Free Web NovelChapter 43: Echoes of the Past (2)
Silas saw memories about the days before Enhancement Day. He saw memories of conversations with other children, endless rumours about monster cores, and wild stories about Enhancers. He never realised, but now the countless pieces of misinformation he had accepted without question back then.
As the memories travelled further into the past, they became increasingly fragmented and unclear. At the same time, another experience unfolded. It felt as though his perception had split into two.
Aside from recalling different and slightly chaotic memories, part of him wandered through a vast landscape that somehow felt familiar. It was his body. And for a reason, it felt immensely huge.
Then he saw it. Inside the Time Mind World, his Mana resembled a tiny spark. Here, it appeared as a blazing sun hanging above an endless land, radiating overwhelming warmth and power.
Back in the Time Mind World, he had felt insignificant before the vastness of Eldrune. Now he felt that same insignificance before his own Mana. It seemed supreme, unchallenged, and absolute.
The discovery didn’t fill him with pride, accomplishment, or even reassurance. Instead, he felt more disturbed. None of this made any sense to him. He even wondered which one of the two contrastingly different images of his Mana was right.
The confusion in itself made him feel more insecure, more unsettled. Yet he had no time to think about this for long enough. As the flash of memories grew more chaotic, blurry, and quite unclear.
He didn’t know how much time had passed since he started meditation, but he knew long enough had passed for him to try taking control over this weird experience. And yet he failed. This wasn’t like something he could control willingly. His determination never helped at all here.
Unable to endure the chaotic flood of memories any longer, Silas was about to end the meditation. Yet something bizarre happened.
In one of the flashy memories, he saw a scene he had never recalled seeing before. And yet, for a reason, it felt quite familiar, in a weird way. There, he saw himself as an infant, being carried with warmth and love he had never felt by a lady. The face of the lady was obscured, and yet something behind her was crystal clear.
It was a weird tower, one that looked majestic and huge. Yet for a reason, he felt a huge influx of Mana coming out from it. And there, he saw some cloaked figures passing through a gate, entering that tower.
His heart skipped a beat. It wasn’t the weirdly familiar tower or the cloaked people who caused it; the warmth did. The warmth he felt towards that lady felt real, so real that for a moment, he almost reached toward the woman. He tried to remove the veil over her face, wanted to add clarity and see her face. Perhaps he would remember who she was.
Then the vision shattered, and the memory ended here. Then flashes of light followed that totally blinded his perception. Silas didn’t hesitate any longer and ended his meditation at this point.
When he opened his eyes, his face was pale. And his thoughts were quite chaotic, but only a few things stood out among all the chaos.
’What the hell just happened? Why am I seeing two different things at the same time?’
’How come my Mana is like a blazing sun when I’m this weak, can’t even use my Raven for half an hour straight?’
’What was that memory at the last? Who was this lady? Why was that tower so familiar?’
These questions banged at his mind, yet he had no clue about what the answers would be. All he could tell was that he experienced something bizarre. And instead of feeling accomplishment, satisfaction, and excitement like he did at his first meditation attempt, this time was wholly different.
If any, he felt more at a loss than ever. And for a reason, he felt all the questions he had in mind were far more important than they looked on the surface.
"You finally woke up."
Laros’s voice broke through his daze, cutting his thoughts.
"You spent three hours meditating. I expected one at most."
The teacher laughed.
"It seems I’ve underestimated my student’s talent once again."
Under normal circumstances, such praise would have delighted Silas. Now, however, he felt nothing but bitterness.
"Don’t look so troubled."
Laros handed him a cup of warm green tea.
"There’s a reason we don’t teach multiple meditation methods too quickly." frёewebnoѵēl.com
Silas accepted the cup but remained silent. Seeing him in such a lost state, Laros kept his silence as well. Like this, ten minutes passed, while Silas tried to sort out the mess he ended up with after the meditation session. Then he raised his head, met his teacher’s calm gaze, and he finally spoke up his mind.
"Can I ask something?"
Laros nodded.
"When I used the new method, it felt like I was experiencing two completely different things at the same time."
Before he could elaborate, Laros raised a hand.
"I know exactly what happened."
Silas frowned.
"The first meditation way you learned first isn’t an ordinary technique," Laros explained. "It serves as a foundation. When you practised the second method, the first continued operating subconsciously."
Seeing Silas’s confusion, he offered an analogy.
"Think of monster cores. Your first core establishes the foundation of your evolution. Every future core builds upon it. Meditation works similarly."
Silas considered the explanation
"So my limited mastery of the first method caused the overlap?"
"Exactly."
Laros nodded.
"Once you’ve mastered the foundational technique well enough, you’ll be able to separate it from the others. Until then, experiences like this are normal."
Then he added with a smile,
"And before you ask, yes. Meditation is a long journey requiring patience, persistence, and time."
Silas smiled back. For reasons entirely different from what Laros assumed. During Laros’ words, something dark flashed in front of his eyes. It was a shadow representing him. Without even wanting to, the Time Mind World operated and showed him the flaws of his teacher’s logic.
The shadow performed the second meditation, but there was no single piece of evidence that the first one was used. Instead, something else appeared and caused the disturbance he felt in his meditation session.
The scene didn’t last for longer than a couple of minutes, but it was enough for Silas to realise the truth.
’This time, you are wrong, my dear teacher.’
’What I saw has no relation to the first meditation I learnt. I already grew enough mastery to control it. It seems something else is wrong within me... Something I don’t know about...’
Silas wasn’t saying groundless words. In fact, the shadow showed him something new. When it was meditating, something shone from within its body, slowly turned everything chaotic. Silas couldn’t tell what it was or where it emanated from his body. But he was certain; the new meditation method triggered something hidden deep within his body.
Whatever that thing was, Silas couldn’t tell if it was a curse or a blessing. Even puzzled and lost, he couldn’t even hint at such a thing to his teacher.
Whatever that thing was, it was his problem to solve, it was his secret to shoulder. He wouldn’t even tell any of his teammates about it.
Thinking about his teammates, Silas glanced at his wristwatch. Then his eyes widened. The meeting with his teammates was about to begin. There was less than an hour and a half before it would start. Considering the one-hour travel period back, he knew he had to move right away if he didn’t want Cher to reprimand him.
"Thank you, sir."
He sprang to his feet, returned the untouched cup, and hurried toward the door.
"I’ll tell you about my progress during the next class!"
Laros watched him disappear. For a moment, he looked puzzled. Then he laughed.
"Being young really is wonderful."
Shaking his head, he returned to his own affairs, wishing the best for his student.
Least to his knowledge, his student was having a storm of puzzling questions and mysteries that weighed down on him.
The shadow had hinted to him the truth. The disturbance in meditation had nothing to do with the first meditation technique. There was something hidden deep inside him that had awakened.
’The tower, the lady, the disturbance in my meditation, even the weird opposite images of my Mana... I feel like everything is connected somehow to that thing that got triggered by my meditation.’
’But... What is it?’
And for the first time, Silas found himself afraid of what he might discover.
