Breathe

It took a while; fear was a hard plague to get rid off. However, eventually; which was minutes after closing his eyes, Michael managed to calm down enough that the worry of something ripping his head off was almost distant. Almost.

"Good," Caster acknowledge his calm and proceeded to instruct him. "Tell me when you get the sensation of something crawling over your skin"

"I'm sorry WHAT!?" Opening his eyes, Michael scanned the immediate vicinity thoroughly. The calm he had worked up dissipating in a puff like smoke.

"For the love of life stop being a child and follow." The man said, exasperated by Michael's antics.

The tone in those words caused Michael to reel himself in and do as asked. There was a weight to them that made Michael's instincts scream. In that brief second, Caster appeared almost terrifying.

Promptly, he closed his eyes and anticipated the feeling described to him.

A few seconds passed, then a minute, then more minutes and he felt nothing. He begun to think that maybe Caster was merely tricking him to get him to meditate and calm down before they continued to wherever the man intended. It was oddly soothing to think the man was at least concerned. He decided to oblige.

It had never been easy for him; he had never even tried it save for the time Marie had pushed him into it. At that memory, his mind begun to wander, how long had it been since he thought of that woman and how much he had loved her. Her face was still burned in the walls of his heart. He felt the love he had allowed himself for her well up inside him and the dreadful terror of grief threaten his focus.

Before his mind could wander further, he strangled the thoughts and focused on the task at hand; his vow keeping him rooted.

Slowly, the world around him sunk in a pool of shifting images as his mind calmed down and he could almost feel every inch of his skin. He felt a nascent itch crawl over him; stinging at him with the might of an ant. The desire to scratch himself was being poorly suppressed as he continued to focus his mind, anticipating the sensation Caster spoke of.

In that meditative state, he felt his skin grow warmer, as if a fire was being passed over his body. No, the warmth felt as if it went into his body through his breath. Somehow, every breath he drew filled him with an invigorating warmth.

It was eerie, unsettling but strangely soothing.

It didn't at all feel like something was crawling over his skin. Instead, the warmth spread out into his body encapsulating every inch of his insides. He wanted to ask what it was, to open his eyes and see if anything weird was going on around him that was tied to what he was experiencing. However, he refrained. Preferring to maintain his concentration and see what would happen next.

The feeling persisted, and the goosebumps on his body rose as if something was crawling over his skin. His body now felt evenly warm, and his mind completely detached from the world around him. Deep inside him, something begun to flow. He felt the soothing sensation as it traversed through his body and to where his navel was. And then it went even deeper; beyond his physical body. He followed it, perceiving the image of a flowing river of rainbow waters coursing through his body. It was accompanied by a tingling sensation as if myriad small insects crawled inside him.

Instinctively, he concentrated on the image. The graceful sound of rushing waters reached his ears as the flow turned rigorous; almost like a vortex and flowed faster into his navel; beyond it. The flowing energy rocked and tossed as it flowed into itself in a loop. Then he saw it take shape. It was almost the same as the change his soul underwent. Was Caster's whole aim to have him form another soul of some kind?

His curiosity was becoming almost insatiable, demanding to be nourished. Yet he kept at his meditation, forcing himself to take in all that was happening. He didn't understand it. The best assumption was to relate it to magic. But it's exact nature remained unknown. The energy he perceived as a river of rainbow waters coalesced around his navel area and begun to condense into the shape of a ping pong ball. Michael begun to feel his strength get sapped. The process was draining him. He wanted to panic, to make it stop, yet he held himself back.

It didn't escape him that despite his eyes being closed, he could still perceive the world around him. It appeared weird, too weird for his mind to process and maintain focus. So he put the thought aside and controlled his breathing. Unlike last time, he felt no discomfort. There was no pain, the process more peaceful than the last. He was able to maintain a calm mind, controlling his breathing and shutting off distraction; trying at least.

Gradually, the shade of the energy went from rainbow to a dull white and settled in that area of the spectrum. He felt the warmth that had blanketed his whole body begin to subside but the feeling of having been drained off all his strength remained.

The energy compressed itself into somewhat of a sphere and pulsed rhythmically. Was that it? he had expected more,. Having being afforded the perception to follow the energy and everything that it effected, he hoped for more. He could see with his eyes closed, sensing the world around him in varying shades of intense energy. The flowing energy permeated the whole area around him. Was this the fractured light Caster spoke of?

The man's workings continued to be enigmatic. Why did he see it fit that Michael gain this skill? Did he even gain it or was it inherent to him the moment he awakened. He knew awakening had changed him, but to think it had changed him this much was... fascinating.

He observed the energy core at where his navel was located... and he saw it crack. The process was almost instant. One moment it was pulsing siphoning energy that drained into Michael's body and the next, thin cracks formed over it's surface.

It strained for a moment, as if the pressure from inside was too much to contain. It grew by a fraction of its original size, then it grew some more. It didn't seem to stop and Michael felt it tear at him from the inside, ensuing unimaginable pain.

He doubled over and clutched at his abdomen, his eyes still closed but his whole body almost on fire as he writhed in agony. Everything was too sudden and unfathomable. He cussed in his head, too agonized to form words. The nature of his second life was annoying, nothing made sense and everything seemed to want him dead. His mind went back to his paranoia; Caster really had ingenious ways to put him down.

Caster, who had left while Michael meditating, walked back into the clearing to find a squirming Michael clutching at his abdomen sweating bullets his teeth gritting in pain.

"Oh for fuck's sake, you couldn't even do this right?"

Walking over to Michael, he placed an open palm on his lower back.

Michael felt a different kind of warmth seep into him. It didn't warm his skin like a fire, but he felt it flow into him and in his mind, he saw a steady stream of blue flow towards where his navel was. Pain still ravaged him from the inside, but he struggled through it forcing his mind to take in all that was happening.

The blue energy flowed into him towards the growing mass of white energy. It swirled around, blanketing it in a veil of blue energy which slowly chipped at it?

Michael was confused, but it was clear in his mind. The blue energy seeped into the cracks that were forming and chipped away at the outer layer causing the energy that was inside to dissipate all over his frame.

He perceived the energy flow back into the rest of his body revitalizing him with new vigor. The strength that had left him slowly returned and the pain that ate at his nerves disappeared together with the apple sized mass of energy around his navel area. It was a fast process, making it seem as though Michael was overreacting. Could he have done it by himself. The ease with which Caster took away his pain was curious and intriguing.

Caster removed his palm from Michael's back, a cold sweat on his brow. Michael sprawled on the ground feeling exhausted but strangely stronger than he had been a few minutes ago. It was over? The task Caster hoped Michael would accomplish. Michael had followed the man's instruction with little question and was unaware of the consequences. Now that he saw the consequences, he was even more confused. What was this demented fools end goal with his life? He questioned as he trained a quizzical gaze at his host.

"Well, there go your chances of possessing a mana core. You really are cursed."

[Author's Note: Update frequency increases from now on. Leave a review if you are enjoying, vote for the book(increase the author's motivation). Your feedback is appreciated. Enjoy!]