As he rose from the dinner table, Aurelion forced a polite smile onto his face. "The meal was wonderful, Brynja, Sigrid. Thank you for your efforts."
Sigrid smiled warmly as usual. Brynja, however, was more observant. "Are you going to your room, Aurelion?"
"Yes. I'll rest a bit. It was a long day." Without waiting for another word, he turned his back and headed for the stairs.
His steps were mechanical as he ascended. His mind was churning with the day's events. Viggo, the clans' move, Linnea's face, Vespera's threat, and the strange moment of triumph that followed...
But despite all this intensity, there was a strange, emptiness in his chest. He wasn't angry, he wasn't scared, he wasn't even truly satisfied. Just... empty. As if everything had happened behind a veil of mist.
He entered his room. He walked to his bed and let himself fall backward onto it. His arms spread out to his sides, his eyes fixed on a point in the darkness of the ceiling.
He thought of the dagger pressed against his throat. That icy steel, that sudden closeness of death... And his own reaction.
"Strange," he thought.
The thought was like a whisper from the depths of his mind. "Yes, I'm not afraid of death. That void... I came from there. But that moment... I didn't care about that blade at all. It was like a mosquito bite. Why?"
As his eyes continued to roam the ceiling, memories of this life began to flow through his mind like a film strip.
That first breath amidst destruction, his mother's pale face, being smuggled away from the war... The old Elf's last plea... The Northerner finding them, Roric's hesitation... War Chieftain Varkas and that mysterious old man examining him... That strange Seal on his palm...
The orphanage. That grey gruel, Helga's taunts, Linnea's supervision... His first fights, his first strategies... Lyra, Kael, Elara... How he had brought them together, how he had trained them... They were his people.
Roric taking him under his wing. Those brutal basic trainings. The Arena. Vespera. The moment he first felt the energy, that smoke, then the sparks... And today... the departure of his friends, the clans' game, his conversation with Viggo...
He closed his eyes. This whole chain of events... Where was it leading?
"Where did I go wrong?"
Every step he takes was watched, every move restricted. He constantly had to lie, manipulate people, plan his next move.
"Why am I not free again?" The feeling of emptiness within him was now giving way to a familiar, bitter unease.
"How is this different from my previous life?" In that life too, he was powerless, perhaps in different ways, but the result was the same. A feeling of being trapped.
"Today... I could have been killed by that woman. So what if I had died? I would have drifted in that nothingness again. In that endless, cold, meaningless void... But could I have survived that nothingness again?"
He paused for a moment. An answer emerged from the core of his soul. "Yes."
It was an unhesitating yes. "I did it before. And I would do it again. There's no doubt about that."
But immediately after, another, more disturbing question arose.
"But why? Why should I resist? What happens after surviving nothingness? I'll be born again. A different body, a different world... Maybe a worse place. I was lucky this time. To be born in such a body, in such a world. A world where personal power truly means something, where limits can be pushed... But despite that, if I had died... if Vespera had pushed that dagger... what would have changed?"
A weight settled on his chest. "Even if I live in a world where personal power is important... How is this life any different from the previous one? Still restricted, still having to make plans."
"If I were to be born again, would I end up in a world like this again? What if I couldn't? What if I were condemned to another life as an ordinary, powerless, insignificant being?"
His mind veered onto a dark path. "Would I commit suicide... and try my luck again? Would I keep returning to that void, over and over, until I found the right world?"
Just as this desperate thought was about to consume his mind, suddenly, like an uninvited guest, another image appeared. It was very clear, very vivid.
A modern city. Night. It was raining. A man standing alone on the rooftop of a skyscraper, his coat billowing in the wind.
Below, the river of lights and cars flowed. The man approached the edge, looked down. He looked for a very long time. An indescribable weariness, a listlessness, was on his face. He was thinking, thinking hard. Then... he took a deep breath, turned his back, and walked towards the rooftop door.
Aurelion's brows furrowed. "This man... Why didn't he jump?"
Then, suddenly, the answer came from the depths of his memory. "Ah, right... I remember now. Because he wasn't a coward."
A wrath welled up inside him. "Cowardice is weakness! But... but that man was still weak. Powerless, perhaps helpless. But even in his weak state... he didn't choose that cowardly option."
"So what am I doing now?" His wrath turned inwards. "Why is this life so similar to the previous one? Why do I have to lie, make plans, use people? WHY? WHY?!" He clenched his fists.
"Why am I thinking about what would have happened if I had died today? Why... WHY AM I THINKING IF I WOULD HAVE COMMITTED SUICIDE?!"
The image of that man resurfaced in his mind. "EVEN THAT WEAK BASTARD WASN'T A COWARD! AM I A COWARD?!"
"NEVER!" he hissed to himself, his voice like a sharp whip cracking in the silence of the room.
His eyes flew wide open.
"COWARDICE IS WEAKNESS! AND I AM STRONG!"
