Elines smile faded, and with a serious expression, she declared potentially devastating news to me:

“It could mean that your unstable core will be too dangerous and unpredictable to use, and that could lead to injury or worse.

But let us not jump to conclusions; I need to take a proper look at it first. “

She put one hand on my abdomen and another on my head and closed her eye to concentrate. After a few excruciatingly long moments, she removed her hands and looked at me with a half smile that made me concerned. I felt something probing my body from head to toe; it was a strange yet not unpleasant feeling.

“What is it? Tell me honestly!”

“First the good news: your core is established and around a quarter bigger than I ever saw in human folk at your core stage.”

“That is great, but what about the not so good news?”

"Well, I feel some great fluctuations in it; your control over Ether needs to be something we pay considerable attention to; otherwise, you will not only waste most of it when channeling it but could also hurt yourself.”

Another obstacle appeared in front of me when I was finally making progress.

"Please, Eline, I will do whatever it takes to improve it, so teach me!”

“Of course I will, Leo; that is a given; while it will be challenging, all can be overcome with enough perseverance.”

She put her hand on my head and stroked my hair.

"Let us celebrate today, Leo; no more training for you!”

I was overflowing with happiness mixed with a bit of concern after hearing the news. Deep inside me, the presence of my core lingered reassuringly, a testament to my newfound strength.

This was the first step to becoming the man I desire to be, a man that acts and protects when the time calls for it, not a weak coward that needs to be protected...

We shared a delicious meal and had our small celebration filled with small banter and silly happiness. Something I failed to find for a long time slowly started appearing on my face—a smile.

The next day started with a lecture and an overview of the core cultivation and stages, Eline style. We stood in our garden; some distance separated us. Eline held her wooden staff and gently placed the soles of her feet on the soft grass.

“Let’s get started, Leo!”

“The common human core stages—do you remember them?”

Her eyes shone in light purple when soil suddenly started gathering around her staff, coiling upwards to its upper part, forming a fist-sized ball that quickly changed colors.

Her actions made me vigilant; my eyes did not leave the flashing orb.

“First is the orange stage?!”

The ball's colors stopped flashing, and it remained orange. I let out a sigh; it was the right answer... or not! Eline tilted her staff towards me, and the orange ball flew towards me at high speed. Alarmed, I jumped to the side, avoiding it successfully while still observing its trajectory. It collided with a tree behind me with a loud "thud," leaving a small indent in the tree's bark.

I shot a betrayed look as a response.

“What was that for? I got it right, no?

“You did, but hesitated and were unsure. I will correct that, my precious son. Now continue, what is the second main core stage?”

I started sweating, and she put on her signature wicked smile. In the next few moments, red and purple orbs flew into my direction, reeking havoc on me and the nearby trees.

“Stoop Eline, please; the last is blue, I am absolutely sure.”

I really needed a break, covered in sweat and dirt I looked like after an intense fight and not a theoretical lesson.

“Fufufu I was a bit harsh, but it is for your own good, my son. Here, drink some water; I will tell you the rest myself.”

She handed me a cup of water that I gratefully accepted.

“Thank you, ugh, just a little rest will do and I can go again.”

“That is a commendable spirit; now listen a bit:

As for the half, they are: light orange, dark orange, and so on.

Lastly, the sub steps are five for each substage and go from initial, solidifying, solid, advanced and expert stage. “

“So where does that put me?”

"You are now at the solidifying light orange core stage.”

“How common is it Eline?”

"Well, 70 out of 100 awakened humans hit a ceiling at the dark orange and light red stage and cannot progress further no matter how much they try, never even touching the purple stage.

….

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

There were some exceptional individuals that could break this ceiling and go beyond that to the blue core stage.”

…..

“But Eline, the blue core stage is said to be from the realm of legends; is it really achievable?”

….

It is extremely difficult, but even now, there are few of them alive in the first kingdom.”

“Do you think I could reach that stage too, Eline?”

"Hmm, it depends on many factors, Leo, such as:

"The individual and racial talent/predisposition.

-One's location, or in other words, the amount of Ether in the surroundings, combined with stimulation.

-Also the ever-increasing amount of accumulated Ether needed to break through the next half stage and whole stage and neglect on the side of training one's control over Ether and not just its accumulation.

Not to mention that each stage allows you to access new abilities and/or improves your existing ones.”

I could not hold my excitement and voiced the question that was on the tip of my tongue since our lecture began.

“What abilities can I use at my light-orange stage?”

I am certain she deliberately omitted this information from our lectures to see my surprised face once the time came to show me.

“Watch closely.”

Eline slipped out of her sandals, and with an upward motion of her hand, she made a thin but very solid-looking earth wall appear.

She walked to it, and I felt something changing; the feeling she exuded gave my honed sense of danger a signal to stay away and run. Then, without hesitation, I punched it with speed; I could barely follow with my eyes. I almost shouted what she was doing and hoped she did not break her arm when my worries turned out to be pointless.

