Chương 250: Professor Thara

The acolyte's expression remained neutral.

"Professor Thara has been assigned as temporary instructor for the... less experienced candidates. She is waiting for you in the Eastern Pavilion." Less experienced candidates. A polite way of saying 'the village boy who doesn't belong here.' Fair enough. I couldn't exactly argue with the assessment.

"Lead the way," I said, rising from my meditation cushion.

"The Eastern Pavilion is part of the Aspirants' Quarter," the acolyte explained as we walked along a winding stone path.

"It's where initiates receive their foundational training." I nodded, taking in our surroundings. The path wound through meticulously maintained gardens, where blue flowers of impossible shapes bloomed alongside more conventional plants. Small streams crisscrossed the landscape, their waters so clear they seemed almost invisible except for the occasional flash of silver as fish darted beneath the surface.

"Beautiful," I murmured, more to myself than my guide.

"The gardens were designed by Master Liora, the Academy's seventh Headmistress," the acolyte replied, clearly pleased by my appreciation.

"She believed that harmony in our surroundings promotes harmony within. The arrangement of plants, water, and stone is said to form a massive meditation formation that subtly enhances spiritual clarity." Clever. Like the Red Sun Academy, the Blue Sun Academy was essentially one enormous cultivation aid, every element carefully positioned to maximize attunement with its sun.

"Who is Professor Thara?" I asked.

"I was told little about my instruction." The acolyte's step faltered almost imperceptibly.

"Professor Thara is... unconventional. But brilliant. She's one of the youngest full professors at the Academy." After several more minutes of walking, we arrived at a circular building with a domed roof made entirely of blue crystal. Unlike the rest of the Academy's polished perfection, this place had an air of organized chaos about it. Various easels, instruments, writing desks, and sculpting tables were arranged throughout the space, many bearing half-completed works.

"The Eastern Pavilion," the acolyte announced, gesturing to the entrance.

"Professor Thara awaits within." I thanked him and stepped through the arched doorway into the pavilion. The inside was even more eclectic than I'd glimpsed through the crystal walls. Art supplies were everywhere: jars of pigment, brushes of various sizes, chisels, sheets of parchment, blocks of stone and wood. The air smelled of ink, paint, and some kind of sweet incense.

At the center of this creative chaos, a young woman was frantically organizing what appeared to be a stack of scrolls and tomes, muttering to herself as she worked. Her blue robes were of high quality but slightly rumpled, as if she'd been too preoccupied to notice or care about her appearance. Her dark hair was pulled back in a haphazard bun, with several strands escaping to frame her face. Most striking were her eyes behind a pair of slim, wire-framed glasses, a bright, electric blue. I cleared my throat.

"Professor Thara? I'm Tomas, the... new candidate." My voice seemed to jolt her from her focused state. She visibly startled, nearly dropping the heavy tome in her hands, and spun to face me with wide eyes.

"Oh! Oh, yes, of course. Tomas. The village boy with the extraordinary resonance. Right on time, or are you early? I'm sorry, I've completely lost track..." She glanced around as if hoping to find a clock somewhere among the artistic clutter. I was perplexed. For someone supposedly assigned as a master to a candidate, her reaction seemed oddly unprepared. If she was truly a powerful Lightweaver, shouldn't she have sensed my approach? Was she that distracted by her organizational task?

"I believe I'm on time, Professor," I offered.

"The acolyte just brought me here."

"Yes, yes, wonderful." She set the tome down and approached me, adjusting her glasses as she did so. I wondered about those glasses. Did a Lightweaver actually need them to see, or was it more of a stylistic choice? Perhaps they served some function related to her cultivation.

"I'm Professor Thara," she said with a smile that transformed her previously frazzled expression into something warm and welcoming.

"I've been assigned as the tutor to help candidates from less... traditional backgrounds catch up to the others before the Selection. Though I must say, your case is quite unique."

"How so?" I asked, genuinely curious about what she might have been told.

"Well, most candidates spend years preparing for this moment. They study under masters, memorize sacred texts, practice the fundamental techniques until they're second nature." She gestured vaguely at my entire person.

"And then there's you, a miller's son with no formal training who somehow demonstrates blue sun resonance that apparently rivals Lady Laelyn's. It's unprecedented." The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. I offered my best humble village boy smile.

"I'm as surprised as anyone, Professor."

"I'm sure you are." She gave me an assessing look.

"But we don't have time to dwell on the mystery of it. You only have three days until the Selection, so we don't have time to waste with history and the other less practical subjects. We're jumping straight into the deep end." She moved to a nearby table and began sorting through various scrolls, pulling one out and unfurling it to reveal a detailed anatomical diagram of what appeared to be the human energy system. Blue lines traced complex patterns throughout the body, converging at several key points.

"First things first," she said, tapping the diagram.

"Do you know what a Cerulean Vein is?"

"Lady Laelyn mentioned it during our journey here. Something she was born with?"

