Dalam beberapa menit, dia selesai dengan aspek latihan itu. Dengan napas panjang, pikirannya beralih ke area latihan lain yang sudah lama ingin dikejarnya: ketidakberwujudan. Dia punya ide tak terhitung untuk mengembangkan afinitas Petirnya, tapi ketidakberwujudan menonjol di antaranya sebagai salah satu paling ambisius... setidaknya pada levelnya saat ini.
Konsepnya sederhana dalam teori: dia akan jadi arus hidup, tubuhnya berubah jadi murni petir lengkap, seolah dia bukan lagi daging dan tulang, tapi energi berbentuk, tidak lagi padat dalam arti konvensional.
Dalam kondisi seperti itu, dia bisa melewati serangan fisik, menembus dinding, senjata, dan rintangan dengan mudah. Kalau dilatih ke level absurd yang sempurna, tubuhnya bisa masuk ke bentuk petir itu secara naluriah, tanpa ragu atau beban, melewati serangan secara alami tanpa perlu menghindar. Pertahanan jadi naluriah, bukan reaktif.
Saat yang sama, dia paham latihan ini jauh lebih sulit dari kondisi stamina yang tadi selesai. Ketidakberwujudan bukan soal output atau daya tahan saja, ini menantang naluri, persepsi, dan konsep keberadaan fisik itu sendiri. Tapi dia biarkan realisasi itu mengganggunya. Rasa sakit sekarang, hadiah nanti. Dia akan menderita di masa kini dan menuai buah jerih payahnya di masa depan.
Dengan tekad itu, dia tenggelam kembali ke latihan, segala gangguan lenyap seolah tak pernah ada.
Hal pertama yang disadarinya: kepadatan itu kebiasaan. Asumsi melekat. Itu, diduganya, akan jadi dinding pertama dalam latihan ini, mungkin bahkan yang terbesar. Entah benar atau tidak tidak masalah. Dia percaya pada bakatnya, dan yang lebih penting, dia percaya pada pikirannya yang absurd dan tajam.
Petir berdenyut di setiap bagian tubuh saat Asher mendorong kontrolnya ke batas absolut. Dia membanjiri dirinya dengan petir, mencoba memaksa jalan ke ketidakberwujudan melalui dominasi energi murni, memaksa tubuhnya patuh pada kehendaknya.
Tanpa perlu instruksi sadar, tubuhnya menolak secara default. Otot-otot menegak. Sendi mengunci. Berat badannya menancap kuat ke tanah. Setiap naluri berteriak mempertahankan struktur, menanggapi kekuatan dengan kepadatan. Naluri itu sudah berkali-kali menyelamatkannya, tapi sekarang, justru jadi hal yang mencegah teknik itu hidup.
Dengan napas frustrasi, Asher berdiri lagi. Dia lepas sepatunya, taruh di samping, dan berdiri telanjang kaki di ruang latihan. Dengan pikiran, dia keluarkan talisman kayu yang Malrik berikan dari inventaris Sistem. Tanpa jeda, dia panggil elemen Petirnya lagi. Kali ini tidak ada percikan ledakan, tidak ada tekanan menindas, hanya kontrol berlapis-lapis.
Dia arahkan petir ke sistem sarafnya dulu, memperkuat kesadaran bukan kekuatan. Indera tajam. Detak jantung melambat. Napas selaras jadi ritme stabil. Baru lalu dia biarkan petir menyebar ke luar, mengalir ke otot, kulit, dan akhirnya ruang di antaranya.
"Lepas," bisiknya.
Kata itu bukan perintah ke petir, dia tidak butuh kata-kata untuk itu, tapi perintah ke dirinya sendiri.
Dia biarkan ketegangan di lengannya larut. Bukan runtuh, pelarutan itu beda. Runtuh berarti kegagalan, kelemahan. Pelarutan adalah penyerahan sadar. Petir ambil peran kohesi, memegang ruang tanpa kekakuan. Sensasinya sangat mengganggu, seperti berdiri tanpa tulang, tapi entah bagaimana tetap berdiri.
Talisman kayu tergelincir dari tangannya dan jatuh ke lantai sesaat kemudian. Asher diam berdiri beberapa detik, menatap hasilnya.
'Terlalu banyak melepaskan,' pikirnya.