"That man didn't choose suicide... because he wanted to be strong. He was weak, perhaps, but he didn't give up, he strived for it, he fought. And me? WHY DO I HAVE TO LIE AND MAKE PLANS?!"
"Am i strong? Absolutely! I feel that energy, I can control it! Then why... why do I still have to do all this? Why am I still not free?"
A moment of silence. Then a flash of lightning in his mind. A simple, clear, ruthless answer.
"Ah... I understand."
A smile slowly appeared on his face. It was a moment of enlightenment, a truth he already knew but now fully understood.
"I have to do all this... because even though I am strong... I am not... strong enough yet."
Yes. That was the answer. He wasn't free because his power wasn't absolute yet. His power wasn't overwhelming enough to disrupt others' games, to set his own rules. Lies, plans, manipulations... These were weapons he had to use until he was strong enough. Not a weakness, but a necessity.
With this realization, a new question arose. "So what am I doing now? Lying in bed. Why? Because I'm tired."
His brows furrowed. "And what did I do today to get tired? I walked around and talked to people. I chatted with a few clan leaders, annoyed a damn woman... Is that enough reason to be tired?'
"IT'S NOT!"
With a single movement, he sprang from the bed.
His feet landed hard on the cold stone floor. His shoulders were straight, his fists clenched. His eyes were locked on his goal ahead.
The feeling of fatigue had completely vanished, replaced by a raw energy burning within him.
He wasn't strong enough. Not yet. But he would be. And he didn't have a second to lose for it.
With this final thought, a new, energy spread through Aurelion's body.
He roughly pushed open his room door and threw himself into the corridor. As he moved from the corridor to the stairs, and then down to the hall below, his eyes were wide open.
In the hall, Sigrid, doing her evening cleaning, and Brynja, tidying up, noticed his sudden passage.
They looked like they were about to call out to him, but Aurelion didn't even hear them.
His gaze was fixed straight ahead, towards the training room. As if no one else was around, he passed the servants without a care and pushed open the heavy wooden door of the training room with the same speed, then slammed it shut behind him.
He locked onto the wooden training dummy standing directly opposite him. The glint in his eyes intensified. He began to walk towards the dummy with slow steps.
Viggo's words echoed in his mind. "What does lightning mean to you?... Understanding... Pour that understanding into his energy..."
Aurelion laughed inwardly with scorn. "Understanding?" he thought.
"That old fart... told me I lacked understanding. NONSENSE!"
"While these fools try to perform these manipulations with their instincts, with those vague feelings passed down through generations, with things they pull out of their asses, I know the fundamental laws of physics! I know the nature of energy, how it's transferred, how it's transformed! My understanding is greater than all these idiots stuck in their traditions!"
He stood directly in front of the dummy. His gaze shifted to his left hand.
"But if I absolutely have to think about something, focus on something... it would be POWER."
Yes. That was the only truth, the only unchanging answer he had arrived at after all that existential questioning, all that anger and frustration. The only thing he needed, the sole thing... POWER!
"I'm not going to stupidly watch lightning in the sky and assign philosophical meanings to it,"
"The only understanding I need is POWER itself! How to obtain it, how to control it, and how... how to increase it enough to silence everyone!"
He slowly clenched his hand into a fist. He directed all his will, all his focus, to that small point, his left fist.
He closed his eyes, summoned that golden, energy within him. He forced it, compressed it, began to concentrate it within his fist.
The air around his fist seemed to crackle. Pale, white blue sparks reappeared, faintly at first, then more distinctly, dancing around his knuckles.
But this wasn't enough. This controlled leakage, this weak glow... It wasn't enough anymore.
There was a pressure building inside him since that moment of enlightenment. A rebellion against restraint, against waiting, against making plans.
"ENOUGH OF BEING SO RESTRICTED!" a silent roar echoed from the depths of his mind.
More, much more energy surged into his fist. The sparks grew larger, their colors brighter, their sounds sharper. His fist was no longer just glowing with energy. It was burning with a miniature storm struggling to be contained!
He opened his eyes. The smirk on his face twisted into a savage shape. He tensed his entire body and an animalistic roar tore from his throat.
"HHRRRAAAAAAA!"
And with wildly energy covered fist, with all his strength, all his rage, all his rebellion... he slammed it into the chest of the training dummy directly in front of him!
CRACK! BAM!
As the fist struck the dummy, a deafening sound tore through the silence of the room.
A bright, white blue light radiated outwards from the point of impact. The sturdy dummy recoiled backward from the force of the blow but didn't topple.
But Aurelion didn't stop. This first blow had only released a fraction of the suppressed storm within him.
He roared again and this time slammed his right fist to the dummy!
BAM! CRACKLE!
The second blow was as hard as the first. Aurelion wasn't thinking anymore. He was just hitting. With each blow, his muscles tensed further, the energy flowing through his veins growing wilder.
"More!" he snarled through gritted teeth.
His fists rained down on the dummy, one from the right, one from the left, with increasing speed and fury. Sparks flew with each impact, blackened marks multiplying on the dummy's surface.
