Chapter 3448 Stubborn Pride (Part 1) "You have just Awakened. Your body needs time to adapt and we've done a lot today. Eat and go play until dinner. You've earned it." Lith ruffled Aran's hair and said: "I'm proud of you, Little Brother." "Thanks!" Aran's smile went from ear to ear as he ate more cookies. "And I'm proud of you." Kamila took his hand. "It's amazing how you managed to take the bad things of your past and turn them into brilliant lessons." "Thanks, Kami." Lith cleared his throat in embarrassment. "Yet don't think you can get away with a few cookies." She said in mock annoyance. "You made the two, no, the three of us hungry." She touched her womb. "We deserve a compensation ice cream cake." "Seconded!" Solus nodded. "And seconds!" Meanwhile, Aran and Onyx had joined Leria and Abominus. They went back to Lutia to play with Lilia and Leran. Of course, Aran not only did show off his Awakened powers but he also bragged about Lith's lessons. 'I wonder if he's just that dense or he's rubbing this in my face on purpose. Leria inwardly grumbled. She couldn't wait for the following day to come and start her own training. *** When sunrise came, Salaark found the young girl waiting in front of the curtain door of her office. "Here already? Did you at least eat breakfast?" Salaark asked. "Yes, Granma." Leria yawned. "I was so nervous all night that I couldn't sleep much." "Let me fix that for you." A touch of Invigoration and Leria was brimming with energy. "Thanks, Grandma! Where can I sit?" "Anywhere you want except in front and behind my desk." The Guardian chuckled. "If you want to know where Aran practiced, he was in that corner," "Thanks." Leria went to the opposite corner and sat cross-legged. "Please, call me for snack time. I'm completely useless when I'm hungry." "No problem." Salaark Hushed the little girl and started her daily routine. 'Okay.'Leria took a few deep breaths to calm down and then started revising everything Lith had taught her over the years. This is a good start. I'll eliminate everything fake mages and magical beasts usually do for practice. 'If it were of any help, Awakening wouldn't be a secret to this day. I must focus on what Uncle Lith taught me about magic and Awakening. The steps are, learning how to perceive your mana core, then the world energy, and lastly fuse them to create a mana flow. "The problem is I don't know where to start.' Leria sat there, breathing slowly while she tried to figure out her first move. Let's see, what advantages do I have over Aran? He has only a black streak while I have silver and red ones. 'Let's go with light magic.' She cast perfect silent chore spells of all elements to warm up and then tried to cast a tier one light spell with her mind. 'I can't do it. The runes feel wrong.' She thought after a few failed attempts. "There are too many of them and their sequence is too complex. By the time I finish the last rune, the first one has faded in my mind already. I need to recreate the spell from scratch but with true magic. 'It's not enough to Awaken but it should help me sense my mana core.' With each failed attempt, Leria consumed more mana and soon her strength started to dwindle. 'Not like this, you idiot!' She cursed at herself. Unlike fake magic, true magic doesn't need manifestation. I could have done this in my head without wasting so much mana.' "It's snack time, sweetie." Salaark's voice and hand made Leria yelp in panic. "Why do you and Aran react like that? I'm not that scary. I mean, not to you." "Sorry, Grandma." Leria panted, her heart drumming in her chest. "It's not your fault. I was just so focused that I didn't feel you approaching. Wait, snack time? Already?" "Yes," Salaark nodded. "Eat and rest for a while. You look terrible." Only then did Leria look down and notice she was drenched in sweat, her long hair wet with it and sticking to her face. 'Dammit, half the morning is gone and I'm still at square zero.' She ate her honeyed milk and cookies like she had a vendetta against them and ignored Salaark's advice, resuming her training immediately. 'Use your head, dimwit! True magic is a matter of the mind.' She tried several runes but by not conjuring mana, she went faster and the process was easier. She soon learned to feel if the following rune was right, wrong, or just sub-par. The flow of mana in her head would be respectively, smooth, jarring, or difficult. She also learned that "soon" was a relative term. "It's lunchtime, baby." Rena shook Leria, making her scream in fear. "Good gods! Are you alright?" "Mom? Lunch?" Leria couldn't believe her own ears. "You look delirious." Rena checked Leria's forehead for fever. "The temperature is normal, but you stink. You need a bath." "Mom, just a few more minutes. I-" Leria found herself on her mother's shoulder like a sack of potatoes and with as much free will. Rena undressed and bathed Leria while she was still complaining about breakthroughs, the importance of silence, and the discipline magic took. "Of course, baby. You're right, baby," Rena said when necessary but ignored everything the young girl said and kept bathing her. "Mom, you are not listening to me!" Leria said while her mother helped her to get dressed. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞 "I am listening to you." Rena scolded Leria. "But you are rambling. You need to eat." "I'm not hungry!" A loud gurgle denied her claim. "Okay, fine. Let's eat." During the meal, Leria asked Aran: "Did you work in the afternoon too?" "If you mean homework, yes. If you mean going back to Grandma's office no." He shook his head. "I was too tired for that." 'Weak!" Leria inwardly gloated. I'll resume my training right after I'm done eating. If I do things right, I'll Awaken in just seven days!" Too bad that she fell asleep right after stuffing herself with ice cream. "I'll put her to bed and keep an eye on her." Abominus said. "I'll accompany you." Senton said. "Thanks, Abominus." Rena patted the Pyrmir's head. Leria woke up a few hours later, feeling like she had just finished the night shift in a coal mine. "Why didn't you wake me up?" She half yawned and half scolded Abominus. "I need to resume practicing." "No, you need to do your school assignments. Here's my notes." He handed her a thick stack of papers containing the topics of the morning classes she had missed. "Who cares about school? Awakening is more important." She wobbled to her chair, panting heavily as she caught her breath. "I see." Abominus gave her a strong honeyed tea. "Too bad, though. Aran managed not to fall behind with his studies. I guess he's more disciplined." "No, he's not!" Stung in her pride, Leria opened the notes. "I'll show you. I'll finish this stuff before I can finish my tea." She had to read the same page multiple times because her head was pounding.