Loch did his best to sit straight upon the large, high-backed chair, looking truly his age in comparison to his surroundings. Tobias picked up a cup of tea that was sitting on a small side table next to him and, after taking a sip, he said, "Alright, Loch. What I am going to teach you now is known in the cultivation world as a Channel Opening Technique and is the most important fundamental technique for any cultivator, regardless of if there a bloodline, body or mind cultivator. There are many different Channel Opening techniques created over the years, and they differ in many ways, but they are all created for one purpose, and that is to create Aura Channels, so a Cultivator can start processing Aether."
Bobbing his head, Loch showed Tobias without saying anything that he was following along. Tobias then continued, "After Awakening your core or Totem, the next step a cultivator must do is learn to have at least a basic control over their Aura. With this, they can then attempt to create an Aura channel. There are numerous ways to ultimately create a channel, and they do vary in size, strength and absorption speed. One could technically attempt to do this by themselves without the help of a Channel Opening Technique, but unless one is a once in a century genius, then why handicap yourself if there is an easier option?"
Hearing his master's words, Loch nodded seriously as a phrase his Granny used to always say when she was teaching him how to brew basic tinctures appeared in his head. Loch couldn't help but say softly out loud, "We stand on the shoulders of giants not just to see further but to go further." Tobias raised an eyebrow at his disciple after hearing the words, but didn't comment. Instead, he took another sip of his tea and thought while looking at Loch over the rim of his cup, 'I wonder where the boy had heard the motto of those crazy research-obsessed Witches? I doubt it was Mother Superior, as her winged sisters hold those dusty old crags in complete contempt.'
After he set his now empty tea cup back down, Tobias retrieved a small, worn book the size of his hand and as thin as a pencil from within his coat. There was also a small lock clasped over the book, making it impossible to open the pages unless it was removed. Tobias took off a chain that hung around his neck, from which a small key dangled and then inserted the key into the lock. After a turn, the clasp fell off and Tobias pocketed them both. He then handed the book over to Loch, who watched the whole thing with anticipation running like fire within his veins.
"This is my Mother's family's Channel Opening Technique and could be said to be the most precious heirloom of her family line," Tobias explained, as Loch took the book from his hands. A small, sad smile hung from the older man's lips as he looked lovingly at the worn old book. Loch looked up at his master after hearing the explanation and noticing the softened tone from the man. He couldn't help but hold the book with a more gentle hand and say, "Are you sure this is right, master? Should we wait for you to ask your mother if it's okay first?"
Tobias smiled a little wider after hearing Loch's words and with an air of cavalier, he replied, "It's not a problem. I am the last of the blood on my Mother's side. So, I have full rights on who I can teach this technique to. Don't worry about it." Loch gave a small nod in reply and filed away this little nugget of history about his Master, not wanting to ask him for the details before they had truly developed a relationship. Instead, he looked down at the cover of the book and read the title, 'Voracious Vortex'. Just before Loch opened the book, Tobias stopped him with a hand.
"Don't read it yet. After dinner, go over it and then in the morning, we will put it into practice. For now, let me explain a couple of things in regard to Aura control. I'll also show you some exercises you can do to get a feel for your Aura. You can also practice this later tonight, as there will be no danger of injuring yourself." Tobias explained. After hearing that, Loch ignored the book entirely and stared up at his master with both ears wide open.
"Usually, after one enters the Awakening realm, they will spend the first couple of weeks or even months to feel out their Aura before they get a sense of it and can manifest its presence. With you, however, this usually tiring practice can almost already be skipped. First, though, considering your unusual flaring and unstable Aura, I want to make sure that you can actively gather your Aura with your own free will. Now close your eyes and relax the best you can," Tobias said as he leaned forward on his chair. Loch followed the instructions with a serious face and got as comfortable as he could before closing his eyes.
"Now, what I want you to do is try to remember that feeling you had when you entered your cultivation path by accident earlier. I don't want you to enter your path, though. The moment you feel as if your vision has changed and you start feeling the pull, do your best to resist and stay within the physical world outside of your body." Tobias explained as a look of concentration appeared on his face. Unknown to Loch, the air around his master began to shimmer like a heat wave.
