Cultivation Fever

"What do I do now," I thought, "Tackle language or meditation? Meditation seems simpler but…" I shook my head as best as my infant body could, "No buts. I just need to take it slow."

Mother laughed at my gently rolling head and spoke to me in soft, melodic tones.

"… Oscar… Oscar."

I noticed that she had repeated a set of syllables before my name. I had no idea what it meant but I knew that this repet.i.tion, anch.o.r.ed to my name, was a start. A small start, but a start, nonetheless.

Progression in this world would not be quick. It would be slow, deliberate and boundaries had to be broken. I would start small.

As mother lay me back to rest on her chest, I calmed myself and focused on my breath. Even if I couldn"t focus on my whole body, I could just focus on my breathing.

My breaths were shallow and quick, but there was a rhythm to their speed. I focused on building a bond with this rhythm; connecting it to the concept of my body. Submerged deep in this cycle, I eventually succ.u.mbed to sleep.

When I woke it was hard to tell how long I had been asleep for, but I knew I was starving. This was going to be weird. My infant body began to cry in response to the hunger.

Mother slipped off a shoulder of her dress and brought me close to feed. Yes, this was very weird. But I had to get used to this cycle. Wake, eat, meditate and learn in the day, sleep.

Each day I became more accustomed to it. I was awake for one hour, then asleep for two to three.

I tried to glean anything I could from the snippets of speech around me. Whenever mother talked or father visited me, I listened close. But I only became familiar with the syllables.

My progress in language was far overshadowed by meditation. By treating each body part separately, I could focus on it completely. I was slowly a.s.sembling a mental jigsaw of my body.

I counted two weeks and well over a hundred meditation sessions before feeling a full connection with my body. It finally felt like my own. I was ready to find my soul seed.

I focused on my breath to begin with, then spread out to my extremities. Entering a full trance took much longer by myself than it did with Sirius.

I fell deeper into myself. The white noise of rushing blood filled my ears. I could almost see the inside of my body, it felt so clear. I moved my attention to my solar plexus and stayed there.

There was no light, no warmth. A thread of doubt entered my mind, and my attention shifted away.

"Calm yourself Oscar," I said to myself.

I went back to the breath, then down to my solar plexus.

I stayed there, focused, calm, and I began to feel strange. Like I was detached, looking at a s.p.a.ce that was not quite me.

This was the centre of it all. Bodily awareness no longer mattered. My body would exist on its own without me attending to it. It didn"t need me.

I was fading into detachment. But a wave of warmth brought me back.

It came from the centre; from the soul seed. I could sense it now, this flickering glow. I knew what I had to do. Instead of diving into it, I gently drew it towards me.

It resisted, shaking and retracting into my body. But I kept pulling, more forcefully this time. With a jump, it surged forwards and sent a blistering sensation through my body.

I was jolted out of my trance in surprise. My eyes shot open. My body felt like it was being shredded, like needles flowed instead of blood, and I shrieked in pain.

As the surge reached my fingertips, I felt an eruption of ecstasy from my core. It was all consuming, more pleasure than I had ever experienced. I melted into my cot, savouring this feeling.

My shriek had brought the attention of my mother. It was an unnatural noise unlike the typical cries of an infant. The door slammed open and she swept in, picking me up with vigour.

Frantic muttering reached my ears, but I was a puddle of euphoria. I rolled back, limp in her hands. She brought me to her chest, held me tight, and rushed out of the nursery room.

As she ran, the pleasure subsided. White and brown flashed in the corner of my eye and we burst into a room. Father took me, a frown splitting his brow.

He muttered some words of panicked confusion, then placed two thick fingers on my chest. Unnatural heat flowed into me, then subsided after a few seconds.

He pa.s.sed me to mother with a few, calmer words, before reaching somewhere out of sight. With a click and a knock, he brought something over. As he drew it closer, I could see it more clearly.

In his white, gloved hands lay a glowing golden crystal. A brilliant sheen reflected off its irregular facets.

He placed it on my chest and cold spread through me. I wanted to look, but didn"t have the strength to raise my neck. I could only peak down over my chubby cheeks.

From what little I could see, the glow grew more intense. My father recoiled in shock, bringing the now brilliantly glowing stone away from my chest and putting it away.

He spoke swiftly, almost nervously with mother, but I sensed a hint of excitement in his voice. I wanted to keep listening, but I was drained, and fell asleep.

I woke to an unfamiliar sight. A strange man leaned over me, tendrils of his black moustache and goatee dangling in front of my face. I couldn"t resist, and playfully batted them away.

The man stood up and backed away with a chuckle. By now I could recognise mother and father standing next to him. He showed them a card that flashed in the light, then put it back in a box and chatted to them.

Their conversation was unfamiliar and the sets of syllables I recognised were few and far between. Instead, I shut my eyes and focused on my solar plexus. Incredibly, I immediately felt the seed without meditating.

The man guided my parents out of the room. I calmed myself and entered a meditative state. It was easier to guide myself this time, and the seed seemed calmer. It no longer pulsated, but I could feel it humming.

I had completed the first page of the Soul Becoming World Technique.

I looked in my mind and revisited the memory of the book. I was drawn back into a vision. The book flipped open on the second page.

"Soul Expansion, Low Tier Warrior Grade requirement."