Mother
"Only 1%?"
"All humans with power start at the bottom of the scale. All humans who gain celestial powers gain only 1% of their maximum abilities upon entering their other-whole for the very first time." He sounded so melancholic, so experienced. But also very menacing.
"Now try thinking of an image of energy enveloping the palms of your hands. Then feel your surroundings for this energy and release it."
After hearing this advice, I used the image of energy pouring out from within my hand, in my mind. I used this image to supply power to the influx of energy, currently festering inside my shallow body.
After I thought of this image, the dark mist started to form at the palms of my hands and I started to feel my skin burn; pleasantly.
"I think it's working, what should I do?"
"Keep supplying energy into it, like filling a pool with gallons of water." Sensei had described this power in such a weird but helpful way. Like he had decades of experience.
After I had put more of my energy into the palms of my hands, I felt nauseous; ready to throw up. I felt like I was out of energy, and that I was paralyzed in place.
"I can't move!"
"That's probably because you expended all of your energy reserves. You did great though. Most people when they first obtain their abilities can only supply energy for less than 5 seconds, but you did for 30 seconds"
"Oh, so I guess I did alright then?"
"You did excellently, now please rest up before any further training," he said with care for my health.
"Oh and by rest, I mean to come eat a delectable breakfast with your mentor, son."
"Gotcha, but can I just sit here and monologue for a minute."
"Yeah whatever you want, just don't let your eggs get cold, son," he said, trying to make me laugh.
So this is what power feels like… I like it. I thought to myself with a hint of envy for my power.
After thinking to myself, I decided to get up and go to the kitchen to eat with my trainer for the very first time.
"Hey son, come sit down and enjoy the meal. This one's on the house," he said in a cheerful voice.
"Oh alright… guess it couldn't hurt to eat right now."
After originally rejecting the idea of eating, I finally caved in and decided to eat some of my mentor's food for the first time.
First, with a fork in my right hand, I stabbed the scrambled eggs and took a bite out of it.
"Wow, it's really tasty, what kind of recipe is this? Are you a master chef or something?"
"No, I just have a slight hobby for cooking. And scrambled eggs are my favorite to cook?" After clearing his throat he said, "So I guess you could call me a chef or whatever."
Amazing… These eggs taste just like mothers… I miss her, I thought, while chowing down on these crazy good eggs.
"Now why don't you tell me some things about your mother?" He sounded like he seriously wanted to know good and bad things about her. Like he was interested in her or something.
"Um… well she was a very wonderful woman. She had the biggest smile that anyone could imagine, her smile was like that of an angel. Her hair was an elegant shade of jet black, and she had dark… crimson eyes. Crimson is like a pool of blood. She was a very loving mother also. She took care of me and my baby sister, and helped make sure that I got a good education at a relatively affordable academy."
"She was perfect!"
"Well she sounds like a wonderful mother, how much did she mean to you though?" He asked such a stupid question to a child that saw the corpse of his mother.
What does he expect me to say to such a crude question…"I would do anything to see her again, I would fight the strongest being in the world. I would climb the tallest mountain in the world. I don't think that I could name something that I wouldn't do to see her shine once more in my depressing life!"
"So if you were to see her… you would be motivated to train as hard as possible. Hard enough that eventually you'll be able to contend with the false gods of this cruel world." He talked in such a pleasant way; very persuasive.
"I guess, but what is this conundrum of questions supposed to lead to? What are you setting me up for? Success or total failure."
At that very moment, I felt this sharp pain in my back; like that day. I felt my consciousness fade into a white mist. White mist filled in all areas of this region.
…
Everything was a light shade of white. There was nothing in this white world.
It was completely different from the void with my other whole.
It was the total opposite.
Instead of there just a deep darkness showering over the entire void around me, there was a pale and shallow crystalline glow of light. Lighter than any star I have ever seen while stargazing. Lighter than any color that I have ever seen.
This expansive region of whiteness was visible for probably several miles inside this capsule-like space.
Maybe I should try walking around… I thought wondering if and why Master Budo would send me to such a sanctifying desert of space.
What possibly could be his purpose for this so-called prank? Maybe he wants to get rid of me, and possess the ability to trap me in a prison-like state in this preexisting co-space.
I began to start walking forwards… hopefully.
After what felt like many minutes or hours had passed by, I began to become extremely nauseous and uncomfortable.
What the hell…
"I feel like I'm completely out of energy. But that shouldn't be possible, I haven't even been walking for a considerable amount of time. At least…not enough to feel completely powerless and frail." I was running out of breath just by speaking out loud.
Maybe this place is a desert of some sort… maybe I'm supposed to expend my energy, recoup, and repeat the process until I have gotten stronger control over my energy output.
"I guess we'll have to find out, won't we?"
After a considerable amount of downtime, I decided to walk around aimlessly like a dumbass, until I found my way out of this colorless desert of attrition.
I walked and walked until I felt exhausted to the absolute fullest again.
Shit…time to recover again I guess?