While Raisen danced some sort of folk jig, he stopped waving his arms around when he heard Fen's question. A big smile appeared on his face before he pat him on the shoulder.
"You know, when I became a teacher and then an instructor for the VPF, I expected my students to be intelligent and bright." Raisen turned away from him, stepping towards the window and staring into the empty universe. "What they don't tell you is that almost all of them are too self entitled to admit their own shortcomings, limiting their own growth.
Raisen sighed. "I can't blame them. They spent their whole lives being coddled by their families.
"The good ones are the ones who ask questions, because those are the ones who are aware of the gaps within their knowledge. They have no limits to their growth, until they grow too strong too quickly and become arrogant because of it."
The old man's eye twitched as he said that, and his happy smile was gone, but he quickly came back to his sense when he remembered that Fen was still standing behind him. Looking back at him, the smile returned to his face.
"So, thank you for asking questions, and don't be afraid to ask more. I won't bite, and neither will your nonexistent peers." Once again Raisen gestured at the completely empty Training Hall, devoid of any and all life except the two of them.
Grimacing at the thought of being short on students once again, the old man brought his full attention to the future student that stood in front of him, who was getting more than a little annoyed at the amount of time it was taking for Raisen to answer his questions.
'If the Narrator wasn't lying, then this Vitality whatever should be worth giving it a try. Even more so if I don't even have to alter my body to learn it like everyone else.' It looked like Lady Luck was beginning to help him once again.
"Ha, sorry for the rant. Anyway, as per our agreement, I'll answer your questions. To even begin explaining what Vitality is, I need to explain to you what Mana is. Just to confirm, you know absolutely nothing about magic, right?"
Seeing Fen shake his head, Raisen continued his explanation.
"Mana is, in the simplest terms, world energy. In more complex terms, Mana is the simplest form of all energy in existence. Thermal, sound, light, all of those energy types are, when broken down, are Mana. There's a lot more information about that, but you don't need to know that unless you're studying the Theory of Magic, or want to delve into the very creation of Mana. Essentially, although it is possible to convert those energy types into other types through specific processes, Mana needs no such thing. It's possible to turn Mana into light, like this," A greenish orb of light suddenly appeared on his palm, "with just a thought; if you know the process behind it.
"There's different tiers of magic spells, but you'll get into that in a different Lesson. Anyways, Vitality is very much like Mana, except where Mana is the simplest form of energy, Vitality is one of the most complex forms of energy found in the universe, specifically in nature. The basic rule of thumb to find sources of Vitality is this: if there is a will behind it, there is Vitality.
"Seems complex to think about in theory, but it really isn't in practice. To give you an example, think about people or trees. Both of them have a will guiding their actions."
At this part, a confused expression appeared on Fen's face. he had never thought about a tree having a will behind it's actions. Although it seemed obvious that a tree had Vitality, because it was alive, Fen was unaware that there was a very different explanation for such a question.
"How does a tree have will?"
Caught up in his teaching moment, Raisen was startled by the sudden question that interrupted his flow, but another smile appeared on his weathered face.
"Another question! Excellent!"
'Is he going to do that every time I ask a question?' If so, then it was going to be a very long couple of hours for him. Unless Mistress Misery wanted to accompany him for a while, then this should be worth it. Emphasis on the 'should'.
"Trees aren't like you and me, because we're warm blooded mammals we live in a different time than plants such as trees and the like. But every tree grows in a unique way, and if you study their growth movements you can gain an insight into their very being. I say being but you could also say mind, although they don't actually have a mind or brain. Unless they evolve of course, but that's a discussion for another time."
Hold on, didn't the old man just say something super important? What about plants evolving? Fen's sudden revelation was interrupted by Raisen's talking.
"What you really need to understand is that no two plants are the same because they have a will behind them. I would love to show you right now, but unfortunately, there's no plants here." Another wave towards the window, pointing out the Void.
"Another lesson to learn about Vitality. Some things that are alive don't have a will and so don't have Vitality even if they are alive."
Like zombies? Other creatures that Fen had only heard about in stories and legends popped into his head, like vampires and other undead creatures. Using logic, you couldn't describe them as truly alive, so they probably didn't have Vitality. They may be undead, but he still considered them a part of the dead community.
The old man didn't divulge what kind of creatures those were so he remained clueless on the nature of such animals.
"To call those creatures beasts would be insulting all beasts everywhere." A grimace appeared on his face.
"But that entire speech was about what has Vitality, and not what Vitality is; I already answered that so consider everything else I told you as a deposit for our bright future together as teacher and student."
A shiver went down Fen's spine as he heard the old man's words. For some reason, he thought that the future's that the two of them were thinking about were very different. 'Aren't teachers supposed to be kind and gentle guides for knowledge? The old man doesn't fit any of those boxes.'
If the Archon was any example to go on, the people running the facility had some 'certain' tendencies that didn't bode well for the weaker Opfer.
"So now you'll tell me what I can do with Vitality?" Was what Fen actually said, keeping his eyes apathetic to keep out the unvoiced fears circulating in the back of his mind.
Raisen waved his hands in the air. "Yes, yes. Don't worry about me, you worry about keeping your end of the bargain. Usually you'd learn this stuff after you joined my Lessons, but I'll make an exception for you."
'What kind of teaching plan was that?! You don't know what you're learning about until you already pay for the Lesson?' Raisen's image plummeted in his mind, and solidified his theory that the members of the VPF all had problems in the head. Not that the sample size was very large, but out the two members he had seen, both of them seemed to have a couple of screws loose.
The whole Lesson thing appeared to just be a massive scam in the Program to suck the candidates dry of their points...
