《Into Nothing》108 // White Box

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Aleister pondered on why this was the case. Shouldn't it be primal magic? After all, I awakened my soul myself somehow—didn't I? Or does primal magic refer to how a bloodline awakens itself? Or maybe even if that soul would always awaken. It was just a matter of time? My last punch shattered the world, so the destruction of the world acted as the catalyst to awaken my soul. But that world was just in my head, right?

Syn started to talk after giving him several moments of quiet. "The anima of a Weaver is not necessarily of a higher quality than those that aren't, but it is magnitudes of quantity larger. The overflow of anima can be crushing to regular individuals. And I mean this in both a metaphorical and literal sense."

"Then, why have I never felt anything that sort of, for the lack of a better term—pressure before?"

"Pressure is exactly right. And it isn't that you haven't, but it's always controlled. As a Weaver, that amount of uncontrolled anima is more likely to crush you than anyone else first."

"But, I don't seem to have that problem."

"No. Instead of unleashing anima, you're absorbing anima. Like a tree."

"An outstanding elder tree with roots above and branches below at the very least."

"If you so desire. But the same concept still applies. You still want to control how much anima you absorb, or else it will ravage you from the inside out."

"Definitely don't want that to happen. So, how exactly do I stop it?"

"In your case, you might want to let the anima fill you up."

"And how do I know when I'm full?"

"...I don't know."

"Excellent."

"So, just ignore that part. Instead, what you want to do is think of yourself as a flask. The contents inside of you can't escape unless you decide to open it. Using the breathing technique can help with this, but it shouldn't be difficult. It still is the most basic technique."

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"But anima is entering me—"

"Ok, so you're still a flask, but then you put on the lid, and nothing else can get inside. The same principles still apply."

Aleister nodded and followed her instructions. The cooling evaporation that danced across his skins subsided. "You're right, that was easy."

"Good. Now, practice letting the anima enter and exit you at will."

The sensation returned and then disappeared. He repeated this several times until it felt almost natural.

"I'm going to keep it open for now until the anima fills me up. And speaking of filling me up—" Aleister placed his hand over his growling stomach.

"You can eat later." Syn waved her hand and dismissed his complaint. "Right now, stop letting the anima into you. This part is going to sound strange but I'm asking for you to force some of your anima out and let it continue to leak and cover your body. And try not to absorb any while you do so."

Aleister tried to release the anima within out of his body, but the process of not letting anima enter his body as he released it was just not possible. At least, not right now.

"I'm not surprised, but I still made you try just to make sure. In any case, just continue to force the anima you absorbed out of you slowly."

Releasing the anima was easy, but fine tuning the rate was proving to be difficult. It required an intense amount of concentration and micro adjustments from him. Not long after, he ran out of anima to release.

Aleister groaned as he fell back onto his bed. "Now I'm both hungry and exhausted. Thanks."

"No problem, but I'm not done with you just yet."

Aleister forced himself to sit back up. "What's next? I have next to no anima left."

"Yes. This is why you should take this time and examine your soul class."

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"Can I go eat first?"

"No. We're need to use this time as a baseline for the rate in which you absorb anima and how much you are able to store at your current level. However, you most likely won't eat for several more hours either, so buckle in."

Aleister grumbled and said nothing. Instead, he summoned the blank box into his hand. An action he could do at will, and played around with it in his hand. Syn appeared to do nothing and just observe him during this time.

He wasn't really sure how to learn more about his abilities, but it was no doubt tied to his box, so he fiddled around with it even more. If it wasn't a part of him, the box may not have even existed. That's how thin it was.

Based on the amount of light no longer entering his room, Aleister estimated that he sat in silence, staring at this box for around eight hours. That was the amount of time the anima took to fill him up.

"Please don't tell me this needs to occur every day."

"It does, but this is fine. Your body will continue to absorb anima passively, so you don't need to worry about it too much."

"Whatever my magical abilities are, I imagine that I will need anima to use them. So what happens if I run out of anima while I'm in the middle of a fight?"

"So do users of primal and divine magic. Just because the soul continues to generate anima, doesn't mean the body can hold or use all of it. In fact, for divine magic, their users can only use the amount of divine anima their deity granted them. This makes their usage the most restricted, as it doesn't regenerate until one prays. Which for my purposes, I'll just make it once a day."

"Then how does my absorption compare to how much anima a soul generates?"

"The rates are competitive. It's about eight hours for you, but the anima you absorb is leagues more purified which could end up as good or bad. I'm not sure because I don't know anything about how arcane magic works."

"Eight hours compared to?"

"Four to six."

"A range? Does it depend on the quality of the soul or bloodline?"

"The first since bloodlines do effect soul's quality."

"That purified anima sure is putting in a lot of work."

"You also need to realize, if you run out of anima, there's still going to be a downtime no matter what. That's why you won't ever find yourself using one-hundred percent of it up in fights. But you might if you try to brew a potion that's out of your league."

"What happens if I do use all of it in a fight?"

"You'll end up dead."

"Bleak."

"That's because when fighting, controlling your anima is vital as it can be used to protect and strengthen your body. In fact, just the surge gained from becoming a Weaver will passively temper you."

"So the thin layer you wanted me to create around my body provides protection?"

"Yes. I wanted to specifically see if you could do it without absorbing anima, as your absorption causes a disruption in the environment. Noticing the occurrence is difficult, but there are some special abilities or creatures that are hyper aware of anima states."

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