002 – Awakening
When break ended, Erol went to his second class for the day. It was a practical course in which their progress in terms of controlling the elements was being gauge. In general, this class mostly covers about the foundational elements namely water, fire, earth, and air that can be manipulated using their mana.
Everything around us, the earth, the air we breathe, the water we drink, and up to the basic foundation of life, they all contain this pure energy. To sum it all up, the existence of mana everywhere can give anyone, who has the power to access such resource, limitless possibilities.
But having infinite supply of energy doesn’t necessarily means an advantage, as the energy that can be drawn from outside sources needs to be diluted to its usable state. For example, if the body ever ran out of energy, naturally, it will slowly replenish itself by absorbing the energy in its surroundings, as our body has its own natural mechanism that transforms this powerful and concentrated energy to its usable state called mana. This transformed energy will then be stored into the person’s core that serves as its storage.
Basically, all beings have a core hidden in their body. But, unfortunately, these cores are dormant. To access these cores, one needs to locate its position first then try to instigate it until it is ready for cultivation.
Overall, it is every Elementalist’s lifetime goal to nurture such natural mechanism in our body to its peak state. Improving their control in absorbing mana is the most essential skill that the school wants to teach their students. But this is where Erol especially suck at. He lacks the skill, control, and the proper attitude to do so.
…
Erol went inside the training hall where their next class will take place. It was a very large room; compared to his previous classroom, this one was three to four times larger. Aside from an elevated platform for professors, the hall itself was devoid of any material objects. All that can be seen here are the walls painted with silver, evenly mixed with dark colors here and there that were somehow made of an unknown kind of metal, giving it an indestructible feeling. It is said that most building in this school were specially made to be damage proof and sound proof, which is really perfect for trainings, demonstrations, and specifically – duels.
Inside the hall were thirty or so students gathered in the center, all from Erol’s class. The hall was filled of their chatting and gossiping. Erol ignored such chatters instead he went to the back of the crowd and laid low. A minute later, the crown suddenly went silent when a figure of a woman came in; her unusual height makes her look like a model.
She was Professor Viola Tremlin.
She was dressed in an all-gray, tight uniform where a blue shield with a pentacle in the center was sewn in here left shoulder. Her blood red hair matched with her flaming red eyes was perfectly combined to show her beauty and dominance. Newcomers might mistake her to be in her early twenties due to her very young appearance, but they already know that is she is already in her thirties.
But what caught Erol’s attention was the very thin film that covered her womanly figure, or more like her whole being. It was thin yet not, as some type of energy was being absorbed to it, somehow amplifying it, making it appear thicker. It gave off a strong sensation that made Erol hold his breath for a moment.
What confused Erol was that, his classmates were somewhat oblivious to it. The last time he attended this class, he was not aware of such display, or maybe he wasn’t just paying much attention that time. When he looked closely to his classmates, he was surprised that most of them emitted such film of energy, more like an aura, but much weaker, messy, and unrefined compared to the aura our professor has. Though there are also some who gave off auras of confidence and superiority, it is nothing compared to the latter.
“Erol Frousche, is something the matter?”
Professor Viola noticed Erol glancing on her direction with a confused yet calculating gaze. Erol gaped in shock for a moment when he heard his name. He looked around him, noticing every pair of eyes fixated towards him, as if he did something terrible just now. Uneasiness welled up inside him.
“I-it’s nothing ma’am.”, he said with discomfort.
“Are you sure?”, Professor Viola said firmly. "Then let’s start with our lesson for today."
Erol sighed with relief. He hated to be noticed by the teacher or be the center of attention so he always kept the low profile. He prefers it that way, of course, to avoid unnecessary trouble.
“Today, we are going to see and test each and everyone’s auras. I will teach you how to release the energy inside you as a form of an aura. Earlier I released a bit of my own personal aura to test whether there’s someone here who can at least notice this flow of energy.
Anyone here who saw my aura?”
Most students shook their heads confirming their unawareness. Some of them asked each other and some doesn’t really care that much.
“Erol, did you somehow noticed my aura earlier? Because I remember you were seriously staring at me when I entered the hall.”
Everyone was looking at Erol with scorn and discrimination. He wanted to disappear in that exact moment.
“…no, Ma’am, I haven’t.”
“Of course, you won’t. If we can’t even see her aura, how can you be?”, a student from the front row exclaimed conceitedly. Almost all of the students laughed at his remarks.
