The first week of his isolation from the other students and his classes had gone by quickly. First, he and Alvin had gone through several body enhancement methods Alvin had prepared beforehand. It was difficult to focus during this time since he still hadn’t decided whether or not he would seriously continue down the path of being a Conductor.
He had shared his concerns and thoughts on the matter with Alvin, and the man had seemed to understand at first. However, after a long-winded and well-reasoned speech, Alvin had managed to convince Cypher to carry on as if he had decided to continue seriously.
Alvin was tasked with keeping an eye on him and helping him to train his abilities after all. If Cypher refused to put forth a serious effort it would be an insult to Alvin’s attempts to keep him in the academy, as well as his initial offer to sponsor him and the purpose of this solitary training would be wasted.
Cypher felt obligated to do his best for now, even if it meant going against his feelings. This was only a place of learning, he wouldn’t be required to go on the more serious missions that would involve actual combat against other Conductors.
To that end, he had quite literally shelved his concerns on the matter. Inside his mind, a book lay on the bottom-most shelf of his Athenaeum in the furthest corner from the door.
Within it was his doubt and worry about the path of the Conductor. It was a temporary measure, and eventually, the knowledge contained inside would be reabsorbed into his psyche.
For now, though, he was able to focus on his time with Alvin and work towards controlling his power. The end goal aligned with his desires anyways. If he had better control he could avoid hurting innocent people.
As for his training, Alvin had presented several stacks of scrolls. Each contained a body enhancement method of varying difficulties. There were five body enhancement methods of medium difficulty, two of a harder variety, and ten that were extremely common among Conductors.
Cypher had sifted through the easy ones first. Most only consisted of simple workouts empowered by Zight. These methods all worked in slightly different ways, but at their core, they all seemingly worked the same. The method would encase the body in a veil of Zight, the surrounding Zight would then be absorbed by, and empower the body at a low but steady rate.
It was safe, infallible, and would also help its user hone their skills while advancing their body. That said, these methods were all very weak and would require long periods of time to access the higher tiers of power. Furthermore, they would have weaker end results and were only viable during the advancement to the first rank.
Cypher quickly reasoned that unless the other methods were impossibly hard or dangerous he wouldn’t bother himself with the easy ones. After discarding the easy methods, he examined the ones of medium difficulty.
These methods were more complicated. Some required the use of Zightbeast bodies, while others made use of the easy methods in ways that made them more potent but they were still pretty lacking in terms of the final gains. None of them really seemed to be what Cypher was looking for.
He needed a fast, reliable way to increase the rank of his body. With a higher rank came more control, and with more control would come the ability to pursue his goal. Of the medium-difficulty body enhancement methods, only one met this requirement.
It was an older method, but it focused on absorbing Zight from the environment. It was a more dangerous method because the pure unrefined Zight could potentially cause damage to various parts of the user. Some of that damage could be healed with time, but the more extreme damages would be permanent, hindering the future growth of the Conductor.
Normally Zight was absorbed by and passed through the Orrium where it would be refined over a period of a few hours and converted into the element of the user. This process made the Zight more compatible and easier to manipulate for the usage of spells. It was also easier on the body overall.
In this body enhancement method, that process was skipped entirely. The danger of this method was clear, however, the gains were quite impressive. The time needed to advance to the first rank was shortened by an incredible amount, but each usage of the method would require an equal amount of time to recover.
Under normal circumstances, it wouldn’t be advisable to leave oneself vulnerable, but given that the academy was a learning zone, the vulnerability could be ignored. There were no wild Zightbeasts or enemy Conductors here to catch a user of this technique off guard.
Beyond that, Alvin had also mentioned that since Cypher was a Null elemental, he could absorb pure Zight more easily, and with less risk since he didn’t have a singular element like most Conductors. If he were to sustain damages, they would almost exclusively be minimal.
This had also been the method that Alvin had in mind when he was first discussing the properties of body enhancement methods. Cypher trusted Alvin and was sure that this would be the method he’d go with. The easy ones were useless to him, and the harder ones could be used at higher ranks.
Cypher handed the stack of unwanted scrolls back to Alvin and began to study the method he had chosen, the Zight Vortex. Essentially one would empty their Orrium and make use of the natural suction force that the Orrium would provide.
Instead of directing the Zight directly to the organ itself, it would be channeled throughout the body instead of by the circulatory system. After a period of time, the channeled Zight would then be directed back to the Orrium where it would be refined into the element of the user and then redistributed back through the circulatory system.
The first process would prime the body with a vortex of unrefined energy, and open special pathways known as the Zight Stanza, which normally lay dormant. This would place the body under enormous amounts of strain, and therein lay the dangerous aspect of this technique.
If the Conductor failed to focus properly and control the absorbed Zight during this period, those pathways could be torn or ripped apart entirely. According to the scroll, the Zight Stanza was normally only opened for brief instants to use a spell.
But while using the method, it would be forced open for extended periods of time. Enduring such abuse would leave these pathways wide open, and for the second stage of the technique to be effective this was vital.
The second stage would flood the body with the element-specific Zight, which is easily absorbed by the bones, organs, muscles, and skin of the user. This would strengthen those parts of the body and increase their durability making the Conductor more powerful overall. Afterward, a period of healing would need to take place, and during this time a Conductor could only train their mind.
Using spells or advanced battle forms would only stress the already strained pathways even further, and cause the Conductor to essentially burn out their Zight Stanza rendering them unable to channel or even absorb Zight.
Cypher noted that this technique was risky, but its gains were almost too impressive to ignore. Furthermore, unlike with other body enhancement methods, this one could be modified and used in successive ranks. It was almost too perfect for him but it had been costly.
As Alvin had explained, he had been allowed to present the option to Cypher, but if he chose to use it he would be required to spend a large sum of money for the scroll containing it. This special technique wasn’t covered by the expenses section of the contract Cypher had signed, and the cost of it had to come from Alvin’s personal funds.
Upon learning this, Cypher was glad that he had decided to take his training seriously. He felt indebted to Alvin even more knowing that the man had gone out of his way to give him every possible advantage.
He was grateful for what Alvin was doing for him and he wished that he could repay the man somehow. It was one thing to offer him a sponsorship, which was paid for by the academy itself and covered a lot of various expenses as well as offering him a chance for a full eight years of learning.
But paying for an entire training method out of pocket was going the extra mile. Alvin must really care about his education to do something like that. Cypher assumed it was because of his rare element, but that didn’t seem to be the only reason. In any event, now that he had chosen his method it was time to test it out and see what it could do.