Even though the explanation didn't exactly make sense to Loch, with his prior experience and his recovered memories from achieving something similar in his Nightmare, he steadied his breath and closed off his mind from all distracting thoughts. He fell back into the meditation techniques Granny had taught him prior and soon felt his entire being relax. "Good, very good. Now, I want you to sense every part of your body with your mind's eye. Starting from your toes to the top of your head, I want you to individually picture them in your mind." Tobias instructed, as the shimmering distortion to the surrounding air became thicker and began to fill the whole room except for the area around Loch.
Without replying, Loch followed the instructions and as if his eyes were opened, he began to outline his entire body in its current state within his mind. It appeared effortless to Loch, but when it came to outlining his left arm, he found he couldn't picture it at all. Even though he had lived with it for years and had examined it on thousands of occasions. In his mind, the picture of himself stopped at his left shoulder, like the entire arm didn't exist. Considering he always treated the unmoving appendage like it didn't exist, Loch ignored the arm and filled in the rest of his body.
Once the picture was complete in his mind's eye, Loch felt as if there was another appendage that he was missing all of a sudden. It felt like an itch had all of a sudden covered his entire body but he wasn't able to scratch it. Loch found he couldn't move any part of his body, like he was frozen in place. The image of himself in his mind also appeared frozen. Just before a rising panic began to set in, Loch, feeling as if he was covered in restraints, flexed his entire body as if to break free. Although his body didn't move, a mysterious force reacted to his flexing, and the invisible restraints felt as if they had been pushed back slightly.
Concentrating on that foreign force that he moved, Loch found that he felt as if there was another layer covering his skin, hovering just above it. The restraints that had moved previously returned again and with even greater force this time, as if it was trying to squish Loch into a paste. Focusing all his attention on this new found layer above his skin, Loch tried to flex it again and extend in further from his like a barrier. 'Yes, that's it. Rise, push, push, PUSH!' Loch chanted in his mind, as he felt the second skin move and wriggle all over his body.
The encompassing invisible restraints were slowly being pushed back. To Loch, it felt as if he was peeling off a layer of skin from all over his body. His control wasn't great to begin with. He kept losing his hold over it, turning this new layer back into an inert appendage again, allowing the restraining force to apply pressure again, causing a feeling of pain to radiate from his entire being. Loch, with gritted teeth and his eyes still closed tight, began sweating under the pressure.
It felt to him as if he was lifting weights with a limb that he had never used before. But after every couple of minutes under the pressure and the pushing back and forth in return from him, he felt this unknown skin coming under his control more and more. 'It's like when my left arm still worked sometimes. Every morning it took me a while to wake it up, before the sensation returned.' Gathering his experience from the many times he had to force his left arm into action through sheer mental willpower, Loch mentally grabbed the layer of squirming flesh above his skin and with one final push against the unknown suffocating force and an inner roar, the squirming flesh rose above his skin again this time however it didn't fall back down and rose centimeter after centimeter.
As a veritable waterfall of sweat began to run down his forehead, Loch didn't stop and continued to push. The seconds ticked by, and then the minutes. After rising about half a foot from his skin, this new unknown layer of flesh came to a stop, as if a tether that was tied to his body was pulled taut. No matter how much Loch mentally commanded the layer would extend anymore and stayed where it was. The squeezing force that previously encompassed his entire body was now kept half a foot away, and although Loch could feel its presence, it now didn't cause any pain. This new layer of being around him acted like a wriggling and revolving shield.
As Loch began to get a feel of this new all-encompassing appendage, bringing it back towards his actual skin and then pushing it back to half a foot again, he felt that when he left it right above his skin; it didn't require any real energy to attain but the moment he pushed it away from his body; it felt as if he was lifting a large weight every time. Making his whole body ache. Just as Loch was trying to move only parts of this new layer, like just above his head or over his right arm, Tobias's voice broke his train of thought.
