Accumulation!

After getting to know the academy a little better, angel and silio said their goodbyes and each went to their rooms.

angel sat on his bed when Loi suddenly spoke.

"Ok, since now you understand the place better, we're going to start with your cultivation. i don't think you're supposed to get the accumulation method until you start your year, but knowing that silio already knows his elements even before starting, i'm guessing other students are trying to get ahead of others as well. So we'll do the same."

"You're saying you have it?"

"Of course i have it, i have many, i even got my hands on a legendary method when i was at my prime, too bad i never got to use it." Loi continued "You're really lucky kid."

"YES, Give me, give me." said angel excitedly.

"I'm starting to change my mind now." said Loi, he continued "But before we start, i'm gonna need you to understand something. A normal core is a mass of pure mana, that could be used to interact with the world energy to give life to spells. Awakened attuned seem to be the only ones capable of using the pure mana to obtain various effects."

"What do you mean?" asked angel.

"I mean that the attuned aren't the only ones that can use magic, all beings can, but the attuned have mastery over their elements. for example, you can use elements other than the ones you're attuned with, but they will be weak and clumsy, requiring more mana and focus. The same thing goes for non-awakened people with all the elements, which is why you rarely find non-attuned practicing magic, it's because no matter how much they try, an attuned will always be better and stronger."

"You said rarely? That means there are non-attuned mages?" asked angel.

"Yeah, I met my fair share back then." loi continued "Well, let's start."

The ring on angels finger shone in a dim light, angel felt a headache, he grabbed his temples.

Suddenly, a surge of information appeared out of nowhere, worsening the pain.

"What the hell" angel muttered.

"Bear with it kid, you're still too weak so it had some side effects." answered loi.

The pain subsided after a while, leaving something behind.

"Rujolin Accumulation method?" Angel asked.

"Yeah, Rujolin is the god of all gods. He seeks perfection in everything and this method is one of his works, it not only helps to sense and collect the world's energy, but it improves one physically and mentally. I didn't get the chance to practice, it was too late, so I just added it to my collection." loi continued "That method was one of the many reasons why i got attacked and sealed, they failed to get it from me." angel felt Loi's sour mood, the memories of his fall were still affecting him.

The method was simple yet mysterious.

The user has to breathe in the world energy, which it will merge with the mana core reinforcing it and purifying the mana.

This helps the core to advance, but for now it will only improve the mana core, making the core firmer and the mana denser, which will have major effects in the users future.

"Shouldn't I start cultivating my core instead?" asked angel.

"You fool, are you serious?. denser and firmer mana will make even simple level 0 spells feel like level 1, you're still recently awakened which makes the method perfect for you." loi continued "after you purify and condense your core you'll move on to the next step, which will be the start of accumulating mana."

angel thought about it and started practicing, sitting cross legged on his bed.

He can feel the world's energy around him, with every breath his lungs screamed in joy. He can even sense the energy travelling throughout his body and entering his core.

Angel was in a trance, losing his sense of time.

....

Angels routine for the next week was simple. He spent most of the days and nights practicing, other than eating and spending a little time with Silio, that's all he has done.

Until something happened.

While angel was on his bed practicing, he felt something odd.

His mana core and his body were rejecting the world energy, making him feel pain all around.

"Loi, what is happening?" he asked.

"Calm down, i never practiced it personally but i read rujolins reports about the method. This is supposed to be a bottleneck. If you want to breakthrough you'll have to force it."

"Meaning?"

"Keep going you idiot and ignore the pain." loi continued "There is a saying from your world that i quite like. No pain No gain."

"Shut up"

Angel did what he was told, he kept going, with the pain only growing worse.

"I CAN'T" angel screamed, he was at his limits, he could barely keep himself together.

"No, don't you dare. if you stop now all your hard work will be in vain." loi yelled "For a core to become firmer and the mana denser, the body must be strong enough to withstand it. passing the world energy through your body and then to your core is the perfect way. the world energy has not only been improving your mana core but also collecting all the impurities and slowly making your body stronger."

Angel has never felt this level of pain before, but he committed.

After 5 minutes which to angel felt like 5 hours, he opened his eyes. a foul and disturbing stench was coming from somewhere.

"No, I didn't," angel thought to himself, worried.

"No you didn't, don't worry" loi spoke "Look at yourself."

Angel stood up and looked down. his clothes were all stained by a weird black goo.

After getting a better look, it was not just his clothes, his whole body was covered by a black layer of something odd.

"What the hell is this?"

"Well, the human body is autom..."

"Hold on. if there's a speech, it's gotta wait." angel cut loi off, grabbed the bed sheet and ran to the bathroom, throwing it and his clothes in the washing machine then jumping in the shower.

Suddenly, he noticed something different. Angel was athletic, working out twice a week, but that didn't even give him abs or much muscles, it only kept him decent.

But when angel washed the goo off of him, he noticed that he had more muscles on him, even some abs.

He finished his shower and laid on his bed.

"Ok, go ahead.".

"Like i was saying, the human body automatically collects world energy, it is what keeps one alive, but without a proper breathing method, the world energy collected is deformed, leaving behind impurities."

"So that disgusting goo is all the impurities I had?" asked angel.

"Yes, it is. but yours was too much, that would explain the level of pain you were enduring."

"So what now?" asked angel.

"Your body is clean and stronger. or at least strong enough to contain your core." loi continued "With every breakthrough in your core, your body will go through the same thing, it might be painful but the results will be astonishing."

Angel froze, the thought of more pain scared him a little.

"Like that stupid saying goes. No pain no gain" angel muttered to himself.

"Shut up." loi said.

"What?"

"Just doing the same thing you did." loi laughed.