Two days after the Ascension ceremony ended:
[Clark's office]
''Man, I'm getting sick handling all these papers.'' Clark rumbled, fastly flipping through the piece of paper in his hand. Upon gazing up toward the towering pile of papers on his desk, he sighed, ''Phew...this is awful.''
Then, Xavier entered his room, slamming the door hard with a gloomy-looking Jammes by his side, carrying a heavy case.
''Hahaha, they're really overworking our third in command here. Poor Clark, your labor is still not over...'' Clark, surprised by the door slam, turned his head to face his two colleagues and friends. ''More like they're killing me, yeah. How dare they! I'll take revenge sooner or later. Also, what's this odd suitcase in your hands, Jammes?'' Clark asked, slightly puzzled as a sweat drop formed on his cheek as he began to imagine what would be inside of it.
Noticing his discomfort and suffering, Jammes decided to let it out directly.
''There's... more papers inside...'' He admitted, his voice sheepish and filled with guilt.
''Argh!'' Clark let out a cry of anger.
"I'll kill them all; I'll fucking murder them all! Haha, why...'' He began to lose it.
Xavier, not understanding Clark's reaction, pointed out the condition of the contents inside the suitcase. ''What are you so mad about, didn't Jammes tell you beforehand?''
Clark, with a jolt, burst out infuriated by Xavier's comment.
''Hey, chill—''
Jammes interrupted their quarrel and explained everything.
''You misunderstood what I meant; what's inside are completed papers; they have all already been taken care of!''
Clark's eyes widened in understanding, and he thus framed Jammes for having fooled him.
''You son of a chip, you knew exactly what you were doing! This is no misunderstanding; you teased me!''
Xavier, on his side, finally understood the whole situation and broke out in laughter.
''You had him good, Jammes. He's all tomato red from stress and anger now; come on, that's no manner to treat our dear Clark.''
''You son of a gun—shut up." Clark was embarrassed by Xavier's comment and tried to change the subject. ''Anyways, what's inside Pandora's box?''
Jammes then settled down and opened the suitcase, displaying an impressive amount of papers, rivaling the pile from Clark's desk in quantity.
Clark took a few minutes browsing through most of them and asked, ''Who were the members in charge of handling these matters? They're all important topics and problems that only high-ranking executives should handle.'' Xavier felt the need to answer in Jammes's stead and began explaining the whole 'case'.
''This was done in one hour by a single person, Clark.'' He paused shortly, lifting his gaze to meet Clark's, who was shocked, and then told him.
''It was Aiden.''
Jammes's eyes also wavered at the mention of his king's name, even though he already knew the truth.
''Why again? I can't understand—what is happening to him?'' Clark felt anxiety taking hold of him as he spoke those words.
''We still don't know... Hah, he has been in a strange mental state ever since we returned.'' Xavier sighed.
"Yeah, it's worrying us more and more. Although he keeps saying he's fine, I don't believe him." Jammes added, only heightening the ambient pressure.
The three of them were wearily anxious over Aiden's case, and that's because it would usually take six hours for a team of three very efficient executive members to take care of so many documents. Aiden did so in one hour, all by himself.
And worst of all, this was the third time he did such a thing.
Sure, this was contributing heavily to their faction and fastening the process of handling politics. However, such speed of execution was at the expense of immense energy spending. Aiden had been overworking himself to death ever since they were back.
Suddenly, interrupting their worrisome conversation, Neo barged into the room. "Guys!" he exclaimed, catching his breath. ''Come to the main training ground right now.'' Xavier, noticing the nervousness hidden beyond Neo's impatience, asked him to calm down so he could properly explain the situation.
"It's my master—he's giving a speech right at the moment we're speaking."
The three executive members fell into utter silence for a short while from this news. They only woke up the moment the skyscraper of files and documents fell, the sound bringing them back to reality.
"Let's go see what's happening. You'll help me take care of the papers later.'' Urged Clark, quickly followed by the three others.
