Ragna was back in the Combat drill building, among the various children of the Vikings, watching a spar between two Warriors. Ragna was bored as he struggled to stay awake, the fight between the warriors not interesting him as much as he thought it would. It was late in the afternoon, and Ragna had spent the day practicing movement drills. He was bored of this combat training as his body had fully remembered the Battle skills he once possessed in his former life. Although he still could not use them fully in the body that he currently had. When Ragna had woke up this morning, his Mother said nothing, only informing him she couldn't come to practice with him as yesterday. She was the Earl of Kattegat. So she had immediate concerns that needed her attention. Aksel instead had bought him to training. Ragna tried to see if he could find Aksel but he couldn't find his Step father. He wondered if he should expand his Mental...No...Psychic energy to locate him but Ragna decided not to. One of the Warriors disarmed the other one in a swift movement that drew Ragna's attention back to it. The Warrior caught the weapon in the air and pointed both weapons at his opponent. Just like that, Ragna's colleagues began clapping for the winner.
"Wasn't that amazing," Torvi, the black haired girl from yesterday said to Ragna. Ragna nodded though he didn't think much of it. Besides him was Anders from last night too. If Ragna was asked did he have friends at all, he would say no. But if they would ask Torvi and Anders, they would say Ragna was their friend. Ragna couldn't help but try to distance himself from them. They were kids to him. He was older than them, both mentally and spiritually. It was just his vessel that was the same age as them. But to be honest. Ragna even had a hard time socializing with the adults (Norse society did not have a concept of teenagerhood as those who reach the age of fifteen were seen as Adults) because they treated him like a child no matter how mature he tried to act in front of them. Just take his Mother for example. She knew the truth about him, and yet she still treated him with kids glove. As such he was stuck hanging out with people he felt awkward around. He was trying his best to be social. Easier said than done. The door to the sparring room opened and Aksel walked in. He sent a smile to Ragna while waving at the children seated around the drill mats. For a bunch of Warriors that dealt in death, Aksel was a kind hearted guy. Maybe too nice. Aksel patted the young warriors who didn't seem to be that tired.
"Boys and girls, Now you've seen what an ordinary fight is like. Now, I want you to watch again." Aksel said. He nodded to the two female warriors. They nodded and faced each other again, their weapons drawn out and set in a battle stance. And then Ragna felt it. The presence of otherworldly power. A presence he would never forget. He felt the presence of Essence come to life within the two Warriors as they moved so fast that Ragna had missed their movement. He was forced to let out his Internal senses just to keep up with them. The two females went at it with the same grace and elegance from before but this time, Ragna was forced to acknowledge the beauty and grace that they possessed. With his calculative mind, Ragna could already tell who would win. The brown haired female who had won the first duel was stronger when it came to natural physical abilities, and with the Essence she was imbuing her body with, her physical abilities had increased. Though her Essence control was surely lacking. It was very sloppy. But the dark haired girl who got disarmed was different. What she lacked in natural physical abilities, she more than made up for it with her delicate precise Essence control. She did not waste a single Essence, her movements and strikes were very efficient and just as Ragna concluded, she ended up overwhelming the Brown haired female and won this round. As the fight was over, the children began to mutter as they had been unable to keep up with the fight that had happened in front of them. The warriors had been too fast for their mortal eyes.
"Alright guys, Settle down! Settle down!" Aksel said. When the children stopped muttering, Aksel's attitude changed. He raised a finger which was glowing with white light. Ragna felt the Essence though the other children couldn't.
"Leader Ingstad, what is that light," Torvi asked.
"That little Torvi, is what we call Odr in the Old Norse tongue. But in the common tongue which we use in this modern age, we call it Essence." Aksel said. Hmm, so they can use Essence directly. This was different in his Old world. In his former world, Essence was not used but was instead broken down into it's most basic form which was known as Mana. It was only till one reached the last stage of the Immortal stage, that they could then use Essence directly. That was just how powerful the energy Essence was. But it seems in this world, they could somehow use it. Wait...Ragna studied the Essence Aksel had flowing in his finger and he noticed that the Essence was somehow diluted. Yes, it was diluted to the point that it was not affecting the owner's body. I see. There must be some kind of mechanism behind how they can use Essence without converting it into Mana. But then again, How can they wield Essence when World Essence was gone from the world.
"But I thought Essence was gone from the world, how can you use it," Ragna asked.
"Now that is the right follow up question, and one we intend to tell you children," Aksel said. He winked at Ragna and continued. "Normally, we give you guys one year of training before we reveal the truth about Essence but the Earl has decided that we should inform you early on." So Mother was doing this for me. But instead of just spoiling me and treating me like I'm special, she decided to share it with my age mates. "World Essence is indeed gone. But the gods were not cruel enough to leave us so defenseless against the monstrosities out there. They left behind what we call Divine Blessings. Blessings that allows us to wield Essence without the Ambient Essence." Aksel pulled his shirt open, revealing his chest which had a black leaf shape tattoo on it. Ragna recognized the tattoo for what it was. A Rune. And that was when Ragna realize the truth about this world. While his former world cultivated with Mana, this World cultivated with the power of Runes. He should have realized it by now. It made sense when he thought about it. Every Universe in the Material plane had their own method of cultivation. Some were similar, while some could be woefully different. It just depended on the entity that birthed the Universe. This Universe seemed to focus their cultivation on the system of words. Very Interesting.
