Henry took a deep breath. His hands joined together to form a circle near his abdomen.
He was still shivering and trembling. The pain only becoming unbearable with each passing second.
He closed his eyes and focused his mind, forcing himself to forget the pain.
His head had been throbbing quite a lot, so focusing proved to be difficult.
The Awakening which had seemed so easier till now was proving to be quiet difficult right now.
His clothes had already been drenched in sweat not only from the heat of the surroundings, but also because of the crumbling Core.
Henry could not tell if his body temperature rose as result of his worsening health. Or whether it was a direct consequence of his Core crumbling.
His thoughts were wandering more and more but he steeled himself. He regained focus and started Accumulating.
Small specks of golden light shine into existence around him, drifting towards him faster and faster.
As they drew close, they began to be sucked into Henry's body.
Inside Henry's solar plexus, a small, pitch black, tiny orb was levitating, slowly moving up and down.
This was Henry's Spirit Core. One that had Dark attribute.
Small ripples had been spreading on its surface. Each ripple causing some 'dust' to fall off it.
The dust was actually the fine fragments of the Core.
Wherever the dust fell off from, the specks of light which invaded Henry's body started rushing towards that place.
As soon as they touched the core, they lost their color, turning pitch black.
Henry's condition though, improved a little.
Huff! Huff!
He took heavy breath. His eyes shot open, a hint of fragile life flickering in his vermillion eyes.
He felt strength return to his body.
"As I suspected! I can somehow maintain my condition if I try building my more again."
"Argh! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!"
A shape pain pierced his body again. His head's throbbing intensified. One could see the pulsing in his head.
"I can't even stop for a moment!"
He began Accumulating again. He even started meditating, although it proved to be very difficult.
For the sake of surviving, he would do anything.
He could tell, if his core shattered, he would die. He could feel it. It hadn't even been two days since he came back! How could he let himself die?
He took deep breaths. Inhaling through his nose. Exhaling through his eyes.
The specks of light around him continued rising in number, drifting towards his body.
Inside his solar plexus, the pitch black Spirit Core continued the cycle of crumbling a reforming.
The ripples on its surface started becoming more and more intense. As if, resisting the reformation the specks of light were causing.
Still though, Henry persisted. He continued Accumulating. Probably because of the intense pain that accompanied it all, he could feel the Spirit Energy inside him.
He felt a huge lump in his stomach. Something unpleasant.
He noticed that everytime he inhaled, his skin would tighten. The tightness would soon head towards his solar plexus.
He recalled something which he had learnt in his previous life.
Even though he couldn't Awaken his Spirit Core in his previous life, he had never stopped working towards it.
During the time he spent at the Academy, he immersed himself in books, trying to find a way to Awaken his core.
Among the many descriptions of what it felt like to fill one's Spirit Core, Henry recalled one.
When you finally awaken your Spirit Core, the next challenge for you is to fill it with enough Spirit Energy. I found it helpful to imagine a stream of water continuosly rotating in my stomach.
This isn't the only way, of course. There are other ways too like imagining burning yourself in fire, or drowning in water, or floating in air. Just try different things and find what works best for you.
Henry began by imagining himself burning in fire. His body started heating up, but the light specks around him, failed to permeate his body.
The restoration of his Core stopped resulting in an increase in the intense agony of his crumbling Core.
"Argh!"
He let out a muffled groan. Immediately, he started imagining wind revolving around him, lifting him in the air.
The light specks around him, started revolving around him. Barely managing to permeate through his body.
"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!"
"Dammit! Should I just simply do Accumulation?"
And that's exactly what he did. He resorted back to Accumulation.
His condition improved slightly but he still couldn't stop himself from trying a few more things.
He started imagining a stream of water swirl in his stomach. His conditioned only worsened.
The pitch black core inside his solar plexus started crumbling faster and faster.
What once looked like an orb, now looked like a cracked ball.
Cough! Cough!
Henry coughed, his Accumulation coming to a halt.
Blood spit out of his mouth with each one of his coughs.
The cloak which he had donned got some bloodstains on it.
The carriage too, now carried the marks of blood.
Henry's hands were covered in blood as well. And his condition was only worsening.
His eyes turned bloodshot. He forced them shut and focused on Accumulation again.
His whole body was trembling, causing sounds to come from the carriage.
Whether it was due to the noise of the travel or the fear of their Young Master, no one came to check up on Henry. For which, he was quite glad.
If Sebren even remotely saw a single trace of blood, he would not heed to Henry's command and immediately stop their travel.
Henry would be left helpless at the time, only waiting for his death.
His thoughts wandered towards the blood he had spit. Since different things worked for different people, why not try that as well?
The thought crossed his mind. He struggled to take a deep breath as he focused his mind on the blood that flood inside him.
He tried tracing each and every vein that spread through his body. He imagined himself as the blood that flowed through them, reaching each and every corner of his body.
A deep sense of calm spread through his body. His pain gradually started fading away and strength returned to his body.
His breathing finally stabalised and his trembling came to a stop.
Inside his body, the pitch black Spirit Core started crumbling less and less. The specks of light though, vanished completely.
Of course, Henry was neither aware of the Core nor the specks of light that had helped him.
Huff! Huff!
"Finally. Some relief!"
"I gotta keep this up until tomorrow. I can't let my guard down!"