With the sounds of his surroundings fading away, Aoni could hear the faint drumbeat of his heart steadily becoming louder as he focused on it.
'On the upbeat, draw in the Energia; on the downbeat, push it out and through my body,' repeating the phrase like a mantra in an attempt to keep focused, he imagined a small oddly shaped bean mimicking his heart's rhythm; however, no amount of imagination would make such a thing work.
There was a reason I had mentioned this was the hard part, and that's because until it's awoken from the dormant state, the EC stays inert within your body, and kick-starting it was a task that very few could do on their first try.
In fact, Aoni vividly remembered that point being hammered repeatedly by his "Science of Energia" teacher, along with him saying not to be discouraged if they failed multiple times.
Then again, this very same teacher was adamant that less than 1% of new Travelers awaken their Energia Cell on the first try, and the average successful awakening comes on the fifth or sixth attempt.
(It's always been part of you, Aoni. It's just like how you don't have to think about your blinking or breathing; the Energia Cell works the same way.)
As time passed by, the Lad was reminded of the conversation he'd had with his Dad after learning about Energia Cells in class over a year ago.
(It's better to let things happen naturally than to try and force them; sure, coaxing or domination of Energia can work, but all that does, in the long run, is hurt your body in ways you may not understand until you get older.)
(Take care to observe the changes in your body as you partake in your first flume trip; that was the key to how I unlocked my EC.)
The mental image of his Dad soon faded away, and in its place, an almost X-ray-like model of Aoni's body appeared in his mind's eye.
Through it, he could clearly see everything: muscles, bones, and organs, and seated a few inches away from his heart was a tiny, static object.
'It's like water, flowing calmly and lazily down a never-ending river; it washes over you and carries you along for the ride,' Thinking back to what he experienced in the Flume, Aoni focused on the sensations and considered it more deeply.
BAH BUMP…..dah dum…..
Aoni's finger twitched suddenly as he sensed a second pulse for a slight fragment of a moment.
Unfortunately, this second beat was quickly overshadowed by his heart, and thanks to that fact, he'd even noticed how drastically out of sync the two were beating.
BAH BUMP…dah dum…
After the first, there was a second, this time, with the fainter beat catching up slightly to the first.
BAH BUMP..dah dum..
And then, it finally happened
BAH BUMP
dah dum
The two beats synced up, and as a smile formed on his lips, it was accompanied by a warm sensation rushing through Aoni's body, one he had felt earlier when entering the flume.
The Lad had done it; his Energia Cell was awake and beating in time with his heart.
Something that less than 1% of people could execute on their first try was completed…by HIM of all people!
Filled with excitement, Aoni snapped open his eyes and jumped to his feet, about to shout in happiness when something caught his foot, and with a loud THUD, the over-excited Lad crashed back onto the ground, only instead of hitting the hard rocky floor of the cave as Aoni had been expecting, he landed on several chilly objects.
"The heck?" Aoni said, twisting his body and reaching behind his back before feeling around and gripping something solid and rough to the touch.
When he brought it around to look, Aoni quickly noticed…it was a stick…
"Glacia…" Aoni started to ask as he looked around for the summon but was soon stunned by what he was seeing instead.
The open space of the cave was COMPLETELY littered and was the picture-perfect representation of a Hurricane's aftermath.
Sticks, branches, and debris littered the entire cave. Stunned as his mouth dropped open and observing his surroundings with shock, Aoni finally spotted a proud ball of white fur standing on the third shelf of the bookcase, examining her work with evident pride.
Knowing what's done is done, he felt his excitement disappear as Aoni brought his knees to his chest and cupped his face with his hands.
"Glacia…I said a few branches, not the whole forrressst!" The Lad groaned before making space for himself by kicking away several branches and opening a hole in the layer of foliage.
"OoO!" Holding a stick over her head in triumph, Glacia whooped several times as if saying, "LOOK, I DID IT!" making it incredibly difficult to be upset with her.
What he didn't realize is that Aoni had been completely out of it for well over 3 hours.
Upon finding her Lord meditating, Glacia was at a loss for what to do, so she kept fetching more and more firewood, dropping it off in the cave and heading back out.
Knowing he had his work cut out for him, Aoni did the only thing he could and began picking up the mess the little furball had created, which in the end turned into a four-and-a-half-hour mission, but once finished, there were eight neat and organized 7 foot tall by 5 foot wide stacks.
Mind you, they were extremely loosely packed, but luckily, a slight mistake on the part of Glacia became a big boon.
Since she had been basically gathering whatever fancied her attention, there were several long and strong vines among the stuff she brought back, along with a handful of logs that he assumed had either fallen or been knocked over by the little yeti.
"Welp, I suppose that solves our materials shortage," tossing a few pieces into the fireplace, Aoni stoked the fire with one of the non-dried branches and got it going with relative ease.
It was then that he noticed something exciting. He wasn't tired in the least, even after several hours of labor, which meant his EC was properly nourishing his body, causing Aoni to feel chalked full of Energia!
It had been mindless organizing all the wood, but as he stood by the bed with Glacia resting on his head like some kind of bird, Aoni felt a sense of satisfaction he was unaccustomed to.