"Whoa!" Kael Voss threw his arms into the air, fists clenched tightly, as an exclamation of pure excitement burst from his lips.
In that moment, the ten-year-old's youthful exuberance shone through, unfiltered by the maturity he usually wore like a shield.
His hypothesis had proven correct: enclosed spaces with locked hatches and sealed windows blocked the vessel's ability to draw in the silver bio-energy strands. Only in open, unobstructed areas did its absorption capacity peak, forming larger, more vibrant orbs of light around its iridescent surface.
He still had no idea where the strands originated, or what purpose the vessel served by devouring them—but he was one step closer to unraveling its secrets.
The thought of uncovering the vessel's mysteries filled him with a thrill he could barely contain.
Kael waited until the twin suns were about to break over Aurora Peak's horizon. Only then did the silver glow surrounding the vessel fade, leaving it as ordinary-looking as when he'd first found it.
Throughout the night, he'd alternated between watching the vessel's transformations and scanning the surrounding bio-bamboo grove, hyper-vigilant against unexpected visitors.
He knelt down, picked up the vessel, and inspected it carefully.
It was identical to before—the seamless emerald alloy, the intricate leaf motifs, and the stubbornly sealed cap that had resisted all his previous attempts to open it.
Disappointment washed over Kael, but he quickly shook it off. The sky was lightening, and he needed to return to his cultivation chamber before Dr. Thorne's morning check-in. Reluctantly, he slipped the vessel back into his bio-synthetic pouch and headed back to his cabin.
For the next seven nights, the same phenomenon repeated itself. At precisely the same hour after the bio-dome's simulated twilight fell, countless silver bio-energy strands swarmed the vessel like moths to a flame, condensing into tiny orbs before being greedily absorbed.
Kael had grown accustomed to the nightly ritual, expecting it to continue indefinitely—until the eighth night, when everything changed.
He arrived at the secluded grove as usual, placed the vessel on the nutrient-rich soil, and waited. But this time, the absorption lasted only half a shichen (roughly an hour) before abruptly stopping. Without warning, the leaf motifs on the vessel's surface erupted in a brilliant emerald glow, and several golden symbols materialized across its alloy skin.
The characters were fluid yet intricate, bearing an ancient, otherworldly elegance as they flickered and danced across the vessel's surface.
The spectacle lasted only a heartbeat before vanishing, leaving behind raised golden etchings that seemed to merge with the vessel's original design. Everything else returned to normal—as if the strange display had never happened.
After weeks of witnessing the vessel's anomalies, Kael was no longer startled by such oddities. Nothing the mysterious artifact did could surprise him anymore.
He picked it up casually, his fingers brushing the newly formed golden symbols, and instinctively tried to twist the cap.
To his astonishment, it rotated smoothly—effortlessly—coming loose in his hand.
Unbelievable. Kael stared at the cap in disbelief.
After struggling for days with every tool and ounce of strength he possessed, the stubborn seal had yielded with barely any effort. It felt too easy, almost surreal.
Once he confirmed the reality of what had happened—that the vessel's secrets were finally within reach—excitement surged through him. He pressed his eye to the opening, eager to see what lay inside.
Within the vessel, a single drop of jade-green liquid rolled gently against the alloy walls, casting a soft, luminous glow that tinted his fingertips green as he held it.
That's it?
Kael felt a twinge of disappointment. After all his curiosity and effort, he'd found nothing more than a simple drop of liquid.
He sighed, replaced the cap, and slipped the vessel back into his pouch. The excitement that had fueled him moments earlier was gone, replaced by a dull sense of anticlimax. He turned toward his cabin, resolving to revisit the liquid's secrets when he had nothing better to do—perhaps it would surprise him yet.
Right now, all he wanted was to sleep. Nights of sneaking out to observe the vessel had left him exhausted, dragging down his cultivation efficiency during the day. His listlessness had already drawn concerned inquiries from Dr. Thorne.
Ever since Kael had become the doctor's personal apprentice and mastered the first tier of the Unnamed Gene Calibration Protocol, his motivation to cultivate had waned. The protocol's subtle benefits—sharper focus, boundless stamina—felt underwhelming compared to the raw power of other gene programs like Gareth's Bio-Armor Reinforcement Technique. Try as he might, he couldn't summon the enthusiasm to push further.
Dr. Thorne had scolded him sharply for his lack of progress, but Kael still found himself nodding off during meditation sessions, his mind wandering to the vessel and its mysteries rather than bio-energy flow.
The doctor's frustration was palpable, leaving Kael feeling guilty—he didn't want to disappoint his mentor, but he couldn't force himself to care about cultivation.
Little did Kael know, his apathy would vanish overnight.
The next morning, after a much-needed sleep, he threw himself into cultivation with a frenzy he'd never felt before.
The catalyst? A single, casual remark from Dr. Thorne.
"For each tier you master in the Unnamed Protocol, I'll double your monthly credit stipend."
The doctor had finally pinpointed Kael's greatest motivation: his desire to support his family back home. With that one sentence, he'd tied Kael's dedication directly to the one thing he cared about most.
In the days that followed, Kael dedicated himself to mastering the protocol with unwavering focus.
From dawn to noon, and noon to dusk, he retreated to his sealed cultivation chamber, meditating relentlessly. His life became a monotonous cycle of cultivation, rest, and occasional lessons with Dr. Thorne—who taught him advanced bio-engineering and emergency gene-augmentation techniques, while allowing him free access to his vast library of scientific texts.
To ensure Kael's undivided attention, Dr. Thorne temporarily closed the Verdant Bio-Dome to all outsiders, conducting his rare consultations outside the facility and handling all logistical matters personally. Kael never had to worry about food, supplies, or distractions—his only responsibility was to cultivate.
Slowly but surely, the mysterious vessel and its jade-green liquid faded from his mind, buried beneath his relentless pursuit of progress.
Seasons changed in the bio-dome's artificial climate—simulated autumn giving way to winter, spring blooming into summer—as four years passed in the blink of an eye.
Kael was now fourteen, a tall, dark-skinned youth with a quiet resolve etched into his features. To the casual observer, he was indistinguishable from any other frontier boy—unremarkable in appearance, neither handsome nor charismatic, but bearing the quiet strength of someone who had endured hardship from a young age.
His world had shrunk to the confines of the Verdant Bio-Dome: his cabin, the cultivation chamber, Dr. Thorne's laboratory, and the library. But within that small world, he had achieved what once seemed impossible—mastering the third tier of the Unnamed Gene Calibration Protocol, his bio-energy pathways now robust and efficient, a testament to four years of unwavering dedication.