For the next few days, Alex and Luna practiced in feeling their energy. Luna was making good progress in feeling her energy and even managed to advance to gathering a small ball of light in between her hands just like Samuel had demonstrated previously.
“This is so cool…!” She whispered in awe, staring at the energy ball she managed to conjure.
Alex, on the other hand, was stuck at the starting point with there being no sign of him remotely feeling his energy. He looked at her advancing steadily and felt very frustrated about his lack of progress.
His father burst into laughter at one session as he caught sight of his son focusing so on that, that his face became cramped. Alex looked at his father indignantly as he was filled with the frustration of failing to feel his energy.
“Sorry, Al,” his father said, waving his hands after catching sight of his son looking indignantly at him. “It's just that you were trying so hard, you looked like you were trying to lay an egg.”
“Very funny, dad,” replied Alex with a flat voice, who had to admit that was indeed funny, but he was feeling frustrated and did not feel like joining in on the joke. He waved his hands helplessly and asked, “This is the fifth day, and I still can't feel my energy! Why, dad? Do you have any idea?”
Samuel paused for a moment as he seemed to think about it before he responded, “Actually, I should've been truthful during our second lesson. To be honest, it's pretty rare for people to get a grasp of their energies in less than a week. Luna is an exception as we both can see.”
Alex nodded, looking towards Luna who was dancing around happily at the triumph of managing to manipulate her energy. However, he was struck with a doubt, and he turned to address it to his father.
“But, dad, just how long does it normally take to feel your energy?”
“Probably a month or two,” said Samuel vaguely.
“Two months?!” His son exclaimed, shocked by how long it would take. Suddenly, he felt as though his father was exaggerating the number and asked, “Dad, are you sure, or are you making the number up?”
“What?!” His father exclaimed, looking thoroughly alarmed by his son's doubt in him. “Al! What are you saying? Are you telling me you don't believe what I tell you?”
Alex realised that his words hurt his father's pride and quickly said, “Ah! No, dad. I didn't mean it that way. It's just that the number you mentioned seemed… so long. It's not because I doubted your words.”
Samuel slowly nodded his head and smiled at his son. He moved forward and gently patted him on the head while speaking reassuringly to him.
“Listen, Al. I know it's frustrating right now, but I want you to believe in yourself and keep trying, okay? I'm confident you'll succeed soon enough.”
“Yes, Alex,” said Luna, adding her support to Samuel's words. “I may have been able to feel my energy much quicker than others, but you shouldn't give up hope. Maybe it just will take a while for you to slowly focus on your energy, but I know you can do it!”
“Luna…” muttered Alex softly, smiling at her encouragement and looked up at his father. “Alright. I suppose it's too soon for me to give up hope yet. Maybe I was just being motivated by impatience. I'll start focusing honestly and calmly from now on.”
“That's my boy!” His father exclaimed happily, patting him on the back. “With that level of thinking, you'll go far, my boy!”
As they grinned at each other, they heard Sarah call out, “Breakfast is ready!”
“Oh! Already?” Samuel asked, looking amazed. “Come on. Let's go have your mom's delicious breakfast.”
“Yeah!” Alex replied happily, and turned to Luna. “Let's go, Luna.”
Together, they hurried into the room to hear Sarah tell them to first wash their hands before sitting at the dining table. Samuel watched them go with a smile on his face, but once they disappeared inside, his smile slowly crumbled and was replaced with a look of worry.
“What am I supposed to do…?” He wondered to himself, looking very worried.
During the breakfast, they happily sat at the dining table and had the tasty food that Sarah had prepared for them. Samuel kept up a good front of being happy as he watched Luna tease Alex's way of eating, and Alex trying to pull on her hair as a payback.
Once they finished their breakfast, the two kids took their own plates and hurried away to put them in the kitchen for cleaning before going upstairs to play. Sarah took her own plate and her husband's plate to the kitchen and grouped them together before returning to the hall, where he was getting ready to go to work.
Somehow she could tell that despite the happy front he put, his eyes never looked happy. After years of being together, she was able to discern her husband's emotions without needing to ask him directly.
“Hasn't Al been able to feel his energy?” She asked curiously, and she got her answer when he meekly nodded his head in understanding. “Is there a reason why it's delayed when most kids should be able to feel their energy within a week after turning twelve?”
What his wife said was true, and that majority of the kids are able to feel their energy within a week after turning twelve-yeas-old. Samuel knew this, but had lied to his son try and give him hope that he can succeed with given time. He spoke confidently to his son about his chances, but now in front of his wife, Samuel was unsure about his son's chances of feeling his energy.
“I don't know what to do,” he finally admitted in surrender to his wife. “I'm worried that it's taking so long for my son to feel his energy. When I was his age, I was able to feel it in just two days!”
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“And I managed to feel it in four days,” replied his wife, making him look at her in amazement. “Not everyone is born the same, and not everyone has the same growth.”
“Yes, but… I'm worried,” he confided in her with a worried face. “I'm fearing that they'll take him away and force him to join the army.”
For those who are unable to feel their energy and fail to control it in a given time after turning twelve, the army of their country forces them into joining the army. In addition to that, having failed to sense their own energy, the victim is forced to never visit his family and is not allowed to even speak to them if they ever bumped into each other.
“The system is the system, but we're not like the system. Our son will succeed in demonstrating his talent,” stated Sarah in a firm voice.
When she saw him continuing to look worried, she grabbed her husband's face and turned him until they were staring into each other's eyes.
“Sam, do I look worried?” She asked him curiously.
He shook his head and simply said, “No.”
