Chapter 142: Martial Arts training (3)

In the backyard of Granny's cozy little hut, Aiden and Lily were standing in front of Number 3. While Aiden could keep his calm as he waited for his Master to start the session, Lily wasn't this patient.

After a few minutes of suffering in the stifling silence, she squirmed and painfully exclaimed.

"Don't be like this Master! Tell us what to do!"

Seeing the impatient girl, Number 3 sighed exasperatedly, placing her right hand over her forehead. 

"Be patient, Lily. Master has her reasons." Aiden calmly answered instead. "Try to keep your cool, this is already part of the training."

Before Lily could respond to his words, Number 3's gentle voice calmly reached their ears. It was like if she was standing next to them, leaning against their ears, silently whispering into them. It was truly magical.

"Sit down and close your eyes, children. Clear your minds and calm your hearts." Her enchanting words were like a gentle summer breeze, they found it incredibly soothing. 

Obeying her words, both of them sat down on the lawn cross-legged. Closing their eyelids, they tried following her words, with differing success. For Aiden, this wasn't the first time he did this exercise, back in the past when Number 3 taught him the basics, they used to spend time meditating, clearing their souls. Remembering how he used to accomplish that serene state of mind, he deeply exhaled a few times. 

As for Lily, she wasn't known for her calm and patience regarding these matters. Sitting on the ground, she opened her left eye from time to time peaking at her surroundings. Seeing how both master and Aiden was sitting and doing nothing, she sighed and followed suit. 

However, after a few minutes of painful silence, her thoughts came back towards her two doggos… Sam and Biggy. What were they doing right at this moment? Are they bored? Are they missing her? No, this doesn't matter right now! She needs to focus on the training, otherwise, she wouldn't be useful in the future! 

She shook her head, trying to clear her mind once more and try to follow along once again.

All this time, while her eyes were closed, she was clearly listening in on the girl. A small imperceptible smile curved on the edges of her lips, which quickly vanished as Number 3 continued to focus to immerse herself in meditation.

After a short while, as she felt the girl's fidgeting movements once again, she gently breathed, whispered into the air. A magical, invisible current carried her words, to the girl, so she could listen to it without interrupting the boy.

"Breathe in, then breathe out Lily. Calm your heart. Feel the feeling of breath entering and leaving your lungs. Feel as life circulates within and without, the energy of the calm breeze, the gentle sun… Feel as they echo through your heart. Let this noise pass through you, be unshakable, remove the disrupting thoughts from your mind and you will reach the serene state just like Aiden."

Listening to her master's words, Lily took in a deep breath, then after a few seconds, she slowly exhaled. As the air left her lungs, she repeated the process. Eventually, she could feel as her heart rate became slower, the rhythmic rapid beating became a slower much more majestic thumping sound. Eventually, she calmed down and became just as still as her brother. Nothing could shake the tranquility she felt for the first time.

Almost an hour passed like this. Aiden kept his perfect calm, immersed in his inner soul world, calming his heart from the raging emotions and clearing his mind of all the unnecessary, disturbing thoughts. Although there wasn't a skill that the system generated for him as of yet, he felt that it shouldn't be that far off if there was any at all. 

He could feel and enjoy the tranquil peace just as a child would enjoy his mother's loving embrace. He was alert, completely aware of his surroundings, yet at the same time he was calm, clear-headed, he was at peace with himself at this moment.

While Lily didn't experience such a profound state, she also managed to gain a lot from her first session of meditation. In the past, she saw her brother do this exercise from time to time, mostly with Master during the end of their training sessions. Back then, she couldn't understand the benefits. Now, however, she felt as if all the troubles and pain she experienced in her short life so far didn't matter anymore, they were irrelevant. They only served to shape her life, to guide her towards her beloved brother, her Granny, and towards Master. There's no point in feeling sad about what happened in the past anymore.

Number 3's eyelids slowly fluttered open, revealing her shining eyes. Looking at two meditating brother and sister pair in front of her, the same caring smile reappeared on her face. Once again, she breathed into the air, sending her words with a gentle magical breeze this time towards both of them. 

"Search deep inside you, go to the source. Feel that energy deep inside you, follow its path, be one with the flow. Go with the current, follow this torrent of energy, this power till the end."

Number 3's words were cryptic and mysterious, Lily couldn't really comprehend what she was talking about. Although she enjoyed this session and found some sort of peace out of it, she was nowhere near the level that would allow her to understand such intricacies. Nevertheless, she tried her hardest to follow along and look deep inside herself, to find this 'so-called' source.

For Aiden these words were easy to follow, he was already aware of his pool of energy inside him. In fact, he used it as a resource to feed and energize his skills and abilities. He was also aware of its flow, when he suddenly managed to increase the level of his Soul Power, he already had a brief experience with this sensation.

Closing his eyes, he followed his master's words. As his will descended into his inside world, he focused on his incomprehensible, intangible pool, the source of his powers. Exhaling once, his will followed along with the flow, like if he was riding a current in a torrential river. In the span of a few seconds, his will traveled with this river to all ends, nooks, and crannies in his body, just like before. 

"Get familiar with this feeling, try to get used to this feeling. This energy, this flow you feel, is simply put, life itself. Once you feel ready, slowly open your eyes, but keep being aware of this flow inside you." Number 3's voice tingled in their ears once again.

Since she had no success in stepping into these mysteries, Lily was the first to look at her master with a sour, downtrodden expression. 

Seeing her face, Number 3 silently smiled, she already expected such an outcome from her. The mysteries of this art was not something that could be grasped so easily, otherwise, there would be countless practitioners. Even in the organization, even only a handful of people were able to start on this path. Even amongst the executors, not even half of them were able to train this particular skill.

Suddenly she felt a wave of energy pass-through her, a fluctuation in the air due to the eager buzzing of the invisible essences around them. Looking at the source, her face morphed to a show of surprise, then to a satisfied, happy smile. 

In front of her, and next to Lily, Aiden who was still sitting cross-legged with her eyes closed, had a faint golden hue surrounding him. A high-pitched buzzing sound accompanied this glow as if his glowing coat of energy that surrounded him reacted to the particles in the air. As he kept up his concentration, the light increased in intensity, the sound became more agitated. This increase continued until Aiden's body was no longer visible. 

Looking at her brother's state, Lily asked with audible concern in her tone. 

"Master, w-what is happening to him? I-is he alright?"

Number 3 nodded with a gentle smile on her face to the question. 

"Yes, he is fine, don't worry." She answered. "What you see is perfectly normal. Your brother just entered into a realm that only a handful of people was capable of." 

A few seconds later, the golden glow transformed, a golden pillar of light shot into the sky, a loud burst of shockwave traveled through the air, almost knocking both of them back, and kicking off a handful of dust from the ground.

The blinding golden pillar vanished as quickly as it appeared, only leaving the dust in its wake. Eventually, even this cloud evaporated, revealing the healthy-looking boy in its depth looking at his master with an expression that had surprise mixed together with happiness. The source of his happiness was his success, he was reveling at the contents of the last notification he received. 

He unexpectedly created a new skill from mixing and transforming together two of his others!