Liam awoke two hours before dawn. He jumped out of bed and landed on the floor, feeling a mild discomfort in his knees. He opened the door to find Shay, one hand raised in a motion to knock on his door.
"You opened before I could knock" she said.
Liam shrugged. "I did"
"You felt my presence" Shay observed. "When did this develop?"
"A few days ago. Started off as a mild feeling but now I can sense the energy signatures within individuals. For most of the crew its faint but you, Ushanti and even the silent one, you're like beacons" Liam explained.
"Have you had any Aether control training before?"
"Not really" he shrugged. Liam had always had a higher sensitivity to Aether even before receiving Aragon's legacy. It was more of a faint sensation back then, like something just at the tip of his fingertips and yet still beyond reach. After receiving Aragon's blood though, all his senses had heightened, not to inhuman levels but still beyond what the average human could feel and that was including Aether.
"Come let us continue with our training" Shay turned and walked.
...
They finished training before the sun even rose. Liam felt tired to the bone but he managed to sit up instead of just lying on the ground as he usually did. He was covered in sweat and his muscles felt like a hundred fire ants were crawling all over them.
Strangely though, Liam felt a deep satisfaction every time he felt an ache travel through him. It felt like a testament to his hard work and that was pleasant indeed. Proof of progress.
He sighed and looked up. The sky was still covered in darkness and the twinkling stars shimmered with a dullness that suggested the coming of dawn.
'The training ended earlier than usual today' he turned his attention to Shay who sat at the center of the deck. Her legs were crossed and her hands were on her knees. Her eyes were closed in meditation.
It was the same pose that Ushanti had taken. A meditation stance.
"Enough resting come here" Shay said her eyes still closed.
Liam sat puzzled.
"Or would you rather I hit you with the stick again" she peeled one eye open.
That got Liam moving. One beating from that staff of hers was more than enough. He sat facing her.
"Turn and face your back to me. Take a meditation stance"
Liam followed her instructions. He turned his back to her and crossed his legs.
"Good" he heard behind him before a cold hand touched his bare back. Since he didn't really have his own clothes, he opted to train in nothing but shorts. He didn't want to damage borrowed clothes.
Still the touch was sudden and cold so he sucked in a sharp breath.
"Uh...Shay?"
"Shh. Close your eyes and take long slow breaths" she instructed.
Liam sighed and followed her instructions. Taking slow breaths through his nose, he didn't know what to expect. He didn't even know what he was doing at this point but as he continued the exercise, the thoughts slowly faded from his mind.
His thoughts cleared and soon his senses seemed to dull. It was during that state that he heard Shay whisper softly.
"I'm going to start pouring streams of Aether into your body. Don't resist"
Liam took a sharp breath when he felt an energy invade his pores and take root in his body. As though sensing his distress, his own Natural Well of Aether counteracted, cutting off Shay's Aether stream.
A hand slapped the back of his head jolting him.
"I thought I told you not to resist" Shay ridiculed.
"Sorry" Liam said.
"I'm going to repeat the process. You are to do nothing except feel the movements of the Aether within your body, nothing else. You hear?"
"Yes ma'am" Liam closed his eyes and took several deep breaths to calm his mind just how Shay taught him. It didn't take him long to enter a calm state. His perception heightened as the rest of his senses dulled.
And then he felt it, more clearly than before. Shay's Aether stream flowed into his body through the pores of his skin in the back. Then the energy flowed in a clockwise direction. It travelled through his veins as though it were something natural.
He could feel it all. From the veins they flowed to every branch and then circulated until they reached his heart where its movement was pushed with the pumping action of the organ. This time the circulation sped up and then collected in a small vacuum just above the navel.
"Do you feel the vacant space where the Aether pools and rotates before it spreads out?" Shay's voice sounded distant, like the faint whisper of the wind.
Not trusting himself to hold his concentration, he nodded.
"That's where the Aether core is formed" Shay explained. "You circulate Aether from all over the body to the heart where it gains momentum. Then it accumulates here and once it does- will your energy to circulate with as much speed as you can master..."
The energy dispersed to the rest of his veins and Shay began the process once more. Aether moved until it was pumped from his heart and gathered in the vacuum once more. This time there was much more centrifugal force than before. The energy circulated and spun and then they dispersed once more except this time they left something behind.
A crystal particle no larger than grain of sand. The Aether had condensed.
"You feel the crystallized Aether don't you?"
Liam nodded.
"That is the building block to forming an Aether core. Make sure you recall this sensation and memorize the paths that the Aether takes. Now I'm going to demonstrate it one more tim-"