Sun clutched the sphere to his chest, a sob of relief escaping him. He pressed it against his cheek, nuzzling it like a long-lost treasure. The gentle thrum of Ki resonated through him, a soothing balm to his frayed nerves and depleted spirit. This was it. Salvation. The first step back to his former glory.
"Finally," he whispered, closing his eyes, imagining the surge of power that would soon flood his meridians, the slow but steady climb back to godhood. "Finally, something goes right in this accursed world."
He held it for a long moment, just savoring the feel of it, the promise it held. Then, eager to begin, he settled himself into a cross-legged meditative posture on the dusty floor, the sphere resting in his lap. He took a deep breath, preparing to draw its concentrated Ki into his system.
He focused his will, reaching out with his senses to connect with the sphere's energy, to create a conduit. He expected a rush, a flood of potent Ki. Instead… there was a gentle resistance. A curious lack of energetic generosity. The thrum was there, yes, but it felt… self-contained.
Puzzled, Sun opened his eyes and looked down at the object. He'd been so overjoyed to find something that he hadn't examined it closely. Now, in the dim light of its own glow and the residual moss-light filtering from the main chamber, he gave it proper scrutiny.
The surface, while veined with what looked like energy, was also… oddly geological. The mottling was characteristic of certain types of common rock. The glow was consistent, yes, but it didn't have the vibrant, almost aggressive radiance of a true power artifact. It felt more like… phosphorescence. A naturally occurring, low-level energy emission.
A cold knot began to form in Sun's stomach.
He ran his thumb over a particularly bright vein. It flaked off under his nail. Not crystallized energy. Just some kind of mineral deposit.
"What is this?" he murmured, his voice suddenly flat. He tapped it. It made a dull, stony sound. He tried to channel his will into it more forcefully, attempting to draw out its power. The sphere remained stubbornly inert, its gentle thrum unchanging, offering nothing more than its faint, ambient glow.
He picked it up, turning it over and over in his hands, his initial joy rapidly souring into disbelief, then dawning horror. He scraped at it with a sharp stone. More flakes of mundane rock.
"No," he said, his voice a low growl. "No, no, no. This isn't… This can't be…"
He held it up to his face, staring at it with wild eyes. The realization crashed down on him with the force of a physical blow. This wasn't a Heartstone. This wasn't a divine relic. This wasn't a Ki-Sponge.
This was a rock. A slightly unusual, faintly glowing rock, but a rock nonetheless. A geode, perhaps, or some other geological anomaly that happened to emit a faint energy signature, just enough to fool his desperate, depleted senses.
"WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS?!" he roared, the sound echoing through the small chamber, raw and laced with utter betrayal. He sprang to his feet, the sphere still clutched in his hand. "THIS NOTHING?! THIS IS MY GRAND DISCOVERY?! A FUCKING GLOWING PEBBLE?!"
He stared at it, his face contorted in a mask of fury and despair. "WHY?!" he screamed at the unfeeling stone, at the silent ruins, at the indifferent universe. "WHY ALWAYS A FUCKING TRICK? A FUCKING LETDOWN? WHY CAN'T I CATCH A SINGLE GODSDAMNED BREAK?!"
His grand salvation, his ticket back to power, was nothing more than a geological curiosity. The hope that had soared so high moments before plummeted into an abyss of rage and bitter, soul-crushing disappointment. He was still weak, still vulnerable, and now, utterly, hopelessly alone with a useless, glowing stone in the heart of a dead god's tomb.