With my new form, pathways were no longer a dream. However, I did not try to impart pathways from other human forms onto the Chimera right away. Not knowing how dangerous creating pathways where there had been none could be, I studied them first.
That, followed by many other experiments regarding partial shifts, learning the differences of every Accessible Shift's pathways as well as how they affected the pathways themselves, I spent the next month doing little more than experimenting. Sure, I trained occasionally with Clove and Fern to test the Chimera form's limits, and I made it a priority to never neglect Fern, but the experiments used up most of my waking hours.
My Core's saturation improved over that month. Essence surged into the Core with every breakthrough, which was weird in its own right. After all, it was almost like the Chimera form's growth determined how much Essence I could gain outside of combat.
