Ciar reached out and felt for the small trail of mind essence that currently connected him the Hendricks. He could feel it, a small trail of essence connecting his mind and Hendricks's. He tugged on it, trying to see how it was done. The line was made out of a single file order of essence. There was no double ups, no two essence out of place or to close to each other. Ciar knew the control necessary to stretch essence this thin without breaking the string was extremely difficult. However, he also knew he needed to do it. He sent out his own essence, following Hendricks's to his office across campus. He barely had enough control to touch Hendricks's mind before his essence snapped back into his head. An intense pain appeared behind his eyes, nearly causing Ciar to collapse. As the pain began to fade, Hendricks's voice echoed in his mind.

"That was a good effort Ciar, but you are wasting your time. If you want to learn telepathy, you cannot do it with me. Since I have already established a connection, the link is set. You can only contact me through my essence. Since it is linked to yours, you should be able to transmit thoughts back through it intentionally, contacting me first. This only applies to mind essence, however. This type of magic is not possible with any other kind of essence. If you want telepathy, I recommend setting up a connection with Luna. Even if she has no aptitude for the magic, when you set it up, she will be able to contact you, although she will have to focus to do it."

"Thank you, Director Hendricks, I will do so tonight."

"Its fine, Ciar. Establishing a telepathy link should raise your Mind Manipulation level quite significantly. Good luck, the tournament is only in 6 months."

The telepathy link cut off, and Ciar relaxed. No matter how friendly Hendricks was, simply touching his mind essence was stressful. The power it exerted on his mind simply by being activated was enough to cause more than mild discomfort. Ciar knew that if Hendricks's mind essence was that powerful, the man must truly be a monster in other magic as well.

Since he was meeting with Luna tonight, he would set up his link with her then. Until dinner, he would have to train something else. Ciar moved to the middle of the training area in his room, activating the shield. He wasn't about to start throwing spells about, since he still didn't know any real ones, but he wanted to make sure he did not damage the walls. Sitting cross legged on the floor, Ciar reached inside of him, looking for the mass of Void Power he knew he would. He had come incredibly close to merging his Void Power with his blood, and he thought that today could be the day. Slowly, he grasped the power churning inside him, pulling it, stretching it out inside his body. Slowly, the power trickled into his bloodstream, diffusing into the liquid. Ciar focused, keeping the stream as small and consistent as possible. If he pushed to hard, even by a fraction, the Void Power would lose control, tearing his body from the inside out. He would not die from the damage, but it would be painful.

The trickling continued, and his blood continued to turn from a dark red into a dull grey. Ciar's body was a completely still, not a single muscle twitching as the process continued. One hour. Two hours. Three hours. Four, five, six hours passed before his eyes snapped open and he rose to his feet. Clenching his fist, Ciar punched the air in front of him. The air, for several feet in front of him, visibly shook from the shockwave. He stared with delight at the message that he had dreamed of for so long.

Udo has reached (lvl 3)

A lost martial art the specializes in acrobatic moves and deadly strikes.

+6% Void Power channeling

+6% to all physical stats when in use

Ciar couldn't help but smile. All his long life, he had never had to work so hard for anything. Weeks of practice had finally born fruit. The second tournament had already come and gone, but Ciar had not attended. His focus had never wavered in the slightest, even when people mocked him for not participating, claiming he was scared to lose his crown. The only time he had not been training was when he was with Luna. He had even cancelled his lessons with Miss Fellana, as he now felt learning how to use a regular sword was pointless. If he could not get Udo to the advanced level in time, then he would lose his chance at the Endo. His strange fascination with the weapon intrigued even him. He felt drawn to it, like it had some connection to him, some connection to his past self. Now, his hard work was starting to pay off. With the blood fusion complete, he only had two steps left. First, infuse his bones with Void power. Second, fuse his Void Mind skill with his Void Body skill. The second would be the most difficult of all. Combining two skills was by no means a unheard of endeavor. However, this situation was different. If he failed to connect the two correctly, he would die. His Void Power would become unbalanced, upsetting the natural status of his body. The power would turn against itself, literally causing him to explode. Ciar knew the process would be long, but the power gained from the fusion was something that he could only dream of. A complete body infused with Void Power. Mind and Body turned into one, a perfect combination. His body would become a self-repairing weapon of destruction that few could surpass. Smiling once again, Ciar checked the time. His smile quickly turned to a curse as he realized how much time had passed. His dinner with Luna was in 30 minutes, and if he didn't hurry, he would be late.

-----------------------

Ciar pulled the chair out from under the table, motioning gallantly for Luna to sit. Smiling at him, she obliged, her hand brushing his as she turned to sit. Shivering slightly, Ciar walked around the table to his own seat. He and Luna were in the finest restaurant in the entire campus, the Lux. It was one of the restaurants in the dorm buildings, but it was better than the rest. It was also far more expensive than rest, costing nearly 3 times the Lun to dine. Ciar was not worried about his finances. He had won a fortune from the tournament last month, and had rarely spent any since. He and Luna usually dined cheaply, but Ciar had decided to truly take her out tonight. A waiter approached the table, and Ciar and Luna ordered. Shifting his attention back to Luna, he smiled brightly at her.

