Orion closed his eyes and carried out her instructions.
Lilith then began to guide him further. "Close out the sounds around you and allow your body to feel the energy flowing in the air."
Orion did as she instructed and slowly began to feel the energy hovering around him.
"Now, take a deep breath and imagine the energy in the air filling your lungs."
Orion took a deep breath and imagined the air carrying traces of energy into his body as it danced and swirled within him.
He exhaled slowly, blocking out any distractions that might disrupt his focus.
Noticing this, Lilith gave further instructions. "Now that master has done that, try to control the flow of your breathing and direct the energy to different parts of your body."
With each breath, Orion visualized it coursing through his veins like a stream of energy flowing through his blood.
Seconds turned into minutes, and Orion's connection with the energy grew stronger. Now, he could sense the presence of the energy and even a minute movement of the energy in the air.
The energy coursed through his body and finally flowed into a tiny core in his abdomen.
Although small, he could feel that it held a huge potential that was yet to be discovered.
Orion went deeper into his meditation and began to feel tiny electrical sparks throughout his body, causing a tingling sensation at the base of his spine.
The sensation slowly ascended, as though awakening dormant chambers of energy within him.
Orion visualized this sensation as a glowing ball of light within his core, growing brighter and brighter with each passing second until a shining red and blue light shone from his core, causing a prompt to suddenly appear in his mind.
[Congratulations, you have successfully awakened your mana core.]
Noticing this, a smile spread across Orion's face.
Meanwhile, Lilith was quite impressed.
Normally, it took most people at least six hours to unlock their mana core. However, it hadn't even been half an hour yet, and her beloved master had successfully awakened his mana core.
'Master is truly amazing,' Lilith smiled internally to herself while acknowledging the fact that Orion would surely grow to become one of the best mages she had ever seen, and if possible, the greatest king ever.
Snapping out of her reverie, Lilith was just about to congratulate Orion for successfully awakening his mana core, when she was awestruck by the extraordinary event that occurred next.
In a remarkable display of mastery, Orion inhaled and exhaled slowly, his movements, mirroring that of a mage who had prior experience in manipulating mana itself, causing Lilith's eyes to widen in surprise
She watched in wonder as Orion drew in the very essence of mana that coursed through the world until it surrounded them.
And with a focused mind, he redirected the gathered mana towards his outstretched palms.
Red and blue glowing energy rippled and morphed before coalescing and spiraling around his right and left arms respectively like a serpent.
The crimson and azure threads of mana slithered around his arms like live serpents, twirling around his body until they blended harmoniously with his body.
'Impressive,' Lilith thought to herself.
'This is amazing. Master can control mana as well?' She wondered with a look of excitement on her face.
Never before had Lilith met someone who understood the intricate concept of mana control right after they awoke their mana core.
It was simply unheard of, but here he was, doing the impossible as though it was a mundane phenomenon.
Meanwhile, Orion's lips curled upwards once again when a new prompt appeared in his mind.
[Congratulations!! You've learned a new skill.]
[New Skill: Mana control.]
Seeing the notification, a sense of accomplishment and contentment washed over Orion before falling back to lie on his bed.
"That was amazing, Master. I've never seen anyone have such a quick grasp of mana control right after awakening their mana core."
"Thank you, Lilith," Orion responded, pushing himself up to sit on the edge of the bed.
"But weren't you expecting us to do something else?"
"Uh?"
"Do you want me to repeat myself?" He asked with a smirk.
Aware of what Orion was implying, Lilith struggled to find the right words to say. "I..."
Although Orion had given her permission to be herself around him, Lilith still couldn't believe that she allowed her emotions to get the best of her when she entered his room a few minutes ago.
Orion leaned towards Lilith, lacing his fingers with hers which were on the bed.
He leaned closer to her face, slowly caressing her cheeks and causing her to instinctively close her eyes after noticing how their lips were just inches away from each other.
She had been longing to kiss him again ever since they kissed in front of Lucretia's bedchambers.
But now that they were about to kiss, Lilith's heart raced erratically as she anticipated the feeling of having his lips on hers.
However, a knock was heard on the door, dragging their attention towards it.
"Young master, it's me, Jarvis. I heard you wanted to see me?"
Orion's lips curled into a smile after seeing the shocked and disappointed look on Lilith's face when she realized that it was Jarvis who knocked on the door, interrupting them from doing what they were about to do.
He leaned towards Lilith's ear and whispered. "It seems we'll continue this another time."
With that said Orion left the bed to talk with Jarvis while Lilith watched as he left his room.
A part of her was upset that Jarvis interrupted them when she had just been about to have a taste of Orion's lips.
If only Jarvis had arrived five minutes later, things wouldn't have ended the way they did.
With a frustrated look on her face, Lilith suddenly grabbed a nearby pillow before screaming into it.
____
Meanwhile, Orion stepped out of his room to see Jarvis waiting outside.
"Young master, I heard you wanted to see me."
"Yes, the queen told me about the fact that you've been noticing some crafty behaviors happening in the city."
"Yes, it's about a group of bandits in the city. I think they might be working for the nobles. I visited a tavern a few weeks ago and overheard some of them talking about an agreement their leader made with a noble."
"Did you happen to find out who this noble was?"
"No, young master. I wasn't able to do so."
"That's fine. It simply means that I'll be going along with my initial plan."