The years following Roland’s breakthrough settled into a steady routine for Leon. Each morning brought another training session, and left him with something new to work on.
At first, sensing essence demanded his full concentration. He would sit quietly, and search search for its faint presence, but lose it whenever his attention wandered.
And keeping it in one place was harder than he thought. Some days he managed well but on others, he spent so long trying to draw it in, and he barely made progress.
But he persisted, and the results gradually showed.
As the months passed, he learned to sense essence more consistently and maintain his concentration for longer period of time. His mastery of wielding essence also became more efficient.
But manipulation of external essence remained difficult. He could wield it, but could not make it respond precisely to his intentions.
The essence sometimes shifted on its own when he wanted it to remain still or scatter away before he could guide it where he intended. His continuous practice had improved his control, but not nearly and quickly as he wished.
Marcus kept Leon’s training within reasonable limits. His physical exercises continued alongside his essence practice, increasing as Leon grew stronger. Whenever Leon pushed himself too far, his father made him stop.
He trained, rested, and returned to it the following day.
His nightmares also did not return till now. For a long time, he still remembered the scenes that had shaken him, but the memory of the nightmare gradually lost its meaning as his training continued.
With nothing new to connect it to, he eventually stopped worrying about it. He had not forgotten what he saw, but he simply thought about it less.
Roland also continued studying lightning after reaching the Nascent level of Manifestation Stage. His breakthrough had given him a foundation, not mastery. He spent long hours learning the element’s properties and refining his control.
Leon sometimes watched his older brother practice. Roland could work with lightning in ways Leon could not yet think, still, watching him gave Leon a clearer idea of what his persistent training could eventually achieve.
By the time Leon turned four, his routine had become his second nature. He had made genuine progress, even if many of his goals remained beyond his reach.
That year, Iris also began preparing to leave for the Empire’s main academy, Aurorus Academy.
This academy received the support and funds from the Empire, but it is governed by an organization that was created for the academy, and acted independently under an agreement established centuries earlier.
Iris’s departure would take her beyond the familiar grounds of Hayes estate, away from her family and the life she had known.
Leon was feeling a bit sad, because she would be gone for a long time, and found it difficult to imagine the estate without her.
During the final days before her departure, he occasionally looked for her in his free time. She was often occupied with preparations with her friends or with adults speaking about the journey.
Whenever he asked how much longer she would stay at the academy, her answer remained the same. "Not long, it’s just three years, and I’ll come back when I get a big vacation."
On the morning when she was due to leave, a carriage was waiting outside while servants secured her belongings. Leon stood nearby as he watched them finish the preparations.
Iris approached him after speaking with the others, dressed for the journey.
She stopped in front of him. "I’ll miss you, brother." She said as she pulled him into a hug, and Leon also wrapped his arms around her. After hugging for a while, she let him go.
"But you’d better keep training while I’m gone. I’m going to become even more powerful, and I expect you to do the same."
She ruffled his hair. "And when I come back, I want to see how much you’ve improved. Don’t disappoint me when I come back."
"I won’t."
Iris smiled as she squeezed his shoulder, and turned towards others. She also hugged Roland, Vera and Marcus. Then, she fare welled Thomas, Garret and her personal maid and went back towards the carriage.
Leon watched her climb inside, and the door closed. Soon the carriage began moving down the estate road. He remained where he was until it passed through the gates and disappeared from sight.
His following days routine carried on as usual, but Leon noticed Iris’s absence in small ways. There was no voice calling him over or older sister nearby to challenge him whenever he spoke too confidently about his progress.
As the years passed, his practice became more concentrated. The sensing of essence no longer troubled him, and he could gather it with greater consistency.
His external control had improved, but he still struggled to some extent, and internal circulation remained out of reach
Roland’s training continued alongside his own. His lightning remained a demanding element, and his progress came through study and repetition. The brothers followed different paths, each occupied with the work required at their current stage.
By the time Leon reached five, his training had become an ordinary part of his life.
Over the years, he had grown more consistent at sensing and absorbing essence, and his control over external essence had improved.
His body also had gradually grown stronger and more capable of handling the essence he manipulated.
A week ago, Leon had decided it was time to test whether he was ready for internal circulation. He had approached the attempt cautiously as he drew the essence inward and tried to guide it through his body.
He managed to move it internally, and confirmed that his body could finally tolerate the process. The difficulty was in maintaining its path.
Whenever he tried to guide the essence along a fixed path, his control grew weaker, and the flow became uneven.
He had spent the following days repeating the attempt, but he still couldn’t circulate it properly.
And rather than continue guessing at what he was doing wrong, Leon decided to ask Marcus for guidance. His father had far more experience with cultivation, so he left his training area and went towards his office to find him.