The key to Control

Smack

"What do you think you are doing? Put some more strength in those matchstick hands of yours."

"I AM TRYING."

"Less whinning and more hammering, now get to damn work"

Despite his hands being stiff from all the hammer work, Levian was forced to keep going as Dolla watched over him like a sergeant in the army.

One after another he punches attributes symbols into the metal plates with a chisel and hammer with sweat pouting down his forehead.

"Why don't you just use a machine to do this? It would be muc-"

"Are you crazy?" Dolla shot down the suggestion before Levian could even have chance to argue, "You think some machine with no soul can control flux? N- AGAIN"

Twack

Hitting Levian with a paper fan on the back of the head, Dolla points at a small crack on slate.

Without any hint or chance of any leniency in work, He repeats the basic symbol set on another plate.

This has been Levian's daily routine for the past five days, his thin noodles like arms while still not like a bodybuilder could atleast be called arms and not twigs.

His physical condition has also recovered to a normal level and the constant use of flux has helped expand his core size by quite a bit.

After getting done with his daily chores, the work of managing the counter is also being handled by him while Dolla spends the time in his workshop.

Putting on a small cap to hide his fox like ears, Levian sat in a chair with leg over the other as he slowly reaches back into the depth of his mind realm.

Inside the mind realm, Instead of the initial darkness with no light insight now stand a sun like star with 3 bundles of attribute symbols orbitting it.

"That articifier work really is exhausting, Good thing I don't have spent all my damn time doing the same thing again and again." Stretching his imaginary body, He looks around his view goes to the demon reading a book while laying down on the colourless ground.

Coming closer, Levian stood in front of Nimim before joining him on the relaxation time, "You seem to having fun sitting here."

"I was until you came, pretty exhausted eh? Get used to it. We have to spend a lot more time in other things as well."

"Had to ruin the vibe didn't you? A guy can't even catch a breather in this difficult like."

Hearing the remark, the demon couldn't help but laugh widely while clutching onto his stomach, "Work? This is hard work for you? You are complaining this much when we haven't even really begin the true journey of fluxer."

"We haven't even begin? Just what will you call a proper beginning of my load and save isn't enough for you?" Unable to hold his curiosity further, Levian bluntly states his question.

The demon laughs as it stood up, Raising a finger and placing it Levian's forehead, he muttered a few words.

"Let me show you what is a proper beginning."

A feeling of being pulled into a dream flooded his senses as Levian was pulled into a sort of illusion.

In it he saw what Nimim wanted to show him, the proper beginning of a fluxer.

The star in the center was no longer just floating in nothingness, it was floating in a pitch black ocean, many symbols orbitting around it as it spun where it floated.

He saw the star shrink onto itself before the black water of the ocean faded away and Levian found himself back to the mind realm he was familiar with.

"The first stage of a true fluxer, Creating a synergy among the core and the attributes so it doesn't collapse on itself." The demon said as he pointed at the core still high above.

"You create a synergy you must first take control of your core." The core pulses as it against sends a strand of flux energy to the symbol set.

"Right now you are merely connecting the symbols sets to it and making them work, you have no control over it's power or output."

"So I have to control it? How? Do I beat it up or something?"

Shaking his head in disappointment, the demon gives Levian a flick to the forehead and sent him flying.

"The core is your soul, Your mind. if you can't even control your yourself, how will you control the core?"

"Stop beating around the bush like some riddler and tell me already!" Levian said as he forced himself up from the ground and begins walking towards the demon again.

"That's why brats like you are annoying, you youngsters have no patience."

" Well excuuuuse me mr· Boomer but not everybody is like some thousand year old senile geezer like you."

Recieving a flick to the head again, Levian saw the furious expression on Nimim's face and almost bit his tongue in fear.

Slowly backing away, Levian raised his hands to try to calm down the demon, "Now now. That was just a joke man, don't take so personally."

The relaxation talk time then became a chaotic game of chase as Levian ran away for both his life and sanity until ultimately experiencing the mind numbing pain of knowledge transfer.

After gaining the knowledge on how to reach the proper beginner level, Levian was kicked out of the mind realm by Nimim.

'Sometimes I doubt if that even is a mind realm, maybe it is something that guy made himself.' Coming back to his senses as he found himself on the reception desk, Levian begin doubting the very existence of mind realm.

Just when he was in deep thoughts, The front door opened as a figure with a grey zombie mask with artificial white bone pieces came.

The figure wore a jacket, a pair of shoes and a elastic pair of jeans and gave a somewhat punk vibe with a iron bat on his wrist and a metal gauntlet in arm.

"Huh? You ain't the old man, did that geezer sell the shop or something?", were the first words the guy said after entering as a roar came from inside.

