Re Extra' Legendary Proclamation Of Tyberius The Bastard

Ty couldn't help but notice it, the desperation in Greta's eyes. It wasn't hard to piece together. The true reason she was so eager to push him toward an early core awakening wasn't purely for his sake. No, most of her urgency likely stemmed from the hope that a prodigious awakening would catch the attention of the Lord. If Tyberius showed promise, if he awakened young and strong, then the House Head might bestow favour.

And in doing so, Greta's own position would shift from the waiting girl of a bastard child to the personal handmaid of a young lord marked for greatness.

'Or... maybe she just wants to give me an easier start in life?' he pondered, a whisper of doubt softening his cynicism.

There was no clear answer. Greta's motivations could be both selfish and sincere. What was clear, however, was that success in awakening would bring Ty immense benefits, advantages that could change the course of his life.

Greta, having already discussed the theory behind core awakening, decided it was time to move into practice. Perhaps a visual demonstration would persuade Ty to play along or better yet, attempt it for real.

She settled herself into a meditative position, legs crossed, hands resting on her thighs, her breath becoming calm, her presence silent. She closed her eyes and sank into a stillness that felt sacred, as if she were no longer entirely here.

'Okay... what now?' Ty thought as he watched, uncertain.

For a while, nothing happened. Greta remained still, unmoving in her quiet trance. But five minutes in, Ty's eyes flickered, literally. A strange light danced in his pupils, and then he saw it: flickers of colour forming in the air, gentle pulses like rainbow wisps meandering toward Greta.

'W~ow… it's... beautiful,' he marvelled.

The flickers gathered around her, each hue distinct yet blending harmoniously into one radiant spectrum. One by one, the lights entered her chest, moving not with urgency but with purpose, as if they had finally found their way home.

His gaze instinctively shifted to her heart, and that's when he saw it, a radiant orb, small, no bigger than a clenched fist, situated near her heart. Orbiting the core was a semi-circular ring, only half-formed. The colourful lights nestled into it, slowly working to complete the ring.

It's marvellous, yes. But the process guiding the lights was strenuous to watch, too slow and too time demanding. Ty thought, 'Is this how it is for everyone else?'

"Do you see now, young master?" Greta's voice broke the silence. "Can you do what I just did?"

'You do realise you're speaking to a one-year-old who barely just turned one?' Ty replied inwardly, his tone tinged with sarcasm.

Still, despite his teasing, he believed he understood it. The essence of what she had done, it made sense to him. He could imitate it.

"Come now, young master," she coaxed. "Give it a try."

But Ty had no intention of awakening in her presence. Doing so would expose too much of how his intellect and his comprehension are far beyond that of a mere infant. That was a secret he had no plans of sharing with anybody.

Instead, he resorted to childish trickery, giggling and drooling as he babbled nonsense, fully embracing the role of a clueless baby. Greta sighed, her patience thinning, but eventually gave up her insistence.

'Now then… shall we put it to the test?'

That night, long after Greta had fallen asleep, Ty sat up quietly in bed. The room was dim, filled only with the soft whispers of the autumn wind and the distant cries of night owls.

He closed his eyes and settled into the meditative pose she'd shown him. Legs crossed, hands relaxed, mind focused.

The cold air kissed his skin, the fine hairs on his arms rising as if reacting to the flow of something unseen. And then, suddenly, time itself seemed to dilate. Everything froze.

And just as suddenly, a rush of wind crashed against him. Cold, serene, surreal.

His eyes snapped open.

'What in heaven's world...?'

He was no longer in the room. Instead, he found himself standing atop a tranquil body of water. His small feet didn't sink, they stood flat on the surface, as if the water recognised his presence and bore his weight.

The lake stretched wide in every direction, encircled by tall, vibrant trees with rich green canopies that swayed gently in the wind.

'Where... where is this?'

One moment he was meditating in bed, the next, he was here, in a place that felt both real and dreamlike.

So this is what she was seeing during her meditation?

He was wrong, it wasn't the same. Greta had never mentioned a change in scenery, and Ty was sure this wasn't normal. This place wasn't metaphorical or mental, it was something... else.

Suddenly, the water around him began to shimmer with vibrant colours, reflecting light that hadn't been there before. He looked up.

Floating in the sky, suspended above the lake, was an orb, colourless, yet filled with every colour. Ethereal. Ancient. His breath caught.

'Is that... my core?'

He didn't know how he knew. He just knew.

And more than that, he could sense what it demanded of him.

He looked down at the water, then back up at the orb. Slowly, he extended his hand. His focus sharpened.

From the lake beneath, streams of energy began to rise, fluid like water but glowing faintly, like drawn essence. He directed them upward, toward the hovering core.

As the gathered essence connected with the orb, it pulsed, and in that moment, Ty felt something wash over him.

A rush. A wave of vitality. As though every cell in his body had been reinvigorated.

'So this... this is the process of mana absorption.'

And then, a voice echoed, not external, but internal. Systemic. Familiar and foreign.

[Notice! You have achieved the fundamentals of Force]

[You have awakened your Force Factor]

"Uhu? Force... not mana?" he said aloud, puzzled.