Chapter 27 - The Sleeper Has Awoken

Jiran released a satisfied murmur of contentment as he burrowed deeper into his bed. A deep breath brought with it the smell of Sharaal’s amazing cooking. The birds outside his window chirped happily amidst the occasional densoon wave that thumped harmlessly against the sturdy manor walls.

Wow, I feel amazing this morning.

He tried to remember the last time his body felt so light and free of soreness or injury.

Must have been before my tiering. Since then it’s been one fight after another with the only breaks being intense bouts of training.

My… tiering? Why does that—

Jiran’s eyes shot open as he jerked awake like someone slapped him. The strength he used to sit upright was so strong it shot him out of bed and he fell to the floor in a tangle of limbs that refused to cooperate as they usually did.

What the hell is happening right now?!

Reigning in his struggling thoughts and emotions, Jiran took several deep breaths until he calmed. With slow, deliberate movements, he sat up on the floor. A shimmer of healthy pink caught his eyes and the moment he was sitting upright, he lifted his hands and stared at the perfectly smooth skin that covered them.

My scars are gone! And I’m so much stronger now. No wonder it was awkward to move. The barest hint of strength is enough to send me off balance. What happened with my tiering? Is this normal?

Jiran closed his eyes and a flicker of mana lit up the golden words that displayed his status.

CONGRATULATIONS - Tiering successful

Strength + 2.6

Agility + 2.3

Endurance + 2.4

Durability + 1.6

Wisdom + 1.1

Intelligence + 1.1

Molding + 1

Molding + 1

Molding…

CONGRATULATIONS - Shaping skill unlocked

Further upgrades delayed due to lack of density

NAME   Jiran of Feylon

RACE   Human

AGE   8

WEIGHT  51.40 kg > 78.21 kg

STATUS  Fresh

TIER   1 > 2

GROWTH  5.83 %

MANA   1 > 2

CONCENTRATION 1 > 2

STRENGTH  19.9 > 22.1

AGILITY  19.9 > 22.1

ENDURANCE  19.9 > 22.1

DURABILITY  19.9 > 22.1

WISDOM  19.9 > 21.0

INTELLIGENCE 19.9 > 21.0

SKILLS

Molding lvl 59 - Mana Expansion

Shaping lvl 0

TECHNIQUES

Forcing lvl 34

Coating lvl 23

Revelation lvl 1

OTHER  UNIQUE - Fo$esi%h(

So this is what it feels like to tier up normally.

Jiran flexed his hands experimentally, marveling at the new power held within each digit. He looked closer at his skin, seeing individual pores as if looking through a weak microscope.

The scuffing of feet reverberated through the air from the far end of the hallway, a noise he would not have heard the day before.

He breathed in the scent of breakfast again, marveling at the rich smells of sizzling meat.

I’ve never been able to smell breakfast all the way from my room before.

Why am I so much stronger? I feel like I could crush my bones from before the tiering with my bare hands. This is way more than a few attribute points should give.

Reviewing his status again, he quickly realized the difference.

That's right, Concentration doubles with every tier, just like mana and attributes.

Everything about me; all my attributes, the toughness of my skin, my mana, and even my senses are multiplied by Concentration. I’m literally twice as powerful as before in every regard.

Wow, I'm almost fifty percent heavier!

And I can use shaping now too.

The cap for molding increased as well. I can finally start making progress toward the next subskill.

Jiran slowly climbed to his feet and tried to pull on his clothes. His leg caught in his breeches sending him tumbling back to the floor. He laughed at his own awkwardness and how soft the floor felt when he landed.

This is going to take some getting used to.

Why won’t my leg fit into my pants!

A rip resounded through the room as his leg tore through the fabric.

My clothes shrunk? No, that's stupid, obviously I’m bigger. Like, a lot bigger. Guess that’s why my weight increased so much.

Jiran stood next to his dresser which used to come up to the middle of his chest. Seeing the wood only come up to his belly button, he released a bout of nervous laughter.

So that’s what that book meant when it said tiering brings one closer to perfection. It could have been a lot more specific! How is anyone supposed to interpret that line correctly?

He tore through all his clothes, until finally finding pajama bottoms that fit even though the hems were halfway up his calves. A bulky winter jacket covered his torso, the cuffs obnoxiously riding up his forearms.

At least they match with the pants.

A grumble from his belly announced his body's need to devour Sharaal’s cooking.

Food and then shaping. Today is already so awesome!

Excitement burned in Jiran to test his new limits but he restrained himself as he slowly made his way to the kitchen.

One of the maids rounded the corner at the end of the hall. Upon spotting him, she nearly tripped with the load of linens she was carrying.

She stared at him in shock, her mouth opening and closing like a fish for several seconds before a deep crimson spread across her cheeks and she scurried away.

https://imgur.com/JMNfn1D

Used to their odd behavior, Jiran paid her no mind as he gradually increased his pace through the manor. By the time he got to the kitchen he  no longer held the wall for balance.

Eating at least provided no difficulties as he shoveled food into his mouth with his bare hands. Twice he glanced up with cheeks full of food to find several of the maids staring at him with strange expressions. No doubt disgusted by his manners.

By the time he arrived in the yard, he was feeling far more used to his new strength. He jumped several times experimentally, laughing in joy as his head inched ever closer to the top of the manor with each leap.

I bet I could jump ten meters if I put mana into my legs. How high could I go with Forcing?

Just as Jiran was about to test it out, Samris exited the manor and approached him.

Jiran was overwhelmed with gratitude upon seeing Samris's face. Without thought, he bowed deeply to the man he owed so much to.

