"Now that I've become a Gifter, I can finally go on an adventure!" exclaimed Erwin full of joys, snapping up for the euphoria of the moment - "I must prepare my things immediately! I cannot waste my time here!"
The boy went straight to his room, but Ron lifted him without any effort, effectively blocking his run.
"Hey Ron! Why are you stopping me?!" he asked annoyed Erwin, who was completely revved up at the time.
"...Because you're an idiot!"
Ron, angry at the boy's behavior, hit him with his classic fist on the head, causing great pain to Erwin, while he also bit his tongue;
"O-Ouch... Why did you hit me? Aren't you happy for me?" asked Erwin, holding his head with both hands, not understanding the reason for Ron's rebuke.
"I'm happy instead" - countered Ron, although his always neutral and serious expression did not make Erwin think the expression of a happy person - "The point is that you are very far from being a Gifter."
"But I've awakened my core! Now I can use my mana! What's the problem now?" Erwin replied, confused, not understanding what he needed now to become a Gifter.
"Geez... how can someone want to become a Gifter so hard, but don't know a damn thing about the world?" - whispered the man softly, shaking his head for the ignorance of the boy - "Get ready, from today will begin your training to become a Gifter... you better be ready."
*******
A few minutes later...
"Oh, you've finally arrived" Ron said, noticing Erwin's presence; he still had trouble believing that Erwin had awakened his core, but it was now clear that the boy was an awakened like him and many others;
[a sign of destiny?] Ron thought, silently looking at Erwin... But Ron had stopped believing in destiny a long time ago, and he certainly would not have started again now, even though that what happened was incredible.
"Um... Ron, before we start, can I ask you a question?"
"Tell me..." said the man, nodding slightly.
"I know you've been training me in martial arts since I was five, but what do you know about mana? I mean, I've never seen you use it..."
"... Oh well, let's just say i know one things or two about the argoument..."
*Suddenly, my body felt a violent pressure coming from Ron's body; I had never felt anything like it, it was as if the air around me suddenly became thin; it was as if my body, at that moment, had turned into a large block of concrete... I looked up to see Ron, and he too seemed changed: his expression was damned terrifying, much more than it was before...*
"...i think that's enough." said Ron, and at that moment, the pressure that Erwin felt just vanished. Once everything returned to normal, Erwin let himself fall, beginning to breathe in a laborious way.
"R-R-Ron! What the hell was that thing?!"
"Mana" - Ron replied directly, crossing his arms - "And for your information, that wasn't even 5% of my power."
[N-N-Not even 5%?!] The boy thought, his eyes widening in amazement once he heard what was said; but at the same time, a certain curiosity about the man arose: he knew nothing about Ron's past, and the fact that he possessed mana, It was something he never could think of, as magicians, especially gifters, were known for their wealth, quite the contrary to Ron, who owned a small bar in a very poor village; but now that his horizons had been broadened, He wanted to know everything about Ron's past: Was he a Gifter too? Was he a great magician? How strong was he compared to other magicians?
"What are you doing standing there?" - Ron asked, noting that the boy was lost in his thoughts - "If you don't want to train, just say it, I have other things to do."
"N-No! Wait!" said Erwin, who suddenly found his strength again, snapping to his feet and speeding toward Ron.
"I'm ready!" exclaimed the boy, standing at attention.
"I see it, but before I start I want to ask you a question: Do you know what an awakened? do you know what a gifter is?"
Erwin was about to respond, however, when he realized that in fact, in addition to a few stories scattered here and there in the village, he realized that he knew absolutely nothing about the Gifters.
"... Only by hearsay."
Ron was quite surprised to see Erwin so calm: in fact, that kid used to act first before thinking, thus always creating problems for others; seeing him so calm and focused, made him almost disgusted as it was strange to see him in that state.
"Huh? What is it?" asked Erwin, who noticed a strange look on Ron's face.
"Nothing, I was just thinking..." answered Ron, who after a few seconds, continued with his explanation.
"Well, first of all, an awakened is none other than the one who has awakened the mana dormant within a person: in fact, every living being has mana, including trees and plants, streams of water and some volcanoes. What differentiates the awakened from normal people, however, is the fact that due to some different physical characteristics, the mana that we posses is influenced by the mana that surrounds us: this causes the mana in our body to begin to increase, until, arriving at a certain point, a person is able to awaken his core... all clear?"
"Yes... but then, why when they checked my core, they said I didn't have any mana inside me?"
It was the same question Ron kept asking himself at the time; the problem was not the fact that Erwin awakened his mana, although it was rare to awaken the core after the age of 10, but the fact that Erwin possessed mana, since in fact, he was born without mana, was very strange and peculliar.
The more Ron thought about it, the more he started to think that what happened to Erwin was a miracle, which was very annoying to him, since he didn't believe in miracles at all;
"... Your core was probably very small, so it was never detected with magic tools." - Ron said, trying to find an answer that seemed plausible to him. - "However, waking up your mana at such an "advanced" age is not always a good thing."
