Regaleon: The Forgotten Knight

In the meantime, while Aelric began explaining the reason behind their physiological changes to the other five, two Awakeners remained deeply immersed in their cultivation..

Sylveris continued standing at the edge of the Essence Pool, her brows faintly drawn together and a quiet expression of concern lingering within her silver irises.

Although Aelric had repeatedly told her not to worry, the young girl simply couldn’t bring herself to heed his reassurance completely.

Hours had passed since her sister entered the Pool alongside the others. Five had already emerged from their cultivation as newly minted Etheryeans, yet Aureleah and Regaleon remained within the Pool.

At this point, Sylveris couldn’t help wondering whether something had gone wrong.

Perhaps her sister had encountered some unforeseen obstacle; or perhaps the awakening of her Secondary Aether Veins had proven too difficult. Or perhaps...

Sylveris quickly pushed the thought away.

Aelric had told her that breakthroughs varied from person to person. There was no fixed period within which an Awakener had to complete the process. The number, location and nature of one’s Secondary Aether Veins could dramatically alter the difficulty of the final stage.

So she tried to remain optimistic rather than overly pessimistic.

She told herself that her growing unease was nothing more than youthful apprehension and foreboding; the irrational dread that something terrible was about to happen simply because she didn’t understand what was happening.

If only she knew what her sister was actually going through. Then perhaps then she would realize that her concern was not entirely misplaced...

From the moment Aureleah had begun her cultivation, she had discovered something that could simultaneously be described as a blessing and a curse; her three separate Prime Organs.

At first, the realization had left her stunned.

That number alone was enough to establish her as an extraordinary talent. There were cultivators who would have considered themselves blessed beyond measure to possess even two.

But someone with three? Now that was a prodigy; someone whose natural aptitude was so exceptional that others might willingly risk their lives merely for the opportunity to possess such talent.

But every blessing carried its own burden and such an extraordinary advantage naturally came with its corresponding disadvantage. And Aureleah was beginning to understand that burden intimately.

Possessing more Prime Organs meant she has to out in twice, if not thrice, the work as others. But to Aureleah, however, none of that mattered. Because once she had set her mind on something, then there was no convincing her otherwise.

Therefore, she had simply accepted the burden and continued. However, it wasn’t long before she encountered her first obstacle; she didn’t know how to awaken the Secondary Aether Veins.

Aelric had explained the general principles behind the process, but there was no detailed instruction for someone whose Veins were distributed across three separate Prime Organs.

So Aureleah had been forced to rely upon instinct and went with what her guts told her. She started with the first Organs located near her Primary Aether Veins, her bosom.

At first, the process seemed straightforward.

She carefully drew Aether from the Essence Pool into her Primary Aether Veins before directing the energy through the newly established pathways.

Then she began guiding it toward the dormant Veins concealed within her chest.

The moment the Aether entered that region, however, Aureleah experienced an unexpected sensation; it felt as though something was crawling beneath her skin.

A strange, almost maddening tingling spread through her chest before radiating outward and sending faint shivers down her spine.

She ignored it the first time, then it happened again until it occured more frequently.

Every time she attempted to force the Aether deeper into the dormant pathways, that peculiar sensation returned. It became a persistent, irritating stimulus that threatened to pull her concentration apart, establishing itself as a distraction.

Despite being immersed in a state of cultivation-induced unconsciousness, Aureleah could still perceive sensations originating from within her own body.

Actually, that distinction was important.

Cultivation was not sleep.

A practitioner could enter a state resembling deep unconsciousness, but the mind remained connected to the body’s most fundamental processes. If an external or internal stimulus became sufficiently pronounced, the subconscious could still register it.

A person sleeping could awaken because of pain but a cultivator could not; not safely, at least.

This is because any sudden disruption of consciousness during a breakthrough could destabilize the flow of Aether, causing deviation, backlash or even permanent damage to the body.

Therefore, Aureleah endured and ignored the uncomfortable tingling. She also endured the occasional shudder but whenever the sensation prove too distracting, she slowed the circulation of Aether and allowed herself a few moments to regain her concentration before continuing.

