"Lyn, let's try the technique again, I think we are almost finished. " Ryle said full of excitement. It has been almost 5 years now since they got the technique, for Ryle to be able to get this far with the unknown grade of a technique, that would not have been possible without Lyn. Her experiences about the technique pretty much increased his speed by a few folds. Although neither of them were aware of how amazing their feat was, this was something that was on par with the First Empress but compared to her, they changed something of much higher difficulty, Ignorance is bliss.
"brother, look. at the last point, we need to go back." Lyn said as she was circulating the technique.
"Go back? Let me see." Ryle also circulated it, and indeed. the only way forward is by going back through the same path.
"Wow, this is insane, first from the heart to the brain than to the so-called mana core, afterward it goes through a unique route through every mana vain before going back to the brain, hearth and ending it in the mana core..... then we repeat the process 10 times with each time being different, the last which just needs to go reverse like the first round. Just who made this?" Lyn just stood there confused, unlike Ryle who was explaining like an old man, she just 'feels' the mana and has a much easier job. Seeing Lyn confused Ryle shook his head.
"Lyn, just go the first round, but start from the end and go to the start. afterward, it should be finished." Ryle spoke as he tried it himself.
Time went by and it took Lyn 2 hours to do a full circulation of the technique after she finished the last one, something seemed to connect. The light became dark, atmosphere cold, while the lush green forest was slightly withering, the air blew like a tornado with Lyn as the center. Ryle who sat next to her opened his eyes as he looked at her. Unaware of what was going on, he ignored it and tried it himself. He took about 5 hours to complete it and the same phenomena appeared again. This time, however, both phenomena super-imposed on each other and drew in much more mana, the mana was visible to the naked eye.
The grass that was withering before started to regain its lush green color and grow even taller, the darkness that had descended also slowly faded back as light shone once again. the whirlpool intensified in strength by a few folds. Both Lyn and Ryle being unaware of the commotion they made, and the difference both of them had in the technique, they kept absorbing the pure mana from the air for a few hours, before stopping.
"Brother, look, the grass grew, the trees are taller and there are even fruits!" Lyn said as she excitedly ran towards some fruits handing from nearby trees.
'Was that just me? Why did it feel that Lyn was forcibly taking the energy from everything around her, I included.....' Ryle was pondering to himself, when he stayed long near Lyn, he felt very week, it did not take long for him to finish the circulation before the feeling disappeared and changed.
"Hey Lyn, come here for a bit. Let us try again." Ryle said as he asked her to come, Lyn who was now eating a fruit that looked like an overgrown apple went next to him and once again sat down to circulate the technique.
This time it did not take that long, she finished her circulation in less than an hour, and as Ryle observed, he saw that the light was fading and it was becoming darker, the grass was withering, although slowly, it was visible to the naked eye. The whirlpool was also rotating around her as she absorbed Energy, also known as Mana. Ryle was so shocked that he forgot to check himself. by the time he realized, all the energy he had absorbed in his body, to be fused into his mana core later, was forcibly taken away. Even the Mana core was slowly releasing energy. Although Ryle was not aware of that, he could feel that if this continued, he would become a cripple not capable of becoming a mage ever.
"Lyn STOP!" Ryle shouted, only to be ignored. Lyn seemed to be in her little world. Hearing nothing from the outside. Not knowing what to do, Ryle took a small stone and threw it at her stomach, which hit its mark and woke her up from her trance.
"What happened!?" Lyn spoke as she saw her surroundings, the beautiful view from before, was gone, everything was dark, although visible, one could see their surroundings, it was obvious that it was not the natural color, it was like the ancient grey metal screens.
"Don't panic, tell me how you circulated the technique exactly, don't leave anything out," Ryle spoke as he went to pat her head.
"I... I did the first the same as we always do, then when you said back, I took everything the same, went from the mana core to the brain and finished at the heart," She spoke in a stuttering voice, clearly scared by what happened.
'What? this makes no sense, this is the exact reversal. But why is mine different,... wait. I ended at the core and started at the heart. The original version was about Refining everything for its use, is that what Lyn was using? then the one we made is different but because It still has the basics from that, it was greatly influenced and still the same. But a slight change was enough to make it from taking energy from everything to just the energy from the Air, which is the purest form.'
