Absorption Technique

Lucivar was surprised, but his face remained composed as he already guessed this.

He found two of the three proselytes, naturally, he was the best contributor.

It was not that much of a surprise for him for Tobias to give him the blue power crystal, but the way Tobias phrased it made him sweat a little. Out of anything, he shouldn't belittle the others like this.

Even though Lucivar was facing forward, he could feel the others' daggering gazes.

As a newcomer, he was sticking out a little bit too much.

Out of anything, being the common enemy of this group was the last thing he wanted.

Unlike the others who were giving him the heat of jealousy, Delilah who was standing behind Tobias could not help but gently place her hand over her heart, smile softly, and give Lucivar an approving nod.

Seeing her congratulating him in the background made Lucivar smile a bit.

He has never felt this warmth spreading in his chest from seeing Delilah's gentle gesture.

"Dismissed!" Tobias eventually declared before the others went back inside.

Lucivar was also doing the same thing but before he could get into the mansion, Tobias was signaling for him to stay behind. Only when the others were inside did Tobias, tap him on his shoulder, "Good work, Lucivar. Seems like you're tougher than you look"

"Ah... It's nothing, really. Luck help me out today," He replied with humility.

Seeing him being modest, Tobias laughed and nodded his head repeatedly.

But then, Lucivar asked in concern, "Are you okay, Tobias...?"

Upon hearing this, Tobias was confused for a moment before he realized Lucivar was hinting at the incident earlier, "I'm alright—there is no need for you to worry. My wife patched me up and I'm good as new now. Anyway—go inside. Now that you can feel your ether, it is time for you to start your Hybrid journey"

"Since you're lately close with my wife, she'll teach you the absorption technique" He added.

Almost instantly, Lucivar's face reddened in embarrassment.

Over the time he was here, Delilah had been singing him to sleep to overcome his problem.

He relied heavily on Delilah, and he could easily fall asleep thanks to her.

Giving a playful wink at Lucivar, Tobias headed out instead of going back into the mansion.

It left Lucivar and Delilah alone in front of the mansion.

Seeing Delilah's face, Lucivar recalled what had happened with the woman from earlier.

Because of that incident, he couldn't help but see Delilah in a different light.

'Is she really doing this out of goodwill or will she also stab me in the future...?' He thought.

As he thought of that, however, he shook his head, deciding to not think about it.

Feeling a little bit awkward as Mirel's, and Tobias' teasing words played in his mind, Lucivar didn't move from his spot and stood there stiffly. He felt like steam was coming out of both of his ears as they began to redden too.

Just then, however, he was startled when his head was pulled into an embrace.

Delilah pulled him into her embrace and rubbed his head gently, "I'm proud of you,"

Listening to this, Lucivar felt a sharp sting stabbing his heart.

'Is this how it feels...? To be loved?' He thought and buried his head on Delilah's shoulder.

Both of them stayed for a moment there before heading inside.

Since Delilah was going to be teaching the absorption technique, both walked side by side, heading toward Lucivar's room. To fill the silent gap, Lucivar asked, "Did Tobias need to say that I outshined them like that? I do not think the others are accepting that well. What if the others began hating me because of that?"

"Are you suffering from success already?" Delilah giggled in amusement.

Leandra dominated when she first joined the group.

Now Lucivar also did the same thing, triumphing over the others with relative ease.

"He chose that word on purpose," Delilah finally said. "It sparks rivalry—and rivalry is needed to make a healthy training atmosphere. He wants you all to grow stronger, so sparking rivalry is perfect for your development. If anyone tries to harm you or anything—you can report it to me or Tobias, and we will help you"

Upon hearing this, Lucivar nodded his head.

Even though he was thinking that the others would hate him, Delilah took it a step further.

'She's looking very ahead... what if someone tried to kill me?' Lucivar pondered.

Knowing how much Tobias meant for the others through their reactions—when he mistakenly punched Tobias too hard, with Leandra even trying to kill him, it was not a stretch to consider someone might go as far as trying to kill him out of sheer jealousy.

Soon, the two managed to reach Lucivar's room.

It seems like the others were also in their rooms, absorbing the power crystals.

"Oh! I forgot to bring the absorption technique book," Delilah suddenly yelped—holding her head as she couldn't believe she forgot to take it. "Lucivar, can you go and take it from me? It's in Tobias' workroom, and it's the blue book, you'll know when you're there"

Lucivar hesitated when he heard this, "Is it really okay for me to go there?"

Remembering that there was a deadly animal in there, it was a reasonable question.

"It's already been moved, you'll be fine," Delilah assured.

Upon hearing this, Lucivar nodded and headed to Tobias' workroom to take the book.

Moments later—Lucivar arrived at the door leading to what was supposedly Tobias' personal workroom. He still remembered the eerie and foreboding sensation he felt on the night of the incident, and being near this door made his heart pound in his chest.

But unlike that time, there was no dark trail of energy signaling a killing intent.

As Delilah said, the animal must've been moved somewhere.

Probably because Lucivar almost stumbling to it that the dangerous animal was moved.

