Book 1, Chapter 2 - Enlightenment (2.1/2.3)

"So, is this the place that I will spend the next three or so years of my life? It's a bit bland..."

Currently, Synth was standing inside a rather plain, although spacious, looking room. There were two beds, one on each side of the room, while a window was in the middle of the front wall. There was also a thin divider somewhat separating the two sides of the room. Other than those basic commodities, there was nothing else.

Quickly scanning the entire room once more, Synth sighed and plopped down on the bed located on the right side of the room. Gazing blankly at the ceiling, he softly muttered, "It looks as if I only have one roommate, huh? Well, the fewer the better, I guess."

"Well said."

Hearing this, Synth quickly jerked his head forward, trying to find where the voice came from. However, he could not see anything, no matter where he looked.

"Who...?"

Synth was seriously confused. He had clearly heard a voice resonating in the dorm room. But when he scanned his surroundings, he didn't find anyone!

"Don't bother looking. I'm in the shadows."

What? In the shadows? My roommate is already an Invoker?

Although Synth had not started cultivating yet, it must be known that many of the new students enrolling into the Magecroft Academy hadn't either. This meant that his roommate was already on the path of cultivation!

This also meant that his roommate had also practiced a spell of the darkness attribute that allowed him to hide his presence so neatly.

Suddenly, a hazy image of a youth fazed into Synth's view. He was dressed in a white uniform, and had violet hair complemented by his purple eyes, and truly had a devilish appearance. What appeared to be a vial of poison was holstered on his left hip, while his body seemed to be enveloped by a translucent black cloak.

Seeing the surreal appearance of the person in front of him made a deep impression on Synth. Also, although he wasn't fully aware of it, Synth could feel some strange power pulsating from the youth's body. Although he couldn't quite clearly sense how strong the aura covering the youth's body was, Synth was sure that it was the pressure of the Energy Base of the youth!

Just from that, he could tell... that the man in front of him was on a completely different level than himself!

Beginning to grow a bit nervous, Synth awkwardly chuckled, and resumed his resting position on his bed. He truly did not want to anger this roommate of his, partly due to the fact that he appeared to be a relatively high-ranked noble, but mostly due to the enormous pressure that he had previously felt just by being around him.

However, Synth's gnawing curiosity about what it was like to be an Invoker finally got the best of him, and he couldn't help but turn around and ask, "Hey, are you already a Mind Invoker?"

The violet-haired youth turned around and looked at Synth. Lightly sighing, he replied, "I've just recently broke through and become a four-star Mind Invoker."

"WHAT!?!"

This simple sentence left Synth feeling dumbfounded. The youth in front of him looked no older than fourteen, roughly around the same age as him, yet he was already a four-star Mind Invoker?

What type of training talent was this?

It must be known that to advance four star ranks as a Mind Invoker usually took around a year's time. Training and advancing as an Invoker was much tougher than advancing as a Chevalier, due to the amount of World Essence required to fuel the Energy Base inside the practitioner.

Chevaliers used the World Essence to envelop their bodies and strengthen their muscles while also improving their dexterity and agility, mainly coating the body externally with it. However, Invokers had to draw in World Essence within their bodies, drawing it into their dantian.

This usually results in a ball of energy within the Invoker's body, at a place resting slightly below the navel. The 'Accumulated Energy Storage' then is used to aid the Invoker in casting spells and the like by getting channeled through spell arrays. When it is exhausted, the amount of World Essence available will gradually recover. However, to increase the maximum amount that the dantian can store required the Invoker to grow stronger.

If one's Energy Base was not big enough and tried to cast a spell beyond their means, it would usually end up with the spell-caster dying or becoming a cripple.

"So, um... is it possible for you to teach me any effective ways to cultivate?"

Looking at the violet-haired youth with shining eyes, and remembering the casual statement that he had just made, Synth thought that maybe his roommate could help him get a head start on his peers.

Seeing the expression that Synth was displaying, the violet-haired youth shook his head and said, "Don't jump the gun. We still barely know each other. And also, why do I have to teach someone like you effective methods to train?"

Crap! I completely forgot about my status!

Synth worriedly thought in his head, before giving out an awkward laugh. "Sorry about that. I guess I got too excited, seeing how my roommate could already use magic so effectively. I'm Synth. Synth Ly-... Synth Lynn."

That was close! I almost said something that I really shouldn't have...

However, the violet-haired youth seemed not to notice. Sitting down on the vacant bed on the other side of the room, he casually replied, "Verain. Verain Li."

Hearing this, Synth now knew that his previous thought was correct. The youth that would be his roommate was from a large noble family, and it would be best if he didn't cross him.

Although Synth hadn't heard the specifics about the Li Family, he knew that it was a local power no weaker than his Lyos Family, even though it wasn't ranked among the top three powers.

