Magic Core

"Now there are different ways of gaining a magic core," Fen said as they walked out of the building and were heading towards the east direction.

"One can form his core by attuning with his elements. Through intense practice, one can align their energies with their chosen elements, gradually forming a core that resonates with that energy."

The terrain soon changed, and the ground slope downward as if coming down from a hill. There was tall grasses around the area reaching up to his thighs. From a distance, he could see a small hut with a clear opening.

They finally got to the entrance of the hut, and Alex could finally make out the structure. The hut was a sturdy one made with metals shaped like bamboo sticks. He pushed the door open, revealing a large space within.

"Come along," he said, walking into the darkness. Alex stood for a moment before finally stepping in. The door closed, and soon around the edges, light began to glow round. The room was surprisingly empty with just two chairs and a little wooden table.

Alex followed him as he walked further into the room.

"Like I said earlier, there are different ways of forming a magic core. The other way is quite dangerous. It involves injecting one with a mana fluid into the heart. Those with a weak physique won't be able to endure the process and might end up giving up during the process."

"Although it's very dangerous, this is the only way you can awaken an element apart from the first."

"What's the per cent of surviving?" he asked, staring at him.

"Well... if the process is fully followed and the person undergoing it stays till the end... I would say 30%."

"That's ridiculous," Alex muttered with a frown. "Is this worth the try?" He muttered, staring into the distance. Then the screams of his brother echoed in his head with images playing along.

"No! I promised I would grow strong and avenge your death, no matter the cost," he thought.

"I'll do it, I'm willing to take the risk," he said with confidence.

'Hehe... I truly made the right choice in taking you in.'

"First, we would need to train your physique and your mental strength in order to carry out the process."

"The next two weeks would be spent building a strong body constitution, including your mental strength. First, I would inject some raw mana into your bloodstream for your body to get familiar with it. I'll do this thrice in a week."

"I won't charge you for anything since you're the first person I'm trying this with."

"What?! Hold on, you're... kidding me, right?"

' What have I signed into?' He thought, palming his face.

With a snap of his finger, the room began to vibrate with the surrounding beginning to turn brighter. "C'mon, lie down, we need to start now in order for you to meet up with those in the academy."

"I... No, I'm ready, what should I do?"

"Good. Take off your dress and lie over there." He pointed towards the end of the room. He hadn't noticed the small bed with contraptions at its sides.

Taking a gulp, he asked him again. "Are you sure I'll be fine?"

"Of course! Injecting mana would only help to nourish your body, slowly enabling you to sense mana in the atmosphere."

"I think I have some at hand," he said, changing his previous robe. "Alright, this would hurt a lot since your body is forcefully injected with mana."

Alex just nodded his head as he awaited the next step. "I would have to strap you to keep you still." Within minutes, everything had been set, and Alex was strapped down with a pale face.

"Whatever happens, you must endure the pain and don't pass out during the process, except there will be complications, and we don't want that this early."

He brought out a little bottle that contained a glowing energy with a slight mixture of blue and green. He then took a syringe, one different from the usual one he had seen.

"OK, boy, here it goes." Slowly, he injected it into his veins in his hand with the pulsating liquid spreading through his body.

"Ugh," Alex grunted bearing the pain. He thought the pain would be higher than that and was quite surprised.

"All done," he said, removing it from his hand. "Hmmm, this kid, he really did bear the pain." He thought with a smile. Licking his lips, he thought, "I'm liking you more and more."

Alex could feel the mana flowing into his entire body, and then a strange change occurred. A brilliant light shined in his chest, and soon, he felt a terrible pain in his heart.

"Arghhh!" He screamed, unable to move his body due to the contraptions. He could only squirm underneath as he beared the pain that seemed to be raging all over his body.

Blood flowed from his nose and eyes as he struggled to keep his consciousness.

"I can't die here, I can't leave my sister in this cruel world!" He beared through the pain, keeping himself from passing out. The glow continued for some time before finally dying down.

Throughout the process, Fen just watched with a frown, careful not to interrupt whatever was going on. He knew he was passing through a delicate process, and any slight intervention can lead to his death.

'This isn't supposed to happen,' he thought.

"Arghhh!" Alex let out another scream as the process ended. His body was soaked in sweat. Looking up, he smiled at the man. "I did it," he muttered weakly before passing out.

'At least he was able to hold on until it finished before he passed out.' With a sigh, he pulled off the contraptions and then left him on the bed. He did some quick checks on his body and noticed he was fine. He then brought out a potion, which he injected into his body. "This is a healing potion. You would be fine in no time."

"I think I'm needed now," he said with a long sigh as the sound of a mechanic beep rung loudly. "I'll be back." He patted his head before leaving.

Alex lay on the bed, his heart beating slowly. Slowly, his heartbeat began to rise rapidly up to the point his chest heaved up and down. His veins were glowing bluish green, and his expression began to brighten.

His fingers made little movement before he finally opened his eyes. By now, his heartbeat had gone back to its normal state. Opening his eyes, he felt a strange sensation and an elated feeling over his chest. He lay on the bed for some minutes before he finally stood up.

Alex stood up and walked outside of the room. He shielded his eyes from the brightness and slowly looked round.

"Senior! Senior Fen!" He shouted, getting no reply. Sitting on the ground, he noticed there was something different when he looked up.

Invisible strands of energy of various colours seemed to be swirling round.

"Wow!" He fell back, his hands serving as a pillow as he stared at the moving strands of energy. "This is so beautiful," he thought. Waving one of his hands, it just glided through unable to disrupt the harmonised movement of the energies.

"Good. You're already awake." Fen appeared before him. "Cmon, let's take a seat," he said, clapping his hands. The ground crumbled as the earth slowly formed two chairs.

"Let make it snappy as I will be leaving soon."