Chapter 107 - Black Flame (1/2)

The rest of the car ride was strangely quiet. The now falling snow added a layer of insulation to the world, causing both Kat and Laz to feel isolated. Due to the time of night and the snow, the roads were clear of other drivers. Even snow plows seemed to be absent.

Once they got back, they went went their separate ways with Kat heading upstairs while Laz went to the hall and then to his room. After getting himself cleaned up, Laz tried to sleep, but felt like he was still wide awake. Sitting up on his bed, Laz assumed a lotus position as he had seen Kat do and began his cultivation. Since he didn't have the interference from the water, he was clearly able to feel the source essence in the air rush into him as though he was a human vacuum. It rushed throughout his body and finally settled into the ever shrinking ball. Laz, now used to the feeling, spent time pressing the ball tighter and tighter. Every time he was able to make it smaller, it was like a void in his body opened up, causing even more of the source essence to rush in to fill the gaps. If Laz had any single complaint, it was that it seemed to take too long to refill his body every time he pressed the ball tighter.

Of course, Laz had no idea that the reason for this was because the amount of source essence in the air was still incredibly small. Had there been a larger amount or if he were back near the flower and the pond, his way of drawing energy would have caused him to blow up like a balloon and possibly explode.

Laz was able to draw and compact the energy 8 times before a knock came on his door. Not thinking too much, he called out,

”What is it?”

”Time to get up!” Came Kat's response through the door.

”What do you mean? We just went to bed like 10 minutes ago..” Laz was a bit confused. Before he tried going to sleep originally, he had looked at the time and knew it was around midnight. Therefore, he should have had about 6 hours before she came to wake him up. Laz felt that something didn't add up right.

”It's already 7. Since we got to bed late, I went and cooked breakfast before coming to wake you.”

”Really?” Laz asked while getting out of bed to find his phone. Noticing the time on it verified what Kat had said, Laz felt weird.

He walked over to the door and opened it up to find Kat standing there in an apron. Laz had a strange feeling of being woken up by a big sister, but that thought came and went quickly. The only reason he did so was to make sure he wasn't having a strange dream.

”You ok?” Kat asked while observing the strange expression on Laz's face.

”Yeah? Yeah! I'm ok. It's just weird since I felt like I didn't sleep at all.” Laz took a moment to collect himself and looking himself over, he felt like he was, in fact, ok. In fact, he felt great, like he had slept a full 8 hours. Shaking his head a few times, Laz smiled at Kat to convince her.

Unfortunately for Laz, Kat was far from being gullible.

”What happened?”

”Nothing.”

”Tell me!”

”No. Really. Nothing.”

At this moment, Kat began to remove her apron and slowly started taking steps into the room. Laz realized that if he didn't talk, she was going to make him talk.

”Ok. Ok. Stop. Wait...”

”Too late...” Kat was taking each step in a slow and unhurried pace, getting closer and closer to Laz. On the other hand, Laz kept taking a step backwards, one after another, to keep away from her.

”It was nothing ok. I just felt like I had cultivated all night and didn't sleep. So when you knocked, I was in a daze and still sitting in my bed not knowing what had happened. But it turns out I feel great so it should have just been a dream. See?? Nothing to worry about.” Laz had reached the bathroom door and realized that there was no where else to back up too. Luckily, Kat stopped after hearing his explanation.

”Really?”

”Yeah. Honest.”

Kat took a quick look over Laz, even going so far as to put her hand on his forehead to check for a fever. Not finding anything, she let out a silent breath that she had been holding.

”Ok, well, from now on, don't try to do that before bed. Your not actually rested just so you know. If anything, your body is wired as though you were jacked on caffeine. I didn't warn you about this because I didn't think I had to. You weren't exactly getting the hang of cultivating through meditation so I figured there was no use in telling you. Guess the pool helped you way more than I thought,” Kat half explained what his problem was.

”Yeah, the pool...” Laz unknowingly looked at his finger when he thought about the previous night, causing Kat to go a bit red. She quickly grabbed his hand and dragged him out the door while trying to explained what had happened to him thereby changing the subject.

”You basically loaded up on source essence and caused your body to be full of energy. Although it's fine if you do it during normal times when you are awake, it's not good to do that at night. You still need to sleep like a normal human... AND STOP LOOKING AT YOUR DAMN FINGER BEFORE I BREAK IT OFF.” Kat lost her cool and screamed as Laz seemed to not be paying attention.

”YEAH. Uh... yeah. Sorry.”

”Don't be sorry, just don't think about it. Ever again. Understood?” They had reached the stairs and had begun to climb them, entering into the apartment.

”Yeah. Yes, yes ma'am.” Laz finally came back to his senses.

”Good. Now eat.” Kat and Laz both sat down and started to enjoy the breakfast she had prepared.

”Have you heard from Jon yet?” Laz asked at one point, putting down his orange juice.

”No. Not yet. I left him a voicemail, but I haven't gotten anything back yet.”

”Oh.” Laz was feeling a bit worried.

”Don't go looking like that. He's like this sometimes. He could be away for days, especially when there is no class scheduled for the week due to the holiday.”

”Holiday?” Laz had lost track of time once he stopped paying attention to it.

”Thanksgiving? This Thursday? Ring a bell?” Kat asked.

'Already?' Laz thought to himself, but he just responded to Kat with an ”Ah” as though it had just slipped his mind.

”Anyway, he will be back any day now, but just in case, he left us some stuff to practice while he's gone. Besides, you have to head back next week,” Kat reminded Laz.