Volume 1: Path – [Academy Arc]
Chapter 23: Practice
"Now, that is the absorption method. Manipulating the Leym energy by manifesting not only Leym but also the affinity requires another technique, which operates in the reverse direction compared to absorption. Suppose the absorption method involves submitting the chaotic energy to oneself and sending it into the core. In that case, the manifestation method involves sending the energy back out the way it came from the core, but this time, the energy is no longer chaotic. It is your own, shaped by your will. However, accurately manifesting it in a stable and smooth flow requires practice."
"So, that is what we will be doing in today's class. You all can ask any questions you have during the ten-minute break I'm giving you now." As he said this, he closed the display on the board and sat back down in his chair.
A student stood up and raised his hand. "Instructor Tarell, I have a question."
"Go on."
"You said we need to comprehend our affinities to the next stage to break through, right?"
"Yes."
"Then, are there specific names for these stages? And how many levels are there?"
"Oh! I thought I mentioned that, guess I'm getting too old and forgetful," Tarell chuckled. "Yes, there are five stages of affinity comprehension, just like the five ranks of the Leym core.
They are:
Recognition
Resonance
Embodiment
Transcendence
Unity
Also, now that I remember, there's something important: you can't even use your Leym energy until you reach the Recognition stage. In my opinion, many of you still haven't discovered your affinity yet, right?"
"Yes, sir," half the class responded in unison, raising their hands.
"Well then, there are some things we need to discuss on this topic, but from what I see, your brains are already overheated. So let's leave it for tomorrow. For now, take a few minutes of rest before we start again," the instructor said as the student sat down.
Caelus who listened to the whole thing felt he has a long way to go and he is feeling something else too.
'I don't know what kind of feeling this is… but is it excitement? Excitement to try magic stuff? Ha ha… calm down, I can't laugh here.' (He's losing it, and honestly, if I were in his place, I'd feel the same too, excited to learn all about magic.)
'I don't know what my affinity is, so I'm still below the Recognition stage. Right… the next class is the Leym Absorption period. I can try to check my affinity then, but I need to ask how that works. Even though Mr. Michael told me it's done by checking one's core, I still need more clarity. But I can't ask the instructor now… I'll ask at the end of class. Ah, wait, I have someone right beside me who knows.'
"Aiv, can you tell me—"
"How to know what your affinity is, right?" Aiv interrupted Caelus's words casually.
"Yes, and how did you know what I was going to ask about?"
"Well, it's common for kids like you to get excited about this stuff," Aiv said, chuckling.
"What do you mean by 'kids'? I'm already 16," Caelus shot back, glaring.
"It's just a metaphor for your childish behavior," Aiv replied, scratching his cheek with a sheepish grin.
"Hmph, just because I asked a beginner question doesn't make me childish. Don't ever say that to me."
"Okay, sorry, sorry."
Just then, Instructor Tarell rose from his chair and addressed the class, his voice clear and commanding, "Well then, let's begin the practice if you're all ready."
He reached forward and pressed a sleek black button embedded in the surface of his desk. A soft click echoed, and then a mechanical whirrrr filled the air. The entire classroom began to shift. One by one, the desks folded inwards with precise, synchronized clack-clack-clack sounds, collapsing into the floor like modular panels.
At the same time, the chairs rose slowly into the air, guided by some levitation rune type things which are glowing dimly beneath them. As soon as the tables were fully retracted into a smooth wooden floor tile configuration, the chairs vanished with a soft whoosh, absorbed into the walls.
Caught off guard, many students stumbled as they found themselves suddenly seated on the polished wooden tiles. The shift was so fluid and sudden it felt like the entire room had transformed in a breath.
Once the transformation ended, Instructor Tarell stood on the same wooden surface as the students and said, "This is how it's going to be every time we enter practice. To manipulate or absorb Leym energy properly, especially at the basic level, you'll need full concentration. And for proper stability, sitting on the ground in a meditation posture is the most effective."
He began demonstrating the position: legs crossed firmly, back straight, palms resting on the knees with fingers slightly curled. His voice remained calm and precise. "I want you all to sit exactly like this. Then close your eyes and breathe slowly. Focus on my voice. Feel the energy within the air around you. Due to the school having a lot of Leym energy everywhere, you can easily get the energy into your body just by breathing."
A hush fell over the room as the students slowly adjusted into their positions, the wooden floor cool beneath them.
