Finn's eyes darted between Kaeline and the small, delicate looking lanterns made out of a paper-like material, each no larger than their palms, that Elysia placed on the floor around them. He nudged one of the lanterns gently with his foot before looking back towards Kaeline.
"Um, sensei, what exactly are these things supposed to be?"
Kaeline smirked, showing what seems to be a slick hint of pride seeping through.
"These are shinobi essence lanterns. On my homeworld, we use these lanterns during many events, ceremonies, celebrations, and even funerals. They hold significant cultural meaning, but one of their primary purposes is also essence training."
"Essence training?" Kaito repeated, intrigued as he stared down at one of the lanterns at his feet.
"That's right. Every shinobi in my homeland undergoes training with these lanterns to master their essence control and stability. Even some members of this crew gave it a try… with varied success." She continued with.
Kaito exchanged an eager glance with Finn next him, a friendly competitiveness igniting in their eyes instantly.
Kaeline extended a hand toward one lantern on the ground near her feet. The lantern seemed to respond instantly, beginning to glow softly as it slowly levitated upward before floating at eye level between them. Finn's eyes widened in wonder. Meanwhile, Kaito's jaw dropped slightly, his curiosity quickly turning to excitement.
Kaeline formed a handsign, one finger pointing upward while the other hand gently clasped around it. At that moment, roughly twenty lanterns scattered across the room ignited simultaneously, lifting slowly into the air like stars ascending into the night sky. They began orbiting her, flowing and swirling around her, weaving through each other like a group of pro dancers.
"Whoa…" Finn breathed out, eyes sparkling with awe as he watched.
Kaito was equally captivated, his excitement steadily building as his eyes followed the lanterns around her and the room.
After several moments, she dropped her handsign and the lanterns to gently fall back to the ground, their lights dimming until they faded entirely. She looked at both of them before speaking again.
"This will be the first stage of each of your own training. In order to progress to the next stages, you must first learn to maintain control over at least one lantern for a set amount of time. But I should warn you, channeling too much essence will—"
"Just one?!" Kaito's enthusiastic voice drowned out her warning, his grin wide with confidence as he squatted eagerly in front of a lantern at his feet.
"Come on, sensei, that's way too easy!"
"Kaito dear, hold on—" Elysia started to say anxiously, attempting to step forward with a worried expression on her face.
But he reassured her with a carefree wave.
"Relax, Elysia! I've got this under control!" He said casually.
"No Kaito dear, it's not as simple as it seems."
He didn't care though. He eagerly raised his palms toward the lantern, letting his purple essence flow around it with little restraint. For a brief moment, the lantern flickered to life, bringing an even bigger and cockier smile to his face.
"See? Piece of cak—"
Suddenly, the lantern surged violently with a blinding light. His cocky smile melted into shock as he let out a nervous squeak.
"Eh—?!"
BOOOOM!!!
As the smoke cleared from the explosion, Kaito was frozen in the same stance, his eyes spiraling as pieces of the lantern floated down all around him.
"Kaeline-sensei…" He mumbled out woozily, trying his best to blink away the stars he was seeing.
"What…just happened?"
Kaeline calmly approached and crossed her arms.
"I was trying to explain earlier—injecting too much essence into a lantern too quickly transforms it into a miniature bomb."
He shook his head, clearing away the lingering effects of the explosion before shooting her a glare.
"And why exactly didn't you say anything about that beforehand!?"
"Well I tried, didn't I? It's okay either way, this was a good learning experience."
Kaito dropped his shoulders and groaned as he rubbed the soot from his face.
"Yeah, well, I sure learned it. Thanks…I guess."
He continued to mutter and cuss under his breath, prompting Kaeline to let out a small sigh before speaking up once more, her tone becoming more serious.
"Kaito, do you fully understand what the lantern symbolizes?"
He paused, scrunching his eyebrows in confusion.
"Uh… You explained how your homeworld uses them, but… I'm not really sure what it symbolizes."
She then pointed directly at him.
"That lantern symbolizes your physical body."
