Imperial Codex

With her legs crossed against the ruffled snow, Aurelia puffed her cheeks as to mask the confusion racing against her cheeks.

"Hmm, so an arcane matrix is a compilation of runes that builds a formation. They are the building blocks of elemental magic, if not all magic."

Resting across from her, Zariel placed his bare hands covered in a gauze against the snow. He nodded, unable to hide the exhaustion. "Correct. Now, Karma. Tell me about it?"

Opening her mouth, Aurelia hesitated, "I don't really understand it, but according to you, it is one of the most significant powers. Forever reaction, there is an opposite reaction; whether it's good or bad doesn't matter. Karma will forever spread like a stone sending a ripple through a lake. It will spread out infinitely whether one sees it or not."

"Good." Said Zariel, "You needn't understand it now. It will come to you one day. Now can we eat?"

"No!" She shouted, glaring, "I have seen you go days without a meal. You can wait! Teach me everything. Aurelia wants to kick your ass one day."

Lifting a single brow, Zariel chuckled, "You must be as delusional as me on my off days."He mocked, lifting himself off his knees; he stood against the snow, "Now that you have a core, it's time you start running Arcane through your body instead of the outside."

"Starting without us again?" A sudden childlike voice shouted.

Rushing out from the manner entrance towards the training courtyard, Sionn and Ella wrapped in thick cloaks smiled.

"First come, first serve." Zariel uttered, "Hurry up. I was about to get started."

Approaching beside Aurelia's side, Sionn and Ella halted their steps and nodded.

"Good. Now that all of you have formed your cores, you can now finally see what makes an Arcane Warrior so powerful." Their master patiently explained. "I want all of you to run Arcane through your meridians."

Lifting his hands, Sionn frowned. "What are meridians?"

"Think of them as veins, but instead of blood, they exclusively process Arcana. You three have all experience a medical bath of my concoction. These baths were not meant to improve your power but rather unlock your full potential. Aurelia and Ella were able to awaken their Arcane Blood due to their race but Sionn. You were not so lucky."

Aurelia's lips rose. She had read a few books that described the magic of Arcane Blood. For those that had the fortune of awakening this blood. They would be able to carry almost twice up to ten times as much as Arcana within their body as a normal creature.

"However, Sionn, even if you didn't awaken your Arcane Blood doesn't mean you cannot. Your cultivation manual appears to be created by Tiamat. It cannot be normal, keep growing, and I am sure it will awaken like the others. Nevertheless, your meridian pathways were unblocked." Zariel explained.

"Now, all of you. I want you to run Arcana through your body. Do not think about it, and follow the flow of how things work."

Nodding their small heads in unison. A cold silver glow appeared in Zariels eyes. Observing the flow of Acana running smoothly, almost instinctively through their young bodies, a glint of approval appeared.

"Good, now remember this flow, and never go against it. You all will learn what all the many meridians are in your body before heading off to the Acadamy. Now notice that Acana is not flowing around your body. Have you ever noticed when you fought that knight a few years ago, he held a large amount of Arcana around his body?"

"He did. I remember." Ella quickly said, raising her hand first to speak.

"It's a little trick to lessen your load, at the cost of splitting your focus just by a little. The knights were pulling Acana from the air and cloaking their bodies. This would act as a bit of protection and another source of Acana to use in battle."

Touching her chin, Ella nodded, as did Sionn and Aurelia. Noticing another set of eyes appear upon them from a distance, Zariel continued without care. "Now that all of you have Acana running through your bodies, you all will notice you process information quicker. You are quicker on foot. You are even more resilient."

"Take this as a warning, and this is just for Ella and Sionn, do not get conceded. Even a human who has never trained can kill you. If Arcana is not flowing through your muscles, you are dead should a blade come across your skin."

Widening their eyes, Sionn shouted, "What! How?"

"The increase in resistance is not significant, to begin with. Not till you all learn an actual martial art to enter a battle form. Hence the reason I had you all make specific cores." He coldly informed, having seen quite a few who had been conceded in their power, die to a random arrow, or blade, of some no-name enemy.

"The Arcane technique I am going to show you is called The Imperial Codex. A special type of Arcane technique that will turn your Arcana into pure physical power. Your mind will grow sharp as a blade, your body swift as the winds, and your heart colder than the nine hells."

Gulping the echos of snow churning as Kest approached in the dawn of morning. "There is a limit, right? there is always a limit."

Zariel smiled a bit disdainfully, "The only limit is the amount of Acana you put in. A small child of two could technically burn the world down with a single clap in her hands if she had enough Acana. Although she would kill herself in the process as her body will not be able to handle it."

A cool shiver ran through Kest as he stared, petrified at what he had just heard. Within the Kingdom of Ferrum, it was understood that the most one could improve a person's physical limit was based upon the amount of their cultivation manual. One could not generally go over the limit of their realm.

"How hard is this to learn?" Aurelia asked a bit impatiently, unable to mask the greed leaking from her lips. She clenched her fist, trying to hold herself back.

"You don't have to learn it." Zariel calmly informed," All I need to do is draw the Arcane Matrix where you placed your core. From there, a string of information will appear as it surrounds your core."

"Impossible it can not be so simple. There must be a price, right?" Kest shouted, narrowing his gaze. "there is no such thing as a free lunch in this world. What is the price."

Cracking a sinister smile, Zariel chuckled, "Why should it matter? It is not up to you. Stop treating them like kids. Blood has already stained their hands in more ways than you can imagine."