25 - Seed Bloom

I expected the ritual to start precisely the same as all the other times, with chanting, mana floating everywhere, bright moss, bright ceiling, and it did. No surprises there. Everything went exactly as all the other sessions. They were perfectly following the script for this.

After all the necessary mana gathered in the air, the woman stopped the chant and approached the children from the left side and stayed there. They placed one hand on the left chest and the other on the back of the child, but not really touching them, just really close.

The mana began to approach the woman, and they began to channel the mana in the proximity to the inside of the seed. The mana was not really passing through them, just using them. No root system took part in this process. The mana came directly from the air to the seed, using the women as proxy and guide to the process.

I could see and sense the flow of mana, it was strong but gentle. Mana gathered near Mila's body, then without touching her it followed something similar to a magnetic field, but of mana… mana field?

The mana was being directed into the front hand. The one close to the chest. Passing through the seed on the inside of Zwei, the seed absorbed a lot of it, but not all, it seems it rejected a small portion of it, I feel like a problem of affinity, part of the mana had a bad affinity to this core. What was not absorbed left from the back, in the place the other hand was placed, it went back into the air and vanished, again, being guided by Mila.

We felt no pain, which was good. I was tired of all the painful things.

"Close your eyes and concentrate on your seeds" A whisper from Mila. Zwei executed the command immediately. She was used to entering the meditative state after so much time training hard.

We could feed the seed receiving the mana. The seed took it all without complaint, but after a while it cracked. The seed cracked but another command came before Zwei despaired.

"It's ok, your seed started to bloom"

With Mila's whisper assuring that it was part of the process, the child concentrated further, relaxed a bit and observed, as to not miss a single detail.

Mana enters her body, but not directed at her, her inner mana or the root-system. All the mana being channeled inside was only for the left seed. The seed received it without any resistance.

The single crack on the seed kept growing slowly but surely. With enough time, and enough mana, more cracks appeared. They grew. The seed absorbed more mana. The cracks grew more. More. More. Then it broke.

Snapped in several pieces. The broken shell transforms into small particles of mana and vanishes. No trace of a seed or shell left behind on the body. The root system was untouched.

In place of the broken seed I could feel a real mana core. An empty, strong, flexible and small mana core.

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"You did great." Mila whispered again, with a warm smile, as she slowly removed both hands off Zwei.

We were now in possession of a different core inside us, but only one. The right seed was still there, the same as it was before. The mana systems were not connected to one another yet, but we could feel the difference. Once the other seed bloomed we would have a complete three-way-system, just like Mila said.

That was the end of the first blooming ritual. Nothing spectacular happened after that. No accidents. No explosion. No deaths. No pain. It was by far the best time we had on the Nest's core so far.

After we left the underground place we went straight home.

"Bath and sleep. Your body needs rest to accommodate the changes" And we did.

Zwei was not feeling too tired or too sleepy, but once she took a good bath the tiredness started to settle in, she slept easily once in bed. And slept a lot, until the morning of the next day.

"Zwei, I know you are thirsty for practice, but don't try to directly interfere with your new core just yet. It is best to wait for both seeds to have bloomed before doing any direct training with them"

"Y-yes, I'll wait"

"Until next time, train only your own mana like you were doing before. You can observe but not touch the new core and it's roots. Can you promise me that?"

"Yes! I promise"

Zwei was not exactly happy with that, but she would never disobey Mila's direct order. Specially not a promise made between them.

The days with the temptation passed slowly. Each day Zwei would start meditating, concentrating in her inner circling mana, identifying her limits and pushing it a little further. Safely, just like Mila thought. But at the end she would always turn her attention to the new core in place of the seed. Never touching it or trying to control it directly, but curiosity was strong and the child would spend hours only observing her new mana-core.

We can feel the new core, it's hungry for mana. The root linked to it empty of any trace of mana and not able to suppress the appetite of the core. It was very tempting to send mana in, it was like the core was begging for it. Zwei did nothing of the sort, she kept her promise to Mila.

This child, she used all her self control to follow through with her vow. I admire her. I'm not sure I would have been able to… Because… it is hard! I'm a bit happy with her misfortune, now she knows how I FEEL. She does not know of my existence but now she knows how I feel.

I'm aware that all this is just petty on my part, but I don't care. Several times I wish I was the one in control of the body. But I can only observe! The difference is that even if I could not control myself and tried to interfere, I would not be able to.

I already tried, ok? It is Impossible, it's like I'm watching a pre-recorded show on a big super high resolution TV, and shouting to the screen... That's just sad.

*

The final session is today. Today we get access to the other seed, which won't be a seed once we get control over it, because it would have bloomed… you get the idea right? We start the real training tomorrow!

Mila and Zwei left early in the morning, the Blooming ritual had no surprises, it went precisely the same as the last one, with the only difference being the hand placement and mana channeling, which were being all done for the right seed.

The process is the same as the other, the seed received mana, cracked and bloomed into an empty mana core.

Today is supposed to be the last time we came here. I may miss this place. It is beautiful, even though it was the arena of too many deaths, too much pain and lots of bad memories. It is still magnificent.

I said my final goodbyes and appreciated the beauty of the Nest's core as Zwei walked away, she did not even look back. I guess this may not be as impressive for her as it is to me.

Once home she bathed and rested. She missed the night Dedication and only woke up the next day.

Immediately after the morning rituals Mila started training with Zwei.