TF Chapter 30 Youthful Spirit

A strand of human hair is approximately one million carbon atoms wide...now imagine how much volume our makeshift straw is going to be extracting every single second? Ah...this sort of fact wasn't something I would have known if Bora hadn't told me. Its surprising, really! A human hair being 1 million atoms wide!

Anyway, we started the conveyor belt within the needle, its demarcations trapping a few hundred thousand atoms with every rise, while we also tempered with the compressed air molecules, moving those that became excited, in other words, absorbed some of the heat from the metallic atoms, to the outer lining of the needle, while shifting the cool ones into the inner lining. It was very intense, requiring plenty of concentration. 

Heavy...

That was the first thing I noticed as our creative spiritual contraption went to work, the fact that the metal atoms were becoming heavier as they were being dragged away from the molten stream. It was a sign that they were cooling down from their high frequency state. That was good for us and all, but it also came with a downside of increased weight!

I grunted...

Our instructor, Celeste, had once corrected a certain misconception of ours...that forgers were ranked according to the powers displayed by their armors. Frankly, it had been like a cataclysmic reset for me...after all, being told that the levels were determined through the level of spirit hadn't sat right with me.

It was bizarre...learning that those armors I had been so enamored with since young weren't...what is the word I am looking for...relevant...?

Anyway, right now, our journey had just started and this extraction exercise was all about strengthening our spirit. The harder we exerted ourselves, the faster it could grow and adapt.

The word forger originated from the process through which the spirit is strengthened. Someone, not the first forger though, had coined the term and it had stuck.

As the metal atoms moved along the conveyor belt and continuously lost their high energy state, the strain started to become unbearable. My vision was getting a bit fuzzy, a sign that I was straining my spirit. 

Bora and Danny had furrowed brows, as if they were solving some kind of difficult problem...

The moment the first batch of particles made it out of the tube, they had cooled enough to the point that we were barely holding on. 

Then my eyes closed and the sensation of my back hitting the solid rocky ground was the last thing I felt before I slipped into unconsciousness.

But, I had a grin on my face...probably...after all, we had finally managed to succeed!

-----

I woke up with a headache, one which was delivering the pain through minute bursts, like the beating of a heart.

I slowly raised myself up, clenching my jaw to keep from screaming out in pain which equaled that from when my body had been possessed by the unknown entity.

"We finally managed to reach the starting point." Danny's voice entered my ears, with my eyes still closed. 

"Yeah." 

Opening them, I was greeted by the sight of the guy sitting there, his head cradled within his palms as he gazed at me. He had probably been watching my sleeping form. Was there something about me that was attractive to him? Could it be that he had sensed my specialness from the moment he had first laid eyes on me? Many questions...with the answers elusive.

"Hehehehe..." An unexpected chuckle came from the person I was least expecting it from, Bora.

I turned to her, only for a scene I probably might never forget to enter my eyes, a smile, so natural and beautiful it dazzled me. This was the first genuine smile I had seen from the woman since that one time they had joked at my expense.

"Your smile probably equals that of elves." Danny commented.

"Elves...!?"

"Fictional characters...there is no need to pay attention to his words. Though, I must admit that the smile suits you." I clarified.

"We have finally arrived at the starting line. You may admire me at you own leisure...this might be one of those few times you might have to see me in my unguarded state." 

I had been expecting her to become prickly at being praised due to her previous personality...yet, this reaction of hers was shocking!

(Cough!)

I was suddenly embarrassed by her boldness that I shifted my gaze. She was just too bright, too beautiful. My 40-year-old heart might get moved by the young and vibrant her. Falling in love...that was the last thing I needed right now.

"Now, its going to be the daily grind. We are going to need to extract until our spirits are strong enough to hold a fist sized globe of metal. How long do you think will that take? We only have a year." With seriousness having crept into my tone and facial expression, I asked.

"Why are you looking back at me? I can't calculate such things as there are many factors, many of which I can't predict. I don't how strong each of our spirits will be growing per session after all." Bora shrugged.

"I heard that during the previous years, many were eliminated at the end of the first year...though, this one is different..."

"Danny, we should try to surpass Celeste's requirement of a fist-sized metallic lump-no, we shouldn't even consider her words. We should strive for more!" My temperature increased as I spoke those words. I had gotten worked up...me, an adult aged over 40. It must be the excitement from our first extraction...yeah...that's probably the reason.

"Hehehehehe...Nat senior, I can see the passionate streak hasn't yet gotten smothered despite your...advanced age." Danny taunted, taking a dramatic pause before the last two words.

"Everyone who chooses this path is already passionate enough. Only those who got in here because their parents could afford the place, and wanted them to, are the exceptions." The grin on my face widened. If Bora could let down her guard, why couldn't I do the same? 

Like a contagion, we were all bearing our teeth at each other like a couple of predators, releasing spine-chilling sounds from our laughs. The passion and excitement had really gotten to us, not mention the little me constantly hammering at my brain. 

What a pain! I really do hope I get used to this pain!