_______
After hearing what Zeydris just said, Lucian didn't wait a second and directly swam up to the surface of the pool, then quickly got out of it and ran towards a corner of the bunker.
'I ain't foolish enough to stay there and check out my luck. From how things are going, my luck is surely in the negatives. I am sorry, Alstair; it was nice knowing you. Don't worry. I'll fabricate the story of your death and make it seem like you didn't give up till the end while fighting a strong monster. I won't let your death be in vain.' Lucian started to pray for his dear friend.
Meanwhile, under the pool of mana, Alstair's condition was getting worse; blood started to come out of his skin pores, nose, and eyes, and veins bulged all over his body.
He heard what Zeydris said, and that didn't help to reduce his anxiety, but he knew if he panicked now, he would be dead. So he endured quietly.
Zeydris also helped him absorb more mana and somewhat reduced his blood loss. He had created a layer of mana to help them both breathe.
—After a few hours.
"Alstair, concentrate now; it is the important part. Your mana veins are formed. I will guide your mana cells to a place where they can form the sigil, so try to remember the path and move all the mana cells there." Zeydris spoke.
At this moment, Alstair's skin had turned red, you could see the blood around him mixed with the liquefied mana. He didn't reply to Zeydris but he understood that it was a crucial part.
Zeydris then showed Alstair the path he had to take cells and where to deposit them. At first, Alstair failed a few times to circulate the cells as he wished but after a few tries, he managed to do it.
And so, a whole day passed since then, Lucian had some fruits with him, so he didn't have to worry about hunger, but on the other hand, Alstair hadn't eaten for a whole they, leave aside eating, he hadn't moved an inch from his meditative pose for a whole day.
"Almost there. Just a bit more." Zeydris said, his palm still on the back of Alstair; he, too, was in the same pose for a whole day helping Alstair.
After a few more minutes, the mana around Alstair started to shake violently,
"Ugh!" Alstair grunted from the pressure building at his core. He had endured the pain for a whole day, and now he was almost at his limit.
Boom!
A small shock wave was produced from Alstair's body that rippled through the liquefied mana pool.
Alstair had successfully awakened his sigil, though he went unconscious right after the shock wave came.
Zeydris grabbed him and took them out of the pool.
"So he succeeded, huh?" Lucian said as he looked towards them. He, too, had gone to meditate and absorb mana, albeit he was doing so at the edge of the pool.
"Yeah, he has. But he will be unconscious for a few days. And as it wasn't a natural awakening, it will take a toll on his body, so it's better if he rests for a few days. His body will feel new to him, so I guess he has to get accustomed to it before returning back to the training." Zeydris explained.
"You should keep meditating here as much as you can in the meantime," he continued and instructed Lucian.
Lucian nodded in understanding; his gaze lingered on Alstair's unconscious form, but soon after, he went back to meditate.
Zeydris left Alstair at a side on the bunker a bit away from the pool.
***
'Alstair got his sigil, huh. I need to train harder; that guy isn't too far behind me. In these three months,,, his reflexes and intuitions got better, a lot better. He is on the same level as me in that part; if given time…. he can stand on equal footing as me in mana control.'
' I haven't seen him use his weapon, so I am not sure about that, but from my guess, he must be strong in that part too. If I hit a wall or stagger even for a bit, he will surpass me. It will still take him a few months to widen our gap as much as I can before he catches up to me.' Lucian's mind was filled with these thoughts.
He then stood up and went near the pool and scanned it.
"As expected. So he already used 20% of the liquefied mana in this pool huh?" Lucian mumbled as he averted his gaze from the pool and looked at Alstair's sleeping figure.
He stood there in silence for a few moments before diving into the pool himself.
'I'll try to break through to the next rank within the next two months. I have been on initiate rank for 8 months now, I can't afford to laze back when I have the opportunity.' he thought as he started to absorb the liquefied mana.
But as he didn't have a coating to help him breathe, he soon had to come back to the surface.
"Ughh. This ain't easy; the pressure that the mana is exuding on the body is no joke, and I can't keep coming back up every couple of minutes to breathe." Lucian said as he went in a thinking pose, his hand under his chin.
"Nor do I have that much control over my mana to keep my body covered in it for a long time-" It was then that it clicked to Lucian
"This must be a part of the training, right? To keep utilizing mana to cover my entire being while also absorbing it from the surroundings, and the pressure underwater most probably will help to increase our endurance."
"It has to be that way, though Zeydris helped Alstair a little by coating him so he could breathe and wouldn't be affected by the pressure and speed up the process of awakening his sigil. But now that I and Alstair both have Sigils to utilize mana, he won't help us."
"A well-thought-out training regime, I see," Lucian mumbled, then he coated himself with mana, though his coating was very thin and weak.