Chapter 24: Energy.
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So, what exactly is energy?
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Main route of the outer ring region of the kingdom of Lumiscen. Lumout road.
04/32/3324
03.04/10.00
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[Pasha's POV]
...
"Aren't you tired?"
After returning from her errands and getting back on the road to the city of Lumout, Pasha had not slept for a single moment.
And the carriage had not stopped once since Luschen.
"I'm fine, just a few aches from the ride..."
She had gone out onto the exterior bench of the carriage, joining Yaro.
"... Mayu told me to come ask you to learn... energy." She clarified, hesitant.
Throughout the entire journey, she had done nothing but read the guide. But too many pieces of information were being revealed too quickly, so she had not yet finished it.
And having seen the abilities that... energy provided, she wanted to learn to use it as quickly as possible.
"It's true that she's not very good at explaining things like that, haha."
Bam!
A dull sound echoed from the wall behind them, making them jump.
"Though she is very skilled when it comes to using it..." Yaro quickly added in a slightly nervous voice.
'... so touchy, I hope that didn't wake Yumi...' Pasha smiled, thinking about the face Mayu must be making.
"... mmh, before I explain, I'd also like to have a small glass of the peschon you opened. To lighten the mood and all..."
'He wants to drink now?... before explaining to me?'
After a few seconds, a hand holding a bottle appeared through the hatch between Pasha and Yaro.
"Two sips max, otherwise we'll end up in the forest." Mayu whispered in a strange voice through the hatch.
Upon seeing the bottle, Pasha noticed it was already half empty.
'... did we drink that much? Or is it too dark for me to see properly...'
"Ok ok." Yaro replied, quickly taking two sips and clumsily handing the bottle back into Mayu's hand.
"Pffoua!"
Although there were wood lamps on the carriage, there were not many luminous species of the Arbority around the road, making this Obscurity rather dark.
"Alright!... So you read the part of the guide about energy? Is that right?"
"Yes... uh, the two fundamental principles and the role that energy plays in noble society."
Yaro nodded, turned his gaze toward the road and rubbed the little beard he had on his chin, thinking about what he needed to say.
"Mmh... I understand why she told you to ask me, it's going to be difficult to explain everything. So... first mm... energy is part of what we studied."
Turning his head to look at Pasha, he opened his mouth.
"We agree that you went through the six years of standard schooling?"
Still affected by the effects of the alcohol, Pasha wasn't very focused, and she took a few seconds to respond.
"... yes yes, of course."
"Ok, that will make things a little easier, but... compared to the citizen zone... we had ten years of mandatory schooling, up to age twenty... And given the role that energy plays in our society, I imagine you understand what that means..."
'No, I don't get it... what does he mean?...'
He paused and, seeing Pasha give no reply, he continued, letting his gaze wander somewhat.
"... basically, everyone has studied energy for at least ten years... except young children of course... Energy is part of every subject, but it is more present in ones like logic and science. So you'll have to build on what you learned in those subjects to understand energy... even if you only studied for six years, and what you learned is probably not as advanced as it would need to be..."
He ended his sentence there, waiting for a response from Pasha before continuing his explanation.
"So... am I going to have to go back to school? To learn energy..."
The more Pasha listened to his explanations, the more distant energy seemed to her.
'Liu manages to use it just fine and she's only twelve...'
She clenched her fist on her knee, a small frustration in her heart, yet ready for any answer.
"... no, don't worry, there are even books that can spare you from going back to school for nothing... but, in any case you'll have no trouble starting to use it as of today... even a child can do it super easily."
Upon hearing this response, Pasha relaxed and leaned her back against the wall, settling into a more comfortable position.
'... ffou, I was scared... being able to do what Mayu does will be possible then...'
Reassured by what she had just heard, she was more than ready to learn.
"Alright, before I explain directly how it works... I need to know if you've read the part about ranks in noble society..."
Being motivated, Pasha answered without delay.
"I think I did read it yes... that the ranks are based on the colors of the visible spectrum, red, orange, yellow... and so on, and that it is in honor of Lumeno's power."
