Spreading his concentration out into what's known as a zone, the air surrounding Regulus turned hazy as if he was surrounded by fog.
Relating this to the memories he had obtained, he knew this dense energy unseeable during normal times was the card energy that constantly surrounded everything within Immisso.
The process that had gone smoothly up until that point then reached an obstacle. Maintaining the concentration zone and looking around, Regulus couldn't help but be confused.
'According to memories, the card energy should begin naturally diffusing into the body of the person who established the card zone.'
'Yet it remains unreactive around me, almost as if the card energy of this world can't detect me.'
Regulus's origins from another world couldn't entirely explain this phenomenon either, as the previous Regulus was likely faced with the same problem.
Resolving himself to gather card energy one way or another, Regulus sat in a highly concentrated state as time went by.
30 minutes. 1 hour. 2 hours. Not a single one of his muscles contracted during this period, yet the card energy still refused to budge.
At that point, a knock on the door broke Regulus's focus as he saw a shy and starstruck Azrael enter the room. Regulus stood up, sighing at his failure to gather card energy and the later difficulty it would bring.
'Why is he sighing? Did I do something wrong? Was I late getting here?'
Regulus could almost hear the panicked Azrael's inner turmoil caused by one of his simple actions.
'This kid is going to be difficult to teach.'
"Go grab your weapon of choice and show me what you can do."
Seeing Regulus wasn't angry at him, a delighted Azrael practically skipped over to the weapons wrack and grabbed a blunt spear.
Twirling it in one hand caused its whip-like end to create a hissing sound as Azrael adjusted to the comfortable feeling of a spear between his hands.
Regulus only nodded at Azrael's choice of weapon and seeming familiarity with it as it had been what he expected.
'According to memories, the spear has been the primary weapon of the angel race since ancient times; it's also the best medium for the Scorpio technique.'
Although the extremely profound celestial techniques from Regulus's former world could be channelled through almost any weapon, that didn't mean there weren't correct choices.
Leo utilised the longsword, Scorpio wielded the spear and Sagittarius the bow. Regulus followed this rule, so he had expected Azrael to do the same.
"So what now?"
Although Azrael had no idea what Regulus had called him here for, His blind faith in Regulus, combined with his desperation, meant he was prepared for anything.
Regulus knew he was taking a big risk in sharing celestial energy with Azrael, yet he wasn't some idiot who would come to another world and act all mysterious.
"What I'm about to explain to you can't leave this room. If this rule is broken, you will never hear from me again, and your people will remain cursed. Do you understand?"
Stiffening his shoulders and tensing up to the point it almost looked comedic after hearing the stern words, Azrael responded.
"Yes, Sir! I mean Regul- Teacher!"
"Just call me Regulus."
Waving his hand and interrupting the bumbling angel in front of him, Regulus waved his hand, indicating Azrael to sit.
Quickly taking a seat, Azrael assumed he was about to be asked to enter the concentration zone to gather card energy, yet Regulus's words stopped him in his tracks.
"Get to a level of concentration where you could expand a concentration zone, but don't."
Although confused about what the point of such an activity would be, Azrael obeyed, slowly entering an extremely focused state, blocking out all that surrounded him.
In his heightened concentration, Azrael didn't notice Regulus sit down behind him or the two hands he placed between the large black winds.
Once again, Azrael felt a strange energy fill each corner of his body but was quickly snapped out of his daze by a voice that seemed drained.
Opening his eyes, Azrael felt his mind explode at the information that rushed into it. He found himself within a sea of stars. Unlike the gloom-filled darkness of his wings, the darkness here acted as a canvas to frame ecstatic beauty.
Crushing the purest diamonds and brightest pearls, the scene that was so normal to Regulus left Azrael flabbergasted and unable to speechless as he turned to Regulus.
"Welcome to the astral world, the key to the restoration of your clan."
Despite the grandness of the words Regulus spoke, the sweat dripping down his forehead and slightly ragged breath told a different story.
'Why was that so difficult? Am I this weak?'
Forcefully dragging someone to the astral world was a technique used by wealthy families to speed up the training of their children.
Such a technique requires at least five stars in the constellation. The fact that Regulus was able to do it at one star could be considered a miracle, yet it only made him realise just how weak he now was.
Knowing he had to maintain his composure in front of his newly acquired student, Regulus began unperturbed.
"Just like the card energy you are familiar with, the celestial energy from these stars can be gathered through cultivation."
Detailing the first stage of the Scorpio cultivation technique to Azrael, which he absorbed like a sponge as if re-remembering as opposed to learning, Azrael began to pool celestial energy towards him.
Seeing the feeble stream of celestial energy flowing into Azrael, Regulus realised just how long it had been since he had seen a beginner gathering energy.
'Is it possible for something to be this slow? At this rate, it's going to take him a week to gather the first star of Scorpio.'
A week to gather the first star would place Azrael as a genius in the eyes of others, yet for Regulus, who formed the first star in a day in his last life and two hours in this one, it felt like watching paint dry.
Time flew by in the astral world as Regulus detailed more and more new and impossible things to Azrael. At this point, Azrael practically saw Regulus as an all-knowledgeable god who had descended upon this world.
As the duo was training within the astral world, the time for the final test that would decide their fate drew near.
*Add to your library if you enjoy the series*