RWBY: Corrupted Save File

Part #22. - Evolution.

"No. If, hypothetically, mana and Aura took up the same place in the body... if my mana... 'channels.' Were connected to my soul, then it would've taken the place of Aura. That's why I've been caught lacking the whole time! The Aura has no place to circulate. If the people on Remnant don't have magic, then they have Aura. So if someone has magic, there's no room for Aura... but that's if they're unfamiliar with each other. If they had control... immaculate control. They could have maybe contained the mana! Or switched between the two power sources!" Saffron's mind was in overdrive. Once he had begun thinking, he couldn't stop. Thousands of outcomes entered his mind, many of which resulted in death. But the only thing he knew for sure he had to do... was try.

He dropped onto the floor and sat cross-legged. He straightened his back and closed his eyes, beginning the process of meditation.
He could feel it... them... everything. He felt a source of power. He felt his "core." But it was muted... deafened, as if two sources were overlapping... which of course, they were.
Saffron tried to pry them apart, but just as he had begun separating them. He was snapped out of his trance by a bolt of immense pain. He quickly got up and ran to the nearest trashcan before vomiting into it.

"Son of a..." He paused as he wiped some spit off of his mouth.

"Damn it! Again!" He dropped down to the floor and entered the meditative trance once again. He kept the trashcan close, just in case.

He analyzed his two cores. He could either remove them with surgical precision... something he did not have. Or he could pry them apart and hope for the best.

He took a deep breath. He had the shadow of an idea in his mind. He knew what to do next, he just needed to take this first step... this... ultra-painful, downright masochistic step.
He got a firm grasp on his cores as best he could and began pulling. The pain... was almost unbearable. Keyword being "almost."

Through gritted teeth, Saffron endured. Thank God his stomach was empty.
The overlapping cores, Saffron had now realized, was a bad analogy... they were more intertwined than he previously thought. They weren't overlapping... they had grown into each other. Like some sort of ingrown nail, but more... spiritual and more-- Grotesque.

Just as the two cores had just begun to relinquish their hold on one another... Saffron snapped out of his meditation. His eyes shot open and he took in a breath he hadn't realized he needed.
His eyes felt wet, he wiped them with the back of his hand and found a red smear of blood coating the back of his thumb. He got up and looked at himself in one of the various windows, the reflection wasn't too clear, but he could see how bloodshot his eyes were. Redder than he ever thought possible, it was no wonder that blood was leaking out.

He hadn't noticed it during the process, but this little break had emphasized that Saffron had reached his limit. Not physically, but mentally. He was exhausted. Perhaps he should've waited to have done this. The saying of hindsight rung painfully true for the boy.

Saffron was irritated. He had finally begun making some actual progress. Only to have it hindered by his own limits.
He clicked his tongue before leaving the room.

The boy had to get back to Amity Colosseum for Yang and Weiss' match.

He got to the arena just as the countdown timer hit zero. His eyes were covered by some sunglasses provided by the Vytal Festival for the rounds that were, in their own terms: "Extra bright."

He spent his time looking for Ruby and Blake, and he eventually found them.

"Took you long enough!" Ruby told Saffron upon his arrival.