"Exactly," Professor Thara nodded approvingly.

"The Cerulean Vein is the foundation of all Lightweaver cultivation. It's a channel within the practitioner that allows them to properly connect with, absorb, and utilize the blue sun's energy." She traced a finger along one of the blue lines in the diagram.

"Most Lightweavers must create their Cerulean Vein through a combination of meditation, specific channeling techniques, and rituals to attune themselves to the blue sun. But some, like Lady Laelyn, are born with a natural Cerulean Vein, an inborn conduit that gives them an innate connection to the First Light from birth." This was fascinating. The parallel to the Skybound's Foundational Rune was obvious, but there were subtle differences that intrigued me.

Where the Foundational Rune was carved physically, usually into the practitioner's skin, the Cerulean Vein appeared to be more of an energetic construct. A question had been nagging at me since I first began to understand this world's cultivation systems, and this seemed like an appropriate time to ask it.

"Professor, do Lightweavers have their own blue sun within them? Is that where your power comes from?"

"Goodness, no!" Thara laughed.

"If we did, we wouldn't need a Cerulean Vein at all. The vein is precisely what connects us to the external source of power, the actual blue sun in the sky." She had just confirmed something incredibly valuable, unlike Skybound and Lightweavers who relied on an external power source, I actually did have suns in my inner world. That fact alone might give me advantages I hadn't yet explored.

"The design of one's Cerulean Vein," Thara continued, "determines the path of their Lightweaver journey, whether they will be a painter, sculptor, singer, calligrapher, or another type of practitioner. Each design facilitates a different method of expression and manifestation." Another parallel to the Skybound's system, where the design of one's Foundational Rune influenced their elemental affinity and combat style.

"Are there other methods?" I asked, thinking of a Rank 2 Lightweaver I'd once fought who had channeled blue sun energy through a sword.

"I mean, beyond the artistic expressions you mentioned."

"There are other approaches," she admitted, "such as channeling through weapons or tools. But those are generally considered... inferior methods." She wrinkled her nose slightly.

"They're typically adopted by those with less innate talent or those who come to blue sun cultivation later in life." That explained why such practitioners tended to be lower-ranked. They were working with handicaps from the start.

"What about those born with a Cerulean Vein, like Lady Laelyn? Do they get to choose their path, or is it predetermined?" Thara smiled.

"Those are the lucky ones. Their natural Cerulean Vein already aligns with the method they have the most affinity for. They don't need to make the difficult decision you now face, they simply follow the path their body and spirit are already attuned to."

"And what decision is that?" I asked, though I suspected I already knew the answer.

"Which type of Cerulean Vein to create," she replied.

"I'll explain the four primary types in detail, and then you'll need to make your choice. And unfortunately," she added with a sympathetic grimace, "you don't have years to ponder the decision like most initiates do." An interesting constraint. Under normal circumstances, I would prefer to gather more information before making such a momentous choice. But time was not a luxury I had. A thought occurred to me.

"Is there a way to design the Cerulean Vein so I could use all the methods? Why limit myself to one approach?" Thara's eyes lit up.

"An ambitious question! We'll get to that. But first, let me explain each method properly so you understand what you'd be attempting to combine." She clapped her hands twice, and the sound seemed to reverberate through the pavilion more than it should have. Three blue-robed figures entered the pavilion in response to her signal, two men and a woman.

"I've asked a few of our Rank 2 Lightweavers to assist us today," Thara explained.

"While I could attempt to demonstrate all four methods, it would be like having a fish explain mountain climbing for some of them." She laughed lightly.

"Better to learn from those who have dedicated themselves to mastering each particular approach." She guided us all to a different part of the pavilion where four distinct workstations had been set up, one with musical instruments, another with sculpting tools, a third with calligraphy brushes and ink, and the fourth with painting supplies.

"Let's begin with Song," she said, stepping toward the musical instruments.

"Vibrational Resonance is one of the oldest methods of channeling blue sun energy. Practitioners convert the light into sound waves that can manifest physical effects." She gestured to one of the workstations.

"Song is my specialty, so I'll demonstrate this one myself."

"But before I begin, I should explain something important," Thara said, her eyes bright with enthusiasm.

"All four methods can, for the most part, achieve the same end results. While the approaches differ, a master of any method can create virtually anything another method can, whether it's barriers, weapons, or even living beings." She picked up a small harp.

"The advantages of Song are significant, sound travels everywhere within its range, allowing for area effects that other methods struggle to achieve. Song can also bypass certain defenses, as sound waves can penetrate barriers that might block physical or even other energy-based attacks." She ran her fingers across the strings, producing a haunting melody that seemed to linger in the air longer than it should have. The notes hung suspended, glowing faintly blue in the space between us.

"And what I'm about to create isn't just a construct or illusion," she explained.

"When a Lightweaver channels the blue sun's energy through any of these methods, we're bringing true life into being, living, breathing creatures with their own essence."

"Now let me show you," she said with a smile.