We were all back at the place that the Instructor had assigned for training.
"Good. You all seem to have learned to meditate and become aware of the chakras. It is time for your next lesson," said Simon, "and it would be better if you were to say something. I feel weird otherwise talking to kids who won't even speak to me."
I know. We are not the talkative kind. Whenever we are all together, no one speaks. Damn it turns awkward.
"How do you use Kai?" Kelan asked.
Immediately all eyes went to him.
"A good question. Being able to generate energy is one thing and putting it to use is another," Simon said.
"Wow, what a genius question," Colin said, sarcasm dripping from his tone.
"Once you learn the second stage, you will be able to generate energy from your chakras. And today's lesson is all about that, but I'll show you."
Simon didn't seem to mind what any of us was speaking, but at least the atmosphere changed a little.
I'd say Kelan's use is best in these awkward situations because he is often such an idiot.
"You kids understand the tier system?"
"Yes," Ichika said, "from 1 to 8 they are a measure of one's ability."
"Well, to some extent yes they are. But a sorcerer's ability cannot be measured by their tier alone. There are various skills one has to master to be able to become a strong mage."
"Skills?"
"See for yourself."
Simon raised his arm and signaled us to watch closely. A moment later aura surrounded his body, he seemed to generate energy and shroud his hand in it.
"This is called an enhancer skill. You generally use it in two ways, either to enhance your physical strength or to be able to block an attack and minimize the damage you take. Take a look for yourself."
He turned towards a wall near and lightly put his palm up against the wall. With the slightest push, the whole wall got blown off.
Our jaws dropped. His strength was monstrous.
"I am of a higher tier, so this isn't something extraordinary. When you train properly, you can understand how strong a spell could be. Now I'll teach you the next basic class of spell."
"What is it?" Katie asked.
"It is called an emitter."
He put his palm out. The aura which was surrounding his hand now slowly moved toward the center of his hand.
As a part of the first stage, we learned how to sense Kai. It was the same energy that had surrounded his arm, but it seemed much more dangerous now for some reason. I backed up a few steps.
"Ah...you can tell, huh? This spell is going to be more dangerous than the previous one. It is another concept I need to teach you, but that comes later."
He raised his arm and the sphere of energy with it. He pointed it towards a line of trees there. He shot the sphere and it pierced through all of those trees before vanishing.
From the point he released the spell, it easily traveled more than fifty meters before extinguishing. That's really long-range.
"The emitter attack is the kind where you can shoot energy away from your own body. It is another basic skill you need to learn. When someone starts learning Kai, enhancers, and emitters are a must. You understand now?"
"Yes." Many of us said in unison.
"There isn't a specific order to it. One can learn an enhancer first or an emitter first, it just depends upon themselves. And depending upon the mage, their enhancers and emitters can have varying strength."
"Is that why your emitter was stronger than your enhancer," I asked.
"Well, as a matter of fact, my emitter spells are a tad bit better than my enhancers but here and now I didn't try hard in either of them. The reason their strength varied is different. Something I'll teach you later."
I nodded. Whatever it is, such usage of spells is extremely useful in a battle against the demons and these are just the basic skills. Who knows what sorcery awaits us in the future?
"So, it is about time we start the second stage of Kai training."
"We are already aware of chakras, what comes next?" Taylor asked.
"To produce energy, one must focus on the chakras and guide the energy out of their body"
"How do you do that?"
"There are pathways built inside your bodies whose sole purpose is to guide the energy produced by the chakras outside your body."
"In every living being?" I asked.
"Yes. They are vital to your existence. If they were absent, the energy produced by your body is more than enough to destroy you from the inside."
I am so glad that is the case.
"So how do we guide the energy?" Christine asked.
"You don't. It chooses a pathway that is most suitable to it."
"And what path is that?"
"It guides the path where energy can travel easily. That would be your palms and the soles of your feet."
"Is that all?"
"Well technically speaking, the body should be able to release energy from anywhere the paths lead. That includes your eyes, mouth, and any point on your skin that can be a source. But to be able to do that, you need to train and make sure those paths are active."
"How?" Ichika asked.
"That is out of your control. You learn Kai like this, otherwise, it needs decades to learn. Do it this way and develop over time."
It doesn't seem like we have a choice in training methods.
"Stand in front of me one by one, and I will activate those paths of yours."
"How?"
"Self-preservation is a body's instinct. The chakras react hostile to any energy they deem foreign, and release their own energy as a counter. I will inject a little of my energy through your backs and your body will react accordingly."
He called us one by one. The first one was Ichika. Simon placed his hands on her back and a moment later conjured some energy in her body. She stiffened and contracted. A moment later her palms were covered in her aura, and she was out of breath for the next few seconds.
"Don't lose that sensation. Remember it, you will have to do it on your own later."
She started focusing on her hands. The energy, which I assumed by the space it took, started shrinking but then got stable. Ichika could maintain it.
"Amazing. Now make sure you can do that again at will. Next!"
One by one everyone would head to Simon and he will tap into our bodies and activate our said chakras into releasing energy.
The body can react in weird ways.
Kelan for example fell to his knees. Taylor's throat was super dry and he couldn't speak just as Simon released his energy. Trystan had sweat beads forming on his forehead when it happened to him.
Katie and Colin suffered pain in their abdomen.
At last, it was my turn. When I was walking up to Simon, he had a concerned look on his face. He was looking at everyone, albeit a bit perplexed.
