Divine Awakening - Chapter 52

Chapter 52

Ash stood in the torchlit tunnel, anticipation thrumming through his body. This was the perfect place—isolated, quiet, and, according to Elder Phoenix, rich with what he called Spirit.

Taking a deep breath, Ash prepared himself.  "Alright," he muttered. "Time to put the Elder’s teachings to the test."

Ash placed his feet shoulder-width apart, the stone cold against his bare feet. Crossing his hands under his navel, palms facing outward, he assumed the 'Closed Pose.' The position felt awkward, but it served as a physical anchor to the Spirit training ahead.

Closing his eyes, Ash visualized his center—an empty sphere nestled within his torso. Since he hadn’t found it yet, he imagined it between his Solar Plexus and Heart chakras. Not knowing what to picture, the image remained hazy, more an impression than anything tangible. He focused harder, sharpening the details until a translucent sphere manifested in his thoughts.

"Create a mental projection of your center and place it in your abdomen," Phoenix had told Ash, "then, power that construct with a concept that will pull the Spirit to you."

Ash lowered his mental construct from his torso into his abdomen as Elder Phoenix had instructed, pushing it past the Solar Plexus until it sat halfway to his Sacral chakra.

Many ideas occurred to Ash, all capable of pulling the magic fog into his center: the back side of a fan, a window blowing out on an airplane, or maybe a spaceship airlock. Taking the elder’s warning seriously, he needed something that could draw in the Spirit effectively but wasn't overwhelmingly powerful.

Ash decided on the old shop vac stored in the shed back home—a tool he'd used countless times to clean up debris or water. It had strong but controllable suction, capable of pulling in particles from its surroundings without causing destruction. It also had two speeds, and in an emergency, could reverse the flow, turning it into a blower.

Ash wondered what other new Cultivators used for this process. He’d wanted to ask Elder Phoenix but already knew the answer depended on the practitioner. The shop vac appealed to Ash’s no-nonsense functional nature.

Elder Phoenix had said that it might take multiple weeks before Ash found his actual center; it took time to fill it with a noticeable amount of Spirit. Until that happened, he would need to keep visualizing a pretend center in the vicinity of the real one.

Locating this imagined center, Ash created a miniature shop vac in the sphere’s middle, its wide nozzle facing outward. He placed the vacuum on its ‘low’ setting.

"Don't use the most powerful thing you can think of," Phoenix had warned again. "Start small and don't advance until you've perfected your control."

Satisfied with his choice, Ash took another deep breath, and mentally flipped the switch on the shop vac. Instantly, he felt a subtle shift in the atmosphere around him. The air grew denser, laden with unseen energy swirling around him. The drone and vibrations of the imagined shop vac kept him focused, acting like a white noise generator.

Ash, from the “Closed Position,” slowly separated his crossed palms, extending his arms outward as if outlining a circle. He stopped when reaching the level of his hips as the atmosphere changed again.

The sensation caressed Ash’s skin—a soft breeze churning around his body. But as the shop vac continued to run, the flow intensified, and the chaotic movements collapsed into a stream. The Spirit, though invisible, coursed to his center, drawn in by the shop vac he’d imagined.

Ash maintained his focus, careful not to let his thoughts wander. The influx of Spirit was exhilarating, a tingling warmth that spread from his abdomen to his limbs. His heart pounded in rhythm with the pulsing energy gathering inside him.

A second cloud appeared, no bigger than a pea, inside Ash’s imaginary one. Elder Phoenix had cautioned Ash that it might take weeks or months for his center to become visible, but what else could the wispy fog be?

Ash shifted his fake center until the pea rested in the middle and returned to the dull drone of the shop vac as it sucked in more and more magic haze.

Like often happened during meditation, the flow of time disappeared. The flow of Spirit never slowed, if anything, it increased. He considered giving the shop vac a third, lower setting, so he wouldn’t overextend himself, but decided against it. He felt in control, and the abundant Spirit in the tunnel offered an opportunity he didn't want to waste.

Time slipped by. The air grew hotter, but not uncomfortably so. It felt like standing a bit too near a fire, the heat soothing and invigorating. The sphere in his abdomen swelled with gathered Spirit, growing from a pea to a cloud the size of a softball.

Ash transferred his shop vac into the softball and dismissed his mental projection. Despite the elder’s expectations, it appeared Ash had found his center.

Dismissing the magic shop vac, Ash kept his eyes closed to retain his focus. He checked the time under his map and found an hour had passed. He decided to stop this phase because he didn’t know how long the next stage, Condensing, would take. Once he’d done this a few more times he could accurately adjust the length of time he spent on each activity.

