Lyren quickly retracted his hand. Maybe it was because he had raised his vigilance. The sudden pain felt as though he had just placed his hand on a burning candle and he had retracted it as soon as he had felt the burning.
But for a moment, there was a flicker all over the section he had memorized and it had produced an orange almost golden glow. He did not miss this as he realized that this drawing had a mysterious power and he had somehow managed to make it glow. Even if it was for a second.
He recalled the burning sensation in his palm and he slowly placed his palm on the core once again.
'Nothing?'
Lyren was confused. His senses could not be lying to him. He had felt the pain and he had also seen the pattern glow. There was definitely a catch here and he was going to find out soon. He thought about the events that had led to him activating the patterns.
To begin with, he knew that retracing the patterns was not the cause. Even if he spent the rest of his life retracing them, he was never going to light the patterns again. He concluded that it had something to do with the lines he had named and also the core to which he had placed his hand.
It was also obvious to him that he had activated the patterns not because he had just placed his hand on the core. It also was not because he had memorized this pattern…
'Memorized…'
Yeah, he had memorized the patterns… that was the catch here.
He removed his palm from the core and placed it once again. Closing his eyes, he pictured the entire pattern as he had memorized it. His face twisted slightly as the burning sensation came back to his palm.
He did not retract his arm this time though as he realized that after a while, the pain disappeared. He opened his eyes and saw the patterns were glowing and even after he removed his palm, it kept glowing.
He realized that he was surrounded by the glow and it was the only source of light all over. He smiled to himself as the glowing patterns reflected in his eyes. This was the first sense of accomplishment he had felt since he had Awakened. His chest could not help but swell with pride.
Lyren waited for the pattern to stop glowing and he realized that it was not going to stop any time soon and so he moved on to another pattern but the moment he decided to study this pattern too, his head throbbed from the inside as though an already filled cup was being overflowed.
It was then that it dawned to him. He wasn't just sitting on scattered decorations. He was sitting on the outermost layer of a colossal spiritual circuit board, each pattern a node, all leading towards a terrifying power at the center.
All interconnected to form a giant structure that covered the entire ground up to the base of the stairs where he was sitting. He realized that trying to study any other pattern not at the edges was more of a detriment to him.
Even if he had the will, his mental prowess couldn't handle another pattern. His mind felt stretched to the breaking point, a warning that he should know his limits. He realized that the patterns grew in complexity as they went deeper towards the very center where he had dropped the head and activated his worst nightmare.
He gave up on these patterns and moved on to another whole pattern that was at the edge of the whole structure and as he took his time, he realized that this pattern was very similar to the one he had studied first.
There were several differences here and there but they appeared to follow the same combination with the A, B and X lines doing similar tasks. Slowly he memorized this next pattern and he did not bother to study any other.
The second pattern already told him not to bother wasting his time anymore for the only differences between them was a tweak or two. With the first one, he could make a tweak here and there and have a whole different pattern.
What he did not know was the function of these patterns he had proudly memorized and lit.
CIt can't be that they just glow, right?....'
Lyren thought with a chuckle as he raised his arm to light up the next pattern.
He quickly visualized this pattern and placed his hand on the core and felt the warmth on his palm. There was no more burning. He watched as the pattern glowed and when it was stabilized, he removed his hand.
For a moment, his awareness snapped. One second, he was watching the glow stabilize, the next he was pressing his palms to his throbbing temples, with no memory of the time between. He had blinked, and lost minutes. That pain was more than when he had tried to understand a second category pattern.
He took longer to recover and when he did, he realized that his thoughts had slowed down. Almost like his brain had stopped working for a moment and it had just rebooted. A cold shiver spread down his spine
'This place is a real danger trove. Anything can easily kill you…'
Lyren paused for a moment as he wondered how long he had been out. Maybe a few hours probably minutes had passed…
When his mind was clear again, he realized the reason he had blinked was because he had lit another pattern. It appeared that lighting one up drained him mentally more than he had expected. His limit was lighting two patterns and lighting up a second pattern would leave him too weak.
Slowly, he stood up and walked towards the stairs. He did not dare draw his sword as he took the first step forward bracing himself for impact in case he was sent flying. To his surprise, his foot made contact with the first step and he raised his left foot to the second step.
He started climbing the stairs realizing that for him to climb the stairs, he had to activate the patterns on the ground. He moved up to the tenth step and at the eleventh, he was sent rolling down to the ground.
The math was cruel, but clear.
He sat up at the base as though nothing had happened. First, he was happy that there was finally a way up. But still, there were more issues he had to address such as hunger. He was surprised that his body was not asking for food yet.
'Perhaps, a day already has passed…'
This was based on a guess but he was sure that he had really spent time studying and memorizing the first pattern. The second pattern took him almost half the time for him to realize that they were almost similar in form.
Another issue he wanted to address was how there were very few patterns he could light up. He could only light up two patterns and he realized that he could not do it consecutively and that he had to bid his time first.
'What a drag…'
Lyren sighed at this thought. It really was not going to be very easy for him. The food issue might be solved but he was not sure about it yet. He had to confirm it first. It still appeared as though it was dusk and he realized he could continue working at any time.
But that was if he could fight off the sleep that was already beginning to creep on to him. He yawned loudly with his hands stretched. His yawn hadn't even finished when the world tilted.
He didn't even feel his head hit the stone; the darkness of the hall simply swallowed him whole. He was still grumbling to the creator of these patterns for making them so draining to the user…