The Chronicles of a Scalebound Sage: Wandmaker Vol.2

WM [91] Cowardly Commander

Bjorn rejoined the group inside of the barracks at the same moment the residual force that kept Failsafe sealed finally fully released him. Bjorn could feel the construct as it regained control of the right head and looked around bleary eyed. He seemed totally confused as he took in the change in location.

Bjorn didn't focus on Failsafe as he was instead enraptured by everyone in the middle of meditation or cycling magical energies. Fuyumi sat on the floor between Tanisha and Aurelius guiding them both while drinking tea. Bjorn's gaze lingered on Aurelius, captivated by the sheer intensity of the young cultivator's struggle. His energies pulsed erratically with the chaotic waves of primana pouring from his body. His frame shook with the effort to contain it, and the sweat on his brow mixed with streaks of blood trailing from his eyes, nose, and ears.

Fuyumi set her teacup down with deliberate calm, the clink of porcelain was the only other sound aside from the steady breathing of her two students.

"Aurelius, focus on spinning the energy cycle, not just in your dantian. Let it flow through the lattice of your meridians and spread it evenly."

Aurelius's lips trembled as he exhaled, slow and deliberate, though the effort cost him dearly. He forced his eyes to stay closed. Bjorn knew that the moment Aurelius lost concentration the delicate balance within him would shatter, and failure would be inevitable. The chaos elf clenched his fists against the rising tide of pain, his knuckles pale as bone.

Bjorn approached, his tongues flicked and tasted the air to get a better sense of the magic at play. Bjorn's understanding of cultivators was limited only to what he heard from Fuyumi and Aurelius during other training sessions. He knew that cultivators at the first realm they called the Seedling would somehow move their magic core down to their abdomen and form a dantian. Apparently doing so gave them some unique core called a Nascent Spiral Formation or something.

Bjorn would find out later that the breakthrough to the Rooted Realm solidified the dantian and spread out the energy through his meridians like a plant rooting into the ground. He watched as Aurelius's primana aura, previously drawn tightly into his body, lashed out again in violent bursts. The energy rippled outward violently, even so he noticed that Tanisha was so deep in her own meditation that she didn't even react.

"Aurelius," Fuyumi's voice sharpened. "You must let it ground itself. Stop fighting the flow, it's not your enemy."

A gurgling cough escaped Aurelius, and a fresh wave of blood spattered onto his robes, staining the fabric a dark crimson. Yet, through the agony, his breathing steadied, his chest rising and falling with a newfound rhythm. The primana began to shift, no longer wild and chaotic but spinning in measured cycles.

Bjorn's sharp eyes narrowed, he focused all of his heads on to Aurelius. He even kicked out the still loopy Failsafe from controlling the right head. As his focus intensified he realized that he could see into Aurelius's core. It was a mixture of his focus, magical senses and even the way he could taste magic that allowed greater insight. He realized this was the ability Fuyumi used to analyse himself and Tanisha. It was similar to the ability he had as Isin but less refined.

The air itself seemed to hold its breath as Aurelius's cultivation heart, the Nascent Spiral, twisted and compressed. Bjorn could actually see the transformation of unfolding within Aurelius. Although he wasn't sure what all it meant he knew that this was the first true step toward the Rooted Stage.

Then it came. A sharp crack, like the splitting of ancient stone, resonated from within Aurelius's chest. His body stiffened as the breakthrough completed, his cultivation heart now a radiant lattice of interconnected energy.

"It is not over." Fuyumi said darkly. "Prepare yourself for the Heavenly Tribulation."

Bjorn felt the air electrify before it struck: the Heavenly Tribulation. Aurelius's body convulsed as the condensed primana his aura had been releasing throughout the breakthrough surged back into him, not as gentle currents but as searing bolts of energy. His muscles spasmed violently, his teeth clenched so tightly that Bjorn feared they might shatter.