Caelus settled into the meditation posture, closing his eyes gently. As his breathing slowed, waves of memories surged into his mind, which most of them are painful, jagged fragments of his past. Chief among them was the dying scene of Uriel, echoing like a curse stitched into the back of his mind.
"You all will have many distracting thoughts," Instructor Tarell's voice echoed gently in the room, calm and unwavering, "but you need to remove those first to move to the next step. To do that, think of yourself sitting in a peaceful place like a garden surrounded by nature, still and quiet."
Following the instructor's advice, Caelus breathed deeply and shifted his thoughts. He pictured himself in a tranquil garden. Tall trees bowed slightly in the wind, their leaves rustling like a lullaby. Soft grass brushed his legs, and delicate flowers swayed under a sky untouched by storms. The air felt cool, almost sacred, carrying a faint scent of jasmine and earth.
The chaotic noise in his mind began to fade, replaced by the serenity of the imagined garden. As the scenery stabilized in his inner vision, he found a small center of stillness in himself.
Instructor Tarell's voice guided him again. "Now, take a slow breath in, imagining that you're inhaling the fresh air of nature."
Caelus inhaled gently, drawing the air in through his nose. In his mind, it carried the scent of morning dew and crisp leaves. He felt it travel down his throat and expand within his lungs, cool and calming, like a breeze winding through the trees of the garden in his mind.
"Next, slowly try to use your mind and catch that air you just breathed in. Imagine yourself at the front of a line, holding a rope, gently leading blindfolded people behind you through a specific path. It may be difficult to achieve, but try your best. And don't worry, you won't be injured by the process."
Caelus furrowed his brows in concentration. He tried to imagine the scenario himself leading others with a rope, steady and sure, but the image kept breaking apart. Sometimes he would see nothing but darkness, other times, the people behind him(which is the air) would vanish. The rope would slip, the path would blur.
He exhaled sharply and tried again.
On his second attempt, the image flickered briefly, just enough to give him hope. He tightened his posture, adjusted his breathing, and tried a third time, then a fourth. Each time, his mind fought against him, scattering focus with flashes of anxiety or remnants of doubt.
By the sixth try, sweat had begun to bead at his temple. His fingers twitched slightly where they rested on his knees. Still, he didn't stop.
After his ninth attempt failed, Caelus clenched his fists in silent frustration. 'Why isn't the image forming? From the looks of it, everyone else seems to be having an easier time. Maybe it's not the technique, it's the image I'm using. If the point is to make the Leym energy I breathe in submit to me, then maybe I need to stop being gentle with it.'
He steadied his breath again, and this time, he abandoned the soft garden imagery. Instead, he visualized the Leym energy as a restless, untamed creature flooding into him like a mist made of wild wolves. He saw himself standing tall at the center of a darkened field within his mind. The air around him shimmered with translucent streams of Leym, circling him like wolves ready to pounce.
With a surge of willpower, he raised his hand in the vision and clenched it tightly. In his grasp formed a scythe midnight black, jagged at the edges, radiating with shadowy arcs of imagined energy. The swirling Leym wolves growled and lunged at him.
"Submit," he growled.
One wolf charged, and with a shnk! The scythe cleaved through its form, dissolving it into a wisp of glowing Leym. The others followed, a relentless pack of spectral beasts. Caelus fought them back with wide arcs and controlled swings, his stance grounded, each movement more precise than the last.
But they kept coming.
Panting, sweat dripping down his brow even in the world of imagination, he fell to a knee. His will flickered… until a thought sparked within him:
'Wait, as the instructor said, I need to use my mind to submit them, and until now I used all types of methods, and all were created then why can't I create a millions or more than that of myself,' as he thought, Caelus felt he had broken through something.
He stood again, eyes burning with realization. The field multiplied. One Caelus became two. Then ten. Then a hundred. Then a million all-wielding scythes, all fighting in perfect synchrony across the vast mental battlefield.
Together, they overwhelmed the wolves. One by one, the Leym beasts submitted, kneeling, disintegrating, and reforming into rivers of light.
The Caelus at the center raised his scythe once more, not to strike, but to guide the Leym energy.
"Now go," he whispered.
The streams of subdued Leym flowed in harmony, spiraling toward the center of his chest, down a radiant path that led into his awakened core.
The Leym circuits, previously invisible, began to glow as the Leym energy flowed along a specific path through the Leym circuits in Caelus's body.
In an instant, all the Leym energy in the air he breathed in entered his awakened core. As they submitted, he felt something in his heart.
[End Of Chapter 23]