Chapter 3446 Lesson in Hunger (Part 1) "I understand your pride in figuring everything out by yourselves, but there's nothing wrong with asking for help." Menadion said. "You two have already learned in sixteen years what most Awakened need decades if not centuries to accomplish. With Lith expecting his secondborn, you have to set your priorities straight. "There's only so much time in each day. Either you sacrifice your time with your family or risk facing that Meln jackass with incomplete skills. But that only if you keep refusing my help." "You have a point." Lith sighed. "Yet my worry is to face that jackass with skills I've learned without truly understanding them. In my experience, it's better to use a prototype you have mastered than a full weapon you're not familiar with." "There you are." Kamila welcomed them as they walked through the tower's door. "How did things go with the Undead Courts." Lith exchanged a quick glance with Menadion, agreeing to resume that conversation later before sharing everything that had happened via a mind link with Kamila. "Good gods!" She shuddered. "Do you need some time to think about new countermeasures? I can cover for you and teach Aran the basics of Spirit Magic." "No thanks, Kami." Lith replied. "He asked expressly for me and I can use a distraction." They walked to Aran's room where he was waiting for them. "Finally! I was getting bored to death." He said. "Did you finish your homework?" Solus asked. "Yeah, and we double-checked his answers thrice while waiting for your return." Onyx replied. "Why didn't you go playing outside?" Lith asked in confusion. "Because Leria is too busy studying and I was too afraid to hurt someone." Aran said as a glass of water hit his right cheek. "See what I mean? This happens every time I'm thirsty. Everyone in class looks at me like I'm a monster." He lowered his eyes but the glass kept bumping on his face, searching for his mouth. "Gods if I hate you!" Aran gulped down the water and this time when he put the glass down on his desk, it stayed there. "We'd better get started, then." Lith ruffled his brother's hair. "First of all, have you ever thought about why an angry fake mage produces wind and his eyes light up? Or about the reason Awakened don't do that but have similar problems until they learn to control Spirit Magic?" "No, I did not." Kamila and Aran said in unison while Ripha raised her hand. "Mom!" Solus blushed in embarrassment, pulling the hand down. "This is a class for learning, not to show off! It's obvious you know the answer. You are an Awakened with over three hundred years of experience" "Actually, I'm not sure since I've never pondered the question either." Menadion replied. "The explanation for these three apparently different phenomenons is the same." Lith continued while shushing them both. "Everyone has mana and willpower and when we are angry, we perform unconscious actions even if we stay still. "Like clenching our teeth or balling our fists. The same happens with mana, but only mages are powerful enough to influence their surroundings when overwhelmed by emotions. "A fake mage emits mana like a true mage but without Spirit Magic, it is forced to bond with the nearest element. We are always surrounded by air so the mana pulse interacts with the air and produces air currents. "For the same reason, our eyes light up. We see through our eyes because they are natural conductors for the light element and when we are angry, the raising mana bonds with the light and becomes visible. "The mana pulse also reaches the ground but is too weak to affect something so big so no one notices it. Most of the time." "That's why when you or Grandma are angry the ground quakes!" Aran said. "Because your pulse is much stronger." "Correct." Lith nodded. "In the same way, a candle or a fireplace can flare up when a fake mage loses his temper. Awakened are no different from fake mages but thanks to Spirit Magic, their mana keeps its cohesion and resists the natural pull of the elemental energies in our environment. "That's why you hit those who anger you, crush things, and take what you want with Spirit Magic, Aran. You've been taught since a young age to restrain the physical manifestations of your emotions but no one taught you how to keep your mana in check when your feelings run wild. "Your mana puts your thoughts into practice without filters. That's why your first lesson is to learn to recognize when your mana core is stirring and stop it before it acts." "I see." Aran sat down cross-legged on the floor and closed his eyes. "What are you doing?" Lith asked while Kamila smiled at the scene, reminiscing how she had made the same mistake. "I need to sense my mana, don't I?" Aran asked. "Yeah, but you don't spend your life in a state of calm silence." Lith replied. "Controlling your mana core must become second nature to you, like writing your own name. You must do it without the need to focus or think." He took a plate of oven-fresh biscuits out of his pocket dimension. A delicious fragrance spread throughout the room, making Aran's, Solus', and Kamila's mouths water. Aran and Solus had a sweet tooth while Kamila's pregnancy enhanced her sense of smell. To her, the cookies smelled like an entire bakery. "They look delicious, Big Bro, but we just ate." Aran said. "I'd like to have a biscuit or two but I don't really want them." "Your objection would be valid, if I played nice." Lith touched Kamila's and Aran's shoulders, activating Invigoration long enough to speed up their metabolism and make them hungry. Several biscuits immediately floated off the plate but a pulse of Lith's Spirit Magic put them back into place. "Hey, that's not fair!" Aran said. "How am I supposed to focus on an empty stomach?" "What he said and I'm pregnant!" Kamila's womb grumbled in agreement. "You know I get cravings and I can't do anything about them." "That's exactly the point of this exercise." Lith nodded. "Your Spirit Magic goes rampant not when you are happy and collected, but when something or someone triggers a gut reaction. Just like now." He pointed at the candles in the room that were flaring up and the small objects that were trembling. Then, he conjured an ice mirror in front of Kamila and Aran and showed them their glowing deep green eyes. "Cool!" Aran said. "We never practiced like this." Kamila turned to Solus who shrugged. "Because I never did either." She replied. "Lith had already mastered the basics of Spirit Magic when we met and I had no body back then. I passed on to you the results of his efforts just like he did with me. "You asked me to be spoon-fed knowledge, remember?" "Oh." Kamila felt puzzled by those words until their meaning hit her like a punch to the gut. 'I forgot that Lith Awakened as a baby and how poor his family was. He must have learned how to control Spirit Magic through hunger just like he's doing for us.'