?The morning sun pierced through the cracks in the wooden planks of Master Jiren's shack. However, for the three young men sprawled on the wooden floor, this morning felt like an invitation to the second circle of hell.

  ?"Ouch... easy now," Niko groaned. He tried to sit up, but his face contorted in pain as if he had just been run over by a cargo ship. His right hand was busy adjusting his cracked goggles, while his other hand gripped his aching waist.

  ?BEEP-boop... ROT chimed with a discordant and pitiful tone from the corner of the room. One of its eye sensors was still blinking erratically, a casualty of Jiren's pebble flick from yesterday.

  ?In another corner, Blade sat leaning against the wall. His eyes were tightly shut, his arms folded across his chest. From the outside, he looked incredibly calm and tough, like a true swordsman meditating to become one with nature.

  ?However, when he tried to lift the wooden teacup beside him, his hand trembled violently. The hot tea spilled slightly onto his pants. Blade gritted his teeth, holding back a groan to keep his dignified image intact, then hurriedly placed the cup back on the floor before anyone could see.

  ?"Turns out... you're crushed too, huh, Blade?" Lucas suddenly chimed in, already crawling nearby.

  ?Blade looked away, awkwardly brushing the spilled tea off his pants. "Just some stiff muscles. It's nothing."

  ?"Nothing, my foot," Niko mocked from across the room. "Last night you were sleep-talking, calling for your mom when you tried to roll over."

  ?Blade's face instantly flushed red. His hand instinctively reached for the hilt of Yami-Kiri, intending to shut Niko's mouth, but the veins in his arm immediately screamed in protest at the movement.

  ?Seeing the two of them, Lucas burst into laughter. However, the laugh only lasted two seconds before Lucas was forced to clutch his own stomach. "Hahaha—Ouch! My stomach! Oh man, it feels like my stomach moved to a different zip code," Lucas winced, though his wide smile remained.

  ?The wooden sliding door of the shack suddenly opened with a soft creak.

  ?The three young men instinctively froze. Their postures instantly straightened perfectly, momentarily forgetting all their pain. Master Jiren stepped inside carrying a wooden tray. On it were three bowls of steaming herbal porridge with an incredibly bitter and pungent aroma.

  ?"Eat," Jiren ordered briefly, placing the tray in the middle of them. "While you chew, clean your ears. I will explain the foundation of the power that, until now, you have only been using like blind men swinging sticks."

  ?Lucas, Blade, and Niko's eyes instantly lit up. The pain throughout their bodies seemed to evaporate just like that. Finally, they thought in sheer excitement, the super cool magic lessons begin!

  ?Jiren sat cross-legged before them, his back straight. At the tip of his wrinkled index finger, a highly dense and calm pale blue light suddenly ignited. Lux.

  ?"What do you think Lux is? Some miraculous magic? No," Jiren's voice echoed heavily within the shack. "Lux is the pure manifestation of your soul's life energy. Every human is born with a soul capable of producing this light energy. However, to use it in combat, there are absolute mechanics you must understand. The process is divided into three stages: Input, Storage, and Output."

  ?Niko immediately pulled a small notebook from his pocket, listening intently.

  ?"First, you must be able to feel your own soul, to the point where you feel like you can physically touch it inside your chest," Jiren explained. "The deeper a person understands their soul, the denser the energy they can draw—this is Input. Once drawn, that Lux energy will be kept inside the body, which we will simply call Storage. Every person's Storage capacity is different. Some have reservoirs like oceans, while others are only the size of a teacup. And the third is Output. Only with the energy kept in your Storage can you finally release it. The general use of this Output is divided into Six Basic Techniques."

  ?"Whoa, so humans basically work like a power bank?" Niko interrupted in awe.

  ?"Then, what are those six basic techniques, Master?" Lucas asked enthusiastically, his unblinking eyes fixed on the light at Jiren's fingertip.

  ?Jiren extinguished the light on his finger and began to elaborate. "Those six basic techniques are: Force Boost, Force Barrier, Force Armament, Force Heal, Force Ruin, and Force Sense."

  ?"First, Force Boost," Jiren continued. "This technique is used to instantly reinforce your body's physical capabilities. Punching power, running speed, and jumping force. You simply channel the Lux Output into the targeted muscles. The greater the flow, the greater the physical explosive power."

  ?"Second, Force Barrier. This is an absolute protection technique. Channeling Lux energy to coat the outer body or even internal organs. A transparent light will appear as a shield. The greater the Output released, the thicker the protection. However, remember, this barrier is temporary. It will shatter if it takes an impact that exceeds your energy limits, if your Storage runs out, or if you lose your combat focus."

  ?"Third, Force Armament. This is the basic technique that this sword user has been trying to use from the very beginning," Jiren said, glancing at Blade.

  ?"Whoa, Blade really is naturally awesome!" Lucas and Niko praised in unison.

  ?Blade smiled faintly, lifting his chin with a touch of arrogance.

  ?"But his Output is absolutely pathetic," Jiren continued flatly, shattering Blade's arrogance in an instant. "Even the Lux current I channeled into a rotting twig could easily deflect his sword strike."

  ?Blade snorted in annoyance, looking away while Lucas held back a laugh.

  ?"This Armament technique is used to strengthen weapons," Jiren resumed his explanation. "You simply channel Lux energy into an inanimate object, such as a Katana, a spear, a bullet, or even a mere pebble."

  ?Niko and ROT instinctively looked at each other, suddenly feeling highly offended as they remembered the bumps on their foreheads caused by Jiren's pebbles yesterday.

