Leon continued his morning routine as usual. He stretched, performed a few simple body exercises and then went to his lessons.
He didn’t add anything new to his exercises, but his daily routine had become easier over the months. His movements were more natural now, and the effort that once left him tired no longer seemed to affect him as much.
His family didn’t notice the changes all at once. They gradually noticed small changes in the way Leon carried himself, finding that the Leon’s movements more controlled than before. None of them thought much of it at first, yet the observation of his increased strength kept returning.
One evening, after Leon had gone to his room, Marcus brought the matter up with others. Vera and Roland had noticed it too, and as they compared what they had seen, and it became clear that they were all describing the same change.
"I thought it was only me," Roland admitted. "I kept telling myself I was imagining it."
"Do you think he has started cultivating again?" Vera asked. She tried to keep her voice controlled, but the hope behind her question was clear.
"I think he might have resumed cultivating," Marcus said. "But he hasn’t mentioned it because he is familiarizing with himself slowly."
They were glad hearing the possibility of him cultivating as they had waited a long time for it, and the thought that he might have done so on his own brought them some relief.
Marcus decided to ask without making it sound like an expectation. The next day, after one of Leon’s lessons, he mentioned that if Leon ever wanted to train, he would gladly train with him.
"I’m only stretching," Leon replied. "But thank you."
Marcus nodded and let the matter rest. Leon had answered calmly, but he hadn’t shown the interest he once would have when cultivation was brought up, and Marcus also didn’t press him further.
’If Leon wasn’t cultivating during the day, perhaps he was doing it at night?’
Marcus thought of this possibility, and briefly considered keeping watch at him at night, but he decided to ask Hanna. He then called her to his study the following afternoon.
"Has Leon been cultivating at night?"
"No, my lord."
"You’re certain?"
"He goes to sleep at his usual hour. Some nights he sits quietly with his eyes closed, but he doesn’t remain that way for long. In the mornings, he stretches and does a few simple exercises. I haven’t seen him do anything beyond that."
"Have you noticed anything unusual about him?"
"He’s become sturdier than before, my lord, and he mistakenly broke some glasses and cups before, though I thought it was simply part of his growth." Hanna answered, recalling the changes she saw in Leon.
Marcus thanked her and sent her back to her duties. That evening, Marcus shared what Hanna had told him. Roland listened with his arms crossed, his expression growing more serious.
"Then it isn’t ordinary essence cultivation. He hasn’t properly begun reinforcing his body with essence, yet his physical growth is already unusual," Roland said thinking thoroughly. "I can’t say exactly how strong he’s become without testing him, but something is clearly changing."
Vera turned to him. "Could it be because of his soul? His breakthrough made it so much stronger. Could his body be adapting to it?"
Marcus didn’t dismiss the possibility. "A soul that has advanced far beyond its body might influence its development. I’ve seen traces of something similar in cultivators who forged their souls early, though every one of them had spent years circulating essence first." He paused.
"Whether it can happen without that, I don’t know."
"Then we should find out."
"We will. But it’s only a possibility, and I don’t want us to ask Leon about this."
Over the following weeks, Marcus searched the library after finishing his work. He no longer looked for cases of prolonged unconsciousness, but for accounts of cultivators whose souls had advanced far beyond their bodies.
Some records mentioned unusual constitutions and imbalances between the two, but none described a child who had never properly reinforced his body. He also wrote to an old physician he trusted, asking whether he had encountered anything similar.
Once, at the end of a lesson, Marcus asked Leon whether anything felt different. His body, his sleep, or anything else that had caught his attention.
"I feel fine," Leon answered.
Marcus studied him briefly, then nodded and left the matter there. Nobody questioned him afterwards, though Leon occasionally caught his brother watching him with a thoughtful expression.
Several months passed, and Leon’s memories came and went without overwhelming him as they once had. His body continued changing, even though he had made no effort to cultivate.
One afternoon, while Marcus was away on estate business, Leon went to the library, and the books Marcus had been consulting were still on the table by the window, with slips of paper marking several passages.
Leon decided to read the book. It explained of a soul and body developing at different rates, but offered no clear explanation of what happened when the difference became too great. The next were much the same.
His father had been searching for weeks, yet had never asked Leon what he thought. They were waiting for him to speak when he was ready.
Leon closed the book and returned it to its place. For now, he continued with his exercises and lessons. But that night, he found himself thinking about how he might ask Marcus to train him again.
Leon waited a few days before approaching Marcus. He had considered bringing it up several times, but each time he himself postponed the conversation. But today, after finishing his morning exercises, he went to his father’s study.
"Father, can we start my cultivation lessons again?"
Marcus looked up from the documents on his desk. He studied Leon for a moment before setting them aside.
"Have you decided you’re ready?"
"I’m still a little worried," Leon admitted. "But I don’t want to keep avoiding it."
A faint smile crossed Marcus’s face. "Then we’ll start tomorrow. There’s no need to rush."
The following morning, Marcus took Leon to the training yard and began with the circulation method he had taught him before. For the first few days, they focused on that alone. Leon gathered essence and guided it through his body while Marcus watched for the mistakes in the flow.
The first time he drew essence inward, the sensation brought back a fragment of the experience surrounding his breakthrough. His concentration wavered, but he steadied himself and continued, then nothing unusual followed.
After several days, Marcus introduced cultivation techniques suited to Leon’s current stage. He demonstrated each one before allowing Leon to practice it himself.
Some required him to direct essence through specific parts of his body, while others involved coordinating his movements with its circulation.
Leon struggled with a few at first, but his understanding of essence control helped him grasp their principles quickly.
One of the first was a basic movement technique that required the practitioner to maintain a steady flow of essence while following a fixed sequence of steps.
Marcus corrected his stance and made him repeat the sequence until he could maintain the flow without forcing it. It took several attempts, but Leon eventually completed the technique properly.
He then introduced further techniques as Leon became familiar with the earlier ones. He kept the difficulty manageable, allowing Leon time to develop proper control before moving on.
And returning to cultivation also reminded Leon of something he had neglected.
The raven egg was still in the storage room, resting on the incubator the elves had provided them. Before his nightmare, he had regularly supplied it with a small amount of essence, but afterwards, he had stopped.
At first, he hadn’t wanted to draw on his essence for anything beyond what was necessary, and eventually, the egg had slipped from his thoughts.
Leon went to check on it. The shell looked much as it had when he last visited, and the incubator continued to maintain its conditions.
He placed his hand against the egg and carefully let a little essence pass into it. This time, however, the egg responded. A faint pulse passed through its shell as his essence reached it, and Leon sensed that it had begun developing again.
At this rate, it might finally hatch within the next few months. From then on, he resumed feeding it regularly.
Vera was also relieved to see Leon training again, while Roland occasionally watched his sessions. Thomas, who had returned to the estate long before, continued managing the household affairs. The family made no fuss over Leon’s decision, allowing him to settle back into cultivation at his own pace.
Over the following months, Leon’s progress remained steady. He grew more familiar with Marcus’s techniques and began asking questions about their finer details.
A hint of fear still lingered whenever he advanced a little in cultivation, but the fear that had kept him away from cultivation no longer prevented him from learning.