"My… body?" He repeated, completely confused. That was until his eyes drifted to the charred patch on the floor where the lantern had exploded, and his face paled as realization slowly dawned upon him.
"Seems like you finally understand." She said quietly, noticing his shifting expression.
He turned back to her, his eyes wide with genuine concern.
"Wait—you're saying that's gonna happen to me?"
"Yes. That's exactly what will happen…if you don't learn to control your essence properly."
He stared down at his shaking hands as the harsh reality of herwords set in.
"I…I had no idea this power could be so dangerous." He thought to himself.
Kaeline spoke through his thoughts, grabbing his attention again.
"If you truly plan to use adrenaline to amplify your essence, mastering essence control isn't just important… It's absolutely vital. Without complete mastery over your essence, your own power will inevitably kill you."
Sweat fell down the side of his face, determination and fear battling inside him in an all out war, but that battle was put on pause by the sudden hiss of the training room door opening.
"I brought extra medical supplies, Kaito dear, so you—" Elysia cheerfully began to say, her voice immediately trailing off into stunned silence as she stared straight past them, her eyes wide in astonishment.
Kaito and Kaeline turned in unison to follow her eyes, and once they saw it… or rather him, their own expressions shifted into shock.
It was Finn.
He was on his knees sitting back on his feet, eyes gently shut and focused as his emerald-green essence flowed smoothly from his hands. A single lantern floated calmly in front of him, but what had truly left everyone speechless were the other six lanterns hovering all around him in the air.
"Finn?!" Kaito blurted, utterly flabbergasted.
Startled by the sudden shout, Finn opened his eyes, breaking his concentration. The lanterns immediately lost their glow, slowly descending back down to the floor. He turned toward them nervously.
"Huh? Did I do something wrong?" He asked cautiously, eyes darting between their stunned faces.
Complete silence.
"Um…guys? Are you okay? Why are you all staring at me like that?"
Kaeline was the first to regain her composure.
"Everything's fine, Finn. You've done exceptionally well—much better than anticipated. In fact, you'll be moving to the next stage of training immediately."
"Huuuuhhh?? Really!? Already?" He asked excitedly, his pointy ears flapping subtly.
Kaeline nodded, gesturing towards the far end of the training room.
"Head to the other side. I'll be there to guide you shortly."
"Yes, sensei!" He replied eagerly, springing to his feet.
Before he turned away, he shot a sly, smug glance toward Kaito who scowled a bit in return, though a competitive grin couldn't help itself but make its way on his face.
"Yeah, yeah, pretty boy. Enjoy your lead while it lasts." He muttered under his breath.
From her position near the doorway, Elysia watched Finn's back as he walked off as she began to think to herself with a surprised look on her face.
"Seven lanterns on his very first try…? And he wasn't aware of them either. That's…incredible. My first attempt barely managed three, and even among the entire crew, only Elara and Kaeline were able to control more. Finn…that kind of innate control…it's nothing short of extraordinary."
Kaeline returned her focus to Kaito after Finn had walked away.
"Elysia will assist you for the remainder of this first stage of your training. Until you're able to properly control at least one lantern without… exploding, you cannot proceed. Understood?"
He straightened up immediately and looked towards her.
"Yes, sensei."
"Good." She nodded then turned away before heading toward the far end of the training room where Finn was waiting.
Elysia stepped closer to him, gently placing a hand above his forehead as her golden essence enveloped him.
"Hehehehe, you know Kaito dear, sometimes I wonder if you're intentionally getting hurt just to get closer to me."
"Wait, what? N-no! I—"
"Hehehehehe, relaaxxxx. I'm just teasing you." Her expression softened to something slightly more serious, almost… worried.
"But seriously, you can't rush this training, Kaito dear. Essence control isn't something you can strongarm or cut corners around. Please take your time with this okay?"
He let out a breath, his shoulders relaxing a bit as he smiled sheepishly at her.
"Yeah, you're right. And... I'm sorry for not listening to you earlier. Guess I got a little ahead of myself."
