Lancelot was sinking.
Currently, he was in a dark, seemingly endless void. It was completely empty, save for the ocean that he was currently sinking in.
He didn't feel uncomfortable, though. This place was, after all, his own soul.
"That overgrown gecko! I'll get him back one day.." Lancelot thought angrily, though there was no real heat behind it.
What's more important, right now, was managing his Od and completing the Awakening.
The void was his soul, and the ocean was his Od. The name Magi have for this place is called the 'Soul Dam'.
"The Awakening happens when your soul is pushed beyond its boundaries, usually happening in life or death moments. Though, extreme emotions can also cause the person to awaken.." Lancelot remembered Ddraig's teachings, mentally piling up all the information related to the Awakening.
"During the Awakening, one must focus on making a connection with their body and soul."
Lancelot shut his eyes in concentration, his body sinking imperceptibly slower.
The ocean in his soul stirred, torrents, waves and ripples immediately started appearing.
Then, suddenly, they all started rushing towards Lancelot, forming a whirlpool with him at the center.
He slowly absorbed the Od, a steady stream entering and surging through his body.
Lancelot didn't spare a thought on anything else, this action requiring every ounce of concentration that he could muster.
Ddraig had taught him the consequences of failure, and using the word 'severe' would be a massive understatement.
The lightest punishment was the amount of Od in the Soul Dam being lowered, meaning that there will be less water in the ocean, which means that there will be less Od usable for the magus.
Just above that was amnesia or a drastic lowering of IQ.
And the most common repercussions were the most deadly ones- extreme damage to the soul, effectively crippling the Soul Dam and unfortunate magus, whilst the other was mutating into a monster.
This monster would possess greater strength than most humans, and would have an Emblem, making them deadly.
To Magi, mutating is a fate worse than death. It would be a disgrace to their family and themselves. Who would want to be turned into a mindless monster? To lose all rationality and their appearance, turning into something unrecognisable even to their own self?
Nobody would! They would prefer death.
That's why Lancelot was giving his all currently, his expression as still as water.
After a few hours, the Od was mostly depleted, only a fifth of the ocean left.
Lancelot's body was glowing faintly, his heart was visible even through his skin, the white outline depicting the contracting muscle.
The veins and arteries also underwent this change, shining white.
After the connection with the body is made, the Soul Dam resides in the Magi's heart, his veins and arteries becoming Magic Vessels for the Od to circulate through his body.
Soon, the ocean was completely dried up, leaving only a floating Lancelot inside the dark Soul Dam.
Normally, it would take nearly a full day for the Soul Dam to be completely dried up, though Lancelot's soul was not normal.
His soul has the 'muscle memory' of ninety-nine previous lifetimes. His soul had already gone through the awakening procedure many times, but that did not mean it was any easier for Lancelot. He only had the capability of expediting the process, the effort and concentration that he had to put in was relative to others.
Finally, he opened his eyes, the cold cobalt having a sinister edge, with hiis lips curled into a grin.
"One step for Lancelot, a leap back for the rest of mankind."
Ddraig Wen tossed the damaged blue cube up and down, catching it in his hands as he idly played with it.
"It gets boring here.." He lamented.
Suddenly, the damage on the blue cube instantly recovered, the object shining for a moment as it shook.
It flew out of Ddraig's hand, glowing brightly. The cyan light illuminated the surroundings, though this paltry inconvenience could not stop Ddraig from seeing what's happening in its center.
He was, after all, a dragon. In spirit and soul, at the very least.
Stepping out this light was none other than Lancelot, who grinned.
"Gonna congratulate me or what?"
"Hm, it's only to be expected. I've basically held your hand throughout your entire life, doing this yourself the bare minimum." Ddraig snorted, crossing his arms.
"Yeah, so what? You can still be happy for your partner." Lancelot rolled his eyes.
"...You're talking like your previous self." Ddraig sighed.
"Yeah, it's to be expected." Lancelot plopped himself onto the floor, clearly exhausted.
Sweat dripped off his forehead, as his usually pale skin was slightly reddish.
The Awakening was extremely mentally draining, only those with strong mental fortitude would be able to come out on top and become a magus.
"Hehe, now, it's time to check out my stats!"
Lancelot grinned.
With a mental command, he opened up the Soul Panel.
When someone awakens, their soul merges partially with their body, allowing them to have heightened capabilities. Additionally, they also gain a special, distinct power. These abilities are called Emblems. To simplify and explain these new powers, the soul manifests the information in a way easy to understand using the information the magus subconsciously knows.
In front of Lancelot, a blue panel, only visible to him, appeared.
[Stage One.]
[Emblem: Crafting.]
[Crafting: allows the user to fuse together two items, the result obtaining a skill that can be used via injecting Od into the object. The result will be loosely influenced by the user, though through training, and increasing your Stage, the user can have a better control of the result.]
[Sub Ability: Analyze. Analyze lets the wielder extract information with just a cursory glance. It ranks the materials/weapon from F-S Rank.]
"Hmm.." He rubbed his chin, deep in thought.
"I would've preferred a direct, attack-type Emblem, or something that can snowball like necromancy.." He thought critically, though he wasn't disappointed.
Lancelot clenched and unclenched his hand repeatedly, a habit he has when he's musing.
"Still, this Emblem still has a lot of potential. If I could get my hands on some magical ore.."
"Yeah! It's really great, isn't it?" Ddraig chirped enthusiastically, chin held high as he had a pleased smile on his face.
"..."
"...Why is he so happy?" Lancelot sweatdropped.