She nodded at his statement and said, “Yes, and why? Because, there is a way to do anything if you put your will and mind into it. I'm sure my son is meant for something if he's taking so long to just feel his energy. I'm positive! Now, don't constantly worry about it and get distracted at work, okay?”
As she spoke, she kissed him on the cheek and said, “Love you.”
“Love you too,” he replied and smiled at her.
She walked with him out of the entrance and stopped to watch him look back at her and give her a wave of his hand. When she waved back at him, he grinned and flexed his wings before kicking off the ground to soar into the air. She watched her husband go before turning around and walking into the house before closing the door behind her.
--------\_____/--------
The office that Samuel worked at was called the Customer Relationship Sector, where they are tasked with gathering data of people that they were asked to survey. Samuel's job, however, was providing customer support whenever a customer made contact with his office regarding a question or a concern.
On that day, he flew through the air at high speed and arrived on time to when his scheduled work would begin. He entered through the main entrance and was greeted by his fellow colleagues, whom he maintained a friendly relationship with. Greeting them in return, he quickly walked towards his cubicle, sat down and wore a headset that was used to transmit the voice of the customer into his ears while whatever he said was transmitted to them via the small stick like object sticking out of the headset's side.
“On time as usual!” The person in the cubicle beside him said, moving his chair back and greeting him.
“Luke Grendel,” said Samuel, looking surprised.
Luke raised an eyebrow in surprise and asked, “Was it necessary to add my last name when you called me?”
“Probably not,” admitted Samuel with a shrug of his shoulders, “but you vanished for the last three days, I thought to check whether you are who you say you are.”
“Very funny, Sam,” replied Luke in amusement. “Who wants to hijack my job? I mean, who would really like to work in a place that requires you to stay calm and speak politely when you content with a variety of customers and their really weird problems with either their husband, wife, or their family.”
“Good point,” Samuel agreed with a nod of his head. “Still, it's a pleasant job for guys like us.”
“Why? Because we don't give a damn and just do our jobs?” Luke asked, and Samuel laughed while nodding his head in agreement.
“Alright! We're starting now! Get ready to answer your calls!” Shouted a loud voice that reverberated throughout the room.
“God, I hate his voice,” complained Luke, rubbing his ears and putting his headset on.
Within a matter of seconds, calls began coming in and everyone fell into the groove of responding appropriately to each call. The customers varied from those having the issue of husbands not listening to them, their mother-in-law was being bossy, their wife was not cooperating with them in their love, and many more. If the problem was too severe, they would lodge the complaint and report it to their managing director, who took the necessary action to close the complaint.
Samuel maintained a cordial relationship with his colleagues, but he was on closer terms with Luke, and they helped each other from time to time and did each others favours. In the beginning, they were complete strangers when they were assigned to cubicles that were next to each other. Even then, they minded their own business until Luke requested Samuel to take over a case that was far too annoying for him to handle in his own. In helping him, Luke would take Samuel's case and they would successfully conclude their calls without a cause for problem. Like that, the two became close friends.
A few hours later, the bell rang signalling the lunch break, and everyone took a breather from their hectic work. It was tiring to many to content with customers who were just impossible to please, and would hang up the call sounding very annoyed. There was nothing they could do against a customer's aggression but letting it go.
“Phew! That was a nice session,” said Luke as they got off their seats and headed for the cafeteria. “What calls did you get, Sam?”
“The usual,” his friend replied with a light chuckle.
For some odd reason, Samuel kept getting calls from old ladies complaining that their husband, who was also an old man, was calling them old and complaining why she did not look as young as she used to. Luke, on the other hand, was always at the end of a customer who keeps ranting about his numerous problems without stating their exact problem, making Luke felt like smashing his headset in frustration.
“Sometimes, I just want to put my hand around their necks and give them a wild shake!” Luke said, sounding very frustrated.
“Yeah,” replied Samuel vaguely, his mind turning to think about his son.
Luke sensed a change in his friend, but did not say anything until they took plates and got food placed on it and headed towards a table to sit at. It was not until they started eating that Luke asked him.
“What’s the matter?”
Samuel looked up at him in surprise and asked “What? I'm fine.”
“You look worried about something,” stated Luke, looking intently at him. “Is there a problem at home?” When his friend shook his head, he immediately guessing what it was and asked, “Is it your son?”
The truth of the matter was that Samuel had shared his concern for his son with Luke, whom he sensed was an understanding type and felt he may help him. After telling him, Luke vanished for two days before responding on that day, so it made Samuel feel worried and felt like checking for his friend's response to make he was him.
Luke looked around their surrounding to check no one was listening, and leaned in to ask, “Hasn't he been able to feel his energy?” When his friend shook his head with a look of worry on his face, Luke sighed and said, “That is quite strange. The girl was able to feel her energy?”
“Yes, and she's already able to generate a light energy ball,” replied Samuel in a quiet voice.
“Wow!” Luke exclaimed, looking amazed. “The kid's fast!”
“Yes, but my son's the one having the problem,” stated his friend in a sad voice, “and I don't know what I should do to help him.”
Luke looked intently at his friend and asked, “Are you perhaps worried that he might be forcefully conscripted in the army?” When his friend nodded silently, Luke breathed a sigh and said, “I understand. Any parent would worry at the very thought of their children joining the army and never to be seen again.”
They remained silent while slowly eating their food from their plates, with Samuel having his head bowed while Luke staring at his friend with a blank expression on his face.
A moment later, Luke said to him after giving it a thought, “If your son is unable to feel his energy, that could mean he may be able to use magic instead.”