Sucking in a deep breath, he twisted the door handle and pushed the door open, only to find a regular workroom. It was extremely tidy, with a personal chimney and a small bed, showing Tobias sometimes slept here.

Other than that, there was only a wooden table, a chair, and tons of books.

All of the books were neatly placed on the bookshelves surrounding the room.

"Blue book, blue book, blue book..." Lucivar scanned the rows of books and found the one he was looking for easily. Lucivar took the blue book and saw the title of the book, The Versatile Blooming Hyacinth Technique.

Grabbing the book, he was about to make his swift leave but stopped mid-way.

His eyes were pulled to a book that wasn't neatly placed on the bookshelf.

It was weirdly jutting out.

Since the entire room was extremely tidy, this book was sticking out like a sore thumb.

Curious, Lucivar took the book with beautiful white and golden color—but when he checked the title, his eyes widened. It was titled Preliminary Angel Bloodline—it was very convenient for this book to be here, falling to his lap.

For some reason, it felt like someone put this here for him to find.

But Lucivar, excited, considered it nothing but good luck.

"I should have a couple of minutes," Lucivar muttered—as he checked the door before he sat on the chair and placed the book on the table. He skimmed through its contents and found it filled with different images and explanations of the Heavenly Runes.

Supposedly, these Heavenly Runes could be found in the Angel Hybrid's Supernatural Ego.

A telltale of the kind of power that lies within.

However, some Angel Hybrids, might not have one—it varied depending on the purity of their bloodline. It was explained in the book—the Heavenly Runes dictate the power differentiation of the Angel Hybrids.

Realizing that he might need this, Lucivar wanted to read more, but time was running low.

'Should I borrow it? But Tobias might realize...' He hesitated.

After a moment of deliberation—he tucked the book under his shirt, tidied the bookshelves, and left the room. He planned to consume its content as soon as possible and return it right before Tobias realized it was missing.

Lucivar rubbed the book in excitement as this book might really help him.

Upon reaching back to his quarters, he saw Delilah sitting patiently on the chair.

It made him feel guilty a bit for letting her wait for too long.

"Did I take too long?" He asked apologetically.

Delilah, as gentle as she always was, shook her head, "It's okay, it's not that long"

Now that the book was here, she started from the basics and taught Lucivar the theoretical context of the absorption technique. She patiently showed Lucivar—the crucial parts of the book and helped Lucivar visualize the path his ether would take.

In order to use the technique, he needs to mimic the technique sequence using his ether.

A Hybrid's Supernatural Ego has varying ego points.

Also, their ego points determined whether they could use strong techniques or not.

Based on Delilah—a less talented Hybrid would have 5 ego points, while the ones—who are talented would have from 10 to 20 points. In this particular case with the Versatile Blooming Hyacinth technique, it was a Silver-rank book requiring 6 ego points.

Lucivar would need to check how many ego points he has, and he would do it later.

Soon, after he learned the theory, it was time for practice.

"Open your inner eyes, and try making the sequence of the technique you learned using your own natural energy on your Supernatural Ego," Delilah instructed as Lucivar sat on the bed in a meditative position. "If you succeeded, petals of Hyacinth would begin to form around your Supernatural Ego and there will also be a vessel as big as a finger connecting it to the ceiling of your Inner Chamber"

Lucivar nodded before he went to open his inner eyes.

Upon his inner eyes opened, he was awakened back in the same chamber of a church.

At the center was his Supernatural Ego, the same as before.

Striding over to his Supernatural Ego, Lucivar went ahead to check the wings embracing the egg—as opposed to checking the number of ego points, he had, "From what I read before— there should be a Heavenly Rune engraved somewhere on the Supernatural Ego's wing..."

Since the Heavenly Runes dictates the power of the Angel Hybrid, he wanted to know his.

Knowing would help him understand his power more easily.

But after checking every nook and crevice of his Supernatural Ego, he couldn't find one.

"Did I not have one? No, that can't be... even my Supernatural Ego is elaborate and detailed, I am quite sure the purity of my bloodline is high so there should be one" He muttered—but he couldn't find any.

Sighing in defeat, as he might not have one, Lucivar focused back on the training.

Lucivar stood in front of his Supernatural Ego and placed his hand on it.

Breathing a couple of times, to steady his focus, he slowly channeled his natural energy, and his Supernatural Ego was responding to him, vibrating with a golden hue. Grunting lightly, he pushes himself and channels more ether into it.

Swoosh!

Upon doing that, Lucivar stepped back and saw the scene unfold.

"Delilah said I only need to do this and count how many glowing points I have" He mused.

In order to know how many ego points he has, he only needs to stimulate the statue.

Just as expected, glowing points began to surface on his Supernatural Ego.

As Lucivar counted the glowing points, his eyebrows began to slowly dip, into a frown when the glowing points appeared non-stop, "One... two... five... eight... ten..." He counted, yet he was not done yet. 

More glowing points appeared on the wings of the statue which made him gasped in shock.

"How many ego points is that...?" He uttered in disbelief.