"Lyn, never do that route again, instead when you end the last round goes from the heart to the brain and then finish at the core. Put everything straight there to be absorbed." Ryle spoke as he started the technique once again. Lyn followed behind him.
Both of them did not realize that it was already dark and they had made their parents have a sleepless night as they were searching the surrounding forest.
The next day Ryle woke up to find Lyn and himself sleeping outside. Seeing how Lyn was using his stomach as a pillow he could not help but smile. Gently, he stroked her hair and woke her up.
"Wake up sleepy head, we better return or Mom and Dad will ground us for the next few years."
"Uhmm, whaaaa, morning Ryle." Lyn stretched as she greeted him.
"C'mon, let's go."
Meanwhile in the Fors Village, Lily was looking everywhere while Ter was outside searching the forest with some men.
"Where are you two, please be safe, Lyn, Ryle." Her anxiousness was visible on her face. You could say that the whole village was on a search mission. As she was searching outside the Village outskirts she saw the two coming from the forest. Her eyes shine as she saw them coming, meanwhile, her eyes were growing watery as she ran towards them.
"What's wrong mom, something happened?" Seeing Lily like that, Ryle also grew anxious, thinking something happened. he did not think that her reaction was because of them.
"Oh my babies, thank god, you are safe." Lily hugged them as she pulled them in her arms.
"Mom, don't cry, here, I'll give you the fruits I found, please" Lyn, on the other hand, was sad as she offered the fruits that the plucked when they were coming back. The path they were at, was full of them, many nearby trees that could bear fruits somehow bore them.
"WHERE WERE YOU! DO YOU KNOW HOW WORRIED YOUR DAD AND I WERE!?" After the initial happiness was followed by stage 2, anger, Lily flared up as she saw them both bow their heads and look at the ground.
"We're sorry, we forgot the time and fell asleep..." Lyn spoke before Ryle could even reply. hearing her words, Ryle almost face palmed himself while Lily look at Ryle with a dangerous glint in her eyes.
It was at this moment that Ryle knew, he f*cked up.
"Hohoho, slept? in the forest? now, now, what a caring brother you are, both of you are grounded, for the next 10 years."
"But mom! I need to go to the academy in a month!" Ryle spoke but he did not dare to look at her.
"Young man, you need to take responsibility, what if something happened to the two of you?"
"Mom, brother was not at fault, I slept and he did not want to wake me up," Lyn spoke as she tried to defend Ryle.
Lily, on the other hand, massaged her temple as she told them to follow her back home. Back home they got another lecture from Ter and Kent, mostly Ter though. Ryle got a month of spending time with his other sister, Lisa, as he was forbidden from leaving the house. Which in turn led to Lisa calling him 'Dada', which made Ter gloomy for several days until she called him Papa and he was happy again.
During this month, neither of them touched the technique, instead, they decided to keep it a secret from others. the two versions are too close and if someone were mistake or experiment and find the one Lily first practiced, it will be a disaster. Ryle also decided to name the two techniques. The one the Lyn first used, which forcefully absorbed the Energy of the world and the sun, was called 'Planetary Devastation Technique' Which is literally what the name says, it devastates the planet. and the other. The other one was named 'Pure Mana Absorption Technique'
Both of them decided to use the Pure Mana Absorption Technique and leave the other for now. because both of the techniques were so similar, one could practice both and not feel anything wrong. They were not aware but, practicing different techniques would require the one who is practicing to first convert their Mana into the quality of the new technique. The two techniques they have however do not have such problems.
Time passed and Ryle was now on his way towards Sun City, because of how his technique is visual, he does not dare to practice it in a City he knows nothing of. So he mostly focused on learning to read, write and other basics that are needed for his everyday life. Every vacation he would go back home and play with his sisters, Lyn and Lisa. Before they knew it Ryle was already 13 years old. Because of his behavior, that was more mature than kids his age, it was hard to make any friends, and he did not bother with them much. Which made him value his family even more than he did before, especially his sisters.