GLOBAL AWAKENING: My 10,000x Exp Multiplier-Chapter 20: []Primal Backlash, The Priestess’s Touch

The transition matrix deposited them onto the 11th Floor of the Chronos Spire. Unlike the sprawling metropolitan chaos of the Bazaar, this floor was a vast ancient wilderness known as the Whispering Woods.

Towering emerald trees with trunks as wide as skyscrapers stretched into a canopy so dense it blocked out the artificial sky, bathing the forest floor in a soft bioluminescent glow.

Vahn took exactly two steps off the teleportation pad before his entire body betrayed him.

He didn’t stumble. He didn’t gasp. His avatar simply ceased to function.

His legs locked, the kinetic energy draining from his muscles in a violent instantaneous vacuum. He pitched forward, crashing heavily to his hands and knees on the mossy ground.

"Commander!" Sia shouted, her voice cracking with sheer panic.

She dropped her tower shield with a deafening clang and rushed forward to grab his shoulders.

"Don’t touch him!" Aria screamed, her gentle demeanor vanishing completely.

She sprinted past Sia, her white robes fluttering wildly as she dropped to the dirt beside Vahn.

Vahn gritted his teeth, a sharp agonizing hiss escaping his lips. It didn’t feel like physical pain. It felt like his soul was being slowly fed through a paper shredder.

Deep glowing cracks began to spider web across the skin of his forearms and neck. They radiated a violent chaotic green light that pulsed with the rhythm of his failing heartbeat.

It was the Primal Backlash.

He was a Level 1 [EXP Architect] with absolutely zero base Endurance and zero base Strength. Using a fraction of [Inferno Nova] to vaporize the Void Tear had required a massive channeling of raw unadulterated code.

His body was a fragile glass vial that had just been used to contain a raging ocean. The structural integrity of his digital avatar was violently destabilizing.

"His data is unraveling," Aria gasped, her emerald eyes wide with terror as she analyzed the glowing fissures on his skin. "He channeled too much output. His base stats can’t anchor the skill’s residual heat! If he shatters, the system will initiate a full neural wipe!"

"Fix him!" Hana demanded, her usual playful energy entirely extinguished.

It was replaced by raw trembling fear as she gripped her brother’s sleeve. "Aria, please!"

Aria didn’t hesitate. She threw her wooden staff to the ground.

"Sia, establish a defensive perimeter! Do not let any ambient mobs interrupt my casting cycle!"

"Understood!" Sia barked.

She retrieved her shield and slammed it into the dirt, her silver grey eyes scanning the dark woods with murderous intent. She stood like an iron fortress but her hands were shaking so violently her gauntlets rattled.

Aria leaned over Vahn. She didn’t use a spell book. She didn’t chant an incantation.

She placed her bare delicate hands directly onto the center of his chest right over his violently glowing heart.

"Synch your breathing with mine," Aria commanded, her voice fierce and unyielding.

A brilliant warm aura of pink gold light erupted from Aria’s palms, sinking directly through Vahn’s cheap jacket and into his chest.

The scent of cherry blossoms rushed over him. It was thick and overwhelming, contrasting sharply with the burning smell of ozone radiating from his own skin.

Vahn looked up, his vision blurry and swimming with error notifications. Aria’s face was inches from his.

He could see the intense concentration in her eyes, the slight furrow of her brow, and the delicate dusting of freckles across her nose.

She was pouring her own mana directly into his core, forcefully acting as a structural anchor for his tearing data.

The chaotic green cracks on his skin hissed, fighting against the warm soothing light of her healing magic.

Aria grunted, a bead of sweat tracing down her cheek as the sheer heat of his core threatened to burn her hands.

"Your mana regeneration is struggling against the thermal output," Vahn whispered.

His voice was hoarse but completely clinical. He was dying, yet his brain couldn’t stop calculating the math of the situation.

"Shut up and let me heal you!" Aria snapped.

She leaned in even closer, her entire body glowing with divine energy. "Why do you always do things the most self destructive way possible?! You have zero Endurance! You can’t just weaponize stars without a reinforced vessel!"

The cracks slowly began to recede. The violent green light dimmed as Aria’s golden mana aggressively stitched his avatar back together.

The agonizing hollow sensation in his chest faded, replaced by a deep comforting warmth.

Vahn exhaled a long shaky breath, the tension leaving his shoulders.

He looked up at Aria, his deep purple eyes locking onto her emerald ones. He didn’t break eye contact. He didn’t pull away from her touch which still lingered firmly on his chest.

"Your mana signature is incredibly warm," Vahn stated softly, his tone unnervingly honest.

He wasn’t trying to flirt, he was simply making a factual observation.

"It’s highly efficient. And your eyes reflect the system’s light perfectly. It’s calming."

Aria froze. The fierce commanding Priestess instantly evaporated.

Her face flushed a brilliant catastrophic shade of crimson. She yanked her hands off his chest as if she had been burned, stumbling backward and grabbing her staff like a physical shield.

"I... what... that is not a tactical observation!" Aria squeaked, her voice pitching up an octave as she frantically looked anywhere but his face.

Behind them, Hana let out a loud highly exaggerated sigh of relief, her playful demeanor returning instantly.

"Oh, thank the Founders. He’s back to aggressively flirting through data analysis. Just kiss him already, Sister in Law number one. The suspense is ruining my immersion."

"Hana Ryker!" Aria shrieked, her face burning hotter than Vahn’s [Inferno Nova].

Sia stood near the tree line, aggressively polishing a nonexistent speck of dirt off her heavy shield. She didn’t say a word, but she was thumping the metal with her fist in a rhythmic distinctly jealous pattern.

Vahn slowly pushed himself off the ground, his joints popping.

He opened his system interface, ignoring the chaotic dynamic of the girls around him. He reviewed the damage logs.

Aria had saved him, but it was a temporary fix. The 10,000x multiplier was a cheat code of unimaginable power.

But without the physical infrastructure to wield it, he was building a skyscraper on a foundation of sand.

He couldn’t rely on Aria to stitch his soul back together every time he needed to exert absolute force. He needed a permanent solution. He needed fundamental resistances.

"The structural integrity of my avatar is compromised," Vahn said, brushing the dirt off his knees.

He looked toward the deep shadowed path leading through the Whispering Woods. "I require a massive influx of environmental stress to force a physical adaptation."

"You want more stress?" Aria asked, entirely exasperated, though she was still nervously adjusting the collar of her robes to hide her blush.

"Yes," Vahn said, a cold predatory smile returning to his face.

He pulled the silver datapad from his inventory, projecting the holographic coordinates into the air. "And the 12th floor will provide it. We are moving."