"Haha! Excellent. Absolutely excellent. You can open your eyes now Loch, but do your best to keep a hold of your Aura." Tobias said, his brimming with happiness, as if he were the one who had accomplished something great. Loch paused his experimentation and with a firm grip over what he now knew was not some freaky second layer of skin but his Aura, he slowly open his eyes. The sight before his eyes, though, was very different from what he was expecting though. He didn't think he would be able to see anything, as Tobias had already explained that a much higher level of cultivation was necessary if one wanted to bring their aura into the physical world.
What Loch saw when he opened his eyes, though, was both familiar and unfamiliar. A dazzling kaleidoscope of colors saturated the room. The most dominating being a soft haze of light purple that covered every inch of the library. It swirled in the air like one would see motes of dust under the rays of the sun. The next eye-catching hue of color was radiating out from the man sitting across from him. Loch could still make out Tobias general features, but the man was encompassed by a dark green and red haze that extended out of him in squirming tentacles, that mirrored the heads of snakes and when Loch focused on the ends of the reddish green tentacles, he could swear they did appear to have snake heads.
"What is this? What's happened?" Loch finally asked after his senses came back to him. "Don't panic. What you're experiencing is called Aura Sight, it's a byproduct of controlling your Aura. You can now see the world of Aether." Tobias explained.
Loch gasped in surprise as his eyes shone in understanding. 'So, this purple haze is Aether. For Soil's sake, it really is everywhere.' Loch thought as he looked at the purple that was literally everywhere, he then looked over to the green squirming haze surrounding Tobias again, 'So that's master's Aura then. I can feel a heavy presence from it. Like a tower that could collapse upon me at any moment. Wait! What about me?' Loch looked down at himself and saw that surrounding his entire body was a half foot light blue haze. It squirmed and rolled like the gentle waves of a calm ocean. But he didn't see, or for that matter feel, like he had moving appendages like Tobias.
Just before Loch could ask why there appeared to be such a large difference, he felt his head getting heavy and his vision flickering as if he was about to fall asleep. "Master, I feel sleepy." Tobias put a hand on Loch's chest that was leaning forward in his chest and said soothingly, "Relax Loch. It's fine, you've just hit your limit. Now release your hold on your Aura. Let it retract naturally don't force it to retreat." Loch followed his master's words, and with eyes closed again, released his metal pushing of his Aura. The layer returned to its place just over his skin again.
With his Aura now retracted, Loch felt the feeling of sleep gripping his head also retract. Although he still felt tired, he at least wasn't going to suddenly pass out. Opening his eyes and leaning back into the chair, Loch found the library had returned to its original dimly lit color and textures. Tobias, seeing Loch not on the cusp of unconsciousness, also sat back down in his chair.
Tobias waited for Loch to truly gather his bearings again and said, "That was very, very good, Loch. Honestly, it was frighteningly good. There was one thing that I found odd, though. I think you also should have felt it, but your Aura didn't encompass your left arm. It's nothing to worry about, but I have only seen this happen once before, and it was with someone who had literally no limbs. When you were extending your Aura did the part near your left arm feel odd or cause resistance?"
Loch thought over his left arm and honestly replied, "It was actually when I was mentally outlining my body. When it came to my left arm, it was like my mind completely disregarded its existence, no matter how much I tried."
"Interesting." Tobias pondered with a thoughtful look, but his casual demeanor went a long way in helping Loch not stress about the subject. He had also become an expert in ignoring anything to do with his ghoulish left arm, so he pushed it to the side and asked, "Master. When I was feeling out my Aura, there was this force that wrapped around me. It felt as I was wrapped up by a giant snake and was being squeezed to death."
Tobias couldn't help a small smirk mark his face as he looked at his honest, naïve looking disciple, "Ah that. That was me. I was putting pressure on your Aura on purpose; it's a common trick among cultivators. The feeling of being squeezed by a snake is my own special twist to the trick, though." Loch had a sudden urge to slap that smirking face of his master but resisted with all his might. Right before Loch could ask another question, the sound of someone knocking on the library door rang out. "Yes, what is it?" Tobias called out. One of the maids replied that dinner was ready.
"Ah. Very good. I'm absolutely starved. Come, Loch, let's eat. I will show you a couple of Aura exercises after dinner." Tobias said. In response, Loch's stomach rumbled so loudly, the man worried if the books were going to fall off the shelves.