Chapter 8: Aetheric Codex
The door clicked shut. Silence descended once more upon the room.
Now, Astrael was alone.
Yet, his mind was in chaos.
The doctor certainly detected the peculiarity, the nascent mana within him. Doctor Harman’s subtle signal to Father confirmed Astrael’s fear. Now, father will know; I don’t know how he will react.
"sigh..What’s done is done. But what was that nightmare? It felt... real. Too real. And how did I lose consciousness?" He remembered only sitting by the window, in the library, practicing the breathing technique Rejuvenation.... then the crimson void.
To understand the situation and check his body, as well as what happened before he lost consciousness, Astrael closed his eyes.
He got into a meditative state he practices in secret. He felt a sphere condensed, pulsing gently, in his lower abdomen. It was small, perhaps the size of a pigeon egg, but undeniably solid, radiating a soft pulsating light.
"A core?" Astrael’s internal voice was laced with disbelief. " But... that’s impossible. Forming a core takes years of dedicated training, decades even. What is this?"
To test his thought, he focused on his breathing technique, Rejuvenation, gathering a wisp of ambient mana in his palm. Previously, it had been like trying to grasp, but requiring intense concentration and resulting in a faint, flickering glow.
This time, the response was instantaneous and overwhelming. Mana surged towards him, as a stream, which gathered into his palm with ease, forming a small, blue light orb, humming softly.
His control was effortless with precise ease. His precision, his sensitivity, the sheer volume he can handle, and channel..... it had all undergone a qualitative leap.