Standing in the baleful environment of the Forgotten Anomaly Realm, Kaiden prepared to sit and endure another session of training. However, Kairo stopped him for a moment.
"Wait, today, as you have already refined your energy to the initial degree, it is time to teach you the basics of your previous actions. In order to truly understand the workings of Energy, you must first understand the key difference. When you manipulate your energy to move, what feelings do you experience?", inquired Kairo.
Dissecting his question, Kaiden began pondering exactly what he was asking and replied. "I feel that I want my energy to listen to me and it inherently frustrates me when it doesn't uphold my expectations."
"Exactly, there lies the problem. In your actions, you are projecting the wanting feeling. However, you must project your dominance; you must WILL it. Only by imposing your will, can you become the master of your Energy.", powerfully informed Kairo.
"Wait, but if I want it, isn't that me already willing it to do what I want?", countered Kairo.
"Yes, and also no. The hidden concept lies in the degree of intensity. If was to tell you I want something and you don't want to comply with my wants and know you can resist - what would you do?" bluntly questioned Kairo.
"Simple, I would rebel if I truly do not feel like doing it... Ah!", as Kaiden was enlightened to where Kario was coming from.
"Precisely, now say I were to impose my dominant will over you, like...so...", immediately after the atmosphere rumbled, when suddenly it began inwardly collapsing and with it Kaiden's body imprinted in the realm's surface as if gravity suddenly increased a thousandfold. He was helpless, there was no action he could perform, except being influenced by the will.
"N-...ngahhh...", Kaiden struggled but the oppression was indisputable.
"You would be rendered helpless, left with no option other than to abide. And this my successor is the premise of the situation with you and your energy. Enact this phrase "You are not your energy but your energy is you.", for you have to realize the master-servant relationship you and energy will enter. You WILL be king of all subservience; breathe your will into your Energy!"
"Realize the underlying simplicity - to want is to ask, however, to will is to demand. Exert your dominance."
Releasing his will, Kairo calmy floated before Kaiden who once again sat up in lotus position, just his appearance was now slightly disheveled.
'I must impose my will on my Energy...My energy is mine and only my dominance is worthy to exert upon it. I must understand that the true meaning of the breathing sequence is to inhale the energy of the origin and exhale my will into my energy.'
Phewwww~
Exhaling a long breath, Kaiden closed his eyes, the scene before his resolute gaze faded to black as his thoughts became clear and focused with the only focal point being his energy center.
In his mind, he repeating one phrase over and over until it inherently lingered in his thoughts. 'Inhale energy, exhale my will, circulate my will; all must follow my will.'
As always, the momentum began small, however, gradually the circulation picked up velocity...1/9900th...1/9200th...l/9000th...
For the first time, by focusing his will and penetrating his energy, within 10 minutes Kaiden finally passed the threshold of 0.009 of a cycle. Miraculously, this intricate method further improved on the consumption of this Concentration, even though he reached this point, the consumption wasn't even half of what it previously was.
Not to mention, the speed was greatly increased as the energy's resistance was consistently dropping as it yielded to Kaiden's will. Kairo didn't conjure a Creation aura just yet as he wanted to determine Kaiden's endurance with this method.
10 minutes...22 minutes...40 minutes...
Kaiden tenaciously held on and as a result, he was able to influence his energy to travel 0.0021 of an entire cycle. At that point, his Concentration ran thin and his will wavered, but Kairo then conjured the Creation aura as he gained an estimate of Kaiden's Fortitude.
Fortitude was another Hidden Attribute that aligned with Concentration. It had other aliases - Will, Resolve, etc; the list went on. In simple terms, Fortitude determined the quantity and also the quality of your Concentration. The higher your Fortitude, the slower your consumption of Concentration.
Before his Concentration completely shattered, Kaiden was once again filled with exuberant energy causing no interruption in his training.
Kairo confirmed his thoughts as he nodded, "By this standard, he should soon be attaining Stage 2. At that time I'll explain to him the realms of cultivating one's self."
In addition, this type of Will imposition, as well as Concentration exhaustion, was a form of mental training. It was sharpening his drive which in turn reflected on his mental state.
'System: Mental state condensing through repetitive actions and beneficial training. Intelligence and Spirit increased by 1.'
'System: Mental state condensing through repetitive actions and beneficial training. Intelligence and Spirit increased by 1.'
'System: Mental state condensing through repetitive actions and beneficial training. Intelligence and Spirit increased by 1.'...
Once again, Kaiden cultivated his Inner Energy in a selfless state, meanwhile, Latahhya focused her gaze on him. Her eyes were slightly glazed over as the firm presence surrounding Kaiden resonated with her. It was something spurred on between their mystical connection as well as her personal preferences.
She was the type who likes a studious man, who also became self-absorbed in his own task, to where nothing but his own success mattered. Therefore, it didn't help that Kaiden's expression was so firm and resolute although his eyes were unseen.
She felt his emotions as well the will he was leaking as he imposed it on himself. Latahhya began biting her lip and Kairo was cognizant of all these actions, to which he smirked.
'She must be approaching heat, as her bloodline has been heavily accentuated. Unfortunately, she will have to go unquelled as he wasn't going to interrupt his successor's practice just to satisfy her basal needs.'
"Lass, I believe you should continue cultivating, I can feel the intentions exuding from your expression. It isn't time yet.", reminded Kairo as his eyebrows shot up, for this scene reminded him of his past.
