Absorption Process

"... Instructor Zack" Andrey mutters as his gaze examines the thinly built man in his white lab coat.

"What's with that surprised look? I believe I already told you that I would be coming in the evening," Zack said as a matter of fact.

"Ah, yes, please come in," Andrey vaguely remembers that Zack had indeed hinted to him about this earlier. He welcomes him in and guides him to the living room.

"Would you like some tea or coffee?" Andrey asks after making sure that Zack is comfortably seated.

"Water is just fine," Zack replies as he looks around the room while waiting for Andrey to come with the glass of water.

With his thirst quenched the conversation between the two began.

"Here, it's for you," Zack says as he slides the strangely built suitcase which he had brought alongside him towards Andrey.

"What's this?" Andrey asked in confusion.

"It's around fifty low-level red stones," Zack says.

"Fifty!" Andrey exclaims as fifty was indeed a very large number.

"Yes, go ahead and take one out," Zack says as he guides him on how to open the briefcase.

The briefcase had an inbuilt refrigeration system which maintained the air inside below twenty degrees Celsius. It was the optimum temperature to ensure that the red stones didn't radiate energy out unnecessarily and deplete themselves.

Unlike mid-grade stones which were stored in specialized containers due to their more rigorous containment needs low-grade stones storage was quite cost-efficient.

When Andrey opened the briefcase a wave of cold air sent a chill down his spine for a few seconds as he saw the piles of low-grade red stones laden inside the briefcase.

They were obviously duller in colour compared to higher grade stones but that didn't make them any less beautiful.

As instructed earlier, Andrey picked out a red stone from the briefcase but his movement stopped as a strange feeling rose inside him after he grabbed the stone.

"How do you feel?" Zack asked.

"I feel as if there's a strange connection between me and the stone," Andrey replied while deep in thought.

"It's because of your newly formed core. This feeling is the proof that your core exists and you're a warrior," Zack said as he gestured to Andrey to give him the stone.

Andrey did as he was asked and passed the stone to Zack,

"The method of absorption is fairly simple. However, for a beginner the concentration that would be required would be far lesser and as a result the amount of time that you could devote to the absorption process would be limited until your body gets used to it both mentally and physically," Zack accepted the stone from Andrey's hand and started with his pointers.

Andrey nodded after hearing Zack's words as he waited for his demonstration.

Zack lifted the stone towards his chest and closed his eyes for a couple of seconds. A red light slowly started emitting from his chest as it made its way outside his shirt and towards the red stone and overlapped it.

Zack opened his eyes and released his grip from the stone but to Andrey's astonishment, the stone remained stuck on Zack's chest despite the fact that he was no longer holding it in his hand.

A hint of amusement formed on Zack's face as he saw Andrey's face but he soon answered the doubts that were flooding inside Andrey's mind,

"My core energy is currently grasping the stone and sucking energy out of it while I'm talking with you," Zack's words entered Andrey's ears and Andrey confirmed them with his eyes as he saw the colour of the red stone slowly dimming right in front of his eyes.

"At my level, I'll be able to deplete a low-level stone within five minutes but for you, it will take around an hour or more," Zack said as he continued to suck the energy out of the stone that was stuck in his chest.

"This is what you would be able to do after about a month of practice so for now you will still need to grab the stone by your hand and keep it close to your chest as you absorb its energy. Try placing one," Zack instructed.

Andrey nodded after hearing his pointers and as instructed grabbed another stone from the briefcase and slowly moved it towards his chest. As the distance between the stone and his chest shortened the connection that Andrey was feeling was becoming stronger and stronger.

When the stone touched Andrey's chest he felt as if it was another part of his own body.

Seeing that the stone had made contact with Andrey's chest Zack further instructed "Now, close your eyes and try to pull the energy from the stone inside your chest. That's all you need to do and your core, which could also be called your second heart, will do the rest by itself,"

Heeding Zack's words Andrey attempted to pull the energy out of the stone but he soon realized that it wasn't as simple as Zack had indicated it to be.

