Nicos slowly opened his eyes, signaling the end of another fruitless meditation session.
Letting out a quiet breath, he prepared to stand and head back as usual.
Just as he shifted from his meditative posture, a faint glimmer caught the corner of his eye.
His movements came to an abrupt halt.
A streak of soft light was seeping through one of the narrow crevices in the cave wall.
His brows furrowed.
"Light?"
Confusion flashed across his face.
He had visited this cave countless times over the past three years. Every corner, every crevice, every uneven surface had long been etched into his memory.
Yet never—not even once—had any of them emitted light.
Curiosity slowly replaced his exhaustion.
He rose to his feet and cautiously walked toward the glowing crack.
The closer he drew, the stronger an inexplicable feeling grew within him.
It was as though something extraordinary awaited him beyond that wall.
His heartbeat unconsciously quickened.
Almost immediately, he suppressed the thought.
He had learned this lesson long ago.
The greater the expectation...
The deeper the disappointment.
Taking a slow breath to calm himself, Nicos leaned closer and tried to peer through the narrow opening.
Unfortunately, the crack was too small for him to make out what lay beyond it.
After a moment of hesitation, he made up his mind.
"If I can't see through it..."
"I'll open it."
He placed a hand against the stone wall, testing its sturdiness before striking it with a measured punch.
To his complete surprise—
The wall crumbled instantly.
It collapsed like weathered sand, disintegrating into fine dust with almost no resistance at all.
Nicos barely spared it a glance.
His entire attention had already been stolen by what lay beyond.
Behind the collapsed wall was a hidden chamber enveloped in dazzling light.
The brilliance was so intense that he instinctively narrowed his eyes.
Fortunately, the chamber was located deep within the cave, preventing the light from escaping outside.
After several moments, his eyes gradually adjusted.
The scene before him left him utterly speechless.
A crystal-clear pond rested quietly within the hidden space.
It shimmered with rich Spiritual Element, causing gentle ripples of light to dance across its surface.
For a brief moment...
Nicos forgot how to breathe.
"This..."
His voice trembled.
"...How is this possible?"
As the son of Chloe and Aeneas, he had been exposed to countless treasures and rare resources while growing up.
One glance was enough.
He immediately recognized what lay before him.
The pond was filled with Spiritual Water.
More importantly...
It was overflowing with pure Spiritual Element.
Something that should never have existed within the Forgotten Region.
According to every historical record ever preserved, the Forgotten Region was completely devoid of Spiritual Element.
Yet here it was.
Alive.
Flowing.
Thriving.
As his excitement gradually settled, Nicos noticed something peculiar.
The Spiritual Element wasn't spreading into the surrounding cave.
Instead...
It remained completely confined within the hidden chamber.
Only then did he notice the transparent barrier separating the chamber from the outside world.
The barrier sealed every trace of Spiritual Element inside, preventing even the slightest strand from escaping.
Hope—
A hope that had nearly died three years ago—
Burst back to life inside his heart.
Without another thought, he stepped forward and pressed both hands against the invisible barrier.
It didn't move.
He pushed harder.
Nothing happened.
Gritting his teeth, Nicos began striking the barrier with every ounce of physical strength he possessed.
Again.
And again.
And again.
The invisible barrier remained unmoving, standing firm like an impregnable fortress resisting an endless siege.
Still...
He refused to stop.
Every time his fists managed to produce the slightest crack across its surface, the barrier immediately repaired itself.
The fractures disappeared almost as quickly as they appeared, leaving him with no opportunity to exploit them.
Three days passed.
Nicos completely lost track of time.
His world had narrowed to a single objective.
Break the barrier.
He barely rested.
Even when exhaustion forced him to sit down, his eyes never left the hidden chamber.
He didn't dare leave the cave.
What if everything vanished the moment he stepped outside?
What if this was merely a miracle that existed only once?
He couldn't risk it.
On the third day, while staring blankly at the shimmering pond, something finally caught his attention.
The water level...
Had dropped.
His weary eyes immediately sharpened.
"So that's it..."
Realization dawned upon him.
The barrier wasn't repairing itself out of thin air.
It was consuming the Spiritual Element contained within the pond to restore every crack he created.
Brute force would never break through.
If he continued attacking it, the barrier would simply exhaust the very treasure he was trying to obtain.
Suppressing his frustration, Nicos began searching every inch of the hidden chamber.
He carefully examined the surrounding walls.
The floor.
The ceiling.
Every crevice.
Every corner.
Surely there had to be some hidden mechanism capable of opening the barrier.
Hours passed.
Then more hours.
Nothing.
There wasn't a single clue.
Not even the smallest inscription.
Finally...
His strength gave out.
He slowly sank onto the cold cave floor.
Leaning against the rocky wall, he stared blankly at the transparent barrier that continued to stand between him and what might be his only chance at reclaiming his future.
"Am I really..."
"...unable to break through this barrier?"
His bitter voice echoed softly throughout the silent cave.
The frustration he had suppressed for years surged uncontrollably.
Images from the past flashed through his mind.
The contemptuous stares.
The mocking whispers.
The sympathetic looks that hurt even more than ridicule.
The friends who gradually distanced themselves.
The people who once praised him as the future of Silversky Shelter...
Only to cast him aside the moment they learned his Spirit-Root had decayed.
Every privilege he once possessed disappeared overnight.
Every opportunity was stripped away.
His name eventually became nothing more than a joke shared in bars and clubs whenever people wanted to entertain themselves.
Sometimes...
He wondered if he would have quietly disappeared long ago had Chloe not been a Tier 7 Healer.
Perhaps no one would have even bothered searching for him.
The thought tightened around his heart like invisible chains.
Unwilling to surrender, Nicos stood once more.
Again and again, he searched for another method.
Because he possessed no Spirit-Root, he couldn't circulate Spirit Essence like ordinary people.
Every possible solution available to Spirit Warriors was forever beyond his reach.
Time passed.
Attempt after attempt ended in failure.
Eventually...
His body could no longer endure.
He collapsed onto both knees.
His trembling hands pressed against the barrier that separated him from what might be his only chance at renewal.
Hope stood only an arm's length away.
Yet it remained completely beyond his grasp.
At the moment when despair threatened to consume him once again...
His mother's gentle voice suddenly echoed within his mind.
"For we make things possible not by force nor by our own strength, but by the Spirit."
"Don't force everything, Nicos."
"Even someone without a Spirit-Root possesses an Inner Spirit."
"Let your Inner Spirit guide you. Don't always try to be the one in control."
Nicos' breathing gradually slowed.
His eyes widened.
It was as though a veil had suddenly been lifted from his mind.
An answer.
No...
An enlightenment.
Without wasting another second, he sprang to his feet.
He stepped toward the transparent barrier once more.
This time...
He didn't raise his fists.
Nor did he prepare to strike it.
Instead, he slowly reached out his hand.
He closed his eyes.
Silencing every distracting thought, he no longer tried to feel the barrier with his palm.
Instead...
He reached for it with his Inner Spirit.
At first...
Nothing happened.
He could still only feel the cold, solid surface beneath his fingertips.
But unlike before, he didn't become frustrated.
He remained perfectly still.
Patiently.
Quietly.
Allowing his Inner Spirit—not his body—to search for the answer.