Yaro nodded and began his explanation.
"Yeah that's about right. And just so you understand, everyone is considered red, except perhaps children too young to use energy, but after age ten, everyone is... and you will be too starting today..."
Taking a few seconds to find his words, he continued.
"... so, to start, energy is everywhere and in all forms... basically everything that exists is energy, but that doesn't mean we can use all of it, or even see all of it."
Rubbing his chin, he continued.
"The guide tells you about the two fundamental principles, but it doesn't explain how to use energy... in fact it explains nothing at all, and that's on purpose to swindle citizens who are leaving the citizen zone for the first time..."
There wasn't that much information, but Pasha, still a little drunk, turned her attention directly to the most interesting part.
'... to swindle us?... how?...'
But, without dwelling further on that subject, Yaro directly explained how to use energy, redirecting Pasha's attention to the main topic.
"... and to use energy, there is a precise five-step process, which are: the detection of energy, its attraction, its condensation, its manipulation and finally its consumption."
This process sounded like a botched summary to Pasha.
'... its manipulation?... isn't that the same thing as using it?...'
She didn't really understand what role manipulation played in these steps.
"Mm... generally, this process is reduced to three steps, because the detection and manipulation happen unconsciously in a short amount of time, and there are far too many variations in the use of energy, manipulation ends up being eclipsed by the other steps."
Not missing the opportunity, Pasha asked her questions before he continued.
"I don't understand. What do you mean by manipulation? Aren't attraction and condensation already a form of manipulation?"
Not expecting this kind of question, Yaro thought for several seconds before speaking again.
"... yeah, it's true that said like that it's not very logical, so I'll just explain the process in detail, it'll be simpler."
He straightened his back, sitting upright to continue his explanation, which made the atmosphere more serious.
'... I need to focus...'
Pasha focused as best she could, ignoring the effects of the alcohol, stopping all unnecessary thoughts.
"So... first you already know the two fundamental principles of using energy, which are: inner/outer and reinforcement/enfeeblement."
Or rather, she tried to stop all unnecessary thoughts.
'... by the way I understood nothing about those fundamental principles...'
Without necessarily succeeding.
Yaro, for his part, raised his hand in the air, palm wide open toward the void. And he explained to Pasha what she had not understood.
"For now we're going to focus on the principle: inner/outer. As you know, we are surrounded by air, and therefore by air energy. This energy is exterior to your body, so it must be detected. And to detect it, there is what is called: energy perception."
Although it was dark, the change that appeared in his eyes was nonetheless distinguishable.
'... it looks like a veil...'
"Energy perception is the first thing you are going to learn, and it is something you will use so often that it will become natural."
Then, he closed his palm into a fist in the air.
'... he said everything is energy? Even the air...'
"After detecting energy with your perception, you are going to attract it into yourself."
He brought his hand back toward himself and placed his fist against his chest. Mimicking the attraction of air toward him.
"Alright, it doesn't actually work like that. You don't need to make the movement, and above all you just need contact with the energy to be able to attract it. On the other hand, you cannot attract into your body an energy that you do not possess."
The explanations were in a way becoming more gripping for Pasha, reducing her thoughts to silence.
Yaro placed his hand on the wooden wall.
"I don't have wood energy in my body, so I can't attract wood energy, nor manipulate or use it in any way whatsoever. On the other hand, I can still see it with my energy perception. For the one and only reason that it exists and that I know it."
Without moving his hand, he continued his explanation.
"On the other hand, wood doesn't only have wood energy in it, it also has water energy, air energy, or light energy for example, since it's lit by the lamps. So... through my contact with it, I can attract its light energy into me, and store it inside my own light energy."
The explanations were rather complex, especially with alcohol in the blood, but Pasha didn't take her eyes off Yaro's movements and actions.
'... light?... what the?!...'
The wood that Yaro's hand was in contact with had started to darken around his hand. And in parallel, Yaro's hand had started to glow even more than before.
"This energy, once it's stored in your own energy, is when you can condense it."
He removed his glowing hand from the wood. As soon as he did, the wood quickly returned to its former color, but Yaro's hand remained glowing.
