It was very easy to use a Soul Shard. One simply needed to meditate until they reached a calm mental state. Then, they would crush the shard to release the Essence trapped inside.
And before it could dissipate into the atmosphere, they would absorb it into their Soul Core. The process was really simple and had no real danger unless someone was stupid enough to attract danger mid-meditation.
Leon had never bothered to explain all this in the game. He didn't think it was necessary. At most, he'd written a short blurb about it in the description of an artifact.
It was a good way to sneak in lore, after all.
He figured the Energy Orb wasn't much different from a Soul Shard, so he sat on a comfortable mat and slipped into meditation.
As a man who relied solely on atmospheric Essence and Soul Shards to grow stronger, entering a meditative state was second nature to him.
His mind relaxed, cleared of all unnecessary noise and thoughts, slowly reached that familiar stillness. Then, he took out the glowing red sphere and crushed it.
A burst of invisible Essence surged through the air, filling the room with potent energy. It would take a few moments for it to mix properly with the ambient Essence.
The enclosed space helped a lot.
Leon inhaled deeply, drawing in a large portion of the Essence. He could sense the pressure, the energy wrapping around him like a deep ocean. No… it was more like being trapped inside a water bubble.
To escape it, he had three options—force his way out, wait for the water to disperse naturally, or simply absorb the whole damn thing.
Obviously, Leon chose the third option.
He began devouring the Essence hungrily, as if he hadn't eaten for days. The metaphysical pathways inside his body—the ones that guided Essence to his core—lit up like dry riverbeds finally quenched by a flood.
Pure Essence flooded through his body, circulating along the routes he'd carved through prior cultivation. It followed a particular revolution, a set of pathways that ensured safe distribution to his Soul Core.
That revolution was vital. Recklessly absorbing Essence without order could damage the body or worse. Situations like those were the only real risk to Essence Cultivation.
Leon continued meditating, absorbing the dense Essence for nearly half an hour. The Level 7 Energy Orb contained far more than a normal Level 7 Soul Shard, and its purity was significantly higher too.
That's why it took so long to fully absorb.
Finally, he exhaled the breath that had built up inside him and slowly opened his eyes. Surprise flickered across his face as he clenched his fists and muttered, "Status."
A blue hologram immediately appeared before him, and his eyes scanned for the part he cared about most.
[Level: 06 (Tier 1)]
"Damnation," he whispered. "Just one Energy Orb gave me two levels? That's just… insane."
He was genuinely shocked but then again, this was the highest-ranking dungeon in the world. What else did he expect?
"With this, I've got better chances of survival… but I can't get cocky." His smile faded a little. "There are way too many variables out there. Even Demi-Gods aren't safe. Let alone me."
Leon wasn't delusional. He knew himself far too well. One of his worst traits was growing overconfident too quickly and he hadn't been able to fix that.
'There's also the fact that I'll probably have to die more in there…'
Truthfully, he didn't want to go back into that dungeon. Who would? But there weren't any better options. If he wanted to survive the apocalypse, the dungeon was his only real path.
At least in there, he didn't really die. He just… felt all the pain.
'Fuck that. I'm not dying again.'
With that steeled thought, Leon threw himself into preparing for the future. He didn't have photographic memory, and there were a ton of things he had forgotten about the game.
In his past life, he'd created dozens—maybe hundreds—of files, spreadsheets, charts, documents… All to keep track of the lore, stats, and events.
Now, he pushed his brain to recall every last detail he could, filtering through memory after memory while also browsing through what his mind had stored since he awakened.
It was exhausting. But it was necessary.
He ordered lunch from the cafeteria, and within minutes, his meal was delivered hot and fresh. The Academy's food quality was still top-tier.
Between all that information crunching and mental gymnastics, Leon also tried to take a nap, just to see if he could enter the dungeon again or if there was some sort of cooldown.
The only problem? His brain and body were still scared out of their minds.
Because as much as his logic said "it's okay," the memory of his skull being turned into minced meat said otherwise.
Still, he persevered and finally managed to fall asleep.
Nothing happened.
He had a peaceful nap. Just a few hours of normal, cozy sleep. And when he woke up in the evening, he ordered another meal from the Academy cafeteria—because yes, it was that good.
He spent the rest of the evening digging deeper into plot points, characters, and their backstories. He revised his understanding of the timeline, mapped out changes, and started preparing plans for upcoming events.
Plans upon plans. Contingencies upon contingencies.
Because Leon understood one thing better than anyone.
Butterfly effects were no joke.
He couldn't trust the plot completely. Not anymore. Not after knowing that he had only worked on half the game before selling it.
Things were bound to go off-script. And he needed to be prepared for every single one of them.
That was the kind of person he was—the kind who never liked putting all his eggs in one basket. If there was even a 1% chance of something going wrong, he would plan for it.
As midnight drew close, Leon decided it was time to call it a day and give it one last try.
He laid back down, closed his eyes, and pictured the crimson rabbit in his mind.
His lips curved upward.
"You're gonna pay for making me run that much, bitch."
He drifted into deep sleep and in his dreams, crossed the familiar purple portal.
Only to open his eyes in a completely different world once again.