I went to Simon. He put his hand on my back and a moment later I felt the shock. My face contorted. And my hands got drawn near to my body almost instinctively. It felt like someone poured fire into my blood. Sweat formed all over my body and I had difficulty breathing. My legs gave out a moment later and I fell to my knees.
Simon withdrew his hand from my back. I looked at my hand where the energy was supposed to be released from
"Huh? There's nothing there," I saw no aura, "What is going on?"
I saw Simon and who stood there looking at me with an expression that.
"You don't have an innate talent for Kai, and you won't be able to continue this training," he said.
"What do you mean?"
"As I said, you do not possess any innate talent for Kai."
"Wait a minute, you should try again that method on me."
Forty-seven got up. He seemed a little worried but composed himself a moment later.
"Alright. Come here, I will be a little more intense this time."
Simon place his hand on Eric's back and with his other hand held him in place. He focused his energy on his palm and that pain reappeared. His face contorted, muscles twitched, and knees almost gave out, but he held his own for a few moments more.
"The result is the same. I do not sense any energy coming out of you."
"Didn't you say anyone could do it?"
"Yes. Because everyone has some degree of Kai in their body. That doesn't mean it is strong enough to appear using this one."
This method was made to separate those who had more talent that those who do not. And clearly, Eric falls in the latter category.
"If you ask me, I am quite surprised that you were the only person who failed. I did not expect more than one-tenth of you to pass this one."
'The very fact that all these kids have such talent in mastering Kai states they were put together for a reason. Although in forty-seven's case the Instructor might have been wrong. I just have to report back to him' Simon contemplated.
"Try again."
By this time, everyone around the room had realized that something unusual was happening here and they all gathered around.
"I have tried twice, but it did not work"
"I DON'T CARE. JUST DO IT!" he shouted.
They assumed the position again. Simon poured his energy with a push into Eric's back this time. His body reacted in a similar way to it the last couple of times, but unlike others, there was no energy released as a part of the body's natural response to this stimuli. Simon tried to retract his hand but Eric got hold of it.
"I am not done, I can handle this," said Eric.
"Don't you realize? Your body releases energy because mine is supposed to be harmful to it. If I pour any more energy into your body, you might receive significant damage."
Eric did not listen and kept Simon's hand in place. But it was clear a moment later that his resolve was not going to pay. Sweat formed all over as his knees gave out. And a moment later, burns started to appear over his body.
"Tch!"
Simon stopped the influx of energy and retracted his hand with force. Eric, who had fallen to the ground made an attempt to get up again only to fall once more. This time, he fell unconscious.
***
Back at the hostel, everyone was too tired to be on their legs and with the nights getting colder, you could see barely anyone out of their rooms.
Kelan knocked on Taylor's room.
"Yeah?" he came out rubbing his eyes.
"Were you sleeping?"
"I was about to." Taylor yawned.
"Want to check on Eric?" Kelan suggested.
"Is he up?"
"I don't know."
"Let's go. He was pretty worn out and furious."
"You saw what happened. He didn't pass the test."
"Man, I am kind of glad this was just training, or otherwise he would've been expelled."
"Heh, I wouldn't worry. He would get it probably in the next training session."
"I hope so," said Taylor.
They reached his room, it was locked.
"You in there, Eric?" Kelan knocked on the door.
They thought it was best to have a conversation at a time when their friend wasn't feeling good.
"Is he okay?" Taylor asked.
"How am I supposed to know? It's completely silent." Kelan attempted to put his ear against the door in an attempt to hear what was going on inside.
"He might be sleeping."
"Eric? You in there, buddy?" Kelan called out again. This time, a bit louder. He knocked again, but there was no response.
Kelan put his ears to the door again, and this time he heard something.
"I think he's crying." He told Taylor.
"Really?"
"Eric! Open the door, we're coming in."
'No, no, no, no, no...' they heard his voice, each sound louder progressively.
"Eric, are you okay?" Taylor asked.
"You fucking weak piece of shit! Go away!" Taylor twitched due to the loud voice.
They did not need to put their ears to the door to listen to that.
"You fucking coward!" These words came again from the inside. Taylor was speechless, and so was Kelan. They had never heard him like that, no matter the situation.
"I think he's panicking."
"He doesn't talk like that," Taylor whispered, for he did not want to get cussed at again.
"Maybe we should come back another time."
"Yeah, better give him some space."
They withdrew from the door, but not without hearing a final sob from their friend.
On their way back, these two encountered Ichika.
"You went to see Eric?" She asked. Taylor nodded in a way that conveyed the situation wasn't ideal, "I wouldn't worry in your shoes. Eric will pull through just fine."
"I mean, yeah. But I am still worried. He didn't seem like himself there," was what Taylor thought honestly.
"It happens more often than not, did you know Courtney burned her room in rage?" Ichika said.
"Why?"
"She wanted to take her anger out on something. I am just glad there was no one around her at that time."
"See, Taylor. It is good that we give him some time to recover." Kelan suggested.
"You two have known him for quite a while, right?"
"Yeah. We met in the first stage during the screening. We've known forty-seven since then."
"I am quite sure I wouldn't be alive if it wasn't for him."
"Mind telling me how it went down?"
"You remember the details better, Taylor. You tell her how our first stage's last test went down."
Kelan and Taylor shared their versions of the Screening's first stage when they met forty-seven as the three of them retreated to their respective rooms.
Kelan and Taylor thought Eric wasn't himself right now. The Eric they knew would never say such rude things to anyone, let alone his friends.
Unbeknownst to them, they were right.