***
Outside, near the main training ground:
When they arrived, they found a crowd of over ten thousand people watching Aiden give a speech in the distance. Their faction castle and nearby cities had again increased in size. The area of the main exterior training ground was big enough to rival a football stadium.
"—And as such, I declare the need for more martial artists mandatory. The dangers the creatures outside pose are far worse than you can imagine. Do not deceive yourselves with the arrogance of numbers; these monsters' capabilities go far beyond that. We must be prepared to minimize casualties." Aiden concluded his first point, his tone sharp and commanding. The transformation he had undergone made him more eloquent and persuasive.
''He has gotten better at giving a discourse, right? His intonation is more alluring, and his demeanor magnetic, almost mesmerizing." Kal said, appearing out of nowhere.
Noticing his ghostly presence, Jammes and Clark took turns asking him questions about what this unexpected speech was about. Kal's eyes bore at them like fangs, ruthless and sharpened, before answering all their questions.
''This speech concerns monster hunting, martial arts instructors and training, and a few new jobs that will soon be implemented.'' He answered coldly, his voice hollow.
"What's with the serious tone now? Don't you usually feel worried when Aiden has these kinds of outbursts?" asked Jammes, wondering why Kal's attitude had also changed so much. Noticing this, Xavier tried to reassure him. ''Well, let's not jump to conclusions so hastily.'' Xavier paused for a short moment, staring at the distant figure standing on the scene. ''As I'm seeing things the way they are right now, Aiden is doing a good job even without preparations.''
"That's right, he'll do just fine.'' Confirmed Clark.
Jammes sighed and simply let the matter rest.
''—As for the new jobs, I have prepared a selection of eight works. Receptionists, Magic Researchers, Scouters, Farmers, Miners, Midwives, Doctors, and librarians. I won't be explaining the roles and duties of each job since they all can be found in your system's faction-jobs-related chat box. Every person who either wishes to change his job to one that suits him better or someone who still does not have a job may read through all the information and pick the one they want.'' Aiden's endurance having greatly increased, he barely needed to pause to deliver his words as flawlessly as before.
''Once your choice is made, you will go through something similar to a job interview. It is to check your capabilities, maturity, knowledge, and experience in every area that's needed for you to ensure you can do a proper, effective, and safe activity in the job you pick. If you have zero medical knowledge, then for the sake of not wasting your time and my executive member's time, choose something realistic where you truly excel. Let me remind you once more that if you put anyone in danger due to your stubbornness and wrong choice, then you will be severely punished. And death is among the multiple sanctions you may receive, just so you know.''
Thousands of people swallowed nervously when they heard that death was among the possible punishments they could receive.
Aiden soon concluded his short speech and many High-Ranking members started helping the new members around once he left the stage.
Nobody knew where he was heading, though. The surprising part wasn't that Aiden left immediately after finishing his discourse—no, that was a common and recurrent occurrence. Instead, what truly felt odd was how hasty his runaway course had been.
Clark pondered for a moment, almost drowning in the crowd without realizing it, and simply decided to come visit Aiden later. He was starting to get used to Aiden's peculiar attitude and behavior, especially when he wore a specific expression. This—fading, collapsing look that—gives you the creep whenever his gloomy eyes settle down on you. He knew it by heart now. Aiden needed time alone; he was sure of it.
''Let's leave him alone for now; it seems like Aiden needs some time on his own.'' Clark expressed his opinion, his voice searching for his two colleagues as his eyes battled against the legion of people before his eyes.
''What?'' Jammes said, not having heard his comment.
''Leaving him alone? Is that what you said?'' Asked Xavier, unsure of what he had heard.
Fastening his pace, he caught up with the two and confirmed Xavier's doubt. ''Yes, we should leave Aiden alone for now; he'll be fine.''
Jammes and Xavier were unsure if this was the right thing to do but decided to comply anyway; however, it was decided that they'd go to Clark's office later to ask about Aiden's current condition and well-being.
***
'Aiden's POV'
It had been two days since we had returned from the ceremony, during which we literally crossed through several 'worlds' or 'dimensions', both terms we were yet to comprehend as nobody really knew what phenomenon occurred that day.