  ?"Fourth, Force Heal. The recovery technique," Jiren broke it down. "As I said, Lux energy stems from the soul. Your soul holds an absolute memory of your healthy physical body's original form. When using this technique, Lux energy will reconstruct damaged body cells based on the 'blueprint' embedded within the user's soul. In short, it is high-level cellular regeneration."

  ?"Fifth, Force Ruin. This is one of the most difficult destructive techniques. This technique launches a second-wave attack after an impact occurs. For example, you punch a large boulder, then the exact moment your fist makes contact, you fire a stream of Lux into the boulder using Ruin. The object will shatter into pieces from the inside out. If you are highly skilled, you can even channel the Ruin wave through the air for long-range attacks."

  ?"And the sixth technique," Jiren's voice grew heavier. "Force Sense. This is a technique generally only mastered by humans whose levels border on the absurd. Even I, in my prime, had a very hard time perfecting this technique."

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  ?Hearing Jiren's admission, the three of them held their breath.

  ?"This technique enhances the five human senses beyond biological limits. If you master it, you can predict danger before it happens, read the opponent's energy flow, and become immune to any form of illusion. This technique demands high-level consciousness. It is known that Reinhard mastered this technique to the point where he can Input energy even while fast asleep."

  ?"Wow... that sounds incredibly difficult," Lucas muttered, scratching his head. Beside him, Niko said nothing because his hands were moving extremely fast, busy writing down all of Jiren's words in his little notebook.

  ?Blade, who had been listening with a furrowed brow, finally asked an important question. "Wait a minute. If all of those are basic techniques for manipulating pure energy... then how can someone control an element? Like that Glacius from the UCO. He controls ice."

  ?Jiren smiled faintly. "A sharp question. Listen closely."

  ?Jiren adjusted his sitting posture. The atmosphere suddenly felt ancient and sacred.

  ?"Long ago, in the Primordial Era thousands of years past, this universe was in a highly imbalanced state. The cosmos was inhabited by Ancient Cosmic Beings whose powers were absolute. In that era, Gods like Odin and other cosmic rulers reigned with an iron fist. In the midst of that despair, the first human descended to bring a spark of hope for peace. His name was Adam."

  ?Lucas's eyes widened slightly upon hearing that name.

  ?"Adam possessed power that nearly rivaled the power of God," Jiren continued. "After his death, his power did not vanish; instead, it shattered into many of the universe's foundational 'Concepts'. These Concepts were then passed down and lay dormant within the DNA of his descendants—which is us, humanity. When this remnant of Adam's power awakens within someone, we call the phenomenon Soul Awakening."

  ?Jiren looked at them alternately. "Soul Awakening is a power that chooses its own master. The core of this power is 'Absolute Will' over a Concept. The Concepts themselves are divided into three main types: Elemental (forces of nature), Conceptual (laws of physics and reality), and Primordial (abstract and incredibly rare)."

  ?"If someone manages to experience a Soul Awakening, they will merge with that Concept, and that universal Concept will submit absolutely to them."

  ?"That sounds terrifying," Niko hissed, shuddering.

  ?"Yes. Let's take Glacius as an example," Jiren confirmed. "Glacius obtained an Elemental type Soul Awakening, specifically the Concept of Ice. He doesn't just shoot ice; he manipulates his Lux energy to become the pure embodiment of ice itself. As the sovereign of that concept, he can never be harmed by the ice element, and his body is immune to the extreme temperature impacts of his own ability."

  ?"But... doesn't that sound like cheating?" Lucas interrupted, feeling this system was unfair to regular fighters.

  ?"Nothing is absolute in this world, Boy," Jiren rebutted. "Someone who possesses a Soul Awakening is still limited by their physical energy. Manipulating reality into a Concept requires an incredibly massive burn of Lux energy."

  ?Jiren traced an imaginary circle in the air. "Furthermore, an Awakening user has a territorial limit called a Soul Domain. This is the area of influence where the law of their Concept applies. They cannot manipulate the concept outside this area. Generally, this Soul Domain is invisible to the naked eye, and for a new user, the radius might only be about 5 centimeters surrounding their skin surface."

  ?"However," Jiren added, "someone can learn an advanced technique named Soul Dominion. This technique is used to forcefully expand the radius of their domain. The more masterful its use, the wider the area of influence for their Concept, up to the point of being able to freeze an entire arena like Glacius. The price? This expansion technique will drain Lux energy from their Storage passively and continuously, like a parasite."

  ?Silence overtook the room for several moments. The three young men digested the cosmic-scale information that had just been spoon-fed to their brains.

  ?"Can... we get a Soul Awakening too?" Lucas asked hopefully.

  ?As that question was thrown out, Blade immediately lowered his head. His gaze looked slightly grim, a small gesture that escaped Lucas and Niko's notice.

  ?"Generally, someone obtains a Soul Awakening for only two reasons: destiny as a chosen one, or an extreme accident that triggers a trauma of the soul," Jiren answered flatly. "You will find out for yourselves whether your blood is blessed by this power of Adam when you begin condensing your Lux later."

  ?Hearing that, Lucas immediately jumped to his feet, clenching his fists with explosive enthusiasm. Not wanting to be outdone, Niko stood up as well, patting his chest proudly. Blade followed suit, tossing aside his gloom and putting his cold, confident face back on.

  ?"In that case, we are ready for whatever lessons we have to go through to become strong!" Lucas shouted with total conviction.

  ?"Yup! Show us how to start!" Niko and Blade echoed.

  ?Seeing the blazing enthusiasm of his three students, Master Jiren merely curled his lips into a deeply wicked smile. A smile that usually appeared on the face of an executioner right before pulling the lever. "Good spirit, brats," Jiren chuckled with a hoarse voice. "But the question is... will your vessels be ready to contain the training I'm about to give you out there?"

  ?To be continued...

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