He didn't care about technique or control. He just wanted to feel that raw, pure power, to unleash it.
At some point, fists weren't enough. That savage urge within him demanded more.
He delivered a hard knee strike to the dummy's groin, then attacked with his elbow. He started throwing kicks. each kick, accompanied by electric currents.
And as that assault intensified, something else was happening. Those white blue sparks were no longer just appearing on his fists or the limbs he struck with.
As if the energy within him had overflowed, it had begun to envelop his entire body.
Thin, crackling arcs of energy shot out from his arms, legs, even his chest.
This wasn't painful. On the contrary, it was strangely, dangerously invigorating. It was as if his body was finally integrating with that chaotic energy, which was its true nature, becoming one with it.
The electricity coursing over his skin wasn't burning him; instead, it was empowering him.
"POWER!" he shouted again "Just... MORE POWER!"
This frenzy continued for a while. The only things filling the room were the sound of relentless blows, the crackling of electricity, and Aurelion's ragged, gasping breaths.
However, every explosion has an end. That immense energy output was rapidly depleting his Rank 1 Core and his body, which had not yet fully adapted.
His attacks began to slow, his roars giving way to more strained groans. The electric current enveloping his body weakened, the crackling subsided.
After throwing one last punch, his arms fell to his sides. He bent forward, his hands dangling towards the floor. His chest heaved like bellows, his throat burning with each breath.
A light, white steam rose from his body, the effect of expended energy and intense exertion.
He lifted his eyes and looked at the training dummy before him. The dummy was still standing, but its surface was blackened, splinters flying off in places, looking as if it had just emerged from a storm.
Aurelion slowly straightened up. He take deep, ragged breaths.
The smirk on his face had vanished, replaced by an expression satisfaction brought on by the raw power he had just discovered.
He had succeeded. He had lost control, perhaps, but he had felt the power within him. More than ever before...
"There... now I'm tired," he whispered to himself.
Slowly, he sat cross legged on the stone floor. He closed his eyes. He remained like that for a while, just focusing on taking deep, regular breaths.
He thought about the explosion moments ago, those sparks shooting from his body. He had felt that wild flow of energy.
He returned to void focus, turning to his inner world. He surveyed the energy remaining around his Core. it was depleted, but not entirely gone.
He carefully took control of that small remaining amount of energy. He began to circulate it through his body.
First, he directed it to his back muscles, feeling the tension there. Then he brought it down from his shoulders to his triceps, and from there to his hands. It was hard, required more focus, but it also possessed a kind of finesse.
"When I attacked the dummy just now, I released my energy uncontrollably. It was definitely a great feeling, yes... That feeling of pure power... But it was inefficient. I need to use my currently limited energy much more efficiently."
Knowledge from his past came to mind again. "The most muscle mass in the human body is in the legs, then the back. When throwing a punch, it's not so much the raw strength of your arm that matters, but how much power you can draw from your lower body, from the ground."
A diagram formed in his mind. "Power starts from the ground, transfers from the legs to the hips, then to the rotating torso and back. From the back to the shoulder, then to the triceps, and finally to the hand, the fist. Energy should also follow this path..."
He smiled with his eyes closed. "This kinetic chain... If I can direct my energy along this route, in accordance with the sequence of muscle contraction... Perhaps I can achieve maximum impact power with minimum energy expenditure. I can carry the energy lossless to the final point that reaches that poor bastard in front of me."
He immediately began to put this theory into practice within his void focus.
He tried to make his remaining energy flow along that kinetic chain in his mind. It was difficult at first, the energy tended to dissipate or accumulate in the wrong places.
But Aurelion patiently tried, visualizing the flow in his mind again and again, trying to establish that connection.
After continuing this mental practice for a while, he checked his internal energy reserve again. It was very low. "Maybe... maybe just enough for a few focused attack."
He slowly took a deep breath and opened his eyes. He still felt the fatigue, but the new idea in his mind had re-energized him.
He stood up, his posture sharp despite the aches in his body. He faced the dummy again.
This time, his stance was different. He placed his left foot slightly forward, his right foot a little further back, distributing his weight evenly. He bent his knees, his body slightly lowered. He brought both hands, bent at the elbows, to waist level, palms facing upwards.
He activated that energy path in his mind. He began to draw energy upwards from the ground through his legs. As the energy climbed upwards, those white blue sparks began to appear again where it passed.
First, his palms glowed and crackled, then as the energy climbed his arms, it became more distinct in the triceps area, and finally, when it concentrated in his back, between his shoulder blades. The entire kinetic chain was now filled with energy, ready for the next step.
He drew another deep breath, filling his lungs with air. His eyes were locked on the dummy.
Just as he exhaled and was about to unleash energy forward with both hands simultaneously...
THUD!
The wooden door of the training room was thrown open!
The moment the door opened, both of Aurelion's fists struck the dummy with power and with an flash of energy!
Aurelion instinctively turned his head towards the door.
In the doorway, with his silhouette and that stern expression on his face, stood Captain Roric.