65 First, There Must Be Ligh (2/2)
On the other hand, Ye Qingxuan was almost banging his head on blackboard in frustration, but he still did not understand. ”What the heck?”
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He closed his eyes, sensed the aether, and chanted the syllable. The aether came and revolved around his fingertip. They collided with each other and solidified into a nonexistent crystal. In the end, a bit of light began brewing, about to expand, but in the next moment, everything lost control and fell apart.
So close. It was always so close!
Ye Qingxuan hung his head over the table in hopelessness and sighed. It was like this every time. Every single time he was close to success, but always lacked a tiny bit in control over the syllable. He had done everything the book said, but he still could not succeed.
”How do you do it?” he asked Bai Xi helplessly.
”The feeling. It’s simple, just go with the feeling.”
”What does that even mean?” Ye Qingxuan did not understand at all.
”It means to go with the feeling. It’s so simple!”
”…You make it sound so simple that I almost believe you. I recited everything like you.”
”It’s different.” Abraham shook his head. ”No two people on this world have the same exact voice. Even if you can imitate her timbre perfectly, the sound of your heart is different from hers. It’s not a good thing to blindly imitate. Not to mention, we sing the same rune differently than in the East and in India.
Abraham continued, ”Don’t blindly imitate another person’s voice. Focus on your spirit. Everyone has their own frequency.” He paused and said something familiar to the youth. ”The voice is just the surface. What is important is the communication between your will and the aether.”
Ye Qingxuan thought carefully and seemed to understand something, his heart calmed down a little. He thought back to the night when he communicated freely with the aether. Closing his eyes, he sensed the beautiful and wavering light around him.
The light known as aether floated randomly in all directions. He could sense as more and more aether joined in the distance, entering the vortex-like halo. He felt as the aether collided against each other, sparking white-hot light, like a sun rising over the dark earth. He was sensing the aether. It was the rune that Bai Xi had cast.
”I think I slightly understand.” Ye Qingxuan opened his eyes slowly and gazed at his outstretched finger. He whispered, ”The theory is complicated, but it’s just like a machine, right? Use the correct syllable to communicate and you’ll get the correct result. If the result is wrong, then it’s because the syllable is different. Even though I can’t grasp the vague ‘feeling,’ at least I understand this. I’ll succeed this time.”
The youth recited the syllable and stared at his fingertip. ”First, there must be light.”
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Only the youth’s murmurs sounded in the silence. A formless strength drew a faint outline. The rune slowly formed in his heart, guiding him to recite the syllable. In the faint sound, a dim ray of light formed from the emptiness, wrapping around his finger. The dim light was like a flickering candle in the wind—about to go out, but struggling to survive.
Finally, the weak light finally turned into a ring on the youth’s fingertip. The ring wavered, and finally transformed into an uneven ball of light. It was the result of insufficient control over the aether. The ball of light was barely there, as if it would fall apart within a blink of an eye, but Ye Qingxuan smiled.
”There’s finally light,” he breathed.
Charles had run over sometime when Ye Qingxuan had be practicing. He blew and the glow dissipated, instantly extinguished.
”Such a weak light.” Charles shook his head. Seeing the unhappiness on Abraham’s face, he cried, ”Professor, don’t get angry! I know what the problem is!”
Abraham sighed. ”If you know, then say it and act like a senior. Seeing you like this, I’m scared that you’ll get beaten up when you walk at night…”
”Ah, Professor, what are you talking about? I’m just above average in looks.” Charles laughed and dragged over a chair to sit down. Patting Ye Qingxuan’s shoulder, he said, ”Don’t be sad. Bai Xi’s talent is a lot more powerful than yours. It’s totally natural for you to be slower than her. Anyway, you learned a basic rune in half an hour. Even though you’ve only just learned it, and still haven’t gotten to the point of using it, you’re still like a genius out there.”
”…Sorry, are you complimenting me? I can’t tell.”
”Of course. Most students will spend the entire day practicing and not be able to find the ‘feeling,’ even with the guidance of a teacher, or if put in an aether immersive environment.”
Hearing this, Ye Qingxuan thought of his ten days of fruitless effort and could not help but sigh. ”I understand, I understand.”
”So, do you know what your problem is? It’s the feeling!”
”Feeling?”
”That’s right. Feeling!”