Alexander turned around to face his father. The older man smiled at him kindly. "Are you ready yet?"
"Ugh..." Alexander groaned, rolling his eyes. Why did he even have to ask him? Of course he wasn't ready!
"Don't worry, it'll take just half an hour." His father assured him. "And trust me, you won't regret this!"
As soon as the words left his lips, Alexander suddenly remembered extreme pain he would go through each Sunday evening before bed.
There was nothing pleasant about that experience, but he knew that it didn't matter if he resisted. Alexander could only lower his head and do what his father says.
"Let's go, everything is already set." Alexander's father got up and went to a shed in their backyard.
Inside this shed was a large barrel with a firepit underneath it. Inside the barrel was a greenish slightly viscous liquid bubbling. It looked rather disgusting, and the pungent medicinal smell was hard to bear, but Alexander knew better than to say anything.
If he complained about anything, his father would just throw him into the barrel, so he chose to obediently get in himself. When he did, his father stoked the fire under the barrel using a wooden rod and walked away leaving Alexander alone.
A minute passed, maybe two, before Alexander felt the medicinal bath take effect. The pain slowly started spreading across his skin.
Within moments, he couldn't move a muscle without feeling an intense burning sensation throughout his entire body. It was as if someone replaced his blood with magma. Even breathing hurt.
"Just 28 minutes left. I can do this." Alexander said through gritted teeth. Every breath burned in his lungs. Each second dragged by painfully slow, but he forced himself to remain motionless.
Suddenly, a thought occurred to him. Maybe, just maybe, he could use the meditation technique to block off the pain? He never tried that before, but if he succeeded in blocking off the pain, it would be worth it to try. Or at least that's what he hoped.
However, there was an issue. While he could use the meditation to enter a trance-like state, before that, he would go through a state in which his senses are sharper than ever.
"Will the pain be too much then?" He wondered aloud. "If so, I should stop now..."
No, he decided. He had a vague feeling that he was onto something. No regrets here. He had a feeling that if he stopped now, he would forever regret it.
With a deep breath, Alexander entered the altered state of mind, entering the world between waking and sleeping where his consciousness began to expand from a tiny point in his head to slowly permeate his entire body. As it spread, Alexander could feel his senses increase several folds.
It seemed as if he could feel each and every cell of his body separately. Unfortunately, this increase in senses included an increase in sense of pain. The scorching hot feeling inside his body was replaced by sharp stabbing pains that stabbed into every single cell of his.
In less than twenty seconds, Alexander reached the limit of his ability to withstand pain. But despite his vision almost going black, that feeling that he grasped something never went away. In fact, it only grew stronger!
"Just a little more!" He urged himself.
At some unknown moment, he finally managed to grasp the source of the pain. It came from within his own body itself!
From the very core of his existence, from the place where his soul dwells. Alexander gasped sharply in shock as he realized this. Was this really possible?! Was it the fabled state of enlightenment?
Then, as quickly as it happened, the pain vanished. All sensations ceased instantly. Only an empty void remained.
When he finally opened his eyes, instead of the shed, he saw his living room's ceiling. He blinked several times to regain his sight, realizing that he was inside his house.
"That was awfully bold of you, Alexander. Frankly, I did not expect you to pull this kind of thing." His father said as he approached him with a cup of water.
"Thanks, dad." Alexander downed the cup in one go.
Once done, he rubbed his hands and arms vigorously. They were covered in sweat due to the effort he put forth during the ordeal. Yet, while he sweated profusely, it was clear that his muscles weren't sore nor tired whatsoever.
"I just got this vague feeling that I must do it." He explained.
His father nodded approvingly. "Indeed. Sometimes, you just gotta go along with your instincts. Now tell me, how do you feel?"
"Good, actually. My body feels lighter somehow. And all the pain is gone. Usually, it would persist until the noon of the next day, slowly fading away, but today it's just gone." Alexander reported.
It took Alexander quite some time to explain his feelings properly since he still didn't get a total grip on his condition, but then he saw his father smiling mysteriously. That smile gave him a weird feeling as if his father knew something that he didn't.
"Alright, let's go to the backyard." His father got up and led him outside. It was already past sunset but some light still got over the horizon.
"Attack me." His father ordered him firmly.
Alexander hesitated for a brief moment. Sparring again? However, since his father has already dragged him here, he could only comply. With a sigh, he closed his eyes and concentrated on his breathing.
After a couple of breaths, he opened his eyes and charged forward toward his opponent. The moment he rushed forward he noticed something weird. His body actually felt as light as a feather!
He was moving faster than ever before! He felt like he could run across the entire planet and not tire himself out! He flung his fist out with all his strength.
His father immediately dodged his attack and countered with a punch to his stomach. Alexander grunted in pain and fell backward. But before he could complain in his mind, he realized that he has already recovered. A split second after landing on the ground, he was standing upright again.
"Wow..." He murmured softly. "Are you going easy on me today?"
"Not a bit." His father grinned broadly. "Now, hit me back!"
Even though he wanted to protest against such treatment, Alexander understood that his father wouldn't listen. So instead of complaining, he could only attack once again. He rushed forward with all of his newfound might and punched out.
In a blink of an eye, he appeared in front of his father. His heart pounded wildly, as his newfound strength filled his entire being with a sense of excitement. Subconsciously, Alexander wrote it off to the effects of adrenaline, but it really felt as if he could move mountains.
His fist moved swiftly, enough to create a slight whistling sound but it was effortlessly blocked by his father's palm. It was at this moment when Alexander felt something coming towards him from his side and he hurriedly blocked.
To his surprise, he found himself facing an incoming kick aimed directly at his solar plexus! He barely managed to catch it, throwing him backward. He looked at his father with eyes full of surprise. Did he just block it?