"I AM STILL HERE YOU DAMN MUTT, GET YOUR ASS IN HERE." Dolla's roar came like a thunderbolt, the glass cabinets shaking from the mere vibrations of his voice.

The guy gave Levian a curious side eye before heading inside in leasure, his posture leaning back with both arms behind the head.

'The hair matches the old man, can he be some relative?'

' He is a good one.'

"Huh? What is that supposed to mean?"

'That guy is a hybrid between a enhancer and Manifestors, a proper fluxer with battle experience unlike you.' Not letting go of any chance to make fun of Levian, Nimim said as he told about what he could notice about the person.

'A Heavy strider or a sort of speed based fighting style where the focus is on distribution rather than lethality. Don't try to cause any problems for him or you will suffer a pain worse than being cut open.'

' I was not gonna cause problems anyway, you ain't my nanny to tell me what to do.', Levian calmly conveyed while mocked the demon in his heart.

Bang. Fwoosh.

The sound of metal hitting metal echoes throughout the store as the punkish figure went flying through and door and crashed outside.

Dolla came out of the broken door frame while stretching his arm, a hammer in hand and muscles bulging as if ready to kill.

A oppressive pressure hit Levian, making his body completely stiff with a instinctively fear binding him down to the seat.

" I told you to never show your face here again and you still dare come again with that trashy failure of a weapon?" Dolla said, his each step causing a wind that it was miracle the shop hadn't already crumbled down to bits, picking up the visitor by the collar he growled, " I really want to break those family jewels of yours but my daughter wouldn't really like that,So you better get out of my damn sight."

Tossing the beat up visitor across the street with such strength that the floor beneath him got cracks, Dolla walked back in as if it was everyday thing.

"I am never talking back to him." Levian grumbled as he saw the crowds disperse and go their own way.

The rest of the day was rather uneventful, there were a few customers who wanted to order weapons and armor, Levian took their order and placed them in the bottom place of the ledger and told them to come a few days.

One of the customers even tried to act like a karen saying she would never come again if she didn't get her order Tommorow.

Refusing to deal with that sort of crap, Levian quietly removed both her name and order from the ledge and told her to leave with a ' I don't care' face.

Evening came and Levian was soon tossed into the forge room again by Dolla for his overtime shift, his work? Creating symbols on scale like plates for a torso armor.

One after another he used the tools to make the attribute symbols in the scales, the guide book on the bench to his side for whenever he needs a comparative look.

Through not the finest and stable work, it was enough to match the order he was supposed to complete.

As his hands moved like a piston, again and again in the same motion with no change in movement whatsoever, he felt a idea pop up in his head.

' If it is possible.. I have to give it a try.' letting go of the hammer and chisel, Levian quickly returned back to the mind realm where he was meet by Nimim still lazying around.

Instead of trying to talk or anything, he shifted his focus to the core above and willed it to come closer.

No effect, the core wouldn't listen to him and he knew exactly why but to make his plan work he needed to control it.

Filling himself with determination, Levian sat on the ground, his focus moving to the flux energy moving inside the core.

"This is just a visual, the real core has always been within me, all this time I have thought of it as a outside object but never a part of me." He lowly mumbles himself as he tried to tap into the core inside his body.

He felt the flux flowing through his body, moving, gathering, changing before finally stopping at a single spot right between his lungs.

Having never tried it before, he constantly made efforts like deceiving himself, trying to force his memories and even tried to make it unstable by remembering his embarassing moments.

"You don't lack drive kid, those things will do you no good." Nimim said from side with his head resting on his hand, turning to Levian he calmly said, "Requesting or begging flux energy to follow will do nothing except make a fool of you, you have order it, suppress it, bend it to your will and follow your thought."

The words like a divine inspiration for a artist gave the Levian the much needed push in the direction he needed to tread in instead of wandering around aimlessly.

Levian tried again and again until he couldn't handle the frustration anymore and almost screamed in rage. He wanted the flux energy to be gone from his sight.

Suddenly he felt something, the flux energy that he could barely moved listened to him albeit barely and begins moving out of his body.

"Why did it listen now? Don't tell me." Levian said as he quickly closed his eyes again and focused.

He remembered the rage and hatred he had for the jinx and the scientists, The feeling of wanting to rip them to shreds to payback the torment he faced in the labs.

He had found the key to Controlling his flux, his emotions and desire.

The bubbling fury drove him deeper, his thoughts like burning hand of flames. The energy had to relent, to follow his will under the oppressive emotions threatening to bend it whole.

Meanwhile outside, Dolla looks at his apprentice sitting on the floor with eyes closed

Through not overwhelming like his, he felt a deep rage bubbling inside Levian as well as the flux energy moving inside him.

Deciding against it to disturb him, he turned around and left while closing the door behind him.

"I will have him work over overtime Tommorow. Consider this my mercy kid"