She would not be defeated by something so trivial, at least not after coming this far...

It wasn’t long before a muffled explosion erupted beneath her skin indicating that Aureleah’s dormant Secondary Aether Veins finally gave way.

The shock rippled through her body, but she remained motionless. Then one by one, the hidden pathways within her bosom began opening.

The process was slow; painstakingly so but it was successful. And remarkably, the timing coincided almost perfectly with Veyrath’s breakthrough.

Had Aureleah possessed conscious awareness of what was occurring beyond herself, she might have realized that she had technically reached the threshold at almost the exact same moment as the failed Alchemist.

She could have been the first Etheryean instead of Veyrath but there was a problem and that was her three Prime Organs.

The Veins within her bosom were only the beginning. Once she had finished there, Aureleah shifted her attention toward her next Prime Organs, her arms.

Fortunately, the process there was considerably easier.

Unlike the delicate tissues of her chest, her arms were structurally more resilient. There were fewer concerns about damaging a critically vital organ, and the Veins themselves proved far less troublesome to awaken.

One after another, the dormant pathways opened until there was none left. Then came her lungs next...

Aureleah approached them with even greater caution.

The lungs were not merely another collection of tissues; they were vital organs, delicate structures whose function was indispensable to life.

A mistake here could have catastrophic consequences so she proceeded slowly, one dormant Vein after another.

Each time she encountered resistance, she carefully increased the pressure of the Aether rather than attempting to overpower the obstruction.

And hy the time Valmyr became the second Etheryean, Aureleah had managed to awaken every Secondary Vein within one of her lungs.

Furthermore, the experience she had accumulated from her previous attempts allowed her to work more efficiently so the second lung proved considerably easier.

For more than thirty minutes, Aureleah continued this painstaking process until finally, the last dormant Vein within her lungs opened.

After successfully dealing with her bossom, lungs and arms, that left only her legs.

Compared to her internal organs, the Veins within her limbs were considerably less dangerous. Her legs might have been classified as Prime Organs, but damaging one of those pathways would not carry the same immediate consequences as injuring her lungs or other vital organs.

So Aureleah made relatively quick work of them. And by the time Kaeloris and Vaelorin completed their breakthroughs, she had already awakened every Secondary Aether Vein within her body.

In terms of sheer quantity, Aureleah had effectively completed enough work to match—or even exceed—the combined effort several of the others had invested.

And yet, she still wasn’t an Etheryean because awakening the Secondary Veins was only part of the process. The next thing to be done now was to strengthen them.

At first, Aureleah hadn’t considered this particularly troublesome as the principle seemed simple enough.

Draw Aether into the Secondary Veins, allow the pathways to absorb it and then repeatedly circulate the energy until the walls of the Veins became thicker, stronger and more capable of enduring the immense flow of Aether that would accompany her future cultivation.

It was simple in theory but the moment she attempted it, however, Aureleah discovered another problem; the Aether refused to remain where she wanted it.

Anytime she directed the energy toward one Prime Organ, it simply dispersed. The moment she tried again, then the Aether circulated through the wrong pathways.

Again she tried it but this time, it simply vanished into the surrounding network of Veins like smoke dissolving into the wind.

Aureleah frowned internally.

She had assumed that because her bosom was closest to her Primary Aether Veins, strengthening the Secondary Veins there would be the easiest. On the contrary, it wasn’t.

The Aether would enter the region but refuse to accumulate within the Secondary Veins. Instead, it would scatter throughout her body before returning to the Primary Veins.

After trying and failing several times, she switched to her arms but it was the same result. Moreover, it happened with her lungs and legs, leaving no Prime Organ unattended.

No matter how much Aether she drew into herself, she couldn’t make the energy remain within the Secondary Veins long enough to strengthen them. And for the first time since entering the Essence Pool, Aureleah found herself genuinely stymied.

She had reached a wall, one that was caused due to her lack of knowledge. She has reached the threshold; as a matter of fact, she was already standing before the door. However, she has no idea how to open the door and that made her frustrated...

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