Drip.
A warm trickle slid down Thane's forehead. His eyes darted upward — not at the cave ceiling, not at the roots, but at the single red bead of blood that swung off the tip of his nose.
His brain froze.
Then the pain caught up.
It was a terrifying moment. Thane had never had such a life-threatening circumstance before.
His ears rang, his vision blurred, and the only thought rattling through his mind was to get up, get away, and get UP!
The goblins roared as they rushed at him.
A spearhead jabbed at his side. Thane twisted away just in time.
He staggered, narrowly ducking under another wild swing that chopped air where his skull had just been. Instinct hurled his arms outward and made a desperate flap like a seasoned goated basketball player would to fly out of danger.
He took the chance of his successful evasion and struck the nearest goblin on the gut.
The goblin roared back as Thane had not managed to accumulate Spirit.
A wild swing that was aimed at Thane's head was made, and Thane bolted. His feet slipped against the slick stone, sending him sprawling to the ground with a graceless "whump!"
Clubs and spears jabbed down, missing him by inches as he scrambled on all fours like a panicked crab. His palms skidded across rock, tearing skin, but he didn't dare stop.
SMASH!
Another club strike landed, and two more goblins were swinging their weapons.
Thane quickly darted forward.
One goblin swung a cleaver. Thane ducked, but he ducked too low!
SMASH!
His forehead kissed the cave floor. He popped back up, dazed, just in time for another club to whistle past his ear