The Old Master approached the door and after making a few gestures, indecipherable to the eye, a click was heard, the door magically opened.
"Well, now it's your turn son" said the old man turning around.
"Me?" asked the puzzled pupil.
Seeing their friend full of doubts, Rei and Cody offered for explanations.
"Elder, this is the first time we've been here, can we know what's beyond the door?" asked Cody.
Of the three, the little boy was certainly the one most familiar with the Elder, he spent a lot of time in his personal library after all.
But the Elder avoided any explanation and said, "All I can say is to stay calm and take your time, we'll talk when you get out, ah, take the puppy with you."
Rada continued to remain doubtful at the pragmatic words of the master, but decided to keep his wise words in mind anyway. Thus, he advanced towards the mighty door under the anxious eyes of the two siblings.
"Will Elder be all right?" asked Rei. Who knows why, knowing that the boy would stay in that creepy place alone caused concern in her.
"Ohohoh, don't worry my child, this is nothing but a rehearsal for him, there is no danger," replied the teacher, smiling at the relieved faces of the two siblings.
When the door closed behind them, the young man and the puppy found themselves in a huge circular room, there was little light and it seemed to be very bare, there was nothing in particular but a bed and some reserves of food and water.
(What a strange place... The air seems to be so thick, you can hardly breathe almost) said Rada to herself. However, shortly afterwards she noticed that the heavy air was not the only peculiarity of the room.
After trying to take a step forward, Rada felt an immense force pushing him down.
"Damn!" he exclaimed.
Taken aback, he let the puppy fall from his arms. A thousand thoughts ran through his mind. What on earth was going on?
(Could it be a gravity field?!) was the first thing he thought of.
No doubt some stuff from the movies, but even if it was improbable and unrealistic, he didn't feel like discarding that option. Who knows how many other incredible things the new world he found himself in hid.
Put in a quadrupedal position, Rada tried with all his strength to get up, but it was all useless, he even had difficulty moving his head, his face was turned towards the ground. All he could see was his sweat falling on the ground drop by drop.
Blood began to pour out of his orifices, leaving the boy in a panic, his breathing became shorter and shorter, he didn't know what was going on at all.
After a moment, before his face contorted in pain, a small silhouette appeared.
"Kiba?"
He couldn't believe what his eyes saw.
"What the hell?!"
Little Kiba walked towards him and positioned himself near his face quietly.
Rada's eyes almost popped out of their sockets in surprise.
"Kiba how the hell are you doing this! I'm standing here suffering like a dog while you're wandering around quietly like nothing!" he said in a tone of frustration.
But he knew it wasn't because of the puppy, there had to be a reason to what was happening to him. Taking a deep breath, he calmed down and watched every tiny movement of the puppy beneath him.
(There must be a very specific reason).
He continued to observe the puppy for several minutes, but found nothing particularly remarkable. Time passed and he felt like he was being crushed against the floor; he had to hurry.
While the puppy continued to watch the young man above him, his small golden eyes were slowly glowing, as if waiting for some kind of signal before exploding.
The young man and the puppy continued to observe each other for a continuous amount of time.
"One moment..."
Suddenly, Rada remembered the old master's words.
Looking at the puppy, a simple but unique word came to his mind: "Meditation."
"The master said to remain calm and take as much time as I need."
All his knowledge, gained from the fantastic stories he read in his spare time, all the heroes who climbed the skies and fought against other immortals, all had one thing in common in their growing up stage, meditation.
Becoming aware of this, Rada closed her eyes and began to take deep, slow, long breaths. He had no way to get into a more comfortable position, so he just had to do it that way.
He let his mind wander into the sound of his breathing, the rhythm, the depth. Minute by minute, he began to feel his body getting lighter and lighter and for a moment he was surprised. He quickly regained control of his emotions and noticed that his body was becoming able to move again. He continued to move slowly until he found himself sitting cross-legged.
He continued to enjoy the feeling, not realizing that his body and spirit were being continually strengthened. What Rada was doing was a clear demonstration of how each cultivator was working with perseverance and dedication to ascend to immortality.
Only he still had no idea, there was a slight misunderstanding between him and his new master, that the young man had no idea at all how to advance his spirit and body through cultivation.
It was common practice that anyone who wanted to become a cultivator needed a certain predisposition to absorb the spirit of heaven and earth. Only through this continuous repetition of this cycle between body and spirit could one ascend to higher levels of cultivation.
But Rada didn't know this, all he knew were casual theoretical notions acquired through books read in her bedroom. He had no idea how to absorb the spirit of heaven and earth, or what a cultivator really was.
Of course, not even the Elder could know anything about it, after all, how could he have imagined his student to be so out of the ordinary? That's why he left out some important details. Details that, if avoided, would have seriously endangered the boy.
Fortunately for both of them, Rada succeeded in the enterprise, despite the initial situation seemed desperate, he managed to get perfectly in tune with the nature of the spirit that surrounded him.
Kiba remained seated in front of him, this time however his small and thick tail was moving continuously in sign of joy, he seemed to be happy with what he was seeing.
Rada opened his eyes, he didn't know how much time had passed, but he didn't give much thought to it, his mind was completely free of any unnecessary thoughts, around him there was only stillness.
"Hmm? It seems to be okay now," he said breathing a sigh of relief.
"Little guy, is this what you wanted to tell me?" he gave a smile to the puppy, who seemed to be more vital than usual.
The puppy's eyes were glowing brighter and brighter, for some reason, Rada felt he shouldn't take his eyes off of him.
(Could this have something to do with the bond the old master was talking about?) he thought.
Not knowing how to react, he decided to let events guide him.
The eyes of the young man and the puppy became as if in sync. The light emanating from one reflected off the other, forming a bond.
BOOM!
Rada felt a roar in his mind that made both his body and spirit tremble.
Next, a series of images crossed his mind, images of peace and happiness. A puppy in the arms of a beautiful silver-haired woman, next to her, a man of regal bearing, exuding a proud expression.