"Ah, Sir Lione."
"Yes?"
"I probably shouldn't ask you, but are you training me?"
"Yes of course. I'll be teaching you 2 times a week, and the rest will be supervised by professional trainers. I do have the ability to teach you right now.. I'll teach you the basics first, since it doesn't seem like you know anything."
"Yes sir!"
"To start things off, what's your affinity?"
"I don't have one."
"Ah, are you one of the useless broken?" Sighing as he pinched his nose.
"Perhaps you just haven't found it yet. Cross your legs and sit."
I was composed and fully focused. I couldn't afford to let Lione down, I had to do this as succeed quickly. I had to do this perfectly. I had to get stronger much more quickly.
"Close your eyes and slowly inhale with your mouth as much as possible until you can't breathe in anymore."
"Once you can't get any more air in, hold it and I want you to feel like you're reaching out to your soul."
"It might seem complex but you'll understand, I want you to slowly use your Aether soul's energy and do it calmly. If you don't know how to do that, I'll quickly explain. It feels similar to exhaling, quick short bursts which will overtime feel like second nature in the future. When you get the hang of that, reach out calmly, like you're trying to lure the fish toward you with bait."
I followed his every instruction, it soon became easy for me to use my Aether soul's energy, and I did as I was told, but I felt like I was about to die from trying to hold my breath. The Aether particles that were around me didn't move, but a few seconds later I could see them twitch and slowly float toward me.
They were extremely slow, but it was progress! I think my face was going to turn purple if I kept holding my breath for any longer in which I released the built up air that was stored. Opening my eyes I felt light headed and I saw Claudia sitting in front of me.
I paused for a few minutes before I asked Sir Lione, who was sitting on the couch, posture straight as a board. But another question appeared, how did he know of such a method?
"How did you know this was a way to find an affinity?"
"You're supposed to do this when you start developing the Aether Soul, though some wait till it develops itself."
"You shouldn't be able to see anything, and only when you've attained your affinity can you really only see a few specks of vibrant orbs. It's uncommon that you won't know your affinity, but it's still possible."
"Once you get used to it, you'll be able to do this for much longer, the most I've meditated for was one hour."
I wondered if this could also send people to the null realm? Was it possible? They both used meditative methods so it was likely that it could happen.
"Thanks Sir."
"When you've found your affinity, this will be the next step." Although I expected the man to lighten up, his eyes still had this ineffable but negative gaze.
"With the same position as before, you must visualise your Soul, it appearing differs for everybody. Thus, when this visualisation is successful, it practically is your own realm, none can invade unless they are somehow able to attack your Soul. It'll also be much easier to meditate when it's stable."
The man left and it was just Claudia and I.
"Even though your Dad still looks like he hates me, I can tell he has a very big soft spot for you Claudia."
"That's just how he is." Claudia let out a sigh, covering her forehead with her hand like she had a migraine.
We giggled some more, our chat prolonged for a few hours and by the time it was 8, I had gone to my room.
The bed was huge, and it surprised me still even after seeing it yesterday. I jumped onto the bed.
A goal that I had found myself already engrossed in. To avenge Roy, to avenge my teacher. I crossed my legs in a meditative way. I remembered the teachings that Sir Lione had given me and began training once again.
The feeling that I had previously felt could be felt once more, and the Aether particles that were much closer than before from the result of my training, the particles inched ever so slightly toward me, before halting to a stop. They slowly vanished, and my eyes opened.
The pitch black void, an inexplicable feeling, ripples echoing over and over again. It was then I had realised, I had been engulfed within its blackened clutch.
Any amount of 'want' to feel anything just couldn't be felt, and I had no choice but to wander the dark environment alone.
How long was I meditating for then? It had to have been more than.. An hour? The ripples that collided into each other beneath my feet even when I hadn't walked meant that it was my soul's resonance as Roy had referred to it as.
Although, it was strange.. I had remembered a bodily soul had only one main ripple, so why did mine have two that continued to collide against each other?
I walked straight for however long I was walking for, my perception of time was clouded by needless thoughts as I wandered the null realm. It would've been rather difficult to determine whether I was actually walking or not from how dark it was.
Nonetheless, my body glowed a white hue, allowing me to recognize that I was walking and that I wasn't cluelessly doing nothing.
Every second I walked felt as if there was no progress made at all. The endless ripples that collided against each other were the only things that showed any movement from what I could see, however within the next few minutes of endless walking, I discovered something. Though it was rather difficult to see from afar, it appeared to be.. Ripples?
I continued to walk forward without caution, but what I thought in the Moment was the question of whether the ripples themselves were getting closer to me or I was the one getting closer to it. I stopped for a moment, trying to understand what it was, but to no avail.
I watched the ripples come closer toward me, I stood absolutely still. Before I knew it, the ripples were approximately an arm apart from me and ceaselessly collided with the two ripples beneath me.
Who or what was it? It was a question in which I had no curiosity or interest in finding the answer. The ripples slowly shifted to my left, and slowly drifted off, before it could leave my vision, I followed it. Perhaps it'd help me, I thought.
I walked for what felt like hours, until in the distance was a red door. The ripples that I followed, eventually vanished and dissipated from sight. And what remained was I and the red door in front of me. From my past experience, I had thoroughly envisioned what had happened before, replicating what I saw within the room of darkness.
The door was supposed to be white, but this time it was red. Was there any difference? There was a likely chance there was, but I had no other choice. I hadn't seen a white door, nor had I seen any other door, time flowed differently and this wasn't the time to think of a different path to go.
My hand drifted toward the handle, but I stopped myself, to the door opening by itself.