My heart was beating stronger than ever, but now... there was something else inside.
Suddenly, the system went ding and I saw the notification.
[Skill Level Up!]
[Essence Manipulation – Level 2 → Level 3]
I ignored the message and checked my Essence store.
7/10.
I narrowed my eyes. I hadn't used any Essence, so where did the extra space come from?
Focusing on the semi-solid sphere, I willed it to dissolve back into its gaseous form. The Essence dispersed, and I checked the store again.
10/10.
A grin spread across my face.
A hack.
I called that a hack.
A cheat in my talent.
My mind raced with the thoughts of this new discovery.
By compressing the gaseous Essence into a denser, semi-solid form, I freed up space in the store.
The actual amount of Essence remained the same, but by condensing a portion of it, the system registered the extra space.
So, if I kept compressing more Essence, I could keep freeing space and storing far beyond the limit?