Dia tarik petir mundur sedikit, biarkan otot-ototnya ambil kembali sebagian perannya. Keseimbangan langsung kembali. Tangannya menutup lagi, jari-jari mengarahkan arus. Dia coba bikin lengannya jadi tak berwujud lagi, tapi gerakannya terasa tertunda, tidak lambat, tapi asing, seolah lengannya menunggu izin buat bergerak. Dia atur aliran petir, mengencangkan loop yang menelusuri saraf tangannya.
Dia ambil talisman kayu dan angkat di atas lengannya. Dengan satu tangan, dia lepaskan, menguji apakah akan menembus. Saat berikutnya, talisman itu mengenai lengannya. Ketidakberwujudannya gagal lagi.
Asher tidak bicara dan tidak marah. Dia paham ini bentuk aplikasi petir tingkat lanjut; kegagalan bukan cuma diharapkan, tapi diperlukan. Setiap percobaan mempertajam pemahaman, meski tidak menghasilkan keberhasilan.
Pikiran dia balap lewat setiap buku biologi yang dibaca di Bumi dulu, setiap diskusi malam yang dibagi dengan Jennifer, mencari apapun, konsep apapun, yang bisa mempersingkat proses. Dia tahu dia akan berhasil. Baginya, bukan soal kalau, cuma kapan.
Lalu, pikirannya berubah.
Dia ulurkan lengannya lagi, menatapnya dalam diam. Bukan ke lengan itu sendiri, tapi ke ruang yang diduduki lengannya.
Dengan realisasi itu, dia biarkan petir mengalir lagi, tapi kali ini, dia biarkan petir mendefinisikan ruang, bukan mengisinya. Petir menggariskan lengannya tanpa membebani dengan berat atau rintangan. Otot-otot lebih lunak, tidak lagi mempertahankan bentuk sendiri.
Tanpa ragu, Asher angkat talisman kayu dan lepaskan.
Talisman itu jatuh lewat udara dan masuk ke lengannya seolah-olah tidak benar-benar ada di sana. Tidak sepenuhnya menembus, masih ada kontak, tapi tidak ada rintangan, tidak ada hambatan.
Asher berhenti bernapas sejenak.
Dia nemu jalan ke depan.
'Ini dia.'
Senyum lebar meluas di wajahnya saat tanda pertama keberhasilan yang asli. Dia sudah lama di ini; dia izinkan diri nikmati momen kepuasan itu. Tanpa ragu, dia mulai latihan metode yang sama berulang-ulang, memperkuat sensasi dan aliran dengan monoton, lalu perlahan menggeser kontrolnya.
Dia lanjut ke bagian tubuh lain. Tujuannya kan ketidakberwujud seutuh tubuh, bukan cuma tangan. Dengan setiap uji, keahliannya naik sedikit demi sedikit. Seperti biasa, dia latihan cukup buat fondasi kokoh, penguasaan dan kesempurnaan bisa nanti.
Tapi saat dia gabungkan pemulihan stamina, aplikasi petir, dan latihan ketidakberwujud, waktu tiga jamnya sudah habis. Dia dekit lidah dengan kesal saat sadar, sudah ngerasain bayar poin lebih ke Akademi Penghisap Poin ini.
Dia bangsawan, anak seorang Adipati, tapi Akademi sialan ini punya cara bikin dia merasa kayak orang miskin. Dengan napas, dia bangun dan menuju ke resepsionis. Kali ini, tapi, Asher tidak niat buang waktu atau main percakapan.
Latihan dia hasilkan kemajuan, dia tidak bisa melambat sekarang.
Within a few minutes, he was done with that aspect of his training. With a slow sigh, his thoughts shifted toward another area of his training he had long intended to pursue, intangibility. He had countless ideas for how to expand his Lightning affinity, but intangibility stood out among them as one of the most ambitious... at his current level at least.
The concept itself was simple in theory: he would become a living current, his body transforming into nothing but pure, complete lightning, as though he were no longer flesh and bone, but energy given form, no longer solid in the conventional sense.
In such a state, he would be able to phase through physical attacks, pass through walls, weapons, and obstacles with ease. If he trained it to an absurd, perfected level, his body could enter this lightning form instinctively, without hesitation or strain, phasing through attacks naturally without even needing to dodge. Defense would become instinctual rather than reactive.
At the same time, he understood that this particular training would be far more difficult than the stamina conditioning he had completed earlier. Intangibility was not merely about output or endurance, it challenged instinct, perception, and the very idea of physical existence. Still, he did not allow that realization to trouble him. Pain now, reward later. He would suffer in the present and reap the fruits of his labor in the future.