"The condensation process will... sort of compress the energy that you attracted and stored in yours, so that this energy becomes a kind of reserve."
In a few seconds, his hand returned to normal.
"When you condense energy in your body, nothing can appear on the outside. That's when we move to the inside. Right at this moment, I have more light energy in my hand than before."
He moved his hand once more, this time pointing his finger toward the void in front of the carriage.
"Now we're talking about manipulation, there are several choices. You can very well let the energy disperse on its own by decondensing it, that'll make a bit of light that will disappear in a few seconds. Otherwise, you can move this light through your body and bring it out somewhere else, to use it however you want."
His hand suddenly became glowing again, but this time instead of staying that way for only a few seconds, the light moved, traveling along the finger pointed toward the void.
"This step is manipulation."
The light compressed and intensified to adapt to the finger, until it reached its tip, being far more intense than when it was spread across the entire hand.
"Then when you've finished the manipulation, which only happens on the inside, there's the consumption, and although it's not always the right word, it's the one that best defines all the possibilities of this last step."
As soon as he finished speaking, the light detached from his finger and moved through the air, consuming itself before their eyes.
"Sometimes we can talk about ejection, release, or many other things, but in the end it all comes down to the same and only idea for this step. The energy is consumed in all cases."
Once his sentence was finished, the small light had completely consumed itself.
Pasha had been completely absorbed by what had just happened, even forgetting to think about any of it.
"So... did you understand?"
Still looking at the spot where the small light had finished consuming itself, she replied somewhat absent.
"I... I didn't understand anything."
In the end, she had spent more time watching what was happening than thinking about what was happening.
"Pff... haha.."
At some point during the explanation, Mayu had poked her head through the hatch to listen.
Her laugh drew Pasha's attention, who, coming back to herself, finally noticed Yaro's facial expression.
'What's the matter with him?'
Yaro had the face of someone who had suffered a great injustice.
"Uh... are you sure you didn't understand anything?... I'm sure you understood something..."
But Pasha didn't pay too much attention to it, she finally thought about what she had just heard and seen.
'Mmm... what had he said...'
"So... basically, you see energy with energy perception... you attract it into yourself through contact, you condense it... to store it, and then you manipulate it to consume it however you want..."
She looked at Mayu and Yaro's faces to see if she was right, but their expressions were strange.
"... something like that...?"
"Damn..."
Mayu withdrew her head from the hatch, leaving a curse behind her.
"Haha... so you had understood."
While Yaro looked at Pasha with a triumphant smile.
'What's the matter with them?...'
"Yeah, it's something like that... you just forgot that you can't use energy you don't already have in your body, otherwise you got it."
"Phew... I thought I'd said nonsense."
Relieved that she had understood a process that even ten-year-old children understand, she let her desires manifest.
"So, can I directly try to use energy?"
"Mm... yes and no. First you're going to activate your energy perception, and then we might be able to try the rest... But, before that, one last clarification is needed."
Segueing directly into that last clarification, Yaro placed his hand back on the wooden wall and started attracting the wood's light energy into him again.
"Beginners often make this mistake, they attract energy into themselves..."
The same thing happened, the wood became darker, and his hand became more luminous.
'What is he doing?'
"... but instead of condensing it to store it in their already existing reserve..."
He removed his glowing hand from the wood and held it out in front of Pasha.
"... they directly manipulate the energy and try to consume it."
His hand suddenly glowed even more brightly than his finger had a few moments before. But that only lasted one or two seconds before the light dispersed.
"By doing that the energy is out of control..."
As soon as the light dispersed, his hand became much darker than before, almost black. But that too only lasted a few seconds.
"... and your natural reserve of that same energy gets consumed in the process."
'... it's dangerous...'
Yaro's hand had returned to normal.
"It's dangerous, isn't it?"
Pasha had more or less understood what he wanted to explain to her through this demonstration.
"Yes and no, it depends on the amount and the energy used... that little bit of light did nothing to my hand, but in greater quantities, the... natural light needs of my hand could be lacking, and it could affect my health in one way or another I think... I'm not sure about light energy, but for air or water, you can easily imagine how quickly it could become dangerous."
