Lyren was careful with his memorization as he made sure that it was accurate. He then closed his eyes and did the usual. His only hope was that he would have enough mental stamina to light them up. After all, it had taken him three days to reach to this point which meant that the drain was obviously going to be tremendous.
'Nothing?'
Lyren was not surprised by the first failure. It appeared that he was missing something. That something was definitely going to cost him a piece of his time. He tried several times until he felt there was no progress.
Without much waiting, he moved on to the next pattern with A lines and memorized it. It was difficult and it took him the same time he had taken to memorize the first one. When he was sure that he was accurate, he placed his arm on the core and did the usual
…
"Uuh!" Lyren yawned loudly his hands raised stretching.
'That was the eighth one…'
Lyren had tried all the patterns and there was not even a flicker. He never felt that demotivated before. He had a very long time memorizing these patterns but the end results were his failure. He could not help but try coming up with a logical explanation.
The most logical explanation was that his mental capacity was still low to light the patterns but it couldn't be true. If that was the case then, the first row's patterns would definitely not have drained him dry. That could only mean there was something he had not yet grasped.
He yawned once again and his eyelids were becoming heavy with every passing moment. After all, the second row's patterns were a no joke and he had memorized them all already. His mind was already tired from the numerous attempts of the past days and this third day had also ended as a failure.
Well, it was not a total failure but he was unable to grasp the final piece that would enable him to light up the patterns or even show him he was moving in the correct direction. The pattern in his arm had not reacted again which meant that he was going the wrong way.
But what other choice did he have other than keep going the wrong way until he arrived to his destination? He tried to understand the mechanism of the patterns. His brain was still trying to find out as it shut down, his eyelids clinging on to themselves only to open after the brain woke up again.
…
Lyren woke up… well, there was no telling if he was up early or late but since he was awake, it was obvious that his brain was now in peak condition. He woke up and moved on to the first pattern of the second row. After all, it was the first pattern.
The first thought Lyren had was to try to light up one pattern immediately… maybe something was going to happen. He looked at the pattern first so he could visualize it well. He then placed his arm on the core and once again, there was nothing.
He retracted his arm but his arm was glued on the core. This at first filled him with fear. Had he done it wrong? That couldn't be true. He did not have more time to think about it as he felt some warmth in his palm. This reaction gave him some assurance.
Well, his assurance was short lived.
It was hot… No, it was warm.
At first, Lyren was not sure what was happening but he was not sure whether to scream or just keep quiet. He felt something pierce into his palm but there was no pain at all. It was not painful but something was trying to invade into his body,
He could feel it moving inside his hand, almost like it was inside his bones. His dilemma continued as he was horrified but he also knew that there was no one here who was going to save him and also, there was no pain.
He could feel it heading deeper into his hand and it crossed his elbow and entered his chest. He could feel it, like it was a string heading for somewhere into his body. He felt the string finally reach somewhere below his belly and it seemed to stop for a while until it went slightly deeper.
He did not know what to expect but his heart beat wildly. And even as he prepared for anything, he had not anticipated what happened next. It felt as though the string bit onto something and this caused him to flinch.
He felt something deep within his core—a dam, a seal he never knew was there— snap under the string's bite. His eyes widened in horror as he wondered whether the string was trying to eat him from the inside.
Suddenly, he felt a tug. Like the string was being pulled. This time, he screamed. When the tug came, it felt as though a part of him deep inside had been torn apart. Then, it came again and this time, he felt that the string had pulled something out of him.
His scream increased as the pain was unbearable but the string was far from done as it tugged again and he felt something snap. He expected that death was coming but that was not the case and it appeared that the only thing awaiting him was infinite pain.
He tried pulling his arm out but it was almost like he was not pulling at all. His screams echoed into the distance becoming the first sound he had heard coming from this place. The tug came again the fourth time and it started to pull.
Lyren felt like he was going to lose consciousness from the pain but it did not let him. The string started pulling and he could feel it rising up to his chest and moving toward the hand. Still, the pain only grew worse as he forced himself to grit his teeth.
The string reached his elbow and it pulled through the arm until he felt it reach his wrist and then into his palm. He sweated profusely and the pain from the pull still lingered. He was about to pull his hand away when the pattern lit up.
The pattern did not fully activate but he felt he could pull his arm away which he did without second thoughts. The first thing that came to his mind was that the second row required taking a piece of him in order to light up but that has horrifying in a masochistic way.
But that was not the case because he was sure that when the string started pulling out, he had felt the familiar sensation he had always been trying to reach. Though it hurt, he realized that he had it inside him and he just didn't know how to use it.
"Elyria." He said with a whisper.
It had been forcefully extracted from deep within depths he was not aware of by the pattern. He looked at his palm and saw that it was different. Almost like some parts of it were moving. It was the first time he had seen that happen.
Still, he did not understand. The pattern forcibly taking Elyria from him was a total invasion of privacy. He wanted to be mad at the creator but he just couldn't. A smile almost evil forming on his lips.
How long he had waited for the moment he would finally be able to use Elyria…
He could feel it. Where the tearing pain had been, a new sensation bloomed: a hollow, aching channel, but one that thrummed with a faint, eager resonance. The Elyria it had stolen... had come from him. And now a path was open.
His lips twitched as he tried to suppress the laughter he was trying to hold back. He was not mad at all.
No matter how hard he tried to be. He finally couldn't hold it in as he let out a laugh almost maniacal. He looked at the pattern in his palm which released another glow in response to his laughter.
"So its just as twisted as I am…"
Lyren's laughter echoed all over with a golden glow on his palm…