Darian paid close attention to his footing as he jumped from branch to branch under the watchful eyes of his mother. He had been exclusively practicing his energy usage after his parents decided his evocation training wasn’t making any headway a few days ago. They said a good way to practice was to force him to focus on something else while his energy helps him accomplish the task. When he first started, he couldn’t make the jumps and would simply fall off the trees. After falling a few dozen times, he successfully jumped from a branch on one tree to a branch of a separate tree. Some time later, it now felt instinctual. He only needed to attempt the jump and his energy would supply his muscles with the strength needed. He wasn’t entirely sure how it worked, but he enjoyed the results. He estimated he could now jump a distance of ten feet from a standing position and twenty-five feet while running; easily allowing him to jump the gaps between branches. The hard parts were picking the right branch and sticking the landing.

He truly enjoyed the feeling of freedom as he jumped from branch to branch. He had climbed trees before, but something about the sight from his new perspective gave him feelings of freedom he never would have imagined. The moments where his feet were touching nothing but air, as brief as the moments were, made him feel more powerful than he had ever felt while fighting his peers. Even feeling all this, he wondered if he could ever experience more. He wanted to soar even higher. He had gotten used to the feeling of energy coursing through him and knew that if he wanted, he could supply himself with more energy than he needed to reach the next branch. At that moment, he decided to test just how high he could reach. He looked skyward and poured energy into legs as he prepared to leap. As soon as his feet contacted the next branch, he exerted as much power against it as he could muster. He pushed with all his might and found that the branch couldn’t withstand the pressure. With a snap, he was tumbling to the ground.

It took him only a moment to realize what was happening since he could see it all using his energy vision. He quickly re-orientated himself and placed his feet beneath him just soon enough to land and roll safely. He had missed plenty of branches and crashed enough times in previous attempts to know how to land by now.

His mother applauds him from a nearby branch. “Well done! Not the breaking the branch part, but recovering mid-fall. That requires an impressive reaction time.”

He brushes himself off as he stands up. “It felt natural. My body just did what I wanted it to do.”

She smiles and leaps from her branch to the ground. “That’s exactly how it should feel. Being able to move instinctively is necessary to perfecting energy control. The energy should feel like it’s a part of you. Unlike evocation, which feels more like an extension or a link to your source. It could be that you have an easier time with more intuitive actions. I think you would… No, never mind.”

Darian looks at her curiously as she ponders to herself. She looks back at him and a smile appears on her face again. “Lets head back. I’m sure your father has lunch prepared by now.”

A smile crept across his face as an idea formed. “We should race back. It would be faster.”

“Hoping I will go easy on you?”

“I’m hoping you won’t”

“Then I won’t disappoint you. However, we only race until we exit the woods.”

“Deal!”

Helen readies herself. “When you’re ready.”

Darian braces himself and pours energy into his legs. Once he feels like he has enough energy, he bursts forward. The speed at which he launches surprises himself, and he almost trips, but he manages to stay upright. Despite his size, he covers a distance he didn’t think was possible with each step. He has never seen anyone run as fast as he is now. However, that quickly changes as his mother passes him on the right, easily running twice as fast as him. With each step, she covers a distance that blows his out of the water.

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Within seconds, Darian loses sight of his mother as she sprints ahead of him. “I know she said she wouldn’t go easy on me, but I didn’t think the gap was going to be this big.” It’s not long until Darian starts to feel winded. His energy continues to drain as he pushes it to his legs, and it is quickly expended. He pants as he feels the cold sensation of his energy running low. Just as he thinks he can’t continue, he sees the light at the end of the woods and pushes just a little longer. As he reaches the end, he sees his mother leaning against a tree, smiling at him.

“Took you long enough.”

Darian pants with his hands on his knees. He looks up at her and wants to say something, but his body decides the air is more important for breathing at the moment.

She walks over and kneels next to him. “Walk it off. Let’s head back to the house.”

Darian nods in agreement and stands up. They both walk across the open field, away from the woods. Darian enjoys the cool breeze against his face as it dries the sweat. He can feel his core slowly filling with energy and notices a barely perceptible change in the tone of his aura. “Does aura dim with energy use?” He thinks to himself.

Eventually, they find themselves close enough to the house to catch a whiff of lunch. Darian smiles and looks at his mother with excitement. “Smells like roasted pork!”

She smiles back at him as they continue walking. “That’s right. We decided to celebrate your progress. Your evocation could use a lot more work, but your energy control is progressing at a phenomenal rate. I doubt you have to worry about your source attempting to control you again.”

Edwin bursts through the back door. “Welcome back. The two of you are just in time. I finished cooking not too long ago, so sit down and let’s eat.” He motions for the two of them to come inside.

The three of them head inside the house and Darian’s eyes light up as he sees the layout on the table. Roasted pork sits in the center of the table, surrounded by various forms of cheese with stuffed baked potatoes and seasoned green beans on the side. The food he sees in front of him seems like quite the feast.

“Go on, boy, stop gawking and sit down.”

Darian sits in his usual seat and starts piling food on his plate. His mother and father join in. Before long, they are all enjoying the food and talking about his training. He notices his mother look in his direction after taking a sip of beer. “Well, Darian, are you going to tell your father about what you did today?”

Darian looks at her confusedly. “Tell him about when I fell?”

She chuckles. “Not exactly. Tell him about our race. How you burst forward. Or did you not realize it yet?”

He stares at her, trying to deduce her meaning.

Her face lights up with surprise. “You don’t realize how difficult that is to learn, do you? To be able to freely push your energy to one body part takes most connected a month or more to learn. Some don’t learn it at all. Darian, you learned it six days after awakening. You should be proud.”

“A month or more? It felt so natural. How could it take anybody that long?”

Helen shakes her head. “I won’t pretend to know why it is hard for some and easy for others. It took me around two months, and it took your father a little less than one. People are different and have their own challenges to face when trying to improve. Just know that you seem to be a natural at it.”

His father holds his drink out in a toast. “Well done, boy. You’re showing great improvements. Now we just need to figure out how to get you to learn evocation.” He takes a drink before he places his mug back on the table. “But that can wait until another time. Let’s enjoy the rest of dinner.”

The family finishes the rest of dinner with light conversation. After dinner, while they are cleaning up, Darian notices a familiar aura approaching the front door. “Aeric is here.” Darian says, as he walks to the door to let him in.

Upon opening the front door, Darian notices Aeric is obviously distraught. “Aeric, what happened?”

Aeric looks at his friend for a moment in silence as he tries to find the words. “Jackson has been missing since we left your house days ago. I was hoping he just needed time alone and would come back when he was ready, but I never saw him when I was out on the streets. I think something happened to him. Geoffrey and Lynette are looking for him now, but we would like as much help as we can get, and the guards won’t help us. Will you-”

“Let’s go, then. Are you guys coming?” Darian interrupts Aeric before looking back at his parents.

Edwin walks closer to the door. “Of course we are. Lead the way, Aeric.”

Tears well up in Aeric’s eyes, and he finds it hard to speak. “Thank you.”