With that resolve, he sank back into training, all distractions vanishing as though they had never existed.
The first thing he realized was that solidity itself was a habit. An ingrained assumption. That, he suspected, would be his first wall in this training, perhaps even his greatest. Whether it truly was or not didn’t matter. He trusted his talent, and more importantly, he trusted his absurd and sharp mind.
Lightning pulsed through every part of his body as Asher pushed his control to its absolute limit. He flooded himself with lightning, attempting to brute-force his way into intangibility through sheer dominance of energy, forcing his body to comply with his will.
Without needing conscious instruction, his body resisted by default. Muscles braced. Joints locked. His weight settled firmly into the ground. Every instinct screamed to maintain structure, to meet force with solidity. That instinct had kept him alive times, but now, it was the very thing preventing the technique from coming to life.
With a breath of frustration, Asher rose to his feet once more. He took off his shoes, setting them aside, and stood barefoot within the training chamber. With a thought, he retrieved the wooden talisman Malrik had given him from his system inventory. Without pause, he summoned his Lightning element again. This time, there was no explosive spark, no oppressive pressure, only control layered upon control.
He guided the lightning first toward his nervous system, reinforcing awareness rather than strength. Sensation sharpened. His heartbeat slowed. His breathing aligned into a steady rhythm. Only then did he allow the lightning to spread outward, flowing into muscle, skin, and finally the space between.
"Release," he whispered.
The word was not a command to the lightning, he didn’t need words for that, but a command to himself.
He allowed the tension in his arm to dissolve. Not collapse, dissolution was different. Collapse implied failure, weakness. Dissolution was intentional surrender. The lightning assumed the role of cohesion, holding space without rigidity. The sensation was deeply unsettling, like standing without bones, yet somehow still standing.
The wooden talisman slipped from his hand and struck the floor a moment later. Asher stood motionless for several seconds, staring at the result.
’Too much release,’ he thought.
He drew the lightning back slightly, allowing his muscles to reclaim part of their role. Balance returned immediately. His hand closed again, fingers guiding the current. He aimed to turn his arm intangible once more, but the motion felt delayed, not slow, but unfamiliar, as though his limb were waiting for permission to move. He adjusted the lightning’s flow, tightening the loop that traced along the nerves of his hand.
He picked up the wooden talisman and raised it over his arm. With one hand, he let it drop, testing whether it would phase through. The next instant, the talisman struck his arm. His intangibility failed again.
Asher neither spoke nor grew angry. He understood that this was a form of advanced lightning application; failure was not just expected, it was required. Each attempt refined understanding, even when it didn’t yield success.
His thoughts raced through every biology book he had read back on Earth, every late-night discussion he had shared with Jennifer, searching for anything, any concept, that could shorten the process. He knew he would succeed. For him, it was never a question of if, only when.
Then, his thoughts shifted.
He extended his arm again, staring at it in silence. Not at the arm itself, but at the space his arm occupied.
With that realization, he let the lightning flow once more, but this time, he allowed it to define the space rather than fill it. The lightning outlined his arm without burdening it with weight or resistance. The muscles softened further, no longer holding form on their own.
Without hesitation, Asher raised the wooden talisman and released it.
The talisman fell through the air and passed into his arm as though it weren’t quite there. Not completely phasing through, there was still contact, but there was no resistance, no obstruction.
Asher stopped breathing for a moment.
He had found a path forward.
’This is it.’
A wide smile spread across his face at the first genuine sign of success. He had been at this for quite some time; he allowed himself that moment of satisfaction. Without hesitation, he began practicing the same method repeatedly, monotonously reinforcing the sensation and flow before gradually shifting his control.
He moved on to other parts of his body. After all, his goal was full-body intangibility, not merely his hands. With each test, his proficiency increased incrementally. As always, he practiced just enough to establish a solid foundation, mastery and perfection could come later.
Yet by the time he combined stamina rejuvenation, lightning application, and intangibility training, his allotted three hours had been exhausted. He clicked his tongue in annoyance at the realization, already dreading the thought of paying more points to this Point Sucking Academy.
He was a noble, the son of a Duke, yet this damn Academy had a way of making him feel like a poor man. With a sigh, he rose to his feet and headed toward the receptionist. This time, however, Asher had no intention of wasting time or entertaining conversation.
His training was yielding results, he couldn’t afford to slow down now.
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