'...I'm not the problem, right? Do I just have bad luck?' The events of the last couple days definitely seemed to indicate something along those lines, but it was only bad luck if it only happened to an individual. The sheer number of Opfer kidnapped and brought here meant that he didn't have bad luck (What a relief), so much so that he was just too outstanding. If he didn't stand out so much back on Earth than he probably wouldn't have ended up here.
What should have made him proud instead made him sad again. If only he wasn't so amazing, then he wouldn't have ended up here...Fuu, the worries of being too amazing...
Inwardly chuckling, a glint of sadness flashed in Fen's cold eyes. 'What a load of shit. Even if it wasn't me, someone else would still be here. This isn't my fault. Not my fault. The only thing I can do now is try to survive.'
A human's ability to adapt to change was miraculous. Compared to their other natural abilities, this tool allowed them survive even global catastrophes. Now, it allowed Fen to change, and become someone colder.
He zoned back in, listening in to Raisen's explanation about the uses of Vitality.
"To start off, with Vitality you can permanently or temporarily strengthen your body. That's the most basic technique that beginners can perform. Think of it like overloading your body with natural energy until it either breaks or grows through the surge of energy."
Raisen must have noticed the wariness in Fen's eyes, or saw him suddenly tense up from the mention of the dangers of Vitality. He immediately started pacing around the room and waved his hands around frantically.
"It's not dangerous!"
He grimaced. "There were some... accidents where too much Vitality was used and they exploded," Before Fen could interject Raisen suddenly spoke much faster to provide more benefits, "but those are very rare cases! You have me as a teacher so there's no chance that you'll experience the same thing as them with me around."
"And there's a lot more you can do with Vitality! I can't tell you now because technically you're still not in my Lesson, but when you do purchase it, I'll tell you all about it!"
Rubbing his head between his palms, Fen carefully thought about the old man's words. He honestly didn't know what to think of Raisen. He had seemed like a cool and kind stranger when they first met, then an crazy teacher, and now a desperate salesman trying to rope in some unfortunate family into buying whatever he was selling.
Using Vitality to become stronger seemed...enticing, but overall it didn't seem more powerful than shooting lightning out of his palms like Archon Ellora had done. He needed more power now, and not just vague promises.
The only thing keeping Fen from walking out the door in that moment was the last question he had; what he could do as a natural conductor. If there wasn't some amazing skill he could use that would help him survive, then he'd be stupid to not leave right then and there.
There was also the Narrator, who had said that master at manipulating Vitality were capable of feats that had garnered his appreciation. Nothing Raisen had said fit that standard, so there must have been something else about Vitality that he didn't know.
"Hmm. What about natural conductors like me? Is there anything special that I can do?" Raisen quickly nodded, doing his best to not lose one of the only prospects he had for a student.
"Yes! But, the actual term isn't 'natural conductor', because that's not what you actually are. We call them Vituls.
"Everyone can conduct Vitality, but what makes Vituls special is that you can conduct different kinds of Vitality naturally instead of having to use a special technique, almost like you're breathing. Your body gets stronger with every breath you take by taking in the world's Vitality, and you don't have to take special precautions like me when assimilating foreign Vitality."
The old man scratched at his chin. "At least, I think that's what you can do. I've never actually seen a natural conductor in real life before, people like you are extremely rare."
Fen held his hands out and stopped Raisen from continuing.
"You know, that doesn't make any sense. I'm not stronger than other people, at least not by a lot, I mean, I work out-"
"Let me finish!"
"I take it back, asking too many questions is just as bad as not asking at all!" The old man exclaimed. The outburst startled Fen, who had already assumed Raisen to be a nice old guy. The small flash of anger made him reevaluate the man's personality.
"Ahem. As I was saying, that's what your body would be capable of doing anywhere else but Earth. As it is right now, the environment isn't suitable for people like you who require large amounts of energy to facilitate their growth, causing your body to unconsciously seal off it's natural pathways to protect itself. Otherwise, instead of sucking in the natural Vitality which would usually flood a mana-rich world you'd be leaking your own energy until you died."
'If my 'pathways' are sealed than how does that help me? I might as well not be a Vitul at all.' thought Fen.
"...So if my body sealed off my 'pathways', then how am I supposed to unseal them?" was what he actually said.
The small hope that Fen had at using Vitality to help him survive was beginning to flicker, almost like it was about to go out.
Then, once again, the bright smile that periodically appeared on Raisen's face came back and totally erased the annoyed face he had mere moments ago.
"Hehehehe." The old man chuckled, and in Fen's eyes, the bright smile became much darker and more sinister, like a wolf that had cornered it's prey.
"I can do it for you, but you need to buy my Lessons first."
The glint of victory appeared in Raisen's eyes. He was one hundred percent sure that he was guaranteed to get at least one student. And a Vitul as well! He would finally be able to understand what really set them apart from regular Vitality masters such as himself.
And maybe, if he was lucky, he could study their physiology to better the uniqueness behind Vituls. Hell, maybe he could even apply what he learned to his own body, but that was farther down the line.
The glint of victory lasted until he saw Fen walking out the door. Err, doorway; he forgot that his door was no longer there because it got taken away.
'Knew it was too good to be true. Damn it. All that Vitul crap was probably a bunch of crap too. Can't believe he actually had me going for even a moment...' Fen inwardly scolded himself for believing the crazy old man's story for even a second.
He needed to find an alternative path. Thinking back towards Squad 42, Fen decided to talk with them and see if they discovered anything useful.
"I'm sorry! Sorry! That was a lie!"