Jon settled in the center of the training room, crossing his legs and placing his hands on his lap. He copied from mory the descriptions of the xianxia novels he had read on Earth, trying to find the most comfortable position possible. The environnt was perfect: the room’s active array increased the concentration of mana in the air, making each breath dense, almost tangible.
Recalling the steps of the Mana Control technique, he closed his eyes and focused. As soon as he visualized the energy flowing through his body, a clear voice echoed in his mind:
MANA CONTROL ACTIVATED.
The sensation was imdiate. Like moving an arm or a leg, his mana obeyed the command, flowing toward the areas he desired. A relaxing shiver ran through his body.
"This is easier than I imagined... hehehe."
For a few minutes, he played with the energy, guiding it in circles, spirals, and random paths. He found no obstacles, no blockages. It was as if he had always been born for this.
"Where should I start?" he murmured to himself, taking a deep breath.
His thoughts drifted back to the novels. ’The dantian... always in the abdon.’
Focusing on his navel, he chose that point as a reference. Firmly, he began guiding all the mana in his body clockwise, creating a concentrated vortex. Gradually, the energy began to spin faster, condensing at its center.
The whirlpool grew in intensity. Each turn increased the pressure, and Jon felt as if he were in the middle of a raging current.
’It’s getting wild...’
His control started to falter. Beads of sweat rolled down his forehead but vanished as soon as they reached his abdon, evaporated by the intense heat emanating from within him. Smoke began to rise from his skin, as if his very body were being burned from the inside.
"Urghhh..." Jon clenched his teeth, maintaining focus. The sensation of death, the sa he’d felt when cornered by Ren, returned with force, crushing his mind.
Even so, he didn’t give up. He used everything he had to keep the vortex under control. For nearly ten minutes he remained in that state, body trembling, breathing uneven, muscles tight.
Then consciousness began to slip away. His vision darkened, and the pain in his abdon grew as if an invisible fist were stirring his insides to make room.
"Ahhhhnn..." A hoarse groan escaped his lips as the pain reached its limit.
Before everything went white, he heard the sound he’d been longing for:
DING!
MANA CORE CREATED: ▰▰▰▰▰▰▰ — 1150.
And then, the world went dark...
Jon held Elara in his arms, their lips locked in burning kisses, her breath ragged, their bodies too close. His hands moved across her soft skin, feeling every shiver, every sigh. When he finally entered her, feeling the warm wetness of her flower, a wild force yanked him away.
"Young man, are you alright?"
The strange voice echoed in his ears, dragging him back to reality. The darkness of the dream dissolved, and Jon slowly opened his eyes to find the staff mber of the magical training room leaning over him, his face worried.
"You were unconscious. The ti had already ended." The man shook him gently.
Jon blinked a few tis, still confused. "Hum... I fainted?" he murmured, rembering he was trying to create the mana core.
But before he could recover, a horrible sll filled the room.
"Ughhh!" Jon recoiled, covering his nose. "What a rotten sll!"
The staff mber also stepped back, covering his face with his hand. "Hey, don’t look at !"
Jon felt a strange tingling in his abdon. When he lifted his shirt, the shock hit him: a black sli oozed from his navel, thick and fetid, as if his body had expelled sothing corrupted.
The staff mber’s expression turned to pure disgust, and Jon, overwheld with sha, stood up quickly. "I... I just sweated from training so hard!"
Without waiting for a response, he ran through the corridors toward the dormitory. The unpleasant sll made so students step aside with grimaces, but Jon didn’t care.
On the contrary, a smile was stamped on his face. His eyes shone as he looked at the floating notification before him:
MANA CORE CREATED: ▰▰▰▰▰▰▰ — 1150.
Beginner Cultivator: Level 1.
After a long, relaxing bath, Jon threw himself onto the bed with a feeling of renewal. His mind still vibrated with the mory of the newly ford core. He closed his eyes, inhaling deeply, and began to test what he had gained.
He focused, trying to absorb the mana around him. Soon, the screen before his eyes glimred faintly:
▰▰▰▰▰▰▰ — 1150.
▰▰▰▰▰▰▰ — 1151.
▰▰▰▰▰▰▰ — 1152.
Jon opened his eyes, a genuine smile lighting his face. "It works."
However, before he could lose himself in training again, three soft knocks echoed on the door.
Tok. Tok. Tok.
He got up a bit reluctantly, but when he opened the door, his serious expression turned into pleasant surprise.
"Are you busy?"
Elara stood there, blonde and stunning, a mischievous smile on her lips and her eyes fixed on him.
Jon relaxed instantly, stepping aside to let her in. "Elara... co in. I was just training a little."
She walked through the room, looking around with curiosity. "Training again? You only think about that." Her voice had a complaining tone, but her eyes sparkled warmly.
Jon scratched the back of his neck, awkward. "It’s important to keep the pace."
Elara sighed, dropping lightly into the chair beside him. "Then make it up to by training with tonight. I’ve got nothing to do and I’m not staying locked up in my room bored."
He raised an eyebrow, surprised by the suggestion. "A... date?"
She smiled even more, tilting her head. "If you want to call it that."
Jon couldn’t suppress a soft laugh. "Alright. A date."
Jon got ready in silence, sitting on the edge of the bed while waiting for the scheduled ti. His heart was beating far too fast for him to stay calm. No matter how much he tried to think only about training, about the new limits of his mana core, another mory kept dominating his mind: the last ti with Elara.
He closed his eyes for a mont, and the warmth of that mory ran through his body like a fla. Her soft laughter, her daring touch, the kiss that had beco impossible to forget.
’I hope this date ends the sa way.’
The thought escaped, loaded with emotion, almost naïve, and Jon realized he was smiling to himself. He took a deep breath, trying to calm the growing anxiety, but the truth was that, no matter how many battles he had to face, nothing unsettled him as much as the expectation of being alone with her again.
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