Chapter 5 : Zeal

Langris was 9 years old now, and he now had a very good knowledge of the World and his family.

Langris' family was part of the 4 Maines of the kingdom. The 4 Maines was the most powerful families in the human kingdom. They represent the strength of humanity.

The main source of energy in this world is called Zeal. This is what gives supernatural powers to humans, and the other races in the world.

In this Hallow world, there are 4 races, the human race, the Varpek race, the Fulisk race, and the Gadrius race.

Of these four races, the weakest of them all is the human race, and the Varpek race is the strongest and most powerful of them all.

The Varpek race has a human form, however, their skin is as white as snow, and they possess pointy ears with gold eyes. Physically, they are above all races in the Hallow world.

Each race has managed to advance thanks to the source of energy zeal. For instance, the human race has created things such as non-rigid-shaped airships, holographic screens, and teleportation circles.

Thanks to Zeal, the human race has advanced very much and created very powerful defenses in case of an invasion of the other races.

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"Young lord, you shouldn't push yourself," A guard that was sparring with Langris exclaimed.

"No, we continue!" Langris exclaimed with a determined expression.*

Langris rushed at the guard and leaped over him attempting to hit him in the back head as hard as he could.

The guard was caught off guard for a moment, however, Langris' brain was going faster than his body could, and the guard had time to turn around and block the hit with his sword.

Once the clash was over, Langris fell to the ground and groaned in pain at the moment of the impact.

Langris had minor bruises on his body, and he was out of breath. He was lying face down on the ground and was struggling to get back up.

"For his age, I must say that he is a skilled young boy, but pushing himself like this will result in him hurting himself badly..."

"Especially will this frail body of his,"

A bunch of guards was sitting near the entrance gate watching the spar between the guard and Langris.

Langris got back up after a few seconds and pointed his wooden sword at his opponent before falling unconscious on the ground once again.

When he woke up once again, he found himself in his room, on his bed with a hot wet towel on his forehead.

He lifted his head slightly, and he heard a voice speaking to him from the other end of the bed.

"You are finally awake,"

When he looked in the direction of the bed, he saw that it was his aunt sitting near the window of his bedroom.

"Nalia, have you been watching me all this time?" Langris asked her with an astonished expression.

"Yes I have, your mother went to the city market with your aunt Tirinia," She replied to him.

Langris held his aching head and grimaced, "damn it, for how long have I been sleeping?"

Nalia stood from her chair and went to the desk near the bed to fetch some water, "You have been sleeping for a few hours, you mustn't move a lot, I will wrap a bandage around your head, but you must drink this medicine first,"

She poured water into a cup and handed it to Langris. Once he was done drinking, she wrapped a white bandage around his head, and he left his room to head to the library.

Langris looked just like his father with silver hair, and blue eyes. For his age, he had a frail body and always wore a brown leather outfit with beige pants.

As he was heading to the library with Nalia behind him, he passed through the mansion hall, and there, he saw a beautiful little girl about 3 years older than him with golden-brown hair and a white robe.

She smiled when she saw Langris walking down the stairs, and waved at him.

"Good afternoon little cousin, how are you today!?" She exclaimed.

"I'm doing fine cousin Lensa," He replied, "I'm just headed to the library,"

"Oh... well can I come with you?" She asked.

Langris nodded, and they both started walking to the library. Once they got there, Langris searched for a scroll talking about the use of Zeal, for, since then, he has been trying to improve his physical aptitudes as much as his little body could support, but the use of Zeal was still a mystery to him.

He went to the section of the library which was mainly based on Zeal.

"Are you searching for a scroll about controlling Zeal?" Lensa asked him looking at the large shelves filled with scrolls.

Langris looked back at her with wide-open eyes astonished that she knew what he was looking for.

"How did you know?" He asked.

"It's quite simple," Lensa said with a smile looking down at Langris, "first, you are searching for a scroll in the section which mostly has scrolls about Zeal, and secondly, I see you train on the log beyond the estate in the plantations, and I can clearly see that you are trying to use Zeal,"

"Well... do you have anything to suggest to me?"

She looked around the long shelve and picked one scroll out of the many,

"I suggest you take this one, it won't guarantee you to be able to use Zeal for now, but it will help you in your breathing rhythm because breathing is the key to controlling Zeal in your body, if you cannot control it, then there are low chances that you will ever be able to control zeal,"

As Langris looked at the scroll, Lensa handed it over to him before continuing her explanation.

"I am not an expert myself, and this is why I'm giving you this scroll. If you manage to control your breathing, then you'll see that even your hits that use only mere strength will be far greater than before, however, don't push yourself, don't forget, you are still a child,"

After that, she left, leaving Langris alone with the scroll.

He sat on one of the chairs in the library and started to read the content of the scroll.

[One of the fundamental components you must perfect in order to employ Zeal is your breathing. Because your breathing regulates the flow of Zeal energy in your body, it also regulates the quantity of Zeal energy you emit.

As a result, someone with greater potential than another might quickly lose if he cannot manage his Zeal Energy. This concept, of the Breathing technique, applies to all living things.

Many creatures learn and master this rule instinctively, hence why most creatures with high grades have a very high level of mastery of this law.

The fundamental goal of learning how to employ the Breathing technique is to manage your breathing so that it can be rhythmically matched. In this manner, you will be able to improve both your physical and supernatural abilities].

"Alright, let's get to work!" Langris exclaimed as he left the library and headed for his training area in the plantations.

While walking out of the library and heading for his room, he encountered two boys about his age walking in his direction in the corridor.

One of the boys was shorter than usual, and chubby with blonde hair, while the other was a boy as tall as Langris with long black hair.

The chubby boy was named Morlen, while the black-haired boy was named Rolem.

"Langris... what happened to your head?" the chubby boy asked.

"Nothing really, I just tried too hard in training..." Langris said.

The other boy walked to Langris and wrapped his arm over his shoulder.

"You shouldn't be trying this hard you know, my mum said that you should always rest after working!" He exclaimed.

As the three of them were chatting and having fun, they each sensed someone watching them from behind their back.

Nalia who was assisting Langris since the beginning felt the same thing, and she looked behind to see who was watching.

"Oh it's just you," Langris said, "Uncle Dreyfus,"