“Cedrick!”, the teacher called him out. It was Cedrick Boswick. “Why don’t you be the first to try?”
He proudly strode to the front, at the same time letting out an insulting grin towards Erol. His appearance shows that he is part of a well-off family. He was a little bit taller than Erol, quite good-looking with short golden hair, complemented by his navy blue eyes which made him seem like a foreigner. Adding his semi-athletic build, which is quite unusual for their age, he might actually have the right to be very confident about himself.
Cedrick was born in a well-known family of Elementalists, which stands as one of the top 50 of the strongest and most influential people in the City of Tezkia and was blessed with above average talent compared to his other classmates. It is quite common for people with talent and power to act so arrogant and bully those who are below his level.
A normal person would feel very insulted to Cedrick’s taunts but Erol paid less attention to his words. He was by now used to his jagged speech, that he chose to ignore him. But what he can’t swallow was being humiliated in front of many people. Erol can take Cedrick’s insults, but taking it from the majority of his classmates is simply too much for him to bear. Whenever the whole class laughs at him, all he can do was shrink in embarrassment.
“Okay class, listen and observe.”, Professor Viola started. “First, you need to sense the energy currently present in your body. You need to focus and guide this energy according to my instruction. Now, imagine that energy flowing towards your very core, moving it in a circular manner until you form a ring around your core.”
Cedrick went into focus. He slowly gathered his energy somewhere in the center of his body where he found his core following his professor’s words. Gradually, a ring was formed around his core.
“Your core will slowly absorb this energy to try and transform it into mana. But, we will not go to that point yet.
Before your core can absorb everything, you need to guide this ring of energy back to your whole system. Then picture it flowing out from your body.”
As Cedrick followed each and every instruction Professor Viola said, a brush of warm air emanated from his body or it was rather what his classmate’s pictured out. But not from Erol’s point of view.
Erol saw a faint blue mist-like aura emanating from him. His early bewilderment worsened as he saw his worst enemy slightly glowed in faint blue light. He felt jealous and irritated, as he can’t think of opposing such talented student in his life time considering the huge gap in skills and endowment.
Going back to the main topic, Erol’s confusion persisted even after Cedrick finished showing off his aura.
‘Am I the only seeing this aside from professor? This is getting very… weird.’, he thought, as a strange feeling welled up on him.
“Okay, good. Next!”, Professor Viola exclaimed at the same time her gaze fell Erol’s direction.. “Erol, come here in front.”
Soft whispers filled the room as soon as his name was called. Erol can’t clearly make out what they are talking about but he was sure there wasn’t anything good about it. Everyone knows what his made of.
Weak.
Unqualified.
Incompetent.
A laughing stock.
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Erol walked slowly, shaking obviously. He felt the glares of his classmates especially Cedrick letting out his wicked smirk.
‘This is just a quick test… It will be over soon before I even know it.’ He thought trying to convince himself. ‘Just go to the front and follow her instructions, easy right?’
Erol faced his classmates with an anxious expression. Some looked at him with pity, others with mocking eyes, worse they’re silently jeering on him.
His teacher noticed his nervous face. Worried, Professor Viola walked beside him and she whispered something. All of a sudden, Erol’s face lightened slightly.
“Okay, Erol I want you to clear your mind and relax.
Focus.
Draw the Mana inside you. Guide it slowly. Visualize this energy gathering around your core, as if forming a ring.”
Erol focused himself as per instruction. He channeled the energy inside him. He guided it to towards his core as it slowly move in circular motion, forming a ring around it. A warm feeling welled up inside him, especially from where his core stood.
I can feel it…
“Now, let this energy flow back freely in your system, feel it emitting through your skin, out from your body.”
He let the ring of energy scatter inside his body, letting it flood his system without restraints. Erol felt the gush of energy searching for a way out. He pictured the energy spurting out in his very pores.
A gust of air escaped and dispersed from where Erol was standing. In the eyes of his professor, a strong aura let loose itself from a long time of captivity. It’s like a newborn baby letting out its very first cry.
[Mana Manipulation Basic learned.]
[Basic Aura Manipulation learned.]
Notification boxes appeared in front of Erol but before he could make out what was written, it quickly disappeared from his vision.