She gently brushed away leftover soot from his cheek.
"It's alright, but from now on, lend me your ear from time to time, okay Kaito dear?"
His face began to slowly turn red as he nervously responded.
"Y-yeah, of course."
In a fraction of a nano-second, his eyes shot down at the speed of light, taking a quick glance at her chest before immediately snapping back up to meet her eyes. Her expression hadn't changed at all and her hand was still resting on his face.
"I saw that." She muttered casually as a small mischievous grin formed on her lips.
Kaito blinked, deadpanning immediately.
"No you didn't."
"I most certainly did."
"Definitely didn't."
"Most assuredly did."
"Yeah, well..." He trailed off awkwardly, scratching the back of his neck before quickly changing the topic.
"Oh yeah, Kaeline-sensei did mention you're gonna help me from now on. So, I guess that means you're pretty good at this essence control stuff, right?"
Elysia dropped her hand from his face and began to ponder on his question for a moment.
"I suppose you could say I'm decent at it. At least compared to most of the crew."
He frowned slightly, peering back down at a nearby lantern lying innocently on the ground.
"If that's the case, how long do you think it'll take for me to get the hang of this?"
She tapped her chin lightly and hummed as she began to think.
"Most crew members took about half a planetary cycle or less to master control of a single lantern. Though two never completed it at all."
"Really? Who?" He asked curiously, turning back toward her.
"Jinx and Talon."
"Huuhhh?? Jinx makes sense, but Talon?" He blinked, genuinely surprised.
"But she's so damn strong! I mean, you saw what she did to Sera, right? She literally buried her inside a miniature moon… that SHE MADE. You're telling me she couldn't control one lantern?"
Elysia nodded slowly with a completely serious expression on her face.
"You're not wrong about her strength. In terms of essence reserves and CPI, Talon is roughly equal to Elara herself. But that's the problem—she struggles to control that immense amount of power. She's only able to suppress it due to some sort of artifact that she carries around, but I or anyone else has never seen it."
Kaito went quiet, contemplating her words. He began to remember something… something Kaeline had said on Draconis Prime. He voiced his thoughts out loud as it slowly dawned on him.
"That's right... Kaeline-sensei mentioned something similar before. Back then she said Talon couldn't activate her resonance willingly... I guess that makes sense now." He paused, shaking his head slightly in disbelief.
"Still, though... she has that much power without proper essence control? That's…"
"Terrifying… isn't it?" Elysia spoke up, finishing his sentence for him.
"Imagine if she ever mastered it. She'd reach heights none of us have likely ever seen."
He turned fully toward her and asked the million-dollar question.
"Then why hasn't she?"
Elysia shrugged her shoulders.
"Nobody really knows, honestly. Ever since Kaeline and I joined the crew, Talon has never asked anyone for help, nor has she really tried to form connections with anyone besides Elara. Well..." She paused, her eyes momentarily shifting toward him.
"I guess… she has shown a bit of interest in yo—"
The entire ship suddenly lurched violently, nearly throwing everyone off balance. Lanterns scattered across the floor, tumbling around all over the training room.
"Kaeline-sensei!? What's happening? Are we under attack again?" Finn asked nervously.
Kaeline remained calm, her eyes immediately locking onto something beyond the far wall of the training room, almost as if she sensed an unseen presence… or numerous of them.
"Relax, Finn. We're not under attack."
Kaito leaned on Elysia to get his balance and yelled from across the room.
"Then what in the stars—"
Another violent tremor shook the ship again, abruptly cutting him off. The sudden jolt sent him stumbling face-first into Elysia's chest. Elysia's face quickly shifted from shock to an amused smile as she gently placed her hand on the back of his head.
"K-Kaito dear, I know you're excited but not in front of everyone okay?" She teased, clearly fighting back a laugh.
Ignoring the scene on the other side of the training room, Finn looked back over to Kaeline.
"If we're not under attack, what's going on then sensei?"
Kaeline continued to stare through the training wall for a moment, not even phased by the violent shaking of the ship before she responded..
"…It's them."