"Mom where's my skateboard?" I said practically running out of my room, nearly tripping on all the stuff on the floor. "Today is it!" I thought today's the day I begin the core creative process. "It's in the closet Alex, and where are you going so early in the morning?" my mother said while reluctantly watching TV with my brother, though from what I can see it seems he's sleeping. "Also, we have to talk about your outburst during dinner," she said, turning towards me with an angry look on her face.
"Alright but I have to get going," I said walking towards the closet. "Alexander! you may not leave this house without talking to me first, now sit down and talk" she got up quickly and took a seat at the dinner table, clearly waiting for me to join her. The thought of just ignoring her didn't even cross my mind. Qi is the most mysterious and interesting thing that's ever happened to me, but this amazing woman before me was my mother, I couldn't bring myself to make her sad.
"Yes mom, what do you want to talk about?" I said while sitting down across from her. "Are you ok? you've been different these last few days".
She said while reaching out and touching my hand, staring at me with calm, caring eyes, though it only lasted a few seconds, just seeing that care filled face made me feel happy. "Yeah, I've been fine, though my minds been preoccupied with fixing up the cabin, how about you mom?". I said smiling slightly, I knew full well that I was lying to her but my mother is not the type of person who'd understand my desire to be free of the mundane.
"Honestly yelling at Samuel. What were you thinking everyone knows he's a brat that does whatever he can to mimic the actions of Richard…. And you know when he starts crying, he doesn't stop" she said while staring at me with unflinching eyes. I could feel her disappointment burning into my very soul. "So, what! I'm supposed to be belittled by my little brother, by everyone!" I shouted nearly waking up Samuel, but I didn't care to add on, "No from now on he's got to show some respect to me. Everyone does!"
I said in a loud broken voice, the feeling of being flushed with sudden heat, swept over me. I couldn't back down anymore, I said what I said and now had to stand my ground. She gave a large sigh and stopped tapping on the table….
"You're right. Your father and I shouldn't have allowed, Samuels bad behavior to grow to such an extent. But what do you mean everyone? Do you feel as though we haven't shown you respect?". Her face showed just how sad she was, a voice I didn't recognize, quieter than usual, her dark brown eyes became puffy and reddish. I didn't know what to say. "No mom it's not even what you think… I… was just... talking about… people in general". I said adding on, "I wasn't talking about you and dad"
I said trying to not upset my mother who's been overworked recently. Between taking care of my brother and working in the city as a nurse, she doesn't need a brat like me telling her about how much respect I think I deserve.
After a few minutes talking about mundane things. "Alright mom I going to get going", I said while getting up, until she brought up what I said during dinner. "So you think that Sherley girl likes you?" she said while staring at me playfully, "awe my little baby's all grown up now," she said reaching out to hug me. "It's nothing mom I was... just not thinking straight last night and miss understood some things," I said backing away from her hug.
"Don't you want my advice, I can give you all the knowledge you need to know about girls" she had a mischievous smile on her face while she said this and was pretending to have some kind of crystal ball, "I'm leaving bye"
"That had to have been the most awkward conversation in history," I thought while stepping out of my house. The scene was the same as always, the crowds of people holding surfboards, or some kind of beverage from the Longshore, House. It's really just a food and drink shop. But the owners marketed it to somehow be the heart of Longshore. Most of the locals don't even shop there much while making my way down the hill towards the forest, the wind felt like sharp whips slicing my face up, though the pain was little to the feeling of little, stings. I wish this feeling would last forever" I thought while blitzing down the street, with no concern in the world.
When I finally reached, the bottom of the hill and began the last stretch towards the forest. I decided to skate past the house of the girl with the ghastly grey aura. When I got to the house, I could feel that her aura had gotten stronger, now appearing condensed and more controlled.
Though she wasn't outside which was disappointing I could still feel her energy, which made me feel at ease. "If she's still here then I still have a chance with her," I thought while increasing my speed scared that someone may notice what I was doing.
"Alex!" a loud voice raged out, breaking the silence that blanked the entire neighborhood. The yell caused me to fall flat on my face, scraping up my hands and knees. "Are you ok Alex", a voice that I remembered all too well said. "Why the hell would you yell that loudly?" I said slowly getting up.
When I turned around, I saw her again, the girl with the ghastly grey aura was getting out of a car. She wasn't the person who yelled out at me, no… the person who did that was Sherley. Who was standing above me? Wearing a bright green swimsuit, her figure was busty, "sorry about that" she said while helping me up.
"What are you doing here?" I said patting the dirt off my body. "why can't I be here, huh Alex? The real question is what are you doing here?" she had changed, no longer the mean girl who belittled me every chance she could get. She now stood up tall and seemingly radiated light.