Ever since surviving a nearly hundred-meter fall, it had been harder and harder to cope with the changes within me. Needless to say, it was the same for everyone else.
Upon returning to my faction, only one thought lingered as profoundly as the desire to fend off powerful and dangerous monsters. It was learning magic.
As far as my memory could allow from reading countless documents, I was sure that at least a few dozen members of my faction had already begun training and practicing magic one day ago. They were all reported to the high executive members since the faster people could learn magic and manifest it usually meant more talent and inclination toward magic mastery.
We needed to set up a proper hierarchy among the fighters soon if we wanted to rise in strength at a quicker pace.
And I obviously couldn't be left behind. Despite my crazy head start and advantages, I knew that magic and latent talent could easily overthrow me. I simply had no right to be complacent and lazy if I wished to be at the top of my own faction's strength ladder.
Hence, I hurried past the crowd of cheering people, who were repetitively clapping and creating a rhythmic tremor of praise, heading to my personal training ground.
Entering the place for the first time in almost three days filled me with an odd feeling of nostalgia that didn't quite sit right with me. It had only been so long, and yet the dummy, the torched ground, the scarred memories—it all felt so distant as if I had truly entered a new world.
My gaze fell onto the dummy, who stood with the same demeanor as all the other times. Although the training ground itself had expanded in size, almost twice as large as before, nothing inside really changed in arrangement.
Letting my attention unfocus the dummy and instead concentrating on the task at hand, I sat on a comfy training mat and started inspecting the few magical books at my disposal.
They were, respectively:
''Primordial Training Method of the Chaotic Thunder Body,"
"Beginner Stage Energy Flow Technique.''
''Emblem of Chaotic Thunder.''
I found the former very early on by sheer luck and a bit of deduction and enigma solving, while the latter was thanks to an ordinary member's effort in reading everything interesting he would encounter. I also figured that the third book, "Emblem of Chaotic Thunder," was more of a historical book without much significance since it had no content aside from two sentences. At least no more that I could see.
While flipping through the pages of the 'Thunder Body Technique', as I'll call it to make it faster, I noticed a few things. Firstly, it was obvious that the writing was foreign, forcing me to use a translation book to try and understand bits of each of the already cryptic pages. Secondly, it also became obvious that I wouldn't be able to use the 'Thunder Body Technique'' before actually utilizing the ''Energy Flow Technique'', which was just as cryptic as its brother.
Everything in those books was written in the aforementioned unknown language, which was called 'Slitzgard'—a name that brought more questions than answers. However, there were sometimes English words and sentences mixed into the content. It was quite weird, but I couldn't complain. The pinches of English made it easier to roughly grasp the gist of the energy flow technique's functions.
Inside the Energy Flow book was a flurry of images spread throughout both pages, which had no borders, while the texts were randomly placed around the depictions of the training method.
Scanning through the one hundred and forty-three pages carefully, my mind was almost oversaturated after two hours of trying to comprehend all the content. Still, nothing was better than actual practice and experience, I thought, after almost wasting more time.
All the images still clearly embedded in my mind, I immediately sat in the lotus stance, just like I had in the Well of Ascension. The book had mentioned something about the ''Lotus of Elements'' stance, so I just copied it. My legs needed to be slightly further away from each other, whereas my fingers had to form a specific shape, for my muscles to 'open up a pathway to the center of my magic core,' it said.
Once my position was perfect, I was meant to breathe in an odd rhythm to match the flow of the 'formless Qi,' as the book's instructions explained. Everything was becoming more and more confusing, but I simply kept going since I couldn't ask any questions. It was live or die, rest or fight; I had to figure it out all by myself.
This was where I hit a wall. My already very irregular breathing, which was also the cause of my lack of focus, I deduced, made me falter more than once, as well as spew out blood. Not only was it harming my supernatural body, but it also indicated that I was performing the technique wrongly.
And yet, I couldn't grasp what exactly I did wrong, so I kept going mindlessly, naively believing that forcefully pushing harder would somehow work out.
