She crossed her arms. "I meant: never tell anyone what your ability is."
"So it's not about the spirit stone?" Matthew asked. She was talking about the stones, so he thought the rule was about it.
"No. The stone is just your fuel. But the rule—the one rule all Nexians follow—is this: never tell anyone what your ability is."
Matthew tilted his head slightly but didn't speak. He waited.
"Every Nexian has a core," she explained. "We call it the Nexus Core. It's like your spiritual engine. It's unique to you. Your ability, your affinity, everything branches from it. That includes your class—Binder, Conduit, whatever. But the thing is, once someone knows what kind of core you have… they can target it."
She floated downward, stopping just in front of him. "Some Nexians, especially advanced ones, can extract energy straight from another person's core as long as it's compatible with theirs. They use it. Drain it. Hijack it. Sometimes it's just temporary. Other times… it's permanent."
