[20] WEAK AFTER WEEK

The safe-house was located in the Mayval forest, where the trees reached extreme heights. The mayve trees were special as they had the widest trunk of any tree in Kyubu.

The council used this to their advantage by hollowing out the trunks of these trees and using them as the entrances for the underground safe-house in the forest down south of Esbara.

Aside from its small size, the rooms of the safe-house resembled pretty much any normal room of a house in Esbara, safe for a few differences because of them being built completely under the ground.

The tunnel like corridors connected the several rooms running on its either side, ultimately converging at the main hall, where the Ravens had meetings and what not.

Sliff had grown quite attached to the Ravens over the past week, not because they treated him with kindness or whatever, but because they were very comfortable to just leave him be in his room.

He couldn't have asked for anything better. He was getting food, clothing and shelter; all while people not ordering him around. This was all that he had ever wanted.

This was the first time Sliff had ever felt like a normal human since more than five years. Who knew that to climb above the status of a slave, all he needed was to just climb down?

Following the 'rule of repetition', Sliff was able to get closer to his goal of achieving mastery over the principle of Storing. He was putting in more than twelve-hours of human plane time in his training almost every day. While he would train in the eight lakes, the Ravens would think he was just a heavy sleeper.

And they were going to think that this day as well, because Sliff had finished his dinner and was already in bed.

"I can use my alchoskill much more…efficiently now," Sliff thought. "Up until recently, I was just punching the light. But now it seems I'm just touching it with the gentlest hand."

The euphoric feeling took over him as if a cool breeze hitting someone in the warmest day of the whole year.

Sliff opened his eyes in the next moment, awaking on top of rock beside the first lake in the forest where he trained. "The 'nowhere' is getting shorter. Now I can come here almost instantly…"

"Ready for today?" Galarax asked, resting underneath a tree.

Sliff nodded. "Of course."

"Get to it then."

"Yeah!"

Sliff stepped into the first lake after removing his shoes and wristwatch, walking to the middle then standing upright. He closed his eyes after taking in fresh air, focusing on the light within himself.

"I'm getting the hang of it now."

Sliff waved at the light inward with his mind, making it smaller. Time to time, he touched the light and squeezed it together to make it even smaller, retreating quickly afterward to not activate his alchoskill.

"I'm so lucky that I've got all this," he thought, remembering how smooth the last week went. "This is almost like a…no…it 'is' a dream."

He continued his effort to make the light fold in on itself, knowing that he'd be doing it for the next five or so hours before taking a break.

***

"Done yet, kid?" Galarax asked.

"Just a little more," Sliff said through gritted teeth on the final hour of training for this day. "I'm very close…"

"Alright."

Sliff could see that the light within him had shrunk drastically compared to a week before. The color was getting bluer and bluer as the light shrunk. He was proud of himself for the first time. He was getting somewhere and with his own work too. He was…happy.

"I think this is good enough for today." With that he nudged the light for the finally time.

The light shrunk to a glowing orb scattering bright blue light.

"Whoa!"

Sliff looked from afar and could finally see them, the angular curved lines on the top and bottom of the orb from which black markings were going outward—three from either.

"It looks like an…"

The curved lines came together and so did the markings on them, shutting in the orb, trapping in the light.

"…eye."

The orb was like the colored part of the eye and the angular curves were the eyelids with markings going out from them. But what was the shard that was drifting in front of the eye?

"What the hell, shorty!" Galarax said loudly. "You've done it! The lake's smooth glass!"

Sliff opened his eyes in excitement. "Really?" He whipped his head toward his feet, only to find out that Galarax was lying.

"Huh?" Galarax said. "The ripples are back."

"Back?" Sliff asked. "Were they really gone?"

Galarax shrugged with a frown. "Why would I lie to you? I told you what I saw. For a moment, you had Stored all of your Luma."

Sliff's eyes widened. "I closed the eye!"

"Eye?" Galarax said in confusion before his eyebrows rose. "You mean you found your alchoseye? You closed it?"

Sliff nodded. "I think… But only for a moment it seems."

Galarax approached him, raising a palm in front. "You've made great progress, kid. Just a week or half more and I think you'll master it."

"You think so?" Sliff said with a smile.

Galarax nodded, putting forward his palm. "You will, Sliff!"

Sliff slapped Galarax's palm with his own, pulling back a fist. "Yes!"

"Now you're only weak," Galarax said, pointing at him.

"Only?" Sliff said, frowning. "What else was I?"

"Very weak…" Galarax said. "But now you've made such a great progress that you're no longer very weak."

Sliff tilted his head slightly. "That is a good thing, right?"

"Of course, shorty!"

"Then I'm proud to be weak!"

"Whoa… Now don't get too proud to be weak because your goal is to become strong, isn't it?"

"Right…"

Galarax put a hand on Sliff's shoulder. "I think we should end today's training on this high note."

Sliff nodded in agreement then is chin rose. "Galarax, I saw a shard floating in front of my alchoseye. Is that bad?"

"Bad?" Galarax said, stroking his beard. "Again, kid, I don't really know much about alchoseye and stuff but…explain to me what this shard was like."

Sliff looked to the side. "It was like a…shard. A blue colored shard."

"That wasn't helpful at all," Galarax said. "Let's just wait and see if it's a problem or not, alright?"

Sliff made a sour expression. "Heh? What if it's really bad and I just die."

Galarax cocked his head back. "I don't know how you got to that conclusion, kid, but trust me…if it was something that could kill you, you would already be dead."

"That's nice to hear."

"No, it's not."

"Yeah…it's not actually."

Galarax snorted. "Alright! I think you're tired enough. Go back and eat your breakfast, kid."

Sliff nodded, putting on his wristwatch and shoes before closing his eyes.

"The light is smaller…but not like the eye…"

He reached for the light—

Suddenly the light shrunk to an orb. It was his alchoseye. His open alchoseye.

"Huh?"

The eye shot a bright blue beam of light toward the shard in front on it.

Sliff felt the euphoric warmth of his alchoskill.

"What just happened?"