Four days later. The patches of blue outnumbered the healthy skin, and the disparity only grew as time progressed.
Amaranthus seemed to be in a coma, where his body was highly saturated but too weak to digest the energy properly.
His body toiled on the brink of death, but with every loss, the body learned how to deal with the saturation.
The occurrence of cellular intelligence produced a miracle. Instead of processing the high concentration of energy in one gulp, it focused on maintaining a balance while simultaneously gaining ground.
The cells allowed the death of a certain amount of other cells. When the balance between Amaranthus's biological energy and the formless energy was achieved, the remaining cells would digest a certain amount of intangible energy.
The dead cells would be replaced by new cells, while the old ones would take up the sacrificial mantle. With this process, the body fought back. Every occurrence was strengthing the body: the bone marrow, the blood, the muscles, the nerves. Everything was growing exponentially!
After two more days, the formless energy rippled around Amaranthus's body with increasing intensity!
*Puff*
A slightly visible ripple echoed from within his body. Suddenly the blue patches faded, and his clammy skin and labored breath slowly recovered into a resting state.
The formless energy cocoon dissipated as well.
'Greed is an insatiable beast.'
Amaranthus suddenly sat up with gasping breath!
He panted as he looked around him, his brows furrowed and eyes bloodshot.
"I overdid it." Shaking his head gently, he realized how close he was to death.
Unlike in books, life, in reality, is incredibly fragile, mind-numbingly so. Every little mistake carries a consequence that we cannot always pay for.
Closing his eyes, he consciously reached out to the formless energy to gain an understanding of his body.
After the first few times of interacting with the formless and even ethereal energy, he had grown proficient in checking his body.
He felt how his body had changed. The formless energy simulated his body before the coma, then allowed him to perceive his body in its current state.
It was the difference between an unhealthy lifestyle and a healthy one.
Amaranthus held out his hand with his palm facing the sky, imagining a soft flame.
In the next moment, that flame flickered into existence. He could feel the heat; it's light soft and whimsical. The heat even distorted the air a bit.
He was awed by this achievement. He could feel that something like this flame barely took away from his reserves.
By creating a vortex in each cell that would siphon, compress, and store the formless energy, he had effectively solved his number one problem; The lack of energy.
He thought about guiding the oxygen particles into the flame to test whether details affect the manifestation of concepts.
The flame slowly changed colors, eventually turning blue. The intensity of the heat seared his hair follicles.
'Oh shit!' Amaranthus immediately killed the flame. The bush itself was a bit black while wisps of smoke were emitted from several branches.
After constructing the concept of guiding the oxygen particles into the flame, the sap of energy almost quadrupled. His current capacity for said energy would've only allowed him to sustain the flame for about half an hour.
'Causality? Maybe quantum entanglement within this world exists? Even allowing us to morph the world to our thoughts?' Amaranthus began to ponder how this sort of phenomenon was possible.
'Particles change when observed. It's already known as a fact. Could it be that here in this world, it happens on a larger scale?' Amaranthus got goosebumps.
He held out his palm once more, where moments later, the same flame flickered into existence. This time he tried to create the image of a fireball in his mind.
With his eyes closed, he tried to think of it in clarity.
It soon achieved the shape of a sphere, the flames still flickered out, but the core of the flame was now bound into the form of a sphere.
The flame started to flicker, its feeble form on the verge of disappearing, and Amaranthus felt it. He noticed a thin thread that connected the fireball in his mind to the one conjured above his palm.
It wasn't obvious, but it was there.
'A thread could be cut. What if I apply the concept to my body? Will that thread still exist?' Amaranthus immediately came to a conclusion after realizing the meaning of the thread.
The fireball began to melt, and it soon covered Amaranthus's arm. The flame was thick, and it boiled around his arm. It felt like a second skin, which did not harm him. There was no thread.
After a moment of awe, he immediately imagined the flames disappearing. Reality followed suit.
'Amazing.' Amaranthus took a deep breath. With it, he felt how his lungs expanded and with it, a subtle feeling of fulfillment echoed within him.
'I will learn about this world, and I will find my family. If they are dead... I will avenge them.'
So he closed his eyes, and once more wrestled with the formless energy. Increasing his reserve of formless energy, and thus strengthing his body.