Understanding the logic behind all of it, Pasha nodded and asked:
"But it can be useful, right?... if you don't have time to go through the rest of the process."
"Mm.. not really, the process itself quickly becomes a habit, and most people use it unconsciously in a lot of situations... but after that, there's surely a situation where it could be useful, but I don't have an example..."
Yaro had clearly never thought about it, a situation where a process lasting only a few seconds is too long had never happened to him... like most people, for that matter.
"Anyway, the energy you manipulate in your body before you've condensed it, is what we call unstable energy."
'... I think I would have tried it if he hadn't told me...'
Nodding her head, Pasha asked directly:
"So then, how do I activate my energy perception?"
"Ah right, mm... it's honestly super simple, energy is everywhere and even if you don't think so, you already feel it... just the air, the physical sensations, the wind, the humidity... all of that is energy that you already feel and that you'll be able to observe by activating your energy perception..."
Yaro activated his own perception, and a kind of colorless veil placed itself over his eyes.
"... energy perception is different for everyone, just like your perception in general is different from someone else's. But in general it's not that different, you won't be too lost even when observing someone else's energy perception... and, basically to activate it, it's simple... you just have to imagine it and want it."
'Seriously?...'
Although it corresponded to the fact that everyone can do it, even children, the explanations had been so long and complex that the simplicity of it surprised Pasha.
"You're going to close your eyes and imagine what I tell you."
According to Pasha, Yaro had overcomplicated things for nothing. And on top of that he kept going as if it were normal.
'... he's not even giving me time to think about it.'
Although this was a bit awkward for Pasha, she nonetheless closed her eyes and waited for Yaro's words.
"So you're going to imagine your surroundings, the wood, the air, the leaves, the grass, the earth, the light... as simply as possible, you're going to imagine them in a single color, with no variation... you have to imagine a world of color, like a painting where the colors don't blend and where each color corresponds to a type of energy..."
Yaro stopped talking for a moment, giving Pasha time to imagine all of it as clearly as possible.
"... is that good for you?"
He asked, while Pasha concentrated to imagine as best she could what her energy perception was going to be.
'... I have to imagine all the energies... with no color variation...'
"I.. think it's good."
The image of the surroundings in Pasha's head was quite precise, resembling a painting.
"Ok, so now you can open your eyes and slowly look around your surroundings..."
Which she did right away...
'...'
... her perception had changed.
She had her gaze turned toward the sky when she opened her eyes.
'... it's grey?... the air?'
Although it was her own perception, she didn't really understand what she was seeing. She lowered her gaze fairly quickly to look at the other energies...
"Urgh!!"
... only to see a mess of colors all over the place.
All around her, the colors were of a sickening complexity.
"Are you okay?"
Yaro's voice rang out, but Pasha didn't know from where.
'He... is talking?'
She didn't understand from where, nor did she perceive from where.
Apart from the energy, and all these colors in chaos, she understood nothing.
'What is this?!..'
She felt everything, but could no longer perceive what she was feeling.
She didn't even know where she was, she didn't even know if she was, in that energetic world.
'... damn, I'm going to...'
She was completely disoriented, it made her feel a great dizziness, the smell of alcohol rising back up to her nose.
"Close your eyes!"
Which she did, but...
"Blaargh!..."
...she vomited all the alcohol and food she had in her body.
"Ouuah... I told you to imagine as simply as possible!"
'... ugh!!'
"You made her throw up!! Are you serious..."
Not paying attention to the others, Pasha caught her breath as best she could after having thrown up.
'...damn! It's disgusting!...'
She finally reopened her eyes, to see that she had managed not to throw up all over herself...
'... there are no more colors!'
... and that her perception had disappeared on its own.
"... it's because you drank too much!"
Coming back to her senses, Pasha saw Mayu and Yaro arguing through the hatch...
"Mm... what's happening?"
... when Yumi's voice was heard from inside the carriage.
"Oops..."
"....."
Yumi had finally been woken up by the noise.
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Yeah... what is energy?
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