After around several minutes of nonstop screaming, all that remained were whimpers as he watched the palm pattern stop burning. His palm had turned red as though it was going to melt. The pattern was not yet clear and it was almost like it had vanished for a while.
When all returned to normal, Lyren looked at the pattern that materialized and it appeared that it was the exact source pattern he had visualized. It dawned to him that the more he studied the rows, the source pattern was going to get etched into his palm.
Almost like it had evolved. The changes were as expected as he felt his mind had become even clearer and he felt that even the Elyria channel in his hand had somehow expanded. When he confirmed these changes, he did not waste any time as he moved on to the third row.
Well, the moment he laid eyes on the first of the four patterns, he felt as though someone had poured ice-cold water on him. There was no understanding them. If the second row looked like scribbles, the third row was more than that.
Yes, they appeared like scribbles but it was almost like they had an extra depth to them than the first row and second row had. Almost twice in depth and these patterns were around two times larger than those from the second row.
He decided to identify the type of lines first but the next discovery left him dumbfounded. It took several hours to fully be sure and he determined that they were all A lines. There were no X lines at all and this came as a surprise to him.
He went to the next three patterns and after what felt like forever, it appeared that all these patterns were all A lines. This made things even more complicated. To make matters worse, none of the patterns seemed to have the same source pattern.
They were all different.
To call it a drag was understating the problem at hand. It was not going to be easy any more. He was sure it would take him a few hours to memorize just one pattern. Days even! He scratched his head and his dark gray eyes seemed to flash with a white light beneath his hair.
"Bring it on!" He said with a shout as he started.
…
It approximately took him two days to memorize the first pattern and he had recovered his Elyria. He just wished that it was going to be enough to light up the first pattern. Lyren placed his hand on the core and let the pattern draw energy from him.
He waited until he felt the connection of the pattern and his Elyria reserves. Then, it started flowing out and headed towards the core. The core glowed slightly but what appeared like an energy field—a solid wall of golden negation—bloomed between his palm and the pattern's core.
His arm was blown away and the connection of his Elyria and the pattern was cut off. His mind going blank and a headache striking him like thunder right in the middle of his mind. His nose bled and his vision went blank.
A high-pitched ringing filled his ears and he felt like his heart stopped beating. He could not tell his organs let alone his surroundings. He had lost all his proprioception. As his vision blacked out, he could only think that this was the end and he knew exactly what had happened as he lost his consciousness.
'A backlash… I rushed things… It was too easy… Again...'
…
How long it passed was forever going to be a mystery to Lyren. He woke up with the same high-pitched ringing in is ears and as he opened his eyes, it first appeared like a blank screen as everything cleared. Then, he took a deep breath in and he felt his first heartbeat.
His thoughts were the last to resume and as he tried to look around and sit up, the headache returned and he almost fell back into the pit he had been. Slowly, he regained his proprioception and he thought about what happened.
First, it was like his body had been shut down. That was scary. It appeared that there was more to the backlash than met the eye. Firstly, there was a chance he had been out for a split second and second, it had been a long time.
He looked around and the already dead patterns were a clear proof that it was a long time. But the fact that it felt like an instant and his consciousness returned exactly like how it had disappeared was frightening.
Just what was this place hiding from him. If he was not mistaken, there was a high chance that his consciousness had been separated from his body. This was even more frightening. If that was the case, where had it been taken? Also, what did it do to him?
These questions filled him with dread as he thought about just how everything here seemed to only want kill him with every slight mistake he made. This time for sure, had he died? There was no mistaking it. His heart had stopped and so had his brain.
He raised his hand and the numbness was there. How there was no broken bone was lucky of him. He looked at the pattern on the ground and realized that he was mistaken. The third row was not easy at all.
The fact that there were no X patterns was already a huge clue that his approach was wrong this time. Yet, he had gone ahead and tried to channel his energy into the pattern. The energy field he that had attacked him was obviously because there was an energy collision somewhere or an imbalance.
Maybe the monotony of just doing one task had finally gotten to him and he had committed that error. But was else could he do? He decided to stop studying the patterns first and focus on something else.
Elyria.
Yes, he decided to learn how to use Elyria on his own. He had discovered long ago that it was not going to be easy but did he have any other option but to try? He sat cross-legged decided to locate the core of his Elyria in his body.
He could say where it was but the only time when he could feel it was when the pattern was channeling energy from him. He looked at the pattern again. Why couldn't everything just be easy? He was not going to let it draw Elyria from him again. He has going to be the one to do the giving.
All that had happened because he could not control how much Elyria the pattern could draw. If he could control it, maybe all this was going to be slightly easy. He closed his eyes and imagined the pattern drawing energy from him.
He followed the trail from his palm until he reached the core and that is where he decided to focus on. He lost track of time, focusing on the trail in his body left by the patter. Then;
Crack!
Not in his skull, but in his perception. A barrier in his mind shattered, and a pure, silent white light filled his internal vision.
'What's happening… Did I make a mistake? Again?"