Austin and Josh took the morning to review the books they were given by Maya. Each of them quietly read them over as they ate their nutrition bar. Austin found it a welcome distraction from the horrible texture. He was so focused on his book that he ate absentmindedly.
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Austin was really glad he asked about the book, though. Not only did it help him understand how to use his Essence, but it sounded like he needed to create a good foundation for himself now that he was aware of it. If he were sloppy, then his later progression could be much harder.
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To create a foundation for himself, Austin needed to take this period of time carefully. The book even described Essence as a flame that needed to be carefully taken care of but not overfed. During this stage, he needed to carefully take in Aether with slow, methodical breathing. That way, he could slowly build up his Essence and make it stronger.
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As he read about the growth of his Essence, Austin tried to find info on what had happened the previous night with the cat. The book made it clear that Austin needed to take the growth of his Essence carefully, and when he absorbed the Aether from the cat, it felt like he experienced insane growth. He was able to eventually find the information after flipping through the book for a period of time.
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Austin found out that killing something that is aware of its Essence will turn it into Aether that can be absorbed. It was described as an effective method for strengthening an Essence, but the Essence needed to go through a purification method after doing so. Otherwise, the Path to Gold could be corrupted by the Path of the creature and become chaotic and disjointed. It required a similar type of breathing as absorbing Aether, but focusing more on the Essence instead of absorbing surrounding Aether.
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As Austin read this passage, he set the book down and started to practice his breathing. He did not know how long it took to corrupt his Path, but did not want to risk it. He sat cross-legged and closed his eyes while taking slow breaths. Each breath, he focused on the image of Essence in his mind. The flame flickered and moved somewhat sporadically. As he breathed, he felt as though he was trying to control the sporadic nature of the flame and turn it into a more controlled flame.
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The process took some time, and Austin was grateful that he awoke early to research. The time seemed to pass quickly as he tried to control the flame. His mind was lost in the process until it finally started to take a controlled shape, similar to the teardrop shape of a candle flame. The process of controlling it caused it to lose some of its size, but it was still definitely larger than the flame he started with.
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As Austin finished, he opened his eyes to see that Elliot had woken up. Josh must have figured that Austin was doing something important because he was playing with Elliot. Almost as if Josh was trying to distract Elliot from interrupting Austin.
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Elliot saw Austin’s eyes open and immediately ran over to him for a hug. Josh tried to stop him, but Elliot raced past him. Austin embraced Elliot in a tight hug and lifted him in the air. Elliot smiled broadly as his dad raised him.
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“Done working?” Elliot asked Austin as he was sitting down.
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“For a little bit. Then my friend and I have to go out for the day,” Austin explained.
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“Can’t play then?” Elliot frowned.
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“I can play for a little bit,” Austin smiled. “Then, when I get back, we will play more.”
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“Promise?” Elliot stuck out his pinky.
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“Promise,” Austin hooked Elliot’s pinky with his own and shook it slightly.
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Austin used the time with Elliot to clear his mind. It broke away the feeling of urgency he felt, and was just a moment the two of them could spend together. The pair lightly wrestled as Elliot climbed all over Austin and tried to pull him down. Austin let this go for several minutes before he grabbed Elliot and lightly lifted and slammed him to the ground. Once he was on the ground, Austin started to tickle him.
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“Stop it, daddy!” Elliot managed to say in between laughter.
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“You can’t stop the tickle monster!” Austin smiled and laughed as he continued.
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“Mommy,” Elliot laughed so much he could barely breathe. “Help!”
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Maya looked up from her book and said, “There is nothing I can do! He is too strong!”
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After another minute of Elliot squirming and laughing, Austin stopped tickling him. Elliot breathed heavily as he tried to catch his breath. He then shoved Austin slightly as he stood up.
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“You’re mean, daddy!” Elliot yelled angrily.
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“Do you really think so?” Austin frowned exaggeratedly, extending his bottom lip.
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“No,” Elliot relented and smiled.
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“Good,” Austin smiled in turn and gave Elliot a hug. As he did, he looked over Elliot’s shoulder to see Josh patiently waiting. He pulled away from the hug and said to Elliot, “I think I’m gonna have to go back out to work.”
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“Do you hafta?” Elliot groaned.
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“Sadly, I do,” Austin said. “But I might be bringing you a treat back.”
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“A treat?” Elliot’s eyes grew wide in excitement.
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“Yep,” Austin said. “Something to eat besides those bars.”
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“Yay! I don’t like those!” Elliot made an exaggerated nauseated expression.
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“I know, so wish me luck,” Austin smiled gently.
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“Good luck, daddy!” Elliot said as he hugged Austin.
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Austin grabbed his gear and gave Maya a kiss before he turned to Josh, “Are you ready?”
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“Yeah, let’s go,” Josh said as he followed Austin.
