Chapter 6: Training
Tutor Kim explained the theory of the seed in class. "Once you can detect the special energy, you should slowly mould it into your body using the Fundamental Training Formula to condense a seed. The quality of the seed condensed is the most important thing.
The seed must be firm and stable. Each seed also has an attribute. This attribute depends on the physique of the person. The physique of an individual determines which kind of special energy enters your body with higher density, which leads to the seed having an attribute. The attribute would also determine the type of cards you can manifest in the future."
One student raised a hand. "Tutor, does the special energy have attributes?"
Tutor Kim nodded. "Yes. The special energy is actually an equal mixture of all kinds of attributes. However, our bodies act as filters which only certain parts of the attributes enter and help forge the seed."
Another student asked. "Tutor, how many kinds of attributes exist?"
The Tutor Kim shook his head. "There are too many and many may not even have been discovered. Since the only way to find the attribute is by forming the base card from the seed, as long as a physique is unique it may form a new attribute.
Okay, now you must focus on forming the seed. Don't be in a hurry to turn your seed into the base card, the more you fortify your seed the better it will be for the future.
Those who have yet to find their inner world should not worry too much. There is almost an entire year before the final exams to form the base card. Don't worry about it and just work on sensing the inner world. Even if you don't manage to form the basic card before the final exams, there are otherwise to continue a career in the world of cards."
Alex nodded. He guessed that his talent was obviously subpar, but he wasn't worried. Both his mom and the old man had told him it wasn't a big deal.
Back at the dojo, Alex was back to doing handstands with his eyes closed. At this time the old man suddenly spoke. "Lad, it is time to take the next step in training."
Alex nodded. "What am I to do?"
"Come with me." The old man led him to a room that Alex had spent considerable time cleaning earlier.
"You will practice hand standing here from now on." The old man said.
"What is special about this room?" Alex asked.
"It is a special contraption I had asked to be built. It uses a lot of energy cards, so don't waste the opportunity." The old man said.
Alex went into the room and performed the handstand on the location mentioned. The old man closed the door and Alex heard whirring sounds.
Then he felt a blast of water falling on him from various angles. Alex cursed. "What the...?" As he lost his balance and fell. Immediately the water stopped. Alex realized that multiple high pressure pipes were directed towards him when he did the handstand simulating the force of a waterfall.
With a sigh, he returned to the designated position and tried to do the handstand again. The old man saw this and laughed, with a bit of sentimentality on his face as he remembered times from the past.
A couple of weeks passed in this manner, and Alex began making progress to practicing under the force of the water while keeping his eyes closed, which was a feat. All this while, when Alex would rest at night, he could feel the world of black smoke and he could gradually feel like he was going deeper into the smoke.
Whenever he told the old man about this, the old man didn't have much of a reaction and told him that he hadn't really discovered his inner world yet, but still groping on the boundaries and that it was the wrong time to be looking for the source energy.
Alex looked at the old man during the morning and asked him. "Old man, the tutor at the class calls the energy special energy, while you call it source energy. What gives?"
The old man snorted. "Those fools working in schools know a fart. What is special energy? I call it source energy because it is the source of the seed."
Alex nodded. The name indeed made more sense. He asked another question. "The tutor also made who ever sense the inner world search and absorb the source energy. Is there a reason you stopped me from doing that?"
The old man looked incensed. "What these schools are interested in is to mass produce carded users as quickly as possible and don't dig into the mental world deep enough. Most of those students would have absorbed the source energy from the boundary of the inner world, which would make the potential of those students terrible. There is no need for you to hurry to sense source energy, just focus on exploring your inner world."
Alex continued his days in this manner and was able to find entering the inner world more and more easier over time. Each time, he went deeper and deeper into his black smoke terrain.
One night as he entered the inner world as usual, he kept pushing further and further into the black smoke, until he suddenly found that he found the black smoke suddenly clearing away. Alex was surprised, was he finally past the boundary?
Going deeper into his inner world, he suddenly found himself in a clearing. The clearing was quite small amd surrounded by thick black smoke on all sides. At the center of the clearing was a statue made of black marble of a person sitting and meditating in the lotus position. Alex realized that this was a statue of himself.
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