"Hello, umm Sherley who's this?" said the girl with the ghastly aura. She was wearing a black, swimsuit that covered most of her body, one of those full-body swimsuits she looked, skinny but every curve on her body was arousing, "You're beautiful" I wanted to shout out. "Hey Alex, why are you staring at her, you know she told me how you ran off when you saw her".
"Sherley I didn't say he ran off," the ghastly aura girl said in a timid, soft voice, "I didn't run off" I barked back at her. "I'm Alexander, Alex for short," I said, holding out my hand. "Hello Alexander, my name is Mercia, Sherley is my cousin. I'm here visiting her". Her voice was calm and elegant, her lips parted ever so slowly time was moving slowly between us. I could tell she felt it too.
Now that I stood so close to her, everything about her was magnified by ten, her beauty, eyes, skin everything felt beyond real. "Alright let's go Mercia, this guy has probably got a lot of things to do," Sherley said while grabbing Mercia and rushing off with her. Both Mercia and I said bye at the same time, I stood there for a while but left after Sherley yelled go away from inside the house.
The run through the forest was honestly the same, but the path was more clear, though not by much. When I reached the cabin, I was honestly astonished by the destruction that laid before me. "Why would I do this?"
I thought to stare at the aftermath of my rage. The shock was great but I knew I had to move forward, only hoping that I never did something like this again, After the shock, I moved a few things around to make moving around the cabin easier. When that was done, I grabbed, [core creation for beginners] and started learning more about qi core creation.
"One must be meditating and imagine a sphere-shaped hollowed ball, by focusing on the lower abdominal. Image qi entering said sphere, serving as the container for the qi. Then imagine the qi being condensed more and more, held in place by the outer layer of the sphere-shaped ball. This process will continue until you can either not bear the pain caused by condensing qi or when you feel as though you've condensed enough qi into the hollow ball, you will then have to allow the qi ball to be broken, releasing the qi into your body creating your qi core."
The process seemed simple, "all I have to do is meditate while imaging a hollowed ball, then fill it with qi". Alight, I thought while picking up the book and walking out of the cabin. I chose to go to the spot I was in when I first sensed qi, "that's my lucky place" I thought. The walk was strenuous and oddly longer than I imagined.
But when I got there I wasted no time, I plopped down on the dirt floor and began meditating. The feeling of controlling my breathing to an almost death-like state was hard. I didn't care though, I knew that I wouldn't die, no beyond this pain was only amazing riches. When I reached the point that any medical specialist would consider death, I forced my weary mind to focus on the place just below my abdominal.
There I placed the hollowed ball. it's done I thought, only to see the dragon with a fish's head enter the hollowed ball. it curled up and laid there. I didn't know what to do, but after seeing it absorbing the filth of the strange place it was once in.
I expanded on this and imagined the dragon to be a black hole that would take all the qi in the world into itself. This thought came to me strangely. With little to no clue I just went along with this one thought, "this dragon shall be the devourer of qi and because it is me and I am it, I in a way shall be the devour of qi".
This process went on for quite some time, I felt qi entering the dragon but it was so little, and the feeling of having sat their felt hours soon came to me. I would condense the qi then have the dragon devour a large portion of it, only to condense more and more qi. after some time the dragon was only absorbing a small portions of the qi, not because it grew ineffective no I simply condensed too much qi, the feeling of pain soon in soused, my body began to sweat profusely, a sharp pain would travel throughout my consciousness, intensifying in certain parts.
It felt as though my body was being eaten by the qi inside of me, "It's taking samples of me". I thought, flinching in pain while shaking uncontrollably, the pain made me want to kill myself, my body was lit aflame then, frozen solid, torn apart then repaired, dried up, then filled with vitality. This feeling went on, and on.
My consciousness being drawn into the qi. "I'm supposed to endure, I know that, but it hurts!" I shouted. The walls of the hollowed ball were about to break the qi inside seemingly growing at an enormous rate. "Eat, eat more, devour more you stupid dragon, do the part assigned to you!" I said, in more of a growl than anything else. Trying my hardest to maintain the ball, the feeling of my insides being destroyed raged through my mind. The qi was strong and violent, wanting to be set free.
Growing to such a huge, size that condensing it felt impossible. "I have to continue," I thought, this is my first step into the world of my dreams, how can I back down now when I stand at the door of everything I ever wanted. With all the strength I had left in my body, I screamed and screeched out in pain, my voice sounding, high pitched and wobbly.
Focusing all my effort into condensing the qi…. "this isn't enough" I thought. "Dragon!" I shouted before passing out, remembering the quote from an early passage of the book
"Grab what little you can and boldly walk the path of the martial artist!"