After a short moment, his aura dissipated into nothingness. Erol drained himself completely and almost fell unto his knees. He gasped for energy as he tried to gather his senses back.
Erol was perplexed, but excitement filled his heart completely, dominating what he felt earlier.
‘Something…’, he pondered while looking in both of his hands.
‘Something has changed inside me…’
Dead silence fell inside the Training Hall.
His classmates stood puzzled as to what actually happened. They just felt a strong pulse of air slapped their faces which was stronger compared to Cedrick’s display earlier. What they can’t believe is that, it came from Erol, who they often call a weakling.
“Very good Erol!”, Professor Viola broke the outwardly silent atmosphere.
Without a care in the world, Erol slowly went back quickly to where he was before. But this time his heart was racing with enthusiasm, completely ignoring the stares around him.
…
“All of you must be quite confused. Just a moment ago, both of them released their auras right under your noses, but it appears that no one noticed it. But this is nothing to worry about. It is only normal to not be able to sense aura at your current level.
To be able to know how to perceive someone’s aura, you will need first to learn how to establish your very own aura. Yes, your own unique aura. Every one of you has their own. No matter how low your mana capacity, how weak your control, and how unpolished your skills, it doesn’t mean you can’t have your own aura.
Everyone is different. Erol today broke through his dormant system. I won’t be surprise if Cedrick will have a competition this year.”, Professor Viola let out a faint smile to Erol’s direction. “This is just to encourage you to pursue your own paths.
“Hmp! What competition? He needs to work hard ten times more to at least be considered a match for me!”, Cedrick declared.
The whole class was left speechless as they noticed that the overly confident Cedrick somewhat lost his cool.
“I don’t know about that. But I can only advice you to not let your guard down Cedrick.”, his teacher retorted.
…
“Okay students, listen. In the next few meetings, we will focus solely on how we control our mana and convert it as our own unique auras. By the time you get the basics of this, we will start focusing on perceiving each other’s auras.
Now, in the next few hours I want you to practice releasing your auras. Pair yourselves together and start practicing!”
The students started to find their pairs while Erol was still at back, still pondering about what happened earlier. Professor Viola walked towards him as if it was a normal thing.
“Erol, come here for a second.”, Professor Viola called him with an expectant smile. While everyone was busy pairing themselves up, he realized he was once again left out by his classmates. Before he can start to down himself again, he heard his professor calling.
As he approached his teacher, a timid look filled his face.
“No need to be so anxious young man. I just wanted to congratulate you!”
“C-congratulate… me?”, Erol was baffled as to why his teacher suddenly let out such a word. “What about professor?”
“You don’t know?!”, Professor Viola slightly frowned in Erol’s reaction. “Just earlier I clearly saw pure energy gushing out from your body!”
“Pure energy?”
Erol wasn’t really oblivious about what his professor said. In fact, he already learned this in his other class but only introduced to its applications and hadn’t really seen any of these energies in display. Of course, the same applied to the students in his year.
“Yes, pure energy. Though, still raw and impure, to make it flow freely in your body means that your system has awakened. In short, you can now freely access this energy inside you unlike before that you can hardly tap unto it. If you are lucky, you might get something good in the future.”, Professor Viola saw his expression changed, as if being enlightened for a moment. She just let out a soft sigh as she tried to encourage Erol. She knows that this kid was having a hard time dealing with his classmates.
For now you should rest. You can take your break early because I am sure you are still recovering from earlier.
I can only advice you to first practice on purifying your mana so you won’t have a hard time using it in the future.”
Professor Viola went back to check her students. Erol, on the other hand, left the hall with his mind still muddled in confusion. Though due to his professor’s words, his mind was pacified for a little bit. Now that he was somewhat calm, he once again tried to reflect on what happened earlier.
He himself doesn’t know how he did it. He felt it, that something inside him has changed, but he doesn’t know what exactly it was.
Erol took his break in the cafeteria knowing that for the time being no one will bother him. Random thoughts keep circling in his mind. But when he remembered Cedrick’s expression that time, he let out a faint smile.
…
Third and fourth subjects ended in a flash. Erol, still hiding under his hoddie, he went out of his classroom trying to avoid garnering any attention. He rushed to the deposit machine, then he withdrawn his hover board and left the school.
On his way home, while riding his board, he saw three figures standing a couple of meters ahead, as if they have been waiting for him. One of them was someone he really knows…