He found the place he was looking for, it used to be a big mall some ten years ago, but it had been shut down many years ago. The building was big and had many floors, there was plenty of space inside he knew, so he was sure he could find an empty floor or section of the mall.
He entered the building, the walls were covered with graffiti there were tents in the corners where some homeless people were leaving. They were just deadbeat junkies you will most probably find on most of such places in the city. So Ash took the stairs and started going up the floors, he heard some music from one floor, it looked like some gang was having a party here one look told him so, as there were hookers all over the place. As long as he minds his business they shouldn't be a problem so he continued upwards.
Finally he reached the terrace, this had to be it, it was much cleaner here, no junky half dead in the corner here and the view wasn't half bad.
"No one will disturb us here" said Ash.
"Shouldn't you have brought us to a park or forest or something, that's where my previous master used to train" said Relik.
"There are no forests here, and the one park in the city is full of people most of the timw even at night, anyway I don't even know what kind of thing we'll be doing here so once I get the idea I can look for an appropriate place" said Ash.
"Fine, let's start then, sit on the ground" said Relik.
Ash proceeded to sit.
"No not like that, cross your leg, like you are meditating" said Relik.
Ash followed the instructions.
"What am I doing now?" asked Ash.
"We'll start by establishing your core" said Relik.
"What's a core?" asked Ash.
"A core is everything for a spiritual being" said Relik.
"Yeah but what exactly is it?" asked Ash.
"I told you everything and anything" said Relik.
"Is it like a mental will kind of thing or physical strength?" asked Ash frustrated.
"Forget whatever you have read in your stupid books or whatever, close your eyes, listen to my words and do what you interpret" said Relik.
"Fine" said Ash and closed his eyes still a little confused.
"Like I said a core is everything, it can be anything, I will start with a short story, there was a very famous woman in another plane than this, her name was, well nobody knows her real name, but they used to call her the white dragon, she was known for nurturing one of the most creative and deep and brilliant cores ever, you see, the spiritual energy as the name suggests is bound to your spirit, the ether which it sometimes is called has no fix form, everything in the existence is made from it or is inferior to it, so your ether can be anything, it can take any form, it can become something you can't even think of, it can be something you can touch or it maybe a place, or maybe a simple thought, or maybe a mathematical formula, whatever your spirit finds the most synergy with, whatever your think of when you are in trouble when you are in panic, which gives you comfort, which gives your power, that's your core, believe it or not, it's your spiritual energy, no matter how minimal that's responsible for that strange bond, my previous master, had a memory in his head which he made his core, it's a pretty common thing now, it was Zavir the second who first thought of it, but then it caught on, since memories are very flexible and everyone has a very good memory so it's pretty common now, the woman I was talking about made a place her core, only it was not an actual place, it was just an imaginary place, a garden at first, then as her spirit got powerful and denser she could actually materialize it, that's when other people saw how beautiful and intricate it was" said Relik.
Ash took a moment to digest all of it.
"Let me get this straight, I can make anything my core, like a worm, a nuclear reactor Or even the sun" said Ash.
"Anything can be a core, but of of course it must be something your spirit has a connection to" said Relik.
"A thought? even a thought? How can a thought help me get powerful?" asked Ash still in doubt.
"You will understand immediately once you will experience it" said Relik.
"Now close your eyes and think of something like that, let me give you more options, some people choose animals as cores or other living beings that's a common theme, some choose elements too" he went on listing more bizzare things with no connection.
Ash was thinking now however, what comforted him though, what was that one thing he always did whenever he was too pissed at life, what was the one thing that no matter what happened to him always stayed with him. His pc? , his music collection, he liked action movies too, that's what he watched to distract himself from other things, he didn't have any hobby, like singing or painting. He did have a lot of bad habits too.
"So whatever I decide what my core is, if I do that thing? or think about it? or use it? it will give me power?" asked Ash.
"Yes the power you will give it, to strengthen it, it will give you back" said Relik.
"It can be anything?" again asked Ash.
"Anything" siad Ash. A not so clean thought came into his head, hadn't he read a similar plot in some comic, should he ask? he was too curious now.
"What about like carnal energy, like sexual acts?" asked Ash.
"How do you know about, the Scardavians?" asked Relik immediately.
"Scard What?" asked Ash.
"Yeah, Scards, that's what they are usually called, its a tribe which uses intimate acts and simiy things to power themselves" said Relik.
"So it is a thing?" asked Ash.
"Yeah" said Relik.
"and is it like, inappropriate, like do people look down upon them" asked Ash.
"No, I mean, it's not something beautiful, something intricate like the garden I told you, did I mention there were a thousand kinds of flowers in that garden, on most planes it's not considered anything special, it's just a choice" said Relik.
"Fine then maybe I'll do that" said Ash.
"Really you want your core to be sex?" asked Relik.
"No, actually, it's love" began Ash he already had the whole speech planned in his head.
"Love the purest and most precious emotion and thing humans can do, it's what is responsible for most beautiful things in the world, humans we are social animals, we need love, we need human touch, and sex is just a way to express that beautiful love" said Ash.
"Well if you put it that way" said Relik slowly.
"Fine, so how exactly are we doing this then?" asked Relik.
"What are you making your core, the thought and act of sex?, you'll have to pinpoint a certain thing still, like I said these kinds of things are very flexible, so you wouldn't have to actually have sex all the time, doing anything relating to that will activate it in the future" said Relik.
"No, not that, it's going to be my dick" said Ash.
"What? That's not much like the speech you have earlier" said Relik.
"You said that the core will strengthen as you give more energy to it right? Then yes" said Ash.