With a loud bang, her fist went through the wall and left a small hole in it. She paused, and the feeling of danger was gone, only for it to resurface when she punched the wall again, making it crumble.

“The first one is when you focus on your Ether in your core and let it flow through your astral, ehm, I mean Ether veins.

Ether enhances your body's overall abilities passively all the time, but it is most prevalent when actively used, from speed, strength, durability, and more.

Even your recovery rate is greatly boosted, provided that you have sufficient Ether in your core.

Keep in mind that Ether veins are quite an abstract thing and intertwined, or in a way, with your blood vessels; therefore, in case you are injured, the more blood you lose, the less Ether you will be able to wield.

At the initial and solidifying light orange stages, one cannot really focus their Ether and can only use Ether to enhance the whole body in an overall manner.

It means you cannot choose what to enhance, and that makes the consumption always the same big amount, even if you only want to use a part of your body.”

“But what about your hand? It is not injured after such an impact. Is the enhancement so strong, and does it mean I can do it too? Can I try?”

As I was ready to add a second hole in the wall, Eline flickered my forehead with strength that could not be generated by just her finger and almost made me tear up a little.

With a wronged expression, I held my forehead and looked at her, waiting for an explanation.

How about she shows him more about the concentration of Ether?

“Do not be; you are at your solidifying light orange stage. I just told you that only from the advanced stage do you have to speak thick/concentrated enough Ether and your smallest Ether veins develop/open enough for you to decide which part of your body you want to specifically target. At the expert stage, you will be able to regulate the amount to a certain extent.

Of course your control over Ether and sensitivity to it play a role as well. There are some that, despite advancing to the expert light orange core stage or even higher, could not focus their Ether and only enhanced their body evenly; it works but is too wasteful and inflexible, but the opposite is also true; some people can break the shackles of their Ether stage and emulate higher skills and abilities.

In the second demonstration, I concentrated my Ether in my arm before punching the wall, and you saw the result.

Take it as another small glimpse into your future capabilities and let it motivate you. It is time to go up a level in your training intensity. Brace yourself, little Leo.”

While I was looking forward to gaining more strength, I did not like the slight smile on her face at all. It told me that she would have a lot of fun, but at my expense.

The following days I realized just how much I was right in my assumption. The difficulty was not just a level or two higher, that is for sure.

My day started with concentrating on feeling my Ether and getting a better grasp on my Ether veins. They are quite strange; it is apparent that they are present in my body but give me contradictory feelings like they are there but not really at the same time.

That changes when I channel Ether through them, and a warm sensation spreads from deep inside my chest and then abdomen through my whole body outwards to my skin.

I could maintain its steady flow while meditating for only a round of 10 breaths at first, but it slowly increased up to 25 within a few weeks. Moving in this state was even more challenging, and I could maintain it for only 4 to 7 breaths in the beginning.

When I tried to push myself, a moment of overwhelming power engulfed me and made Eline that ran towards me appear to be moving very slowly, then immense pain assaulted my whole body, and I collapsed on the spot.

“Just a bit more; I can do more, AHHHH.”

The more I forced it, the more my control slipped over my core; it released too much Ether at once, and my veins felt like they were about to burst from the immense pressure.

“Leo!!! Goddess, I told you not to push yourself beyond your limits; let me examine you... Your core is almost depleted, and that was dangerous. Only thanks to your unusually resilient Ether veins did you endure this. We will need to be even more careful from now on, but no training till you are fully recovered!”

Her harsh tone left no room for a rebuttal; I felt it in each part of my body; it was a close call.

A few days later, I proceeded with caution, as for maintaining it while running... The results were... mixed. My achievements were as follows:

Revisiting the bushes for the first five days followed with me having an intimate relationship with the ground for around a week after. It took me three months before I adjusted to my enhanced capabilities while maintaining control over my core. I also started training with weights made from cloth and rocks strapped around my torso, increasing my training difficulty significantly.

Speed, strength, stamina, balance, reflexes, and the meditative root sitting position while channeling Ether. When it comes to accumulating Ether from surroundings, Ether coins, and enhancing my core, I can proudly say to be at expert/peak light orange core only four months after starting this hellish training.

Now I was only a tep away from entering the dark orange stage, but the bottleneck was now there and halted my progress temporarily.

Eline was astonished by this and made me work even harder. My ether sensing capabilities also improved. Not only can I feel it in my body and close surroundings more clearly, I started to feel Ether when Elise used it during our practice.

It was not very accurate, but I can tell most of the time when she is gathering Ether even before seeing its result in the form of a rapidly approaching ball of earth. After another month, I felt like there was some improvement to the quantity of Ether in my core to the maximum it could hold, as no more could be forced in.

Unfortunately, I still could not progress towards the dark orange stage for some reason. Eline told me it is normal and not to worry and take my time, but soon I found even this temporary stagnation unbearable, trying harder and harder; the days became a blur.