"Ugh..."
I was inside the Ania room, taking a long breath while crouching. A thin, transparent black thread wound slowly around my body, fluctuating slightly in its intensity.
I focused my mind, trying to imagine myself extracting the Ania quickly from the air around ...
I was carrying out what George had asked of one last ti: to be able to use Ania in five minutes. I had managed to understand the missing key to make it work. Watching Zion and Fry’s fight had given an idea of how to do it...
Controlling Ania... so might say it was obvious from the start, but I would tell them it was different from the usual idea of control. You don’t control it—it controls you. You have to give it full freedom to move through your magical channels without directing it.
I needed it to flow smoothly without my trying to force it. I relaxed my focus a little and stopped pressing on my mind. Then I felt the Ania flowing through the magical channels smoothly, more so than ever before. I felt my energy increasing slightly, while the thin transparent black thread around my body gradually beca darker with each passing second.
My breaths grew deeper, my chest rose and fell in a steady rhythm. It wasn’t as frightening as I had expected; it felt like surrendering to a familiar sensation I hadn’t felt in a long ti...
I felt the Ania swirling around , and as I released the ntal pressure I had been applying, the sensation beca clearer. My body gradually filled with it, a feeling very much like drinking a huge amount of water all at once...
"Ahhh..."
My body broke into a sweat, and the more Ania flowed into , the more intense it beca, until I felt the heat of my body rise with every pulse of its energy...
The black thread grew less transparent with each passing second, thickening and solidifying as it lingered around ...
...until its presence was unmistakable, like a heavy shadow I could not ignore.
The black thread was no longer just energy around —it seed like a living layer wrapping my body without touching it, pulsing in sync with my breaths. I felt a gentle weight in my feet, as if my body were stabilizing itself in place, more solid than ever before. I stopped resisting entirely.
I let the Ania move freely through my magical channels, without fear of it going out of control or exploding. There was a strange harmony, a calm feeling that everything inside was finally settling into its proper place.
Silence reigned.
No noisy thoughts, no tension, just a pure sense of power taking its place inside . I realized I had passed the hardest stage. I no longer extracted Ania with effort, nor chased it with my mind... it flowed calmly, as if acknowledging .
I opened my eyes slowly.
Looking around, I saw the black thread coiling around my body. I focused my energy and pointed it at my finger, shaping it into a black bullet.
I stared at it for a mont; it truly looked like a bullet, but entirely black. I wanted to test its power, even for a mont, so I raised my gaze to the walls surrounding before firing.
I launched it across the room; it struck the wall, and a black cloud appeared at the point of impact. But as the cloud disappeared, the wall looked even clearer.
I realized the wall hadn’t been damaged even slightly. I felt no surprise—it was clear it was built to withstand powerful attacks.
Then I heard a voice behind , full of anger and tension, filling the room as if pressing on everything around :
"What are you trying to do? Do you want to destroy the entire room?"
I froze for a mont, my heart pounding.
I turned to George, trying to read his expression. He looked at sharply, as if every small move of mine had annoyed him. Anxiety surged inside .
I lowered my eyes quickly, trying to avoid his gaze, and spoke in a low, trembling voice:
"Sorry... I didn’t an to. I got a little carried away."
I tried to smile faintly, but it trembled on my lips. I breathed deeply, trying to calm myself before continuing:
"I... I didn’t an any harm. I just wanted to test my control over Ania... I got a little too excited."
George glanced quickly at the wall, then back at . I couldn’t read his thoughts; his face was like stone, expressionless.
"What would you have done if the wall had broken? You can’t even imagine how much money has been spent on this room.
If it had even scratched slightly, what would you have done then?"
I knew that even if I had attacked it with all my strength my entire life, I wouldn’t have been able to scratch it. But I couldn’t say that aloud. I lifted my eyes to him slightly—he was furious.
Damn it... what was I thinking, asking soone like him to teach ...
George stepped closer, his eyes sharp with strictness. He raised his hand slightly toward and said sternly:
"You will have to pay for the damages you caused."
I froze in place as soon as I heard his words.
I raised my head quickly, my eyes wide with genuine shock.
"Pay?"
The word escaped my mouth unintentionally, timid yet loaded with panic
.
George didn’t lower his hand, standing before like another wall, sturdier than the walls of the room itself. He looked at sharply, then said in a tone that made my anxiety spike:
"Yes. Even if the wall wasn’t scratched, so of the protective energy was used up. That’s why you must pay."
I swallowed hard, feeling my face heat up more than ever.
"But... I didn’t know that—"
He cut off imdiately, his voice final and uncompromising:
"You must pay, or you will be stopped forever."
I swallowed hard again, my face flushing with embarrassnt and anxiety. I hesitated slightly before asking, as if afraid of the answer:
"How... how much do I have to pay?"
A short silence followed, enough to make my chest tighten. Then George said coldly:
"Three hundred thousand Athena."
At that mont, I froze completely.
I couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe, as if ti itself had stopped. The number echoed in my head repeatedly, unbelievable.
"Th... three hundred thousand?"
My voice ca out hoarse, barely audible.
I felt an imnse weight pressing on my shoulders; my hands trembled uncontrollably. The amount was huge... far more than I had expected.
"Professor... that’s way too much," I said quickly, my voice filled with tension.
"I didn’t even cause any real damage. The wall didn’t get scratched at all."
George looked at calmly, but his gaze didn’t soften.
"It may seem to you that the wall wasn’t scratched, but the protective systems absorbed the attack instead of letting the place collapse. That itself is expensive."
"The protective systems... what nonsense is he saying!"
I muttered under my breath in suppressed anger, looking at George.
I tried to find any hesitation in his eyes, any weak spot I could use to convince him, but there was none. He was firm in his decision, solid as a rock, as if every word I said would change nothing
.
I felt the pressure build in my chest, my face reddening with both anger and tension. I had no choice but to accept and send the money, despite the frustration gnawing at my lips.
George looked at briefly, then said in a calm but stern voice:
"Your progress in extracting Ania has improved greatly."
His words echoed in my mind, a strange mix of frustration and satisfaction. He continued:
"When you can use it in a single second, you will then begin learning how to form the core."
He didn’t wait to finish speaking before leaving the room with a smile. I stood there for a long ti, stunned, reflecting on what had just happened...
Go to hell, you and your core formation!" I muttered angrily, feeling resentful and furious after he had robbed in this way....
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