The private training chamber in the Obsidian Wing was lit by low-flickering violet candles. The walls were lined with ancient tapestries of the Draker ancestors—men who all shared the same intense, focused gaze.
Leo sat on a raised dais of black velvet, while the two princesses and the warrior heir sat on silk cushions before him. The air was thick with anticipation.
"To understand the **Aethel-Strok**," Leo began, his voice dropping into a professional, yet dangerously smooth tone, "you must first understand the catalyst. The **Dih**."
He leaned forward, his violet eyes locking onto Seraphina's trembling gaze.
### The Universal Truth
"You act as if this is some dark, forbidden mystery," Leo said with a faint smirk. "But the truth is much more common. Every Great House, every Kingdom, every lineage is built upon the foundation of the Dih. Your fathers, the Emperor and the King of Valerius... they both possess one. In fact, if they didn't, you wouldn't even be sitting here today."
Lyra gasped, her face turning a bright shade of crimson. "The Emperor? You're saying our father uses... the Dih?"
"It is the origin of all life-force," Leo explained coolly. "A man without a Dih is a man without a future. It is the conduit through which the 'White Essence' passes to create the next generation. However, most men are fools. They use their Dih only for reproduction, wasting that raw mana on a whim. They don't know how to **Goon**."
### The Matter of Scale
Isolde narrowed her eyes, her warrior instincts picking up on a detail. "If every man has one... why is yours so different? When we saw you in the classroom, the mana output was... monstrous."
Leo stood up, his tall, lean frame casting a long shadow over them. He adjusted his silk trousers, the outline of his "training tool" visible enough to make the girls lose their train of thought.
"That is the difference between a commoner and a Draker," Leo said. "Most Dihs are dormant, only waking up for a few moments of pleasure. Mine is constantly circulating. It is a muscle of the soul."
He stepped closer to the three of them, his presence overwhelming.
"I am still young," Leo whispered, looking down at them. "My Dih hasn't even reached its full potential yet. It isn't 'that big' compared to what it will become. I am currently bigger than your fathers' were at my age, but as my mana grows, I grow too. My Dih scales with my power. The more I goon, the more it expands."
### The "Dih-Less" Dilemma
The girls were breathless. The idea that Leo was "still growing" was both terrifying and intoxicating.
"But we..." Seraphina stammered, looking down at her own lap. "As you said, we don't have one. Are we trapped?"
"Physicality is a limitation, yes," Leo admitted, reaching out to lift Seraphina's chin with a single finger. "But that is why you are here. In this session, you will learn to use *my* Dih as a lightning rod. By maintaining physical contact during a Goon-Trance, I can channel my excess Vitality directly into your 'hollow' circuits."
He looked at the three of them—the Ice Queen, the Fire Brand, and the Sword Saint.
"It will be painful. It will be intense. And you will likely lose your composure," Leo warned, a dark, hungry glint in his eyes. "But by the time we are done, your mana capacity will be doubled. Now... who wants to be the first to 'connect'?"
The girls looked at each other, the silence of the room broken only by the sound of their rapid heartbeats. The lesson of the Gooner Necromancer was about to get very, very hands-on.