The alley behind Silas's shop smelled of burnt copper and old oil. Caine pulled off his academy jacket, folding it neatly on an overturned metal crate before rolling up his sleeves.
"The modern training devices at the Academy teach you to push your energy outward like a hose," Silas said, leaning against a rusted generator while holding a small, heavy steel weight. "They measure how far it sprays and call it 'CHPower.' But your body isn't a hose, Caine. It's a pressure vessel."
"So how do I stop it from exploding?" Caine asked, staring at his right forearm. The veins underneath were still faintly glowing blue.
"You don't fight the flow. You compress it," Silas replied, throwing the steel weight toward him. "Catch it."
Caine reacted on instinct, reaching out with his right hand. The moment his fingers made contact with the cold steel, the dormant CrystalHeart energy inside his nervous system violently flared.
Bzzzt!
Instead of letting the energy erupt into a full blade, Caine gritted his teeth, focused on his core, and forced the energy back into his arm, locking it deep within his muscle tissue.
CRACK.
The steel weight didn't bounce off—it crumpled in his grip like paper. No visible weapon had materialized, but the sheer density of the energy compressed inside his hand had turned his physical grip into a hydraulic press.
Silas blinked, his single eye widening as the crushed piece of metal fell to the concrete.
"You didn't materialize the blade," Silas muttered softly. "You reinforced your own flesh."
Caine looked down at his hand, uninjured and barely trembling. The deep, exhausting drain he usually felt wasn't there. By keeping the power locked inside his body instead of trying to force out an incomplete handle, he was conserving his stamina.
"Is that... normal?" Caine asked, catching his breath.
"No," Silas said, a grim smile touching his lips. "Normal users summon a weapon to fight for them. You're turning your own body into the CrystalHeart itself. If you can learn to control that density, Caine, your CHPower '10' won't matter. You won't just hunt Jahgreds—you'll shatter them."