Ash recalled Phoenix's instructions on Condensing. "As the Spirit gathers in your center, it will take the form of a cloud or vapor. To gather enough Spirit to construct a Core, you need to condense this Spirit into as tight a sphere as you can."

The softball had become a basketball of vapor, and with his sight turned inward, the cloud extended outside his back and abdomen.

Ash sat, crossed his legs, and began the breathing technique Phoenix had demonstrated.

Inhaling deeply, Ash filled his lungs to capacity. He held the breath for a moment, then pulled in sharply with his diaphragm, focusing the pressure inward onto the vapor. His activity swirled the vapor, but it didn’t appear to compress.

Ash exhaled sharply, releasing tension, worry, and uncertainty. Three steady breaths followed, allowing him to regulate his heartbeat and maintain focus. Then he repeated the sequence: deep inhale, diaphragm contraction, focused pressure, sharp exhale.

With each cycle, Ash visualized compressing the sphere of Spirit, forcing it to become denser. The sensation felt both strange and satisfying—a mix of physical exertion, mental discipline, and spiritual progress.

Ash continued to compact the Spirit in his center, a rhythmic cadence of breathing against the anvil of his concentration. His breath deepened, and he applied intense pressure during the diaphragm contractions.

Sweat beaded on Ash’s forehead, trickling down his temples and dripping to the cold stone floor. The pattern seemed simple, but the effort was taxing. A surge of determination filled him. This was a test of his limits, an opportunity to push beyond average, to make up for lost years of half-effort.

Minutes stretched into an hour as Ash became consumed by the cycle of breathing and Condensing. The sphere in his center had compacted, the size reduced from a basketball to a grain of sand. A tiny radiant orb, its surface smooth and pulsing with contained energy.

Physically, Ash felt both exhausted and energized. His diaphragm ached from the constant tensing, but a wellspring of power coursed through him. The grain-sized sphere of Spirit remained in his center, but its strength radiated outward revitalizing his entire being.

For the first time in over two hours, Ash opened his eyes and realized how frigid the air felt. Only blackness greeted him, the tunnel torches had gone out for some reason. He tapped the energy in his Third Eye and the tunnel walls reappeared.

“Ah!” Ash yelped.

Bruja sat right in front of Ash, leaning forward to study his abdomen. When Third Eye had activated, it had revealed the seven-year-old goddess, her head only inches from his face.

Ash leaned backward. “Stop doing that!”

Bruja looked up at Ash. “Doing what?”

“Surprising me. Can’t you make some noise or something, so I know you’re coming.”

Bruja’s frown turned into an evil grin. “Well, since you asked, I’ll see what I can do.”

Ash had a sudden surge of remorse, and his Third Eye tingled. He wished he could take the comment back but knew that was useless. He’d walked right into some type of trap.

“Did you extinguish all the torches?” Ash asked. “And why is it so cold?”

Bruja shook her head. “You did. You pulled all the ambient energy from the surroundings.”

Ash’s breath formed a vapor and the sweat that had dripped from his body now lay in frozen patches around him.

A sudden realization struck him, and he tensed to stand.

Bruja placed a small hand on Ash’s shoulder locking him in place. “They’re all fine. I would’ve stopped you if you put them in danger.”

“Thanks,” Ash said, meaning it. He would’ve felt horrible had he accidentally hurt his team.

Bruja nodded absently as she stared intently at his stomach.

“What’s wrong?” Ash asked as he resisted the urge to cover his stomach with his hands.

“We don’t have time for a list that long.”

“What’s wrong with me?” Ash tried again.

“That would take a week,” Bruja said. “Minimum,” she added after a moment of thought.

Ash made another attempt. “Why are you here?”

“That,” Bruja said, pointing at Ash’s stomach.

“I did what Elder Phoenix said. Did I mess it up?”

Bruja sighed and leaned away, sitting up straight and glaring at Ash.

“No, you didn’t mess anything up. In fact, you did something amazing. Something I’ve only seen one other time.”

Ash relaxed a little. “Isn’t that good?”

“If you knew the problems that first one created, you’d cry with sympathy. I’m terrified this is an omen of what’s to come. Of the trouble you’ll inevitably cause me.”

“I’m not a troublemaker.”

“That’s what they all say.”

Bruja leaned forward again and lightly tapped Ash’s forehead. Minimized notifications appeared, glowing in the bottom of his vision.

A massive energy surge struck Ash, and for a moment he floated in a sea of bliss.