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The pair walked through the forest with Austin periodically stopping to close his eyes. As he did, he focused on the Aether around him. The Aether formed like strings of ribbons and was hard to differentiate. It took a moment of focus, but he was able to find a group of ribbons that bunched together and pointed towards a direction. Once he found the grouping, he told Josh the direction, and they followed it for a period of time before he repeated the process once more.
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As they walked, Josh started to make conversation, “Your son is awfully cute.”
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“Thank you, I sure think so, of course,” Austin smiled. “Sorry you got stuck playing with him.”
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“No, it’s fine, like I said, he is cute. It was also like therapeutic? I guess that’s the right word. Kids see things with such wonder and joy, and it’s infectious. I’ve been tense since we got into this forest, so it was helpful in a sense,” Josh said.
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“I get that,” Austin laughed. “I mean, of course I feel the same, but I’m happy that he could help you in that way.”
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“I appreciate it. I really do. I’m thankful you have trusted me,” Josh replied. “Now I do have to wonder. What were you doing when I was playing with him? You seemed like you were out of it for like an hour.”
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“Ah, yeah, that’s a good question,” Austin said. “You know that cat from yesterday? Well, it turned into Aether, and I absorbed it. While I was reading, I learned I had to purify the Aether so it didn’t corrupt my Essence.”
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“I guess that makes sense,” Josh said. “Anything else you learned while reading?”
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“I learned how to properly take in Aether,” Austin began to explain. “The other day, I explained to you about Essence, but not so much the point. The point is to rise up and become stronger. The books referred to it as the Path to Gold. You see, the first rank, once you unlock your Essence, is called Lead. You rise through a variety of ranks until you reach Gold. Which I guess is like perfection or something. Well, since Lead is your first stage, you have to take it carefully and slowly take in Aether to mold your Essence. If you take in too much at once, it can cause problems for your Path.”
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“Seems like you are learning a lot. By the time I become aware, you’ll almost be like my master,” Josh laughed.
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“I’m sure there is plenty I still don’t know,” Austin replied. “But I can at least help you. I also learned how to properly channel my Essence through my body. Since yesterday, I was sort of just guessing at it.”
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“Oh, really? Mind explaining to me? That way I’m not guessing at it when I get it,” Josh asked.
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“Yeah, I can do that,” Austin began to explain further. “At Lead you are working towards understanding how to channel Essence and create a structure for it within you. The things you can do at Lead are run Essence through your body to give yourself a burst of strength or speed, run it out of your body to use a sort of energy attack, and finally, you can focus it outside your body to create a weapon or object. The last one sounds difficult because you have to keep the structure sound while it is outside of your body.”
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“Phew, that's like information overload,” Josh laughed. “I’m gonna have to read that book and take notes or something.”
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“I can’t blame you,” Austin said. “It’ll probably be easier to remember once you can do it. How did your studying go?”
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“Pretty well, not much for me to explain like yours,” Josh said. “I just sort of memorized the appearance of the various herbs that it mentioned. I also saw that, while less effective, you can make the herbs into a sort of paste and combine them with water. It takes more resources than some of the other recipes, though.”
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“Ah, that’s good to know,” Austin said. “Maybe on our way, we can get enough, and we won’t have to worry about getting three of the fruits.”
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“I hope so,” Josh said. “But it still would be good to look out for. Apparently, the elixirs can be used to strengthen an Essence, too.”
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“Oh, that’s extremely helpful,” Austin commented. “I wonder how Maya missed that?”
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“Well, there is a lot of information,” Josh said. “Also, it sounds like she has been reading every book available, so she hasn’t gotten into the deep details like we have.”
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“Good point,” Austin said. “Not to mention she has been looking over Elliot.”
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“Yeah, there is only so much you can learn in the time we spent here so far,” Josh said.
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The two continued to make small talk as they walked further into the forest. They learned little things about each other during that time. Austin learned that Josh was working as a bartender and saving up money for college. While Austin told Josh about his experience in college and working. The two seemed to be enjoying the talk as it reminded them both of their normal life.
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As they continued along, Austin was able to find some of the edible fruit that he had seen in the books. He mostly could find berries, but he was happy to pick them as they walked along. The berries were larger than the ones he was used to and had a vibrant red color despite their appearance being closer to a blackberry. Austin remembered that Elliot liked berries quite a bit, so he hoped that he would like these berries even if they were different from what they were used to.
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Austin closed his eyes once more to find the next direction that they would need to go. As he did the, the ribbons of Aether were even more numerous and pointed all to the same direction. He opened his eyes to see where they were pointed and saw their next destination.
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The ribbons all pointed to a hill. Luckily, it did not seem too steep, but it would definitely be more strenuous than walking on flat ground like they had been. Austin sighed as he saw their next destination.
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“Looks like we have to climb that hill,” Austin informed Josh.
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“I’m not shocked,” Josh commented. “They couldn’t make this easy for us.”