The feeling was similar to pulling a very thick resistance band with two fingers. You know that you could pull it out but the amount of time and effort required to do so would be very great.

That's exactly how Andrey was feeling while he was attempting to pull the energy out of the red stone. If he felt that it was impossible then he would have just given up but he inherently knew that he was capable of sucking the energy out of it with enough time and hence he persisted.

Andrey's face contorted while his eyebrows furrowed as he fully immersed himself in it. Seeing this Zack just nodded his head and waited as he knew fully well how the first time felt.

Half an hour later Andrey finally opened his eyes with his body fully covered in sweat but a smile of victory clearly plastered on his face. He would have loved to continue further but it seemed like his body needed some rest so he stopped the absorption.

"So, how was it?" Zack commented as he directed his attention from the holographic screen in front of him towards Andrey.

"My bad...the feeling was just too intoxicating and I couldn't help but let myself go..." Andrey said apologetically as he knew that he had made Zack wait for him for quite some time.

"It feels like a hunger that was never there in your body being satiated the more you pull in that energy but the only downside is that no matter how much you pull in that hunger never seems to get satiated...I'm very familiar with that feeling so no need to apologize," Zack replied as he closed off his holographic screen and took the red stone from Andrey's hand to observe.

"Hmm, You've absorbed around thirty per cent of the energy that was contained inside the stone. Not bad for the first try. Do you know how long an average person who has not formed a core yet would take to absorb this much energy?" Zack asked with a smirk on his face

"Uhh..one day?" Andrey knew that he was a bit faster because of his core formation so he extended the time appropriately and replied.

"Ten days," Zack replied with the same smile plastered on his face as he waited for Andrey's reaction.

Andrey's eyes widened as he replied, "Ted days?! That long?"

Getting the reaction which he wanted Zack had a satisfied expression as he replied, "Yep, it would normally take an average student almost a year to form a core in the academy with some geniuses forming it within the first six months." Zack replied.

"I'm way ahead of them..." Andrey said. It was only now that he realised how far ahead he was compared to the students who had only recently been selected via the aptitude test.

"Indeed you are and it's all thanks to the testing method you've agreed to take part in," Zack said in a glad manner. He hadn't pinned much hope on Andrey's success and as a result, the exhilaration he felt after seeing Andrey succeed in the test was immense.

"Continue the absorption process from time to time. From the speed at which you were going, it would take close to two weeks for you to fully stabilize your newly formed core before we're ready to depart," Zack said as he proceeded to get up from his seat.

Andrey was listening to him and nodding to his words but suddenly furrowed his eyebrows listening to Zack's last few words, "Depart? Where?"

"To the Academy, of course," Zack said as a matter of fact.

"Wait...isn't the joining date after 5 months when I'm finished with my school studies?" Andrey replied irrationally as the topic of departing was too sudden for his mind to accept readily. He had thought about how he was going to enjoy the Academy along with Jacob and the rest and had been taken by surprise by this sudden revelation.

"Huh? Like you've said earlier you're way ahead of your peers so why would we be wasting this gained time by making you wait for another 5 months? You'll be joining the current first years in the Academy in between."

"B-but I still have my exams to give..." Andrey subconsciously clung to the hope that his exams would give him enough reason to stay here longer. He didn't want to leave all his friends behind...especially not after they all had been selected together.

"What of it? I'm already in talk with your Vice-principal and things will all be sorted by tomorrow," Zack replied feeling that Andrey would be relieved with his answers since he won't need to take his exams.

Zack didn't understand the reason behind Andrey's silence after his reply and just considered it as him brooding over the things he needed to prepare.

"It's quite late already so I'll be going then no need to accompany me out since your body would be quite exhausted at the moment since it was your first absorption attempt," Zack said as he helped himself out.

Andrey was finally brought out of his chaotic thoughts by the door's sound as Zack made his way out.

There was too much on his mind at the moment and wanting to clear it out he opened his phone to keep himself distracted but the unread messages from Jacob and Lisa which he had yet to read brought his mind back to its earlier tussle.