-"Emanation? How come you know about this, my boy!? That's another story altogether! Don't mention it again! The discussion is closed! Let's focus on our little flame..." Erik was clearly disturbed by the name, trying to change the topics, not really succeeding in hiding his unease.
-"... Yeah sure, I didn't want to..."
-" I say don't mention it again, don't ever let this word escape your lips, this conversation hasn't happened!" Erik was beginning to be a little restless, glancing around him to make sure no one was near.
Alix with his quick wits understood that's something was completely off. " Why is the simple mention of this term producing such a strong answer from a grown man who seems quite powerful! I don't understand, in Ol' Tree village, even if we can't use Emanation, some people sometimes spoke about it, without this powerful fear in their voice..."
Choosing to do as said and letting the subject drop as to not embarrass his host, Alix focused again on the wonderful idea to produce fire with his hands.
-"So what do I have to do to make fire appear ?"
Happy to not have to elaborate on the previous subject, surprised even, Erik continues, thinking of his chance to not have to insist even with this curious teenager.
-"Follow my words step by step, and perhaps you will succeed on your first try, hehe, but remember, this is my first lesson, no practice when I'm not around in the forge!"
-"I'm ready!" Alix was eager, already having put the previous conversation in the back of his mind, not really caring about the interdiction as always.
-"Sit down, put your palms up and close ou eyes! Now feel the energy that you previously fed to your cells. Choose to focus on a hundred cells approximately, no more for now! When you can feel their distinctive features, their shapes, we could say their signatures, let them flow in your body and slowly converge in one of your hand."
Under the explanation of Erik, Alix was patiently following his lesson like never before. The expectation of being able to do the same and the respect he has about this man capable of raising and protecting his family in this wilderness without letting their gentleness go were mixing together to produce an attentive student.
When he concentrated on the tiny wavy particle of energy in his cells, he actually could feel a peculiar movement. As if they were taking the shape of an "8" in space, two circles joined by a point, moving in this strange pattern and being this pattern all at the same time.
-"Now that you can distinguish their particularities, try slowly, without hast to change their previous "0" shape into a triangle one, one with three equal edges. Don't hurry, one after another, you must not let your mind wander, it's a difficult task with great threats!"
Alix hesitates a short moment at the mention of the different shapes of his energy. " It's probably due to my unique constitution, having swallowed Darkness Emanation, it probably has incurred a change in my energy. I hope it won't have a bad repercussion on my ability..."
Slowly changing the design of his energy into the triangle one, he will one wavy particle after another to take their new shape. The process took practically an hour, having numerous Energysome in each one of his cells. He chose to let just ten cells released their energy, knowing he had a little bit more Energysome than average, not sure of the scale difference tho.
Having changed his energy into the triangle one he could already feel the difference in it, it had a fiery attribute compared to its previous impalpable one, making his right hand warmed up where his energy had accumulated.
-"When you can't take it anymore, when your mind is closed to collapsing, let it freely go out on your palm." Erik wasn't particularly waiting for success, he himself took three months to be able to convert a hundred cell's energy into a flame without burning his eyebrows.
"FROUUUGH"
An enormous flame appeared in Alix hand who had his eyes pleased with joy, not shouting just because he was trying to maintain his concentration. The fire was a deep red like cooling iron, but it was two-meters tall, unlike the little blue flame in Erik hand which wasn't much taller than fifteen meters.
-"Caution! do not overuse your energy in your body or you will be dry as hell !"
-"Oh no problem, I have actually quite a bit of reserve left hehe" smugly answered Alix
"How come? He is just at the early Evaporation level, he shouldn't be able to let it burn for more than two seconds! How many Energysomes did he have per cells??"
- "Woow! Slow down, slow down, let the energy dissipate itself, don't try to feed the flame anymore !!"
Even before Erik's reminder, Alix had stopped the ongoing flow, feeling the scorching hot flame closed to his face. The energy released was quite powerful, burning for six long seconds or so feeling like an entire minute for the panicking blacksmith.
-"I said just a hundred cells but you had to overdo it like always! No wonder you were called the ban of teacher, ungrateful fellow!! Hehehe but it's incredible that you were able to do it on your first try ! I'm actually quite shocked, to say the least! Normally it would take up to... Ten try or so..." Erik chooses to hide his inability by downgrading the difficulty of this exercise.
Alix was a little baffled, having strictly obeyed the steps, even reducing the amount of energy mobilized knowing he had a little more talent. " Am I this great of a genius? Did I downgrade my ability? Ahahah, I knew it, the world is mine to play with !!"
His ego was being boosted by the second, increasing to a level even higher than before his fall. But his head remained cool, knowing now that success was a long process, not willing to make the same mistakes twice.
Knowing the good mood of his fresh disciple, Erik chooses to let a little minute pass before going at it again.
-"That was your first lesson boy, and you did wonderfully but now, back to work! And I repeat don't try it alone! You just discovered the basics of it, tomorrow would be the real deal, there are myriads of way to developed yourself in the Abraxas!"
-"Oh, can't I ask more questions, I'm burning to know more...?" Smiling at his play word, Alix was looking at this fatherly figure with pleading eyes.
