Chapter 34: Spirit Energy Reflux

Spirit Energy exists everywhere. Plants have it. Animals have it. People have it. Even the dead have it. The most common place to find spirit energy is in the air, as every living creature breathes it in.

Kanan, being a living person, has spirit energy in his body. Before being blessed, the spirit energy lay dormant, circulating throughout his body. Now that he’s been blessed, the spirit energy has surged, and he can feel it strengthening his bones.

The sensation of spirit energy coursing through his veins reminded him of the blessing ceremony. It was a warm and comfortable energy.

Bound to his body, Kanan could command the energy however he pleased. This didn’t mean that he had mastery over his abilities. It simply meant that if he wished to expel spirit energy out of his hand, he could, but how much he expelled and how powerful it would be was not in his control.

Normally, spirit energy would transform into something else, giving a person their ability. Viola could manipulate the earth. Glena could create water. Selin generated fire. And so on. The energy also didn’t just bless people with the elements, either.

Some people gained enhanced senses; some could fly; others would get a simple power such as super strength, or maybe even camouflage.

Kanan, however, didn’t get any special ability like that. His own power was just raw, unchanged Spirit Energy. This is also why he has an ability called Spirit Transfer.

He could manipulate raw spirit energy and could transfer that energy to others. It’s also why his descendants, regardless of their blood connection to Nemean, would be stronger than normal.

The system also provided more insight into how his ability worked. Since he could produce raw spirit energy, he could also do anything he wanted with it, to an extent, of course.

After spending all night racking his brain, reading the system, and piecing some things together from his previous life, Kanan finally came up with a way to use his ability.

"Okay, let’s start off with a bit of Energy Projection." Kanan was outside while testing his ability. Since he had no control over it, he didn’t wish to destroy his new hut and waste resources on rebuilding it.

Some parts of the village were dedicated to training people in their abilities, so Kanan decided to head to that spot for his experiments.

Closing his eyes, Kanan took a deep breath, then started to concentrate. He focused on feeling the energy in his body, then concentrated it into the palm of his hand. A spirit energy bubble was all he wanted to do.

Something simple, something small, no bigger than his palm, and something easy to maintain, presumably.

A rush of power traveled through his veins and into his palm, the sensation leaving a tingling feeling in his arm. In his hand, the energy started to bubble, then pop, then meld together.

Small but noticeable, a round, light-blue glowing orb appeared in Kanan’s palm.

’Nngh! This is harder than I thought!’ His concentration started to wane, the sheer effort causing strain on his body. Still, he pressed on. The faster he could master his abilities, the better it would be for the survival of the village.

Maintaining the small bubble was extremely difficult, but not impossible. Once the strain mostly faded, Kanan channeled more power into his arm.

The bubble grew, this time to the size of his palm, and then it instantly blew up, and all of the energy vanished.

Pain flooded Kanan’s body as he collapsed onto the ground, breathing heavily. He wheezed, flailed, and stretched his body in that straining way when something hurts extremely badly.

He was in so much pain that he couldn’t even scream it out of his lungs, forced to suffer in silence as his body betrayed him.

"Kanan?" Selin asked, hovering over the young, contorting shaman

His eyes darted toward her, the only body part that could move properly. Speaking was impossible, but he moved his eyes up and down as if he were responding.

"What are you doing down there? Get up."

If only it were that simple.

"Ohh, you’re experiencing Spirit Energy Reflux. Yeah, it happens. I bet you channeled your power without getting your body accustomed to it first, huh? Just went straight into using your power."

’How did she know?’

"How do I know? It’s simple; I did the same thing as well. Most people do. In fact, we purposely don’t tell the young ones about this so they can experience it firsthand. It is especially a part of warrior training."

’Warrior training? Do they go through this often?’ Kanan wanted to stand, but he couldn’t even feel his legs

"Don’t worry. It will wear off. In like an hour. I think. Or was it a day? I don’t really remember. The more you expierence it, the less time it takes for your body to readjust. You’ll be fine, though. Good luck." She left.

’Noo! Don’t leave me!’

Kanan was left experiencing that pain for a whole half-day before he could move again.

---

"Looks like you’re okay now." Selin had returned with a piece of meat in her mouth. She tore at the dried meat and munched away as she crouched to pat Kanan on the cheek.

"I want to cry."

"Yeah, we all were there at some point. But look at it on the bright side, that pain will only make you stronger."

"Or kill me."

"Nah, you can’t die to it. You’ll only expierence the pain. But don’t worry, you’ll get used to it. And the more you train, the less often that feeling will come. So, tell me, what happened?"

Kanan sat up for the first time in hours, something he didn’t realize he had taken advantage of his whole life. He would never take sitting up for granted ever again.

"I felt the spirit energy in my body." He recounted.

"Mhmm. Yup."

"Then I channeled it through my arm and into my palm."

"Mhmm. Mhmm."

"After that, I manifested my ability."

"Yeahhhh."

"I felt a tingling sensation, but I paid it no mind."

"Big mistake."

"Finally, I channeled more power, and then my body just shut down."

"Pwahahahahaha! Yup! That’s exactly how it happens each time! You might not have seen it because this area is sort of isolated, but the trainees at the warrior camp are going through the same thing you just went through right now. Come, I’ll show you."