****
"So what did you think of it," Aksel asked Ragna. They were on horseback, riding to the forest that was outside of the village. They had just crossed through the gates, and now Aksel decided to ask Ragna of his Opinion. He had been surprised when Bestla revealed to him that Ragna already awakened his Psychic power and was interested in cultivation. She didn't explain how it was possible for a child to awaken Psychic energy without the gods blessing but Aksel didn't care to know. Ragna was a special child. Honestly, he wouldn't be surprised by the things Ragna should be able to do in the future. His premature awakening was the reason why they had informed the newly trainees on what Essence was and what they could do with it.
"It was wonderful," Ragna said. "I can't wait to start cultivating....Wait...But how can I use Essence if I didn't awaken My Psychic energy with the god's blessing. I'm assuming the blessing is the reason why you awaken your Psychic energy and can use Essence, right." Hmm. This boy was truly sharp.
"Yes, your right. The god's blessings awaken our Psychic energy and allows us to form a core for Essence." Aksel said. "And as for you, well, if you want to use Essence, then you have to receive the god's blessing during the coming of age ceremony,"
'Really," Ragna asked. Aksel nodded.
"As you well know unless you can use Essence, your Psychic energy is pretty much useless in combat," Aksel said as they reached the forest. They rode through the road that was paved in there, Aksel taking Ragna to gods know where. Ragna thought about what Aksel had said. He was right about his Psychic energy being useless. Compare the intensity of his Mental force and Aksel, Ragna was weak. The least he could do with it was to pull small objects to himself. They arrived in a clearing around a lake and a waterfall that was descending from a hill above them. The entire place was beautiful.
"Your Mother and I use to come here to train back when we were young," Aksel said.
"Really," Ragna said.
"Yes. The lake has some special property in strengthening one's psychic energy," Aksel said. "I don't know why but even drinking from it is said to clear one's mind."
"Why are we here then," Ragna said as he and Aksel got down from their horse.
"Because I'm here to provide special training to you," Aksel said. "Your Psychic energy should be strong if you're able to awaken it so early. But from what your Mother told me, it seems your control over it is not as great as it could be." Ragna raised an eyebrow at what Aksel had said.
"I'll have you know that my Me..Psychic energy manipulation is excellent," Ragna said. Of course it was. Ragna was older than most things in this village and had more experience when it comes to cultivation. If anyone should have perfect Mental force manipulation, it would be him. At least that was Ragna's thinking and he couldn't be more wrong.
"Ok, then. Use your Psychic energy," Aksel said. He pointed to the leaves around the bank of the lake. "Pick up any of those leaves. Your Psychic strength should be enough, right," Ragna narrowed his eyes at Aksel wondering what he was up to as he tried using his Psychic energy to pick up as much leaves as he could. As the invisible force tried wrapping around some of the leaves, another force manifested and wiped Ragna's Psychic energy off. Ragna felt the rebound that occurred when his psychic energy went back inside him. It instead of experiencing any damage or effect from the rebound, he felt nothing. That meant Aksel had been gentle when he interfered just now. Ragna was surprised at what had happened. His beautiful clear blue eyes was wide open in shock.
"How.."
"That's because the intensity in which you project your Psychic energy is very weak," Aksel said. "It's why I was able to easily neutralize it,"
"So it's weak," Ragna muttered. But how was that possible? Ragna possessed a very powerful soul that played a part in the strength of his Mind. So how was his Mental force too weak after everything he had been through.
"It's not weak." Aksel said.
"But you just wiped mine out like it was nothing." Ragna said.
"Trust me, it's not." Aksel said. "I was able to sense the full intensity of your Psychic energy, and it's psychic strength is off the charts."
"Then how were you able to stop me from picking up some stupid leaves," Ragna said kicking the leaves away.
"I suspect it has to do with you." Aksel said.
"Me...How is that possible?" Ragna exclaimed.
"I think you've made it a habit of suppressing your Psychic energy to the point that you've become used to only letting out as little as possible outside your mind," Aksel said. "You didn't want to reveal your use of it, so it makes sense that you forced your mind to only project it in weak intensity,"
"That makes sense," Ragna said. It was true that he had worked hard in making sure whenever he used his Mental force, it was not as obvious to anyone. He had become so used to it that he didn't even question it. It just felt natural.
"Which is why we're here. Not only are you going to practice projecting your Psychic energy in full intensity, we're also going to train here to strengthen it further." Aksel said. "Is that okay with you?"
"Yes. I'm all in." Ragna said.