'...Hm?' After waking up, Archiasis immediately felt something was odd about his body. He observed himself, yet didn't notice anything until he looked at his hands.
On the back of both his hands were two symbols. One of was red and was almost incomprehensible, while the other was blue and it made one feel at ease.
"What is this?" Archiasis raised his hands to observe them more but saw the blue symbol glow. He was confused so he thought about the book from yesterday.
'Is the book the cause for this?' Archiasis wasn't too held up by the sudden appearance of the symbols and went to the living room.
His sister was in her room sleeping so he didn't bother waking her up, because it would just make her mad.
"Let's begin training." Archiasis said as he took of his gray shirt that was stained with the blood from yesterday's event. After taking his shirt off, he assumed the lotus position in the middle of the living room and closed his eyes.
'Sense your forma. I haven't been capable of doing it since I was born, but hopefully the appearance of the book will provide a change.' Archiasis thought.
Because he couldn't sense or use forma, his body was always weaker than everyone else's, which led to everyone around him despising him.
It was like being hated just because he couldn't do a push-up.
Archiasis focused solely on sensing his forma, and before him was nothing but a black void that enshrouded his view. He remained calm since he was brought to this place everytime he tried to sense his forma.
"Focus." He muttered to himself. He assumed the lotus position within the lotus position, but he didn't close his eyes. After sitting within the void for an unknown amount of time, his eyes contracted as he sensed something.
'Forma.' Archiasis stared directly before him, at a body of mysterious energy that gave off a violent aura. It was white and docile in essence, but when Archiasis reached out to it, it turned dark red and violently pulsed.
It moved as if it were a soundwave and made strange sounds. Despite this, Archiasis didn't stop his approach and when he touched it, he felt the energy slowly enter his body.
'I could never do this before finding that book.' He thought before closing his eyes after the energy completely entered his body.
When he opened his eyes again, he was back inside his home and the light from the sun shone in through the dirty window.
Archiasis cared little about the condition of his home right now as he detected a strange energy moving within his body. It was a fascinating feeling, making him feel as if he could crush a mountain with a single punch.
"Is this what it feels like to have forma?" Archiasis muttered. In the corner of his eye, he noticed the silhouette of his sister standing in the hallway.
She silently observed Archiasis and didn't speak a single word even after he looked back at her.
"Are you hungry?" He asked.
"Yes." His sister silently responded. It was hard to hear her voice because of how low it was, not to mention how hoarse it sounded.
It'd be impossible for anyone besides Archiasis to understand her if they heard her now.
Archiasis pointed towards the kitchen before saying, "Give me a moment, I've chanced upon something."
His sister stared blankly at him and then went into the kitchen. The clacking of plates could be heard as his sister struggled to get a plate from the cabinet.
Suddenly, the sound of glass breaking chimed throughout the house. Archiasis immediately entered the kitchen and saw his sister staring down at the broken plate on the floor.
She didn't tell him what happened, nor did she show any expression, she simply stared at the plate and then at her arm.
Unbeknownst to her at first, her arm was cut by a sharp piece of the glass plate that flew into the air. The cut wasn't too big, but it wouldn't be easy to heal.
It would probably take more than half a month for the wound to heal.
Archiasis had a complicated expression on his face before he approached his sister and placed his hand over her arm.
Suddenly, a white light emitted from his hand and blood stopped flowing from the open wound. The wound quickly healed right before his sister's eyes.
A small tinge of surprise appeared on her face for a fraction of a second before going back to her usual blank face.
She looked at Archiasis and asked, "Arch, you can use forma now?" Her hoarse voice made it sound painful to talk.
"Yes. The first step to getting your light back is learning to use forma." Archiasis replied. For once in his life, a very subtle and small smile appeared on his face.
Though, it was rather unnoticeable and his sister didn't pick it up.
She went and grabbed a broken broom before sweeping the mess up into the dustpan and dumping it in the trash.
After that, she got out plates for both of them, Archiasis cooked food, and the two had a quiet breakfast...
'Sharpen your forma until it's as sharp as a sword...' Archiasis was in the living room, assuming the lotus position again.
He had his shirt off and observed his body as he used his forma, concentrating it in his finger. He noticed that whenever he used forma, depending on the hand he used it on, the forma's qualities would differ.
For his right hand, it was calm and peaceful, like an ocean. And for his left hand, it was raging and violent, like a volcano or sea of flames.
"My hands, or rather these symbols, determine what qualities my forma takes when being used." He muttered while moving his forma between both hands.
He had been sharpening his forma for hours, or at least condensing it into one point. The easiest way was by concentrating the forma around one of his fingers.
He learned that compressing it too much would lead to a violent eruption, which wasn't what he was looking for.
After making that mistake, he thought back on the words from the book and he finally understood the first part of the instructions more deeply.
Archiasis condensed his forma on one finger but spread it across the finger evenly while forming a sharp point at the end of his finger.
Like a knife.
The more he did this, the 'sharper' he could feel his forma becoming. It gave off a small and weak, yet dangerous, feeling.
It gave Archiasis the same feeling as when he looked at a real knife.
I could cut myself if I brought it across my arm...
Having an idea, Archiasus entered the kitchen and grabbed a knife, and held it in his right hand. He then used his forma and condensed it around the blade of the knife.
What happened next was no surprise, as it only affirmed his guesses. The knife itself seemed to give off a dangerous feeling and he intended to test it.
He brought the knife against the counter and gently pressed it against the counter. The moment the tiniest bit of force was applied to the knife, a mark was made on the counter.
Archiasis moved the knife to observe the result and was greeted with a thin bit deep mark that a regular knife couldn't imitate.
"So I can use forma to enhance weapons." He said to himself while condensing the forma at the edge of the blade. He then tried cutting the counter again and the result was greater.
Because more forma was applied to the part of the knife that would cut the counter, a deeper mark was made.
After finishing his test, Archiasis went back to the living room and assumed the lotus position again.
'I don't have much forma to begin with, and I don't know how I should strengthen my body.' He decided to have a look over the instructions again.
He immediately noticed a select few row of words amongst the instructions pertaining to the strengthening of his body.
"Cycle the forma inside your body and enhance your body during any exercise." Archiasis sat still for a moment, pondering on what exactly 'cycling' his forma meant.
'What does that mean? Maybe someone at school can tell me...' He thought. Because Archiasis couldn't use forma, he was told to only do his work and nothing else.
This lead to the absence of knowledge regarding forma and its uses.
Archiasis got up, put his shirt on, and left the house after informing his sister. He looked around his neighborhood, which was full of dangerous individuals and people you wouldn't want be involved with.
"Hey, pal! It seems you've recovered just fine from yesterday." A mocking voice sounded from behind Archiasis the moment he left his house. Archiasis turned around and instantly realized who it was.
It was the man who had his goons beat him until he fainted yesterday. He had wavy brown hair, yellow eyes, and an annoying face.