-" Nope, no questions allowed, but tell me, what did you understand of what you did? Understanding the process is the key to improve yourself!"
Musing about the process, Alix took his time before answering, careful in his choice of words.
-"I would say... The shape of energy defines its attribute...?"
He came to this conclusion with a little logic and the knowledge of his different than average black energy allowing him to connect the dots together.
-"Oh! Great, continue ..." Erik was surprised again by the keen mind of this teenager before him, fast analyzing everything he did.
-"Not sure about that, but you mention the freedom of the Abraxas more than one time, so I supposed, there is more than one way to transform energy...?"
-" You are not far from the truth! Let your mind search for the answer itself, it's the way of the prodigies after all! Don't let knowledge impeach you. I don't want to say too much for fear of obstructing your future so I will let you come to your own conclusion, guiding you a little. Anything more to say?"
Alix was in deep thought, thinking of his previous experience, remembering the sensation and pondering on different possibilities"
-"It should be possible to use more than one attribute...? But perhaps not at the same time ?" Having noticed his Dark energy avoiding Fire energy, he was conscious of the difficulty of two different kinds of energy cohabiting under the same body.
-"Hehe, again, you're close! I would say one more thing, to use more than one kind of energy at the same time is what defines an Art master. Now you know why I previously belittled your friend, it's not that I don't believe in him, but the probability to be able to do that at such a young age is highly unlikely!" Erik's ton had turned on a more serious note, half like a teacher, half like a dad reminding his kids of the harsh reality of life.
Their relationship had slowly turned from a wary one to a student-teacher one, slowly approaching one of trust and care without the two of them realizing it. Their personalities interlocking themselves well with each other.
-"I think I'm beginning to understand, thanks for the lesson Erik! And yeah, my village is probably a little backward, we perhaps did not know the real meaning behind certain words... That what I think at least."
-" Now that you are a half blacksmith, able to fire at will, come take your hammer and help me finish this f*cking big door !"
Erik has a lot of unsolved questions in his mind. "How is this a child? His reasoning is clearly like the one of an adult, even his reactions are not childlike! Is it a powerful master living in a child body? Unlikely even if it would explain his talent, he wouldn't listen to my poor lessons... What could he have lived for him to be this mature at his age...?"
-"Hey don't swear before a kid !" Alix had quickly retrieved his sharp wits, taking great joy in jesting with others.
-"As if! You are not a kid, clearly, you are a devil that came to my house to steal my daughter !" Erik wasn't the least impressed, answering with a devilish grin.
-"Hell no, I'm here to steal your wife obviously, without her, this house would be upside down!"
-"Don't you dare little one !!! And why not choose my daughter, isn't she to your liking ?" The blacksmith shouted with his powerful voice.
-"Trying to play the matchmaker after frightening me not to approach her? Quite a weird technique if you want to now my mind hehehe!"
-"Who are you speaking about?" A feminine voice echoed in the vast forge, startling the laughing duo.
-"Who is it, Mel? What are you doing here, don't you know you shouldn't eavesdrop?" Erik voice quickly turned to a more shaky one, fearing his daughter having heard his bad joke about her.
-"Mum wants you to come to eat, she said if you don't stop your chit chat instead of working, she would lift you by the ear the next time you don't want to come because you have too much work to do...." Méline tone was even during the sentence as if used to her parent's little jibes.
-"Hu, Alix, better stop your incessant questioning and listen to my dear wife, come! We will finish later! If you want my advice... Don't ever let your wife wait for you!" He shamelessly put the blame on Alix, quickly letting his hammer fall on the table and leaving at a quick pace.
Méline turned around, with a curious gaze fixing Alix.
-"How was it? Did my dad bother you? If you don't like to forge you just have to say it, he won't insist you know! Under his big tone, he is actually quite a careful dad! "
-"Haha, don't worry, we came to an interesting deal! And I quite love to forge and listen to his incessant chatting. I think he likes it too, to teach me all this!"
-"Yeah, he sure does, he always wanted to pass down his technique but sadly neither Lor nor I were really interested in this boorish work... Don't you find it kind of boring?"
They began to come back to the house, chatting the entire way.
-"Actually, I find it quite refreshing for the mind to focus on a single task, and it's not as if we will only forge...hehehe"
-"What do you mean? How come you are already making secrets with my dad?" Méline was playfully pouting a little. She looked quite charming with her puffed cheeks and her frowning eyebrow.
-"Don't repeat it, but Erik is teaching me to create a flame...." Not resisting the idea of telling someone, Alix whispered while looking around to check no one was around. Carefully, he opens his hand, where a little flame shine on it. He had already broke his promise to not try it on his first day.
"Well, not really, he did say I couldn't if I was alone outside the forge... I'm still in the forge and I'm not alone hehehe"
Méline's eyes were sparkling under the brisk light of the flame, enchanted by the dancing little tongue of fire.
-"It's so pretty, dad never let us see when he used it, you are so lucky !!"
They continue to walk, arriving before the house, Méline had her eyes detailing Alix's face in the already falling day, blushing.