"Uh? What do you mean?" asked concerned Erwin, who certainly didn't expect to hear those kind of words.
"Well, you'll soon understand: put yourself in a zen position..."
"Zen position? What is that?"
"... it's the meditation position, you dumb..."
"Ah! Okay, i get it!" exclaimed the boy, that without wasting time, put himself in a zen position; - "Well, what now?"
"Close your eyes and listen to my voice..." said Ron, who walked behind the boy's back, then bent over and put his palm in the middle of the boy's back.
"Listen carefully and do what I say, and above all, don't answer, just act; now, adjust your breath deeply inspiring, and exhale slowly. Do this for a minute."
Erwin didn't know what it was all about, but if he would help him with his training, then he would do anything. Erwin began to inspire and exhale deeply for about a minute; suddenly, the sound around the boy became more and more muffled, until it disappeared completely; in some ways, it reminded him when he was "supposedly dead", although at that moment, was in a state of total peace with himself.
Without realizing it, his mind had completely emptied, and his breathing became slow but steady, as Ron had previously indicated.
"Well, you're in a trance now." said Ron, who, however, was surprised at the speed with which he entered the state of absolute meditation: usually, an awakened person had difficulty entering the state of trance the first time; yet, at that moment, Erwin had entered it completely alone: For this, he had positioned himself behind him, to force the circle of breath, a fundamental basis for controlling the mana and the core.
[...Perhaps, the fact that he had a near-death experience helped him reach the state of total trance?] wondered Ron, puzzled by everything that was happening, and starting to think that maybe, Erwin was some kind of late-bloomer genius.
"Well, now that you're in a trance, open your eyes."
Erwin slowly opened his eyes, but when he did it, he was not in the middle of the garden; no, at that moment, he was in a totally dark space, but it was strange: he could see the parts of his body, yet he could not see anything around him;
Ron noticed that the boy's breath began to accelerate again, having to intervene again with his voice.
"Don't worry, that's the space within you, which we call the astral world... When you reach this place for the first time, is all dark, but once you train your core regularly, that dark space will change, so calm down kid."
Erwin, though not seeing Ron, could still hear his voice, as if it were a thought coming into his mind; Erwin after some deep breaths in his inner self, calmed down , and the breath of his "real" body suddenly returned normal.
"Good. Now that you've calmed down, you should feel something in your belly..."
Erwin, hearing Ron's voice, did not understand at first what he meant, but when he put his hand in his belly, he felt a strange warmth...
*Suddenly, I feel a strange heat...no, it looks like heat, but it was fundamentally different. I don't know how to explain it, but it's as if what I felt in that moment was something hot, but at the same time, something extremely cold... it's a really strange, but pleasant feeling.... *
"What you feel right now is your core..." said the man, who sensed a slight variation in Erwin's mana, a symptom that he had managed to sense that energy.
"Well, now comes the difficult: the flow you perceive is your mana; now, imagine that in your body there are channels that branch from your core to your limbs, your senses, the brain: these channels are called Mana-Stream, and it is important to use the mana... Once this is done, use those channels to slowly control the flow of the mana around your body..."
[Let's try it! ]
Erwin began to feel these channels throughout his body; he believed that it would be an invasive thing, but to his surprise, those channels were as if they were always be a part of him.
Now he just had to run the mana around him: he believed that even this time, everything would go smoothly, but as soon as he "activated" his core, something strange happened: his "astral" body began to literally catch fire, taking Erwin by surprise and panicking.
The same thing happened to his real body, which literally exploded with energy: his real body, however, began to lose blood from his eyes and ears, while his muscles began to harden, until they completely blocked.
"Ahh... damn it..." Ron said annoyed; without losing his temper, he quickly hit the back of the boy; only that light and quick touch was enough to dissipate all that brutal energy that had suddenly covered the Erwin's body, which immediately after fell unconscious...
******
Erwin woke up with his eyes turned towards the sky; confused, he tried to get up quickly, but a huge pain pervaded his whole body, paralyzing him for a few seconds; in my mouth, I felt an annoying ferrous aftertaste, which almost made me vomit
"Don't move, your body is trying to heal..." Ron said, observing Erwin with attentive eyes.
"What... what happened...?" asked the boy to the man, trying to remember what happened; his last memory, in fact, portrayed him while his "astral" body inexplicably went to "fire" during meditation;
"Well, you were about to explode, if you want to put it that way" Ron said bluntly.
"Explode? What do you mean?"
"Well, I don't think there are any other meaning for what I said now. You were about to explode."
[Explode...? ] thought Erwin, sceptical in front of the words of Ron: of course, something unexpected had happened, yet at that moment, inside the astral world, he did not perceive any pain; he thought that perhaps Ron was exaggerating, even though Ron seemed serious about this.