"You seem in a good mood today, Ciar. Something go right in your training?" She asked, tilting her head to the side.

"I finally broke through in my Udo training. Weeks of hard work and I finally got it to (lvl 3)!" He exclaimed, reaching across the table to grab her hand.

"Well, aren't you just fantastic. You know, that martial art really is quite something. I mean, the potential to kill its practitioner if he doesn't perform it correctly?" She said, a mix of concern and annoyance in her voice.

Ciar signed to himself. She had wanted him to quit Udo the moment he had told her about it. According to her, it was to dangerous for him to do. After all, he could die during a fusion if something went terribly wrong. He had assured her he woudl be fine, and eventually she had relented. It seemed, however, that she was still not quite over it.

"You know I'm extra careful when I do the fusions, Luna. I spent 6 hours on this one to make sure I got it right. I was almost late because I was so careful! I'll be fine Luna. Besides, isn't your soul magic a little dangerous itself." He said.

Luna's face reddened slightly as she looked away. She knew he was correct about it. Her soul magic was just as dangerous as his Udo was, if not more so. One mistake while strengthening her soul and she could kill herself permanently. Even after death, with enough money and a powerful enough mage, someone could transfer their soul to another form before dying. While this could only be done a limited amount of times, as it taxed the soul considerably, it was still possible to live again. With her soul magic, that opportunity would be lost. She would die, along with her soul, making it impossible to revive her. Seeing her embarrassment, Ciar decided to move the subject along.

"Hey Luna, there's actually something else I would like to ask you about...it has to do with Psionic Magic."

"Hmm? You know I have no talent for that whatsoever. You asking me that is like me asking you for tips on fire magic."

"No, no, no, not tips or anything. I would just like to ask if you could let me set up a telepathy link between us. It would be slightly difficult for you to initiate a conversation with me, but Hendricks says you should be able to do it if you focus. This way we could stay in touch over long distance or tell each other if one of us is in trouble."

"Well, I would say that sounds fantastic! So, how do we do it?" She asked, he demeanor suddenly shifting as she edged forward in her seat.

"All you have to do, is relax and let me in. It will feel weird, but you shouldn't experience pain." He said as he reached for his mind essence.

Using only a small portion of his essence, he concentrated as he stretched it into a single file line. He sat unblinking as he concentrated on keeping the line stable. Almost a minute of tense silence later, Ciar gained control of the essence and moved it toward Luna. Slowly he entered her mind, and was shocked at what he saw. Visions flashed across his mind, flashes of starry skies and a brilliant, shining moon. Briefly, Ciar wondered what Hendricks had seen in his mind, or what he might see inside of Hendricks's. As his essence was tinged with grey, Luna's was glowing a soft silver. Slowly, he inserted the string of essence into her essence sphere, blending his essence with hers. Just seconds later, the essence finished mixing, and the connection was established. Ciar ignored the notifications the system sent him, transmitting a message to Luna.

"The connection is done. When I initiate the conversation all you have to do is think your response. If you want to contact me, then you will have to focus on the trial of my essence and send some of your essence through it. It will take concentration, but you should be able to do it."

"Wow! This is so coooooool. I never thought telepathy would be like this. Anyway, now I have a tool with which I can annoy you endlessly!" Her excited thoughts came back to him.

"Oh please, don't." He complained out loud. The waiter, who just arrived to deliver the food, glancing inquisitively at him. Ciar quickly informed him it was nothing to do with him, then watched as the slightly confused waiter walked off. Ciar and Luna spent the rest of dinner chatting aimlessly about her classes, his training, and her friends. Eventually, the time came to part, and Ciar walked her to her room. Saying goodbye, he finally had time to look at the messages that had appeared before him.

Basic Mind Manipulation has reached (lvl 6)

Basic Mind Manipulation has reached (lvl 7)

The basic ability to conform the essence of mind to your will.

-7% mind essence cost to mind abilities and spells

Skill Gained: Telepathy (lvl 1)

The ability to communicate with others over long distances through a connection of mind essence.

Current # of connections: 1

Current # of connections available: 2

Ciar was surprised to see his Manipulation jump to level 7, but he wasn't going to complain. It seemed like Telepathy did not have a more advanced form, as it did not even have basic by its name. Seeing as he only had one connection established, Ciar guessed it was only counting when the link was made with is mind essence, meaning Hendricks's link didn't count. It seemed like he had a total of three people he could connect to at the current time, though he was sure it would rise with use. Happy with his new found skill, Ciar sent a brief second goodbye to Luna before heading to his dorm. Ciar immediately went to sleep, exhausted from the fusion and telepathy creation.