Not thinking any further on this topic, Synth quickly rolled around, and grabbed the bag of Xena and the World Essence Crystal that was currently on his person. He casually tossed the bag of money on the side of his bed, while he began to fidget with the Crystal.

It was roughly the size of his index finger, and emanated a soft translucent glow. Tiny wisps of energy could be seen slowly leaking out of the crystal.

Seeing this, Synth began to poke at the wisps of energy, and saw that they gently wrapped around his finger before floating off again.

Heh, this is quite amusing. But then again, how am I even supposed to absorb this?

"Hey. What are you doing? Quickly absorb the World Essence that's leaking out from the crystal. Don't you know that the crystal that you have is cracked, and that you need to absorb the leaking energy as fast as possible?"

Turning around, Synth saw that his roommate, Verain, was currently standing over him, a displeased expression on his face.

"Huh? But I don't know how..."

"You don't know? Seriously?" Contrary to Synth's expectations, Verain sighed, and actually began to explain how to absorb the essence contained within the crystals to him.

"Concentrate on 'sensing' the essence that is contained within the crystal. Can you feel the faint strands of energy contained within? Try drawing the energy in, and direct it to your Origin." (AuN: Origin - Dantian)

Verain's first sentence left Synth startled, and he shot a quizzical look towards him. Seeing this Verain shook his head, and coldly said, "Since you have been accepted into the academy, don't tell me that you can't do even this."

So, being able to clearly sense the World Essence is directly related to latent talent?

Thinking to this point, Synth closed his eyes, and tried to concentrate on sensing the faint strands of energy surrounding the small crystal that he was currently holding in his hands.

In the depths of his consciousness, Synth could somewhat sense the boundless essence of the World, and felt as if four strands of energy were trying to merge into his body.

Gently breathing, he directed the energy flow downwards, forcing it to rest at a place slightly below his navel. The four strands of energy began to merge, forming one combined, bigger strand. It gradually turned into a ball shape, and began to firmly implant its roots inside Synth's Origin.

However, just as the 'core' was about to form, the sphere of World Essence suddenly exploded!

"AHHHHHHHHH!" An anguished cry escaped from Synth's lips, and he lurched to the floor, clutching his chest in pain. Verain stood over him, watching dumbfounded at this unexpected turn of events.

However, that shock soon turned to bewilderment, when he sensed the strange aura that was coming from Synth's body.

"Dual element affinity?"

Verain could faintly sense the elements of light and fire being emanated from Synth's body. However, what was currently happening now did not make much sense to him. Theoretically speaking, if one was a dual-element Invoker, their innate talent should not be low. In fact, their innate talent should be at least at the Flame Stage of talent. However, Verain had clearly felt that Synth's innate talent was no higher than the Spark Stage from his energy fluctuations.

This could only lead to one possible conclusion - Cultivation Backlash!

Cultivation Backlash was a phenomenon that would happen when one tried to cultivate and train in a technique or absorption method that was too complicated for them to handle, which would lead to anywhere between passing out for a few days or directly becoming crippled.

Verain thought that since Synth had dual-element affinities and yet his innate talent was only at the Spark Stage, he might have suffered from Cultivation Backlash. Thus, this would be the natural result.

Looking down at Synth, who was still clutching his chest in pain, Verain only frowned, and muttered,"It's a pity, too. Even though his innate talent was only at the Spark Stage, he's still a dual-element Invoker... and not to mention that the Li Family has those forbidden methods..."

Synth was completely oblivious to all of this. The only thing he was feeling at this moment was pain. Excruciating, almost unbearable pain, that wracked his chest and somehow managed to affect his entire body and engulf it in that unpleasant sensation.

But the amount of pain that he was suffering was natural. After all, his 'Origin' had exploded on itself, the very center where the body's energy was channeled. In fact, it could even be said that he was getting off light, since his Origin had not fully formed yet, so the amount of pain that he was feeling would not compare to people who already had formed their 'Core'.

However, strangely enough, the wisps of energy in his body did not escape. Rather, they began to travel up the veins of Synth's body...

Noticing this, Verain once more turned around and looked at the youth on the ground in front of him, a bewildered expression displayed on his face.

"Internal-Vein Opening? How is something like that even possible..."

What Verain had sensed was that the World Essence, instead of forming a core, traveled inside Synth's body inside all of his veins and meridians.

Usually, Chevaliers would coat themselves externally with a layer of World Essence. Invokers would form a core in their Origin region and draw upon that to power their magics.

However, what Synth was currently doing was a combination of the two! Just the sight of this would leave many people dumbfounded, not just Verain.

Looking at this phenomenon happening right in front of him, a somewhat crude smile appeared on Verain's face. With a cold expression, he softly murmured, "If I can rope him in... then the 'Plan' can move forward."

Heh, just you wait, humans. Don't you know that a magic beast has already infiltrated your precious town, and even was accepted into one of your prestigious institutes? All I need is a vessel. Hahahahaha....