"You don't trust me, right?" - Ron said, touching his thick black beard on his chin - "It's understandable, since in the "astral" world, our body doesn't perceive pain. But it's the truth, and it is because your body, as well as your core and mana, are not yet "ready"
"But I used the mana! I felt it!" howled Erwin, trying to deny what Ron had said. He tried to deny what his master said, but it was enough to look at Ron's expression, to understand that what the man said seemed really true.
"You see, there is one thing that hardly anyone says, which is the importance to awake the core by the age of 10: the sooner you wake it up, the more your affinity with mana will be high, allowing the core and body to stabilize under the influence of mana. On average, the right age to wake up is 7 years; if you wake up before, the world sees us as a genius, while waking up after 7 years not only becomes complicated, but also leads to a number of disadvantages. In your case, you are now 13 years old, and the link with your mana is almost zero; For this, your body has not changed at all, and that is why, the moment you tried to circulate your mana inside your body, you almost died; we can say, therefore, that yours is an "incomplete" awakening."
At that moment, Erwin felt as if the earth under his feet began to crumble: when Ron told him that he had awakened mana, he was on cloud nine: he was so happy with what happened that he was full of conviction, and was ready to give up everything to become a top class magician; But now, he just stood there, without saying a word; It was as if at that moment, his body was hit by a jet of cold water, which extinguished every dream of glory.
"Okay, I get it." said Erwin, who got up from the ground, then headed for the tavern - "You don't have to say anything else, I get it...i have no chance to become like Dad..."
"Ahhh... stop" - Ron said immediately, shaking his head at Erwin's pessimistic behavior; - "There is a way to stabilize your core, your mana, and your body..."
Erwin suddenly stopped his walk; though he did not turn around, he listened attentively to Ron's pleadings, for at that moment, he desperately needed to use all means to become a Gifter!
"See, I'm not sure it will works, but--"
"I accept!" said Erwin, who had nothing left to lose.
Ron knew that the boy's answer would be that, and after making a small sigh, he also walked to his home; - "Pack your bags, we're going on a long journey."
*****
P.O.V by Erwin
I packed my bags, and after I got my last things, I walked out of the house and into the buggy that Ron called a few minutes ago.
Looking at Ron, I realized that, unlike me, he had not brought any suitcase, but he was only wearing his long black wool coat, which covered him from head to toe.
I didn't ask many questions though, as at that moment, I was focused on what I would expect in this mysterious place.
We rode all day, stopping in some neighboring countries to rest the horses and to eat something in some inn in the zone;
At last it was night, and finally we arrived at the foot of a great mountain; I didn't know what the purpose of coming here was, but I felt a strange pressure around the area around us.
"Well, now we can go up..."
We began to climb the mountain, and although it was night, Ron did not worry about where he put his feet, advancing with quick steps; but I did not have the sight of a cat like that damn old man, and i wasn't confident like him, so i took my time to go up to the mountain; but still, this didn't save me from risking several times to fall.
We went up many meters, and the more we climbed, the more the pressure I felt became more and more overwhelming, until I had problems with my sight. When I thought I couldn't go on, Ron just stopped.
"Well, we've arrived at your destination."
Because of the darkness that surrounded us, apart from the outline of Ron, I didn't see anything around me. I didn't understand what Ron was looking at, until my eyes quickly began to adjust to the darkness around me; Slowly, a few meters from us, I saw a huge chasm, the bottom of which was not visible, also because it was night and very dark around us.
The incredible thing, though, was what I began to see in the next few seconds: suddenly, I began to see a myriad beams of light coming out of the chasm in front of us; for a moment, I thought these beams of light might be dangerous, but when one of these passed through my body without damage, I started to calm down. It was an incredible sight, and I was completely captivated by it.
"Even if you're just a novice, you should be able to see all this energy, right?" said Ron, who interrupts my thoughts.
"Wow...What is this place?"
"At this moment we are on the frontier with the kingdom of Domul, that is the kingdom of dwarves. This mountain is called Eternia, and it is a point where, from the bowels of the earth, an absurd amount of pure mana is emitted... This place, already at the beginning, was used to stabilize the nucleus of those who had you're same problem , but with very little results: it was believed that meditating in the midst of a huge source of mana helped the body to grow stronger, but it was not really the case, with some exceptions.... Honestly, I wouldn't recommend going in there, but if you're determined then..."
"All right, I'm ready!"
If this was my only chance, then I would have used it in every way. I could not leave anything to chance, I had to put myself on the line, if I wanted to realize my dreams;
"Well, then good luck. Your training will be hard and long, but maybe it could help you..." Ron said, patting me on the shoulder.
"Thank you!" I smiled back, ready for this difficult and "strange" training; - "By the way, how do I get... EH!?"
Suddenly, Ron pushed me in the back, which made me lose my balance and made me fall towards that chasm...
"R-ROOOOOON!" I screamed in panic and with tears in my eyes, my eyes out.
"Don't die, you brat." said Ron, who with an almost amused expression, watched me descend at high speed into the oblivion of that damned mountain, while my screams echoed throughout the landscape...