surrounded Korak's soul, he sensed a new ability he could utilize.
[A/N: In simple terms, it's like a skill that has requirements and was grayed out until now, but the requirements have been met, making it possible to use it]
Curious, he began trying to figure out what it did, not going all in so as not to negatively affect Korak's soul, but simply letting his instincts guide him using only a little energy.
The souls residing within Korak shifted slightly as soon as he did so, causing Black Spider to halt his actions, shocked, he had understood what had transpired in that brief moment.
If before the Korak and the souls housed within him were like oil and water, together but not mixing, in that brief moment he felt as if his evolutionary energy was bringing both parts closer together at a frequency where they could merge!
Black Spider was shocked, was he about to fuse Korak's soul with the soul fragments?!