Suddenly Kairo's expression became downcast as he mumbled to himself in a dejected tone "Oh how merciless the throes of time are, what isn't meant to survive never will. I...I miss you...Sierisha. I hope Samsara has done you no wrongs."
This touched upon of Kairo's deepest weaknesses and the reason he loathed the fact he couldn't touch the state of the Supremes'. He was unable to affect Samsara, which in turn subjected him to watching his love perish.
"M-mmgh? I...I don't know what's wrong...I was just suddenly filled with wrongful temptation as if my rational mind was weakening." while speaking an unnatural blush appeared on Latahhya countenance and her eyes glazed further.
'Ah, this lass is losing the battle of desires.', floating over to Latahhya, Kairo's stabbed out his left index finger with a silver luster, poking Latahhya's glabella. As a result, her expression gradually returned to normal, while her gaze regained a more natural look.
"Thank you!", said Latahhya gratefully as Kairo nodded. Taking a seat beside Kaiden, Latahhya struggled to wholly clear her mind to enter a suitable cultivating state. Despite trying, it was becoming increasingly difficult. While her thoughts were no longer driven by desire, now her body still throbbed. Her loins were itching for attention, but she was unaware of what this feeling was as she had never experienced the relations of a man and woman.
I know, how could a lady with such lust-inducing body not be a victim to the greatest pleasure known as sex? The answer was simple, rather than be interested in men. Latahhya's first interest was the thrill of adventure. This was one of the reasons she ended up with this bloodline in the first place.
'Haiz...this lass's instinctual lust from heat will later berserk if I use this method. unfortunately, this is the only viable remedy at this time; therefore it has to be done.'
Flicking his finger a stream of cerulean blue energy projected forwards. Its destination was Latahhya's abdomen. This stream of energy embodied the property of ice and void - the desolate freezing aspect.
The premise of Kairo's actions was that he was using this property to temporarily force Latahhya's ancestral lust into desolation ultimately causing these symptoms to subside. They were proving to be nothing but a hindrance to her at this moment.
The results were as he expected, Latahhyah's fidgeting ceased almost instantly. However, now she was limited in the actions she could currently take.
"At this moment, you're prohibited from refining your energy. You must focus on circulation because, in your current state, refinement will produce adverse effects.", warned Kairo as he closed his eyes to self meditate. Every ounce of power he used permanently weakened him, so he could only limit his output when it was unnecessary.
Even the act of aggregating energy for himself drained him let alone manipulating the laws of energy to instruct others. The sequela of that calamity was terrible, it left Kairo nearly crippled!
Finally, the atmosphere of the realm carried a serene feeling like all the inhabitants of the realm fell into a state of meditation, there was no distraction. In a realm devoid of life, there was no outside disturbance as the name suggested; this was a forgotten place.
In Crescent Wake Town...
"Where is Key! He's been gone for 4 days now and we have matters to tend to. Other parties have already snatched up all the first clears of the Lv.15-20 dungeons. While we have organized parties to also dungeon dive, something is lacking compared to the others.", complained a pouting Gentle Whisper as she sat on a Hotel bed.
The system interface indicated that Kaiden was still online, however, every time she sent a message the system responded instead.
'System: Your message has been sent to the user, however, it isn't delivered as the user is currently in a situation where they can't messages. The message will be stuck in transit until further notice.'
"Haha... he must be jacking off a good one or perhaps he found himself some cybercheeks. Oh how long it's been.", joked Hollow as MagicsSlave snickered along. These two were nothing short of a terrible pair, just shy of the Kaiden and Hollow duo.
"S-Shut UP! No one wants to hear about the situation in your guy's pants!", growled Gentle Whisper. For some odd reason, hearing that previous phrase irked her more than she realized.
"There, don't antagonize the girl. We need to prepare ourselves to attack the Lv.25 10-Man Dungeon 'Ruins of the Crescent Demon'.", demanded Symbolic Soul. Even though he was brand new, his aura was one of a leader, he brought order to the dysfunctional band and Gentle Whisper appreciated it.
"Correct, Thank you, Soul!", exclaimed Bella as she scrolled through the guild directory for 5 other suitable members.
Back in the Forgotten Anomaly Realm...
After countless hours, *300 hours in this realm* Kaiden was able to complete a full cycle of circulation, a shackle breaking from his body. As a result, Kaiden opened his eyes. The initial scenery in his vision was Kairo in a meditative state; his countenance was placid, reflecting his serene mind.
"Lad, I see you're able to complete a cycle of circulation in one go now. Excellent, you're on the cusp of reaching the basic requirements of our training. Take that next step, continuing persevering until it becomes second nature.", comment Kairo with his eyes stilled closed.
Complying, Kaiden continued another round cultivation. On the positive side, the cycle became more fluid and the beginning experienced less of a delay. In essence, once the first cycle was completed; it was only less difficult from that point.
1 cycle...2 cyles...2.5 cycles...3.6 cycles...
The occurrence of a complete cycle began to become more frequent as initially it took 8 hours then 7 and kept reducing in a similar manner. An energetic feeling invaded his being more and more.
Eventually, after a complete day outside had passed Kaiden reached the start wherein 10 seconds he could start circulation and finish a cycle in 30 minutes. At that point, Kairo stopped him.
"Hmm, alright lad, that's enough of this segment you've grasped. Now we need to move on to the real objective. It's about time to begin attempting the utilization of your energy to commence Constitution training.
At the thought of getting stronger quickly, Kaiden's gaze steeled. He was ready to take a step forward no matter the consequence.
"I'm ready, what do I need to do?", inquired Kaiden as he looked straight into Kairo's eyes.