A warm and comfortable sensation spread throughout his body.
Controlling his breathing, Calron began to envelop his consciousness around the white symbol on his forehead.
A small trace of fear still lurked deep within Calron’s heart, but he knew that if he kept on avoiding this mysterious technique, then he would never be able to overcome any other obstacle in the future.
The darkness within his eyes was slowly being replaced by an unnatural grey.
“This is it… ”
Calron whispered softly as he gradually opened his eyes to a world of white and grey.
His vision was mildly disoriented, but soon his mind started to adjust to the new color spectrum. It was unsettling for Calron to suddenly have all the colors within his perception to condense down to only two different ones.
“Is this how Master saw the world around him?”
Calron muttered to himself as he explored his surroundings with his newfound peripheral vision.
No living creature could hide itself from his notice, as Calron could clearly see the bright glow of their essence. He could see everything from the smallest insect crawling under the ground to the distant flying birds above the sky.
Nothing could escape his glowing grey eyes.
Calron realized that if he focused his sight on a single point miles away from his current location, the object’s image would just expand itself within his sight and allow him to clearly see the object’s features as if he were just a foot away from it.
“Teacher, can you see this?”
Calron excitedly sent his thoughts to the Voice.
“Stay focused, kid. The hard part now is to isolate the lightning essence from your vision. It’s best to be cautious until we know exactly what this Divine Perception is capable of.”
The Voice’s words instantly brought Calron out of his excitement.
His Teacher was right. This technique that Elias had left him was dangerously mysterious, and it was best to remain alert, especially after the previous incidents that Calron had encountered when he used this ability.
“This better not hurt… ”
Calron silently prayed as he activated the previous technique which was imprinted onto him through the white symbol.
He felt his elemental core slightly shudder, and within seconds, his vision started to morph again. Only this time, mixed in between the shades of white and grey, bolts of lightning darted within his sight.
Calron had the sudden impulse to draw those bolts of lightning towards him, and almost imperceptibly, he felt his hand rising towards the closest beast a few yards in front of him.
“CALRON!”
His Teacher’s voice immediately reverberated through his mind, and shook Calron out of his trance.
“This is too dangerous, kid. Stop using this technique and we’ll figure out another way to locate a thunderstorm.”
The Voice strictly urged its student.
“N-No, I can control it!”
Calron fiercely gritted out the words as he vehemently fought against his compulsion to take control of the stream of lightning bolts within the unfortunate beast.
With drops of sweat dripping from his forehead and onto the ground, Calron’s grey eyes burned with a violent tenacity as he attempted to draw back his hand.
Calron recalled the moment back in the Red Boar School when his Master had stated that he was not yet ready for this technique, and it seemed that until Calron figured out what the conditions were to use this ability, it would never let him freely control it.
“I do not… have… the time… for this!”
Calron rasped out the words as memories of the baby beasts and the promise he gave to them flashed through his mind.
“Please… show me!”
In a desperate attempt of struggle, Calron sent his pleas to the white symbol.
He did not know whether it would work, or what the later consequences would be, but he felt that the white symbol was sentient, and actively trying to influence his body.
Suddenly, the beast that was the closest to Calron stopped within its tracks and started to quiver uncontrollably.
“Sh*t!”
Calron cursed out loud when he saw that his cry for help had failed and now an innocent creature was going to pay for his mistake.
“Nature, Calron. You see nature, but you only notice its beauty and fail to see the cruelty hidden within it. Look at the fish; they are swimming right now to escape from a larger fish behind them. The bigger animals hunt the smaller ones. The strong eat the weak. This is an unbroken rule of this world.”
Elias softly stated, as he continued to gaze at the scenery in front of him.
“There is nothing fair in this world, Calron, and only the power you wield will decide your fate and that of those around you. Remember these words, child.”
“Master… ”
The memories of his first lesson with Master suddenly surged through Calron’s mind.
His Master had always taught him that nature had its own laws, and unfair as it might be, there was no fighting against it.
All this time, Calron had been afraid of the power of this mysterious white symbol.
Afraid of how easy it was to kill someone with it.
Afraid of how it would change him.
“There is no justice or virtue in our path, we kill what needs to be killed, and continue that over and over again. We are neither the heroes nor the villains. We simply create our own path in this cruel world.”
Numerous memories of his Master’s teachings darted through his mind, as Calron realized what it was that he had been missing this whole time.
Slowly, his hand once again began to rise and point towards the shaking beast.
“Calron… “
The Voice urgently warned the boy.
“It’s alright, Teacher. Trust me.”
Calron whispered as a small smile started to etch itself onto his face.
Letting go of all his worries and anxiety, Calron calmly sent his consciousness into the frightened beast through the bolts of lightning running inside it.
“Everything is fine… I won’t hurt you… I’m a friend.”
Calron whispered gently as he sent his fond memories of the baby beasts into the frightened creature who was currently under his control.
Gradually, the trembling beast stopped shivering and relaxed itself under Calron’s soothing thoughts.
“You can leave now.”
Calron ordered it, as he patiently withdrew his consciousness from the beast.
In the past, every time that Calron had used this technique, traces of fear and anxiety from him had transferred over to the targeted beast and scrambled their minds due to the amplified terror originating from his emotions. This was what caused their deaths.
“Now, time to find the thunderstorm.”
Calron stated as he turned his gaze towards the sky.
Seeing the thin golden-white tendrils of essence floating above, Calron focused his sight onto them and isolated the golden residue from the rest. Scrutinizing the nearby clouds, Calron delved further into them as he followed the trail of the golden essence.
Within seconds, he could see a long train of faint remnants of essence and deduced that the thunderstorm must have already passed through this point.
“I will find you… ”
Calron silently murmured as he intensely concentrated the Divine Perception’s ability onto the essence tracks. The next moment, Calron’s vision abruptly exploded and instantly raced ahead for miles and miles, until his sight finally landed on a distant new location.
Dark grey clouds stretched infinitely across the sky as massive bolts of lightning crashed into the ground every second. Meanwhile, rain poured down in a vicious frenzy as it intertwined with the cascade of lightning around it. The sound of thunder rumbled within Calron’s mind just before he exhausted his strength and lost the vision.
“I know where it is.”
Calron said to his Teacher with a satisfied smile, as his vision returned back to normal and he was once again in the vicinity of the small forest.
“Good job, Calron. Looks like it’s time for our next journey.”
The Voice replied back while somberly gazing at the distant mountains.