My Talent's Name Is Generator

Chapter 101 101: When in Doubt, Scream and Pull More Essence

I took a deep breath, pulling my scattered thoughts into line, and activated [Psynapse Boost].

My senses expanded outward. I reached for the Essence in the air.

But something was wrong.

Most of the Essence around me was rigid. Not neutral, not free.

Almost all of it was tainted, its flow weighed down by darkness, warped into dense, locked formations. The kind of interference that resisted both movement and control.

I extended my will, trying to draw in the Essence, but it pushed back hard.

Each thread I pulled felt sluggish, like dragging chains through wet cement.

Then—

A flicker.

A shift in the air behind me.

I spun, but not fast enough.

A beam of light slammed into my lower back, sending a sharp jolt through my spine.

Pain radiated outward, but I didnʼt stop. I triggered my Generator Core. A low hum spread through my body as it kicked in, producing Essence, slowly filling my inner storage.

No time to waste.

I turned back to the front and stretched my palm outward.

I focused on drawing in Essence, just the clean threads I could find, even if they were few.

As they gathered in my palm, I activated [Essence Shift] and began shifting their state mid-draw, weaving fire into the form before it could fully stabilize.

The result was a chaotic blend, volatile but raw with potential.

I stared at the unstable sphere hovering over my hand, its fire-born glow fighting against the lingering dark energy around it.

The goal was simple—Form something compact. Something volatile. Something fast.

But nothing about this place was simple.

The darkness here…It was alive.

My perception swept through the dome, brushing against every flicker of Essence lingering in the air.

I felt it, the Essence was trying to reach toward me as well. Probably the effect of my class.

But almost all of it had already been seized, tightly wrapped in tendrils of dark energy. Edgarʼs trap wasnʼt just effective. It was suffocating.

The fire-state wasnʼt struggling to breathe. It was being strangled before it could even form.

I clenched my jaw and tried drawing raw Essence near me, attempting to shift it into fire. But the moment I did, resistance surged through my Psynapse like a wall slamming into my mind. Heavy. Drenched in darkness. Every thread of Essence I touched was already half-frozen, locked down.

Dragging it was like yanking a boulder through knee-deep mud.

Then came the first beam.

A sharp white spear of light tore through the dome and slammed into my chest.

My body rocked backward, pain flaring through my ribs. It didnʼt pierce through, but the impact was enough to throw off my focus.

ʼNo time to hesitate.ʼ

I pulled again, trying to gather enough Essence and shift it quickly into a tight cluster of fire over my palm. My will dug deep, trying to force stability, force motion—anything.

Nothing.

The moment the fire began forming, the surrounding darkness reacted like a snare, choking it back into stillness.

A second beam carved across my thigh.

I grunted, but my body held. I had enough willpower and Constitution to take these hits—for now.

The problem I faced was that the Essence here flowed in two separate streams—darkness and fire. The darkness dominated, thick and heavy, and by Edgarʼs design, it was actively constricting the fire element.

Thatʼs when I understood the training he wanted me to undergo.

It wasnʼt just about Essence control. It was about refining my will, building my Psynapse like a muscle, by pulling fire from under the crushing weight of darkness.

I grinned.

I liked squats. Heavy ones. The kind that made your legs scream. This was no different, except now, the weight was on my mind.

Sure, I couldʼve taken the easier route. I couldʼve used my generated Essence and skipped the hard part. But I had a different plan for that reserve. A smarter one.

Right now, I wanted to wrestle with the atmosphere itself. The ambient Essence. If I could train with that, Iʼd be sharpening all my innate skills at once.

There was something else, too. The darkness.

Iʼd practiced with fire. I knew its rhythm.

But darkness? That was still a mystery. And if I wanted to free the fire stream, maybe I didnʼt have to fight for it directly. Maybe I could push the darkness away, carve out space, then pull the fire in.

I exhaled, focused.

There were dozens of ways I could approach this. And I wanted to try them all while the training lasted.

In my heart, I thanked Edgar for the opportunity.

A sharp whoosh cut through the air to my right.