'Lucifer! Help me out here. How do I circulate mana?'
Mana circulation. The first step to becoming able to use your mana more freely while at the same time expanding one's mana reserves.
In other words, it was one of the most important parts when it came to refining one's vessel.
So it couldn't be helped that I felt frustrated that I didn't understand how to do it even after listening to the old teacher's explanation.
'-Oh! Just forget what that granny told you, that method doesn't work for demons!'
'Of course it doesn't... so, what does work?'
'-Well, for demons, we don't circulate mana, we merely refine it inside of our cores. Or I guess in your case it would still be a heart.'
'I'm going to lose my heart?!'
'-Now, close your eyes and imagine diving into your core and feeling the energy inside of you.'
Not knowing what I was to expect, I just followed her orders and closed my eyes, trying my best to somehow dive inside of myself to find whatever I was looking for. And, suddenly there it was.
A small seed of conglomerated energy, pulsating in sync with my heartbeat, ejecting the mana that this world hailed as essential. Yet, there was something about the small seed of energy that didn't seem quite right.
Though I had gotten it explained to me by Ms. Zito last night that there was no difference between the mana of demons and humans, it felt as if something was indeed different about the energy inside of me.
And just as I was thinking that a female voice once again reached out to me in the darkness, just like she had done so many times before.
'-It's because a part of me is inside your core. Now, stop wasting time and start refining your core.'
'How do I do that?'
'-Simple. Just experience it, learn what it is, and grow with it.'
As much as her words were confusing, for some reason I understood what she meant. Thus, I reached out a hand that did not exist toward the seed and felt it, trying my best to understand what the essence of it truly was.
When I was refining my core, it felt as if time was absolved, dissolved, and imaginary. Right now, it didn't exist, because right now there was only me and the seed of energy inside of me. Or rather, there was only me and Lucifer, almost as if going back to our origin.
Comforting, safe... peaceful. Just sensing her presence around me, knowing that she was here with me, was more than enough for me to feel at ease.
With that thought in mind, allowed myself to escape the world of the living for a bit, and escaped to a world of only me and the woman who had saved me.
****
[Levi's Pov]
"That's it for today, everyone. We will be continuing with circulation training for a couple more lessons, but after that, you will have to do it in your own time."
No matter how many thoughts I had about what had happened this morning, I still somehow managed to meditate with intent until the lesson was over.
To be fair, I had been forced to practice circulation since the day I received my blessing, so it was pretty much second nature at this point.
It was to the extent that it would be unthinkable for me to fail at something so simple as mana circulation, and there was no doubt that if I did, my position as the heir to the Leviathan would be questioned.
Everything I did, no matter how small, was subject to scrutiny. If I didn't excel, if I didn't perform to a level that matched my potential, there would be consequences.
From Leviathan's stocks falling to even the possibility of someone getting rid of me in order to make way for someone more suited to the position.
But even still, despite all of this, and despite the fact that I had already made up my mind about keeping Aarick safe by staying away from him, it still hurt so much hearing him say those things to me.
Even more so as it wasn't exactly hard to figure out what he was doing. When we were younger, he had also tried so many times to get me to stay away from him, and back then, I couldn't quite understand why.
Or more like, I knew but didn't want to accept it.
Him saying those things, acting like someone completely different than who he was in the past, there was no doubt about what he was thinking. Just like in the past, he was so very clumsy but always did his best.
And now, he had clearly shown how he wanted things to go, and as it also aligned with my own decision, things should have been great. Yet, I felt the opposite.
"Are you alright, Levi? Did that moron do something again?!"
Standing up, my inner turmoil had not been missed by my closest friend, who for some reason got riled up incredibly quickly, something that was quite unusual for him.
Most of the time, he just kept a warm smile on his face, trying his best to make everyone happy, while at the same time knowing exactly what was expected of him in the future. Because he was in the same position as I, with him being the heir of the Phoenix.
"I'm fine. And about Aarick, I have already decided to just leave him alone. You know this."
Putting my hand on his shoulder, it didn't take much for him to calm down again, though his face still carried a hint of suspicion in it, suspicious that I might not be speaking the whole truth.
"Alright, if you say so. Then, let's go?"
"Mm."
Turning our bodies toward the exit in the backmost corner of the classroom, it wasn't surprising to see everyone else had already left, with only me, Will, and Mrs. Bright still in the classroom. Or so I thought until I noticed the almost ethereal white hair of a lost friend.
Although his appearance had changed a lot, something I could only assume had to do with his strange awakening, I was at least glad to see that he had managed to survive and live his life again.
Then, I noticed something very strange about his cross-legged figure. Most often when one circulated their mana, the color corresponding to their element would surround their bodies, but when looking at Aarick, there was no such thing.
Instead, it felt as if there was an invisible field around him, a field that no one was allowed to enter without his permission as if he was in some sort of world of his own.
"That..."
Coming to explain the situation, Mrs. Bright walked over to the two of us who were now staring at our white-haired classmate, and who was unable to understand quite what was happening.
"He seems to be an irregular, my dear. Hmm, even if it's fascinating to look at an irregular moving their mana, I do believe I have no choice but to wake him up."
Irregulars. People who weren't blessed by the main elemental gods, and instead had received a blessing from other gods.
These people were more than rare, and more often than not, they were quite sought-after in the hunter world as their abilities could carry some great usage if put in the correct situation.
Sadly, most of these people had quite a low potential, as the other gods were less powerful than the elemental gods, and therefore would never be able to reach the top amongst hunters.
So while it warmed my heart to know that he at least wouldn't have a problem finding a place in the world after graduating, it was equally painful to once again get it confirmed that we would never live in the same world.
There was no way a person with an [S]-rank potential such as myself could have a partner that most likely didn't even have a potential of [B]-rank.
Then, just as Mrs. Bright was about to approach Aarick, a voice rang out from the door.
"Ah, please do let him be, Mrs. Bright. I will be staying here for a bit, so it won't hurt to let him continue."
Our homeroom teacher, Ms. Zito had for some reason come here, despite the fact that this wasn't even her area of expertise.
Weirder yet was the fact that Mrs. Bright only nodded while accepting her words as if there was nothing strange about it.
"I see. Then, please make sure to lock after yourself. You two, as well, let's go."
Making us follow her out of the classroom, a small tinge of jealousy washed over me when thinking about our teacher getting to stay behind with Aarick. A tinge that I quickly repressed as I walked out of that room, not wanting to make things even harder for myself.