Needless to say, the ability to control raw astral energy was insanely difficult. And that's putting it mildly.
The siblings were met with a variety of issues the moment the training started, with three being the most prevalent.
The first issue was the fact that they only knew how to absorb astral energy into their bodies. The concept of doing anything otherwise was completely foreign to them.
The second issue was the matter of concentration. Before the siblings learnt how to absorb astral energy while moving, it was stated that doing so was incredibly difficult as most people meditate sitting down in one place so that they could focus completely on the task. That is why meditation while moving was a challenge, so imagine the level of concentration one would need to fully control astral energy.
One might ask, if mages control astral energy in their bodies to form spells, then why is it so difficult to control the one outside their bodies. The reason is simple, the same way people can take in oxygen to allow themselves to move and produce blood and other things, that the same case with controlling astral energy. You can take in oxygen, but you can't control the air.
The third and finally problem was actually sensing the astral energy, one that makes up their attribute to be precise. Using the same analogy with the air and oxygen. Mages can feel astral energy all around them without issue, but when they absorbed it, they only absorbed the same one as their attribute. The same way that even though the air is made up of nitrogen, CO2, and oxygen, but it's only oxygen we breath in. We know those other elements are there, but we can't do anything with them.
It's the same with mages, they know that other forms of astral energy exist, but they can only use the same one as their elemental attribute.
Anyway, this is an issue because even though we know that it's all around us, we can't accurately tell them apart, we only take in what we need as it is something instinctual. The same with mages when meditating.
When meditating, they act like a magnet and the elemental particles automatically get attracted to them. But they can't tell where the particles are.
So the siblings need to figure out how to know where the elemental particles they need are, then they need to learn how to control it as well as have enough concentration to do so.
"Ugh." Gideon groaned at the head splitting headache as his eyes and nose literally bled due to the immense strain on his brain. Victoria was no different.
They had started with learning how to sense the astral energy and immediately were met with a roadblock.
When they tried to sense the astral energy, they almost passed out. It wasn't because they couldn't sense the astral energy and overworked themselves. It was because they were simply overwhelmed when they tried.
According to Sia, if they wanted to sense the energy, all they needed to do was clear out their five senses and use their sixth sense.
It may have sounded odd for some since most believe that the sixth sense didn't exist, but they had no issues since it was their sixth sense that helped them with their instincts and meditation.
After some minutes, the duo were successful, but as stated before, they nearly lost their consciousness. This was because when they succeeded in sensing the energy, they were hit with the sight hundreds of billions and even trillions of multicolored particles. Astral energy.
The sight was so difficult to comprehend that their brains tried to forcefully shut down to prevent any damage. But they stayed awake due to sheer willpower. But despite that, they stopped using their sixth sense and no longer saw the insane sight.
"That will be the first step in learning how to control astral energy, you two will need to constantly see into that realm you entered until you can see the astral energy without any issues." Sia explained to the siblings who were still a bit dazed from what they saw.
Even though it was only for a brief moment, they saw that the world was painted with all these particles. There wasn't a place without them.
'So that's what the world would look like if astral energy was visible.' Gideon thought while ignoring the stinging sensation in his brain.
"Now do it again." Sia ordered and the siblings complied without any hesitation. They no longer hesitated I. the face of pain.
The siblings once again used their sixth sense to see the astral world as they decided to call it once again.
This time, they were able to see it a tiny bit faster than before, but the time they lasted was the same.
"Again." Sia's voice rang in their minds once more and they immediately went back to seeing the world once again. Still not lasting any longer.
"Again." This time, they lasted approximately 0.002 seconds longer.
"Again." And they did it again.
And again.
And again.
And again.
And again...
"That's enough." Sia finally gave them the signal to stop and the duo immediately collapsed and passed out.
After about their fiftieth try, they were able to last about 3.4 seconds. At the cost of a brutal headache and bleeding from their eyes and ears.