After a few minutes, my mind felt dizzy, and I almost passed out, which eventually forced me to stop. Weakly standing up, I grabbed my bottle of water near the training mat and drank half of it instantly. Frantically scrutinizing the few important passages of the book again, I quickly tried again.
This time, I added more intent to my breathing, making sure to keep the same method and speed of exhaling and inhaling. It failed horrendously, as it only heightened my dizziness and asphyxia. For the third attempt, however, I decided to focus my attention on my fingers and my legs instead of my breathing, which became more relaxed.
It failed as well, although the pain and harm done to my body came later and in less aggravating signs.
After dozens of failed tries, I gave up, conscious that I was simply wasting my time. I tried to find another solution just as I was about to unbutton my soft white shirt, now drenched in sweat. All those failed attempts at finding the 'Energy Flow' and 'Gathering Energy' had surely taken a huge toll on my body, far more than what it should've had. This nonetheless indicated that I was doing something good, despite a flawed application of the method.
Glancing around my training ground as if hoping it'd give me any insight into how to properly use the meditative technique, my gaze bore down on the dummy once more.
It had been the only time in three months that I hadn't used it for more than 1 day. Staring at it longer, it now seemed that we had some sort of special connection, almost transcendent.
The day he had beaten me half-dead and spoken out loud for the first time was still vividly engraved in my mind. The shocking memory of him scolding me felt insignificant now, yet it held more importance than I'd like to admit. Perhaps it had served an educational purpose, after all; hadn't it awakened me from my illusionary world?
That's when I snapped, halting my deepened stare. I jolted with an idea in mind that could change everything.
''What if I tried to make the dummy use the Energy Flow Technique?'' Newfound energy washed over me as I said that. Letting the weight of my words sink in, I took slow steps toward the dummy, which were slowed down further by the hard drumming of my heart.
...
'Never mind, it can't be that simple.' My initial excitement faded as quickly as it had appeared once clearer thoughts erupted in my mind.
However, a memory of the dummy informing me about how its functions would be upgraded, 'updated', as he had named it, once the first Well of Ascension ceremony ends, came in a flash. I couldn't simply ignore the small possibility that it might actually work, I thought sincerely.
'Let's try it anyway!'
Making my way toward my old friend, I directly asked the system to turn it on.
[Training-Dummy]-[Activated]
"Welcome back, Aiden.''
The dummy stated, his robotic voice back to normal, although more pleasant to the ear now.
''You have successfully survived and made it through the first Well of Ascension ceremony; congratulations! The dummy's system can now be updated to adjust its functions, strengths, and knowledge to match the user's current world situation. Would you like to do the update now?''
I immediately said, ''Yes!'', and confidence took hold of me as my expectations of the dummy grew more and more. This was childlike and naive; I knew it. Nonetheless, I couldn't help but yet again find myself baffled by its amazingness.
System Notice:
Dummy's Update: 3% Progress
...
System Notice:
Dummy's Update: 4% Progress
The seconds ticked by slowly, and after ten minutes, the improved version of the dummy had come to life.
System Notice:
Dummy's Update: 100% Progress
Once it was complete, an insanely long system notice popped up and informed me of all its new, wondrous capabilities.
'Whoa, whoa, calm down,' I almost said aloud, taken aback by the overload of information.
Among the never-ending rows of text depicting the great possibilities of its updated functions, I found all the way down the possibility of making the dummy use certain magic books.
''Great!'' I exclaimed happily, letting out a breath of relief before adding, ''Can you make the dummy use the 'Beginner Stage Energy Flow Technique' so he performs all of its steps in front of me?''
[System update: Of course, this is totally possible!]
The gray-colored, now metal fiber dummy took the lotus stance and began to do the same thing I had been doing earlier, except it had a very different way of breathing.
'Wait, so that's why? It was so simple!' My thoughts became erratic as I grabbed the book again and re-read the important passages more attentively this time, ensuring I understood every movement and the flow of energy.
