"That observation alone will make this part of the explanation easier; however, as both Bernar and Ysevel have demonstrated, therein lies the weakness that most dragons have learned to exploit," she began, returning her presence to an observable level.
"Tell me, do you have to think about breathing, the taste of your own saliva, or tell your heart to beat?" she asked, to which all of us shook our heads. "Good, because if you had to, you all would have died in your sleep long ago," she chuckled with slight relief, prompting me to become immediately aware of my own breathing.
"You see, every spell you cast or every time you breathe, there is a conscious or subconscious intent behind it. Your body will tell you what it needs without you even realizing it. It is something that most don't even consider because it is such a natural part of life," she began
Is she trying to tell us to reach a level where both our conscious and subconscious intent can't even be read? Is that even possible? I wondered, taking everything she'd said into consideration.
Apparently, she'd noticed the gears turning in my head and gave me a wry smile.
"It would seem you have some insight to share with the rest of us," she grinned, snapping me out of my thoughts. "Oh, I was just thinking about what it meant to fully hide your intent, whether it be conscious or subconscious," I replied, not entirely sure I had adequately phrased my question.
However, much to my surprise, her grin turned into a full-on smile. "That is precisely what I am trying to say. When you hide your own intent, it makes it easier to read that of others who underestimate you, human or otherwise. That's what it means to attain the sixth stage of mana manipulation," she said, causing all of our jaws to drop collectively.
"Wait, wait, wait. Are you telling me that's it? That's the sixth stage?" Bernar asked, as if wildly underwhelmed by the answer, prompting both Kanarin and Vauv to burst into laughter.
To his credit, I was also somewhat disappointed, but there had to have been a reason no one in the history of Kavrass had ever reached that stage.
Could it be that no one knew that's what it was, or is it because only dragons are capable of doing so? I asked Ysevel, but she didn't seem to know the answer either.
"You will very quickly find that it is much easier said than done. Even in Polarion Academy, there are dragons who are not allowed to graduate until they are able to do so. Some take months, though I have seen decades pass before," Kanarin replied through a desperate attempt to regain her composure, something I'd never thought I'd see a dragon, of all creatures, nearly fail to do.
If only I'd known that wasn't the last time I'd see that happen.
"Ah, forgive me. It has been a long time since I have had such a good laugh. No, Bernar, it's not that simple. It often requires decades' worth of training under the strictest guidance, but since I am the one teaching you, I will be able to cut that time down exponentially," she said with a tinge of excitement in her voice.
Mom responded to the evident challenge by cracking her knuckles and wearing a wide grin. "Well, then. I guess we'd better get started," she said, prompting Kanarin to nod her head. "Indeed, but first, there is something I will need you to do for me," she said, but her words only stirred our collective excitement even more.
"What might that be?" Bernar asked plainly. "Although Thoma has already experienced this once before, I'm not sure he was fully aware of what he was doing at the time, nor had he fully manifested it. For this little experiment, I'm going to need you all to gather as much mana as possible, regardless of the source," she said, causing us all to give her a confused look.
"Just do as she says. Trust her," Vauv chimed in with a reassuring nod. We all glanced at one another, shrugged, and began to do as instructed without any further guidance. I could feel every fiber in my muscles and every nerve straining under the increase in mana coursing through my body.
However, Kanarin wasn't satisfied just yet.
"Keep going," she said with a nod. "I'm not sure my body can handle much more than this," Mom said through gritted teeth. "Trust me, it can. You're still holding back a lot, actually," Kanarin noted with a curled eyebrow. Mom didn't respond verbally, but her expression told me she knew Kanarin was right.
We collectively gathered mana and pushed the upper limits of our abilities to do so, but there was something happening that I hadn't realized until I pushed myself to that point.
Initially, I hadn't consciously drawn from the Wraith realm.
Instead, it was more like the idea of drawing mana had become an innate ability, rather than a conscious effort. With that in mind, I desperately tried to stave off any further thoughts from flooding in, shaking my head, and focusing only on the task at hand.
Come on, just a bit more, I told myself as much as I did the others. I'm working on it, shitling, but I feel like my body is about to fall apart, Bernar snarled back. I can't say I disagree with him there, Ysevel managed, though I suspect her situation was a bit different, given her Ambivalence.
Regardless of our individual situations, we kept going.
When I reached a point where I felt I physically couldn't handle any more mana, I felt Essentia's familiar presence in some far-off corner of my mind.
Take the plunge, she said in her familiar, encouraging voice. Focus all of your attention. Gather it, hone it, and bring it all together, Essentia's voice appeared again with a hint of excitement hidden beneath the surface.
I didn't have the mental space to acknowledge, or even answer her directly. Instead, I did as instructed and took one final step off the cliff within my mind, giving myself fully to the mana and realm I'd drawn from.
And so I fell into the deepest recesses of my mind, finding every conscious thought, gathering the attention they were consuming, and forcing it into a single point. Mana swirled around it in my mind's eye just as water would when going down a drain.
Tendrils of Wraith mana circled violently, each one increasing its speed as it neared the point, eventually causing a ring around the point to glow a vibrant scarlet.
There's no end to it, I realized as more and more mana continued to race toward the point. Just keep going. Focus, Essentia's voice came again, although it was a little more stern this time around.
I did as instructed and watched as the mana continually circled the point, coalescing somewhere beyond my own comprehension. Eventually, as it reached a point of balance, the swirling mana slowed to a rate that was vaguely reminiscent of the mana around the orbs in the skies of each realm whenever I wanted to draw from them, and I knew that something had just changed forever.
Then, after what felt like an eternity, I let the breath I had been holding out slowly and reopened my eyes.
That's when my field of view shifted back into its widened perspective and heightened detail. In that moment, I could physically feel my pupils shift from their circular shape into the slits I'd had when I'd challenged the Eyes.
If I had to compare it to anything, it was as if I had been seeing the world from beneath the surface of a lake before that moment. Everything, every speck of dust, leaf, and detail of my surroundings, immediately became so intensely clear and visible that I thought I'd never truly be able to see the world the same way again.
I realized that I could also feel every muscle and nerve in my body, almost as if I could control each of them at will, rather than relying on my subconscious to move them for me. I brought my hand up in front of me and flexed my fingers a few times, trying to get used to the feeling, but I realized thisalone would take a lot of getting used to.
It was both enlightening and terrifying all at the same time.
Kanarin was the first to notice the shift in my demeanor, but she didn't immediately say anything so as not to break the others' concentration.
Wait, what just happened? Thoma, why do you feel… different than just a second ago? Mom asked, her mental strain bleeding through our connection.
This is going to sound insane, but just take the plunge and give in to the mana. Focus your thoughts and attention on a single point, I replied with no small amount of exhaustion as I repeated Essentia's advice, though I wasn't sure exactly how they would all understand that.
Fortunately for me, Yesevel had met Essentia before, and immediately understood who had given me that advice and what to do with it.