“Thank you, Lord Feylon!”

Without Samris, would I even be alive right now to enjoy this?

A strong hand on his shoulder pulled him upright. Samris's eyes twinkled as they looked into Jiran’s, a light smile spread across his face and his chest bounced with barely restrained laughter.

Jiran was so intrigued by the much smaller height difference between the two of them that he failed to notice Samris’s strange behavior.

The man beckoned Jiran to follow and together they walked back into the manor. Jiran followed happily until they were upstairs and approaching Samris’s bedroom. His steps slowed as his brain began to grind to a halt.

Uhh, what’s going on here?

Samris looked over his shoulder when Jiran’s steps halted. Samris’s barely restrained, full-body laughter, made him appear to be convulsing like he was trying to keep himself from hurling.

The strange movements made Jiran even more nervous and he took a single step backward, toward the stairs and safety.

Samris shook his head side to side, a pitying smile on his lips. The man moved so fast, Jiran missed it despite not blinking. Suddenly, Samris was dragging him bodily toward his bedroom door while Jiran thrashed helplessly against the man’s impossible strength.

Inside, Samris tossed him lightly through the air. Still unused to his new body, Jiran flailed and lost his balance, collapsing to the floor. By the time he was sitting upright, Samris was throwing clothes at him while laughing under his breath.

Ohh. That makes a lot more sense. What the hell was I thinking?!

Shame and embarrassment burned bright red on his cheeks as he collected the pile of clothes and slinked back to his own room to change.

The clothes were still too big for him but they fit much better than the pajamas. Now in a light exercise robe, Jiran found Samris in the yard stretching and awkwardly joined him without a word.

Stretching quickly brought Jiran back to cloud nine. Moving, flexing, and pushing his muscles had turned from ordinary to miraculous overnight as he reveled in the strength that coursed through him. Like remembering how to ride a bike, he rapidly regained mastery over his body.

An hour passed by and he felt comfortable in his skin once more, as if the morning was nothing more than a childish memory.

Samris sat in the dirt with crossed legs and nodded for Jiran to join him.

The man held up his index finger and a small flame sprouted from its tip. Jiran watched the display of magic with bated breath, wondering what Samris would do next. When he simply raised his eyebrows and gestured for Jiran to do something, it clicked.

He wants me to do that too! I have shaping now, I completely forgot with all the excitement. As always, description first.

Shaping - Conjure forth the mechanisms of the body

Typical crap description that leaves out oceans of context and rules.

Jiran recalled a section from a book that briefly described molding and shaping.

‘Molding allows access to the source of mana within, while shaping guides that power into the actions which create all high level techniques.’

Samris wants me to make a flame on my finger. Nothing for it but to try the stupid automated version and probably burn my damn finger off in the process.

Jiran rapidly opened and closed his hand several times, psyching himself up for the pain that was no doubt soon to come.

He pictured the little flame on Samris’s finger and imagined a matching one from his own. Holding the mental image tight, he activated the skill.

“Shaping.”

The usual process of his brain activating mana ensued. This was followed by all of his mana gathering in his hand where he felt an unsettling heat begin to build.

The heat grew in strength, becoming uncomfortable before sputtering and dispersing as his mana bottomed out.

Shaping + 1

Samris covered his mouth in an effort to stifle his laughter. He shook his head with mirth dancing in his eyes as he got up and walked inside the manor.

What happened? What went wrong? I’m missing something really important here.

Jiran grabbed a portion of the density from his breakfast that was still roiling inside his stomach and converted it to mana.

Conjure forth the mechanisms of the body. What does that mean? How does that equate to making a flame on my finger?

Hmm the important bit is the mechanisms of the body. That sounds like the natural reactions that happen inside the body. Isn’t there millions of those though? The human body is insanely complex!

Maybe Brandon's memories hold a clue.

Jiran spent a few minutes shifting through the bland mental images that he usually ignored until he found something relevant.

Heat is friction!

Movement causes friction; heart beating, muscle fibers rubbing against each other. Carbs and fats are consumed in exothermic reactions producing energy and heat. What would happen if I used those for a mental image instead of just a little fire.

Jiran held up his finger again but just as he started the shaping, a feeling of intense danger spiked through his body. He leaped to his feet frantically looking for the beast whose fangs were moments from tearing him to pieces.

Finding nothing, he panted in relief while his heartbeat raged out of control.

What was that?! It felt so real. No, it was real. I can’t brush that off as something random, the feeling was far too strong. I knew for a fact I was in imminent danger. But there’s nothing around me, which can only mean I was about to hurt myself, badly.

I need to test this. I have to understand the process before putting it into action.

Flopping back to the ground, he prepared his mental image for the flame again. He pictured the friction that naturally occurred as muscles ground against one another. Then he imagined that heat escalating to the point where it was hot enough to combust the air.

No warning yet, keep going.

He grabbed a strand of emotions and directed it to his mana. The sense of extreme danger spiked again. His whole body instinctively jerked in response and he lost his focus, causing the feeling to fade.

Something about my mana, but what? I’ll try only using a smidgen instead of the entire pool to see if that triggers it.

Jiran ran through the same process again, this time only tapping the smallest glob of mana he could easily control. He pushed it through his hand and into the tip of his finger without a single warning. Feeling confident, he activated the shaping.

A bright red flame the size of his head erupted from the tip of his finger. The heat washed over his face with a blazing intensity that left him reeling. Jiran fell onto his back shouting as his face and hand erupted in pain.

https://imgur.com/sTbJhA4

It buuuuuuurns!