I was not just supposed to blindly copy what I saw and read, hoping it would work. No, I had to feel it—feel the energy of nature. Then, I was meant to deduce where the 'Energy Flow' was by performing the breathing technique by following the sequence in which the muscles in my fingers moved and tightened.
After re-reading, I discovered that there was also a specific sequence of muscle twitching for my toes, which was even more essential than that for my fingers. With the sequence of muscle movements in my fingers and toes aligned with the corrected breathing exercise, along with my improved lotus stance, I should have been able to feel the flow of energy—rather than just the usual body relaxation and the chill down my spine that came from a typical yoga practice.
Easing my mind, I slowly seated, this time on the hard rock floor. With my current strength and martial arts practice, it was a breeze to succeed in the physical part of the technique. Now both my fingers and feet were contracted in the right way and shaped correctly while their shape danced following the flow of my breathing.
Every second I grew more and more relaxed, letting my mind drift through a hollow cosmos of unknown territories and vast skies as I found myself performing the meditative technique flawlessly by instinct without any need for concentration.
Trapped momentarily in this foreign territory, I regained focus shortly after I recalled the technique. Just as fast, I began practicing the technique in this place as well. Or was I?
In a dark-lit room of an iron-gray color, with blood spilled on the floor and haphazard walls of familiar appearance, was a training mannequin, and just a few meters next to it was a man sitting on the ground, legs crossed. He was almost adult in age from his sharp facial features and had a lean build that I couldn't see properly due to my poor vision.
It didn't take a fool to realize it was me.
I hadn't practiced the technique again after finding myself floating in that weird sluggish place, which blurred my sight, not at all. Instead, I was just seeing myself meditating as if my soul had left my body.
And just as the weight of the realization was going to sink in, my eyes darted around eccentrically.
I looked around to search for the 'Energy Flow' remembering what I was here for, pushing away any scary thoughts that might interrupt the process. That's when it clicked.
Hurriedly, I let my soul-like orb form float down toward my body. I entered it and stopped at eye height, and I found myself seeing more than just the fuzzy interior of my training room or my body. Hundreds if not more of small purple specks were hovering around my body. The faint glow they radiated filled me with a sense of awe and broke me free from the shackles of fear that had constrained me in my understanding.
I tried to mentally take hold of these tiny sparkles of what I could only imagine was mana. Or energy, as everything related to magic had been named. When the floating dots started rushing over me, I felt overwhelmed with something entirely different than just newfound physical energy and power as it had been during the Well of Ascension ceremony.
Instead, it was as if a wave of energy was flooding my mind, soothing it and ridding it of its impurities. Suddenly, I began to sluggishly fall from my corporal body and reached the place where my heart was. Then, everything vanished in a swift motion. My soul-like pair of eyes, which saw blurry, had stopped functioning, only to be replaced by my normal eyes.
After regaining my normal sight, I remarked three things.
First, I was panting violently. Perhaps from the burden of so much information. Complex and whimsical information. My breathing had also stopped after coming back from the strange place, but this counted as one thing too. This ultimately meant that although my body was automatically performing the energy flow technique while I was going to try and collect 'energy' in the other world, this process would stop whenever I returned.
The second thing was that the load of information would surely kill me if I were to go to that ghastly, energy-filled place too many times. However, the third thing made me question the reasons why I'd want to return back there.
The third thing I noticed was that I could now see energy particles around me, just as well as I had seen when I had been in my 'soul-state'. It was exciting and scary at the same time, but my anxiety quickly disappeared as I was now getting used to supernatural events.
Aside from that, though, I felt no different. My physical body was not stronger, and neither had my chain of thought become faster.
Frustrated, I opened my status window to see if anything changed about my magical core.
''Open status window.''
[Status window]: 'Aiden Glain, 17Y, Male'
...
[Energy-Core]: ['Stage' - Awakened; 'Rank' - Bronze; 'Tier' - Low]
[Energy Stored]: [ 17 | 1000 ]
[Battle Score: 244] - 'Sealed'
[Fake Battle Score: 200]
''Now this is everything but frustrating!''