Apathy breathed in and then breathed out.
"Oha, is it fine now?" she asked.
She was naked and sitting inside a hot tub of green medicinal liquid, it was not too hot but she could feel the heat clearly. Just at the edge of too hot.
"Yes, it is fine now," Oha said, "The more your body is heated from all sides, the more you can feel yourself as a whole."
The girl nodded and then started to feel her own body.
But she was slightly distracted; she could feel the smell of crushed leaves, and the smell of salt, and hear silent sounds of her own breathing.
She started to calm her mind down and focused on what was important.
Her senses started to spread around.
She could feel each part of her skin distinctly, including her head since it was also heated due to the smoke coming out of the water.
Her blue eyes looked infront and then focused entirely, a drop of sweat slid down the side of her face and she calmly gulped.
Oha looked at each detail with a scrutinizing look.
The humid bathroom turned silent for a long second and Oha gently spoke: "Focus on each body part, your toes, can you feel the heat there?"
"Your soft legs, can you feel the hot water touching them?"
"The skin below the nails, does it feel slightly itchy?"
"The calf where you have a small wound in, does it hurt a bit?"
"Can the thighs feel the water...?"
Oha's voice calmly sunk into the background of her mind and she calmly felt her body from one part to the other, each second passed slowly and she started having a vivid imagination of herself.
Each part was vivid — as if she could feel herself sinking into a deep sense of reality.
She started to feel like a part of the world itself. As if she truly existed.
"Can you feel your face?" came Oha's old voice from some distance.
Apathy nodded, her heart beating in gentle thumps, she could feel something deep inside her stirring.
Focused, Oha said, "Now focus all the senses over your body onto your left foot, where the second World Bead resides."
All of the intense senses scattered around her body focused on her leg, she could immediately feel the wooden tub beneath it and the hot water surrounding her — She could feel a prickling, itchy sensation screaming for her to scratch.
She unconsciously clenched her foot, the hair all over her body stood up for a fleeting second and an electrical impulse passed through.
Her legs felt heavy for a second and then the heaviness traveled up, moving from the legs to her whole body.
Then the heaviness lingered for a second before vanishing.
Her heartbeat intensified, and her mind became fuzzy for a second. She breathed heavily and looked at Oha, asking weakly, her whole body perspiring heavily, but her mind still energetic: "Is it over, Oha?"
Oha didn't answer but smiled, her old complexion relieving itself: "Try coming out of the Tub."
Confused, Apathy took both sides of the tub with her delicate hands and tried to stand up.
Trkk crack.
The wood splintered under her grasp and the tub broke, the water sprinkled out from the side.
Astonished, she looked at it in wonder, slightly confused.
"Your second bead is activated now," Oha said from the side, taking Apathy's hand and helping her stand up, "First bead for the senses, second for the body, third for the true path."
Standing up and walking out of the tub, her body stumbling as it stood firmly on the rocky bathroom, she eagerly took her left leg in her hand and looked at it with her blue eyes.
"It's there!" she exclaimed, "I can see a small bead stuck inside my legs."
Oha smiled and walked a bit away from her and said, her voice casual: "Your current body is just that strong, that is nothing. Try thinking of the heaviness that oassed by and your Second World bead will activate."
Standing firmly on the ground, her naked body dripping with medicinal liquid, Apathy's eyes shined and she thought of that feeling, her snow tattoo blinked beneath her legs and the activation sped up, an intense Heaviness filled her body.
She clenched her hands and looked at her Oha, and said, "Oha, I feel as if I can break a boulder with a punch."
"I am sure you can do that."
"I feel as if a sword swing can cut through stone."
"If the sword is sharp enough."
Apathy chuckled, and turned the ability off with a thought, then amazed, looked down at the rocky floor.
Her hands had sunk into the rock, her body was too heavy. Too strong.