"What's with that expression?"
"Mother, you couldn't be more obvious. You asking that question means you already know I'm hiding something, and it will only be possible if you have already seen what had happened. So, in the end, am I even hiding anything?"
Eiselle became dumbfounded by his answer; guess he had already figured out everything.
"Fine, but how did you figure it out?"
"Well, let's say there were enough clues. First, you guys were too eager for our engagement and also didn't want to show this eagerness by playing it down. Anyway, the opening of the second phase was the biggest clue for me."
"I see. Very well, now that you have awakened, your training will be increased accordingly."
Vaelen nodded. He trains with his mom. He had already mastered the movement techniques and fighting style of the Tenebran family; now he was learning the movement and fighting style of the Glacien family, not to mention his mom uses a sword, so he is also learning that.
Learning two different fighting styles can give an opponent a little surprise, so it wasn't a waste to master them if you have time.
After saying that, Eiselle looked at her son with a caring smile.
"Congratulations on awakening. Come give mama a hug."
Vaelen's expression changed slightly. He wanted to retort that he had already grown up, but before he could even say anything, he was already in her arms.
He sighed. Even if he had said anything, the result would be the same.
Eiselle hugged him for a good 20 seconds and finally let him go.
"You want anything?"
"Yes, a virtual pod."
"I see. Your brother has already made arrangements; it might be delivered by today itself. Anything else?"
Vaelen thought for a second, he wanted access card to leave the city but he will ask it later, so he shook his head.
"Share your affinity result with me afterwards."
"Can't I hide it?"
"What do you think?"
"How about just only you, mom?"
Eiselle shrugged her shoulders.
"I don't care if you tell others or not, but I want to know."
"Then it's okay."
He really was going to hide it from others, but he didn't know how long he would be able to do it. If his brother blackmails him with something, then he might give in.
"Now let's start with some basic essence training, shall we?"
Vaelen was waiting for it.
Awakening means that your body is ready to use essence. At rank 1, everyone awakens a lineage core, which stores the initial essence that a rank 1 should have.
Now, just because you already have essence doesn't mean that you also know how to use it the first time. You have to feel it and get connected with it on a spiritual level, meaning your thoughts should be enough to make it work the way you want.
"Close your eyes. You have to think that something is trying to come out from your chest. This is generic, as this thought will unconsciously trigger your lineage core to release essence inside your body for the first time.
And once essence is released inside your body, try to feel it. It's like drinking water; when you gulp it down, you feel coolness in your food pipe. Similarly, once essence is released, you will feel some kind of sensation in the area it is released.
It's neither hot nor cold; it will feel like your chest got flooded with something. All you have to do is try to move that thing according to your thought. Once it moves, it means that you connect yourself with essence."
Vaelen nodded. Since he was already at rank 1, it means that his body had already absorbed the essence to toughen itself. This was a basic strength rise seen in everyone, but the real strength comes when you can use essence to fortify your muscles. At rank 1, you have only that much control over essence.
He started thinking that something was coming out of his chest, and to his surprise, he immediately felt that his chest was filled with something.
He immediately put all his attention to make it move according to his will, but no matter how much he tried, he didn't feel that it had moved according to his will, or else all his essence would be on the left side of his chest.
He kept trying for 10 minutes, but it still didn't budge.
"Don't give up. The average time of sensing essence by yourself is about 3 hours. I doubt anyone would have ever sensed it in his first hour.
Well, for you though, there is no need for that, as nowadays someone who has already sensed it can guide others easily."
Eiselle put her finger in the middle of his chest.
"Now, at the count of three, think that you are moving your essence towards the left. 1, 2, 3."
She used her own essence to guide and move his towards the left, and because Vaelen was thinking about it, he felt a little connection.
"Feel it?"
He nodded.
"Good, now try again."
He immediately tried moving it to the right this time, and as expected, he felt the connection was stronger than before, and almost all of his essence moved towards the right.
"Once the initial contact is formed, then your consciousness deepens the connection itself. So, how is it?"
Vaelen nodded again and said.
"It easily follows my thought process now."
Eiselle nodded in satisfaction.
"Congratulations again. This really makes you a rank 1 officially.
Now spread that essence across your body."
Vaelen immediately did that, and he could feel that his strength had definitely increased. It was easy to guess by just closing his fist.
"Let's go outside; it's time for your first battle with essence."
Vaelen followed his mother. They always spar after their training.
Well, it's not a spar technically. He wasn't able to even make her feel a little troubled, even if she didn't use any essence before and even if she used lesser strength, as her rank itself provided her enough boost to physical strength and agility.
Today, he hoped to at least move her a single step back, but inwardly he doubted if it was even possible.
They came to an open area just behind the main house. It was their personal training area. His mother never even taught his brother her main style.
It was because he chose a spear as a weapon when he was a kid, while instead of choosing a weapon randomly, I asked my mother to choose for me. She was happy for that and picked the same weapon as her.
So, my brother got trained by father, and I got trained by mother.
Vaelen thought this while picking the wooden sword. He was happy with this choice because he really loved swords now.
Although he had also mastered knives and short swords as part of the main fighting style of the Tenebran family.
"Start whenever you're ready."
Vaelen nodded and spread essence all over his body, even his eyes and other senses, because essence affects everything, and in close-range battles, your senses matter quite a lot.
He dashed immediately, and he could already feel how fast he was compared to his original strength without essence. The difference was so great that he wasn't able to control his speed properly and went past his mother because she had sidestepped from his way.
"A basic mistake which everyone makes after using essence the first time. It is similar to how, if you were constantly picking up a heavy weight and suddenly that weight got replaced with a balloon.
Unless you control your strength, it wouldn't matter how strong you are, unless you are utterly stronger than your opponent, which isn't always possible."
All rank ones are the same in physical strength. The only thing that matters is your lineage core, as their sizes vary according to your affinity.
Let's say the maximum size is 100 percent; then those with 70 percent affinity would have a lineage core of 70 percent of that 100 percent of maximum size.
The real assumption why this happens is because, with 70 percent affinity, you only need 70 percent of maximum essence to show your real strength.
So, what his mother is implying is that he can waste his essence while fighting against someone with lower affinities, but those with 80 percent or above affinities are not far from his original strength, and making a mistake in front of them would be deadly.
He understood this. He dashed again, this time using less strength to synchronize himself with his own strength.
They kept their spar minimal, while Eiselle only dodged and let Vaelen get a hold of his strength properly. It takes time, so she wasn't in a hurry.
But she could also see that he was making progress quite fast, even faster than her when she got awakened first. She smiled in satisfaction.
After some time later, Vaelen sat down. He had used all his essence in just learning how to control his own strength. He had almost done it; in fact, his mother said even if he sleeps now and wakes later, his body will be fully synchronized.
It just happens when someone uses essence for the first time. After that, even if they reach rank two, they would only need a few minutes to become accustomed to their strength.
"Let's rest for the day. You can do this in the virtual pod too if you want, and I think it will have arrived by now. Anyway, I have to go and check something, so take care."
Eiselle said that and left.
Vaelen stood up and stretched. At least he was able to control his strength more than enough to not trip embarrassingly now.