Free Web NovelChapter 28: Gaia’s Embrace
At first, there was nothing.
Silas sat cross-legged and mimicked the posture Laros had shown him. For several minutes, he felt nothing unusual at all.
"Meditation isn’t something you master in a single leap," Laros said. The longer Silas listened, the stranger the teacher’s voice seemed to become. "Take deep breaths in a steady rhythm. Regularity is the key, and persistence is the path."
Silas followed the instructions, keeping his eyes closed as he inhaled and exhaled at measured intervals. At first, he had assumed it would be easy. After all, breathing was the most natural thing in the world. ƒreewebɳovel.com
Yet after only a few minutes, maintaining that rhythm became unexpectedly difficult. It felt as though an invisible resistance had formed against his will, as if he were trying to push aside a mountain with his bare hands.
"Raise your gaze slightly," Laros continued in that distant voice. "Imagine you’re looking toward a blue sun rising in the east."
The teacher spoke slowly, each word seeming farther away than the last.
"Sometimes music helps. Let me play something for you."
Silas didn’t understand what he meant. Then a soft melody drifted through the room.
Unlike Laros’ voice, the music didn’t sound as though it came from somewhere outside. It resonated from within, as though each note was being played deep into his flesh and bones.
Slowly, without realising it, something changed. It was as though a dam had broken, and the resistance was gone. And the emotions Silas had spent years burying surged to the surface: rage, fear, worry, anxiety, confusion, and pain.
At first, they felt like countless needles pricking at his skin, each one carrying an unpleasant sting. Then, little by little, those emotions faded away, revealing something buried even deeper beneath them. It was something ancient, something honest; loneliness.
Silas had never realised how deeply that feeling had rooted itself within his soul. But meditation had loosened the chains around it. Memories emerged in chaotic fragments, flooding his mind without shattering his focus.
He saw himself as a small child, three years old. He watched other children from the orphanage leave one by one, chosen by families who took them into warm homes and brighter futures. Each departure left him standing alone.
He saw himself standing beside the doorway as another boy waved goodbye. The woman adopting him had smiled at Silas and said:
"Don’t worry. It’ll be your turn soon."
It never was. No one ever chose him. He remained behind, growing up within the cold walls of the orphanage. Even when new children arrived over the years, they never became his friends.
Silas had never thought much about it before. Only now did the truth become painfully clear; he had lived his entire life without a single true friend. He had spent all those years imprisoned behind invisible walls built from loneliness. It felt cold, harsh, and painful.
Yet he couldn’t remember ever crying over it or complaining. Even when life seemed unfair, some stubborn part of him had continued to believe in a better future.
Then the memories shifted. The negative emotions subsided, giving way to other images.
He saw the Enhancement Day, the enormous floating ship. He saw Ramus giving him parental advice, Darius smiling at him like a true friend, and lingering longer than the rest... Cher.
Strangely, what he remembered most vividly was the sight of her raising her staff and unleashing her ability. In his memories, she shone brilliantly, like an angel. Then he saw her outside the infirmary, giving him a simple nod.
Warmth spread through his soul at the memories, gentle and quiet.
As suddenly as those memories had appeared, they vanished. And silence remained behind, alongside peace and tranquillity. Then an indescribable sense of ease washed over him.
For the first time in his life, Silas understood what true peace felt like. And he was captivated by it.
Serenity and clarity replaced the noise that had always occupied his mind. In some ways, the sensation reminded him of his Time Mind World. In others, it was entirely different. And yet, he couldn’t explain why.
He felt like an adventurer setting foot upon an unknown path, discovering new wonders with every step. With each breath he took, he drifted deeper into that mysterious state.
Then warmth enveloped him. It began at the top of his head. It felt like standing beneath a stream of warm water, except this sensation moved slowly downward, flowing through him with deliberate gentleness.
When it reached his chest, Silas became acutely aware of his heartbeat. He could feel each pulse, each surge of blood spreading outward through his body. But when the warmth descended to his belly, it stopped.
Silas waited, and minutes passed, yet nothing changed. He expected the warmth to overcome whatever blocked its path and continue downward, wrapping itself around his entire body. But it never moved another inch.
Then, as though offended by its own failure, the warmth began to fade. It did not recede along the path it had taken. Instead, it slowly evaporated from within him.
The loss struck him with an unexpected ache. It felt like being torn away from a mother’s embrace. Then a strange thought surfaced in his mind.
’Weird... I’ve never even known my mother’s embrace.’
Slowly, Silas opened his eyes. He remained seated in silence, motionless even after returning to the real world. He failed to notice that Laros had never resumed meditating.
The teacher had been observing him the entire time, studying his only student with sharp, attentive eyes. He wanted to ensure Silas followed every instruction precisely. After all, first impressions mattered.
At this point, a satisfied smile appeared on Laros’ face. He could tell that Silas had succeeded on his very first attempt. More surprisingly, the boy had gone far deeper than Laros had dared hope.
"How do you feel?" he asked.
Laros allowed Silas a few moments to savour the lingering aftereffects of meditation before speaking. Only after the young man stirred did he break the silence.
"That was..." Silas hesitated, struggling to find the words. "Unbelievably intense."
Laros warmly smiled.
"That’s fantastic! Congratulations, Silas Ashborne. You succeeded in meditating on your very first attempt."
His expression turned serious.
"Yet this is just the mere first step. Meditation is a vast world, way bigger and deeper than you can even imagine, than anyone can fathom. From now on, meditate whenever you can. If your choices are resting and watching a movie or meditating, then meditate. If your choices are spending time with friends, chasing girls, or meditating..."
He pointed a finger at Silas.
"...then meditate."
Laros lowered his hand and continued.
"Consider this your first lesson. Meditation takes time to bear fruit. Unlike combat training, effort doesn’t produce immediate results. Most people spend countless sessions feeling as though nothing is happening at all. But if you continue, if you keep meditating and keep training, one day you’ll break through that barrier and experience the wonder of Gaia’s Embrace."
Silas opened his mouth and wanted to say something. Then he closed it, without saying anything. Laros mistook his gesture for confusion. Yet the teacher could never have imagined that his student had already brushed against the very phenomenon he just described. freewebnøvel.coɱ
’So that’s called Gaia’s Embrace...’
Silas lowered his gaze.
’I like that.’
’I want to feel it again.’
