Chapter 137: Sapling
Emile grit his teeth. He bit down so severely that his teeth almost cracked and his jaw came close to tearing.
Collapsing onto the floor, Emile sprawled his fingers across the ground, running them over the coarse and dilapidated stone platform.
He dug his fingers in the cracks and squeezed, anything to get his attention off the pain. The pain, which started in his chest, quickly spread to the rest of his body.
His muscles all simultaneously tightened and his form contorted. As the pain escalated, Emile lost the ability to move his limbs.
Instead, the pain locked all of his muscles. With everything contracting at once, his biceps were pulling his arm up while his triceps were pulling his arm down.
All over his body, his muscles fought themselves like this. Muscles pulled against one another, joints were spread apart, and his tendons were stretched like rubber bands.
However, amidst all the pain and agony, his consciousness remained.
With bloodshot eyes and drool seeping down his neck, Emile cursed bloody murder:
'Why the hell does it hurt so bad?!'
'Aren't I supposed to pass out?!'
'F****** knock me out!'
But for some reason, Emile remained awake. Not only did he remain awake during the physical evolution, but his soul core was just about to undergo a change itself.
Suddenly, all of the physical torture Emile was enduring vanished, or rather, a more devastating pain took its place.
His ears bled, his nose bled, a banshee screamed in his ears and his eyes shriveled from the dryness. Unable to move, Emile lay on the floor.
Staring at nothing, a tear shed from his eye and evaporated the moment it hit the stone. He wanted to scream, to beg for his life, to make it stop, but he couldn't.
And then his heart stopped. The muscle spasms stopped and his ringing ears returned to normal.
But Emile still couldn't move, he still couldn't speak. He tried to inhale, but his diaphragm refused to budge.
Emile was dying.
The world around him began to swirl and distort. What was once clear grew blurry and what was once bright grew dark.
[Soul Core Evolution Complete]
Before the light faded completely, oxygen flooded Emile's lungs. His vision cleared and he immediately pushed himself up.
Crazily inhaling air, sticky and wet, sweat dripped from Emile's brow. He pushed himself up too soon and his head began to spin.
Dizziness assaulted his brain and Emile rolled over again. Closing his eyes, Emile lay on his side and pulled his knees into his chest.
For as long as it took, Emile did nothing more than focus on his breathing.
'Eight seconds in…'
'Hold'
'Eight seconds out…'
'Hold'
Finally, after an unknown period of time, Emile caught his breath and opened his eyes. He slowly stood up, afraid of feeling dizzy again.
Around him nothing changed, he was still in the labyrinth, still on the center platform surrounded by lava. Looking down, Emile inspected his body.
He felt… bigger, somehow. His hands looked firmer, his fingers longer and wider. His wrists looked meatier, his forearms veinier.
Touching his chest, his abs were more defined and more of them protruded out. Also, looking past his torso, Emile could see his ankles.
Perhaps that might not resonate as a big deal, but Emile doesn't roll up his pants. In fact, up until now his pants have always run a little long and have constantly dragged against the floor.
But now his pants weren't long enough.
'I grew?'
Emile started stretching, adjusting to his newly sized body.
'I thought the second stage was a transition stage…'
'Why did my body change?'
Emile started punching the air. The force he exerted was astronomical. As he watched his arm cut through the air, he heard the sound of the air tearing from his strikes.
Something was definitely different, Emile could feel it, something more than just the size of his body.
He calmed his heart and summoned his soul core.
[Soul Rank: Enlightened]
[Soul Saturation: 0/5000]
[Soul Essence: 1000/1000
[Gift: Breath of Essence]
[Description: Accelerate cell growth and division and increase soul essence production]
[Enhancement: Breath of Essence is applied to self]
[Ability: Hundred Saplings]
[Description: Sacrifice one sapling for many]
[Relics: Enlightened Nimbus Charm, Enlightened Royal Scimitar]
Emile's focus attentively scanned the entirety of his soul core. At first, pure glee rushed his brain. Serotonin was pumped into his body and, for just a moment, Emile felt like all the pain was worth it.
'One thousand essence!'
But then he continued and his attention shifted to his new ability, the highlight of the evolution, the thing everyone was after.
'… sapling?'
'As in a tree's sapling?'
'So a seed…'
'A seed that's… alive?'
Emile's mouth hung open, agape. The excited tension in his body ceased and his expression twisted.
'But there are no trees…'
Emile's smile flipped upside down:
'I'm a glorified f****** gardener!'
"Pyra—" Emile shouted, "send me back!"
Before he knew it the light was gone and he stood behind the labyrinth's gates once more. Emile placed his hands around the handles and pulled.
The massive doors screeched open, ripping across the stone beneath them. With the doors opening, the rest of Emile's cohort looked over.
Willow got up first and walked towards the gate, ready to pull any arrows that were still trapped in Emile's body.
But when a crack appeared between the gates and she looked through, instead of the lean boy she expected to find on the ground, her eyes perfectly met a pair of vibrant green irises.
The doors opened and Emile stepped out. Bare chested and wide shouldered, Emile stood toe to toe with Willow who had always been much taller than him.
Willow's mind went blank. She emptylessly stared at Emile, but the boy walked past her shaking his head.
"Holy s***!" Blood exclaimed.
He jumped up and ran towards Emile.
"What the hell happened?!"
Scratching his cheek, Emile awkwardly smiled:
"I'm not too sure myself."
"You're huge!" Blood commented.
Next to Blood, Emile's transformation looked even more surreal. Emile used to be a head above Blood, now Blood barely reached the bottom of Emile's chest.
Snapping out of her daze, Willow spun around:
"You ascended?!" She almost shouted, "But why did you grow so much?!"
Willow ran behind Emile and began squeezing his body. She lifted his arms and inspected his wingspan, she ran her hands down Emile's back and traced the distinct muscles plastering Emile.
"Are you a King?!" Willow spit out.
Meanwhile, Blood and Emile mutually looked at one another. Blood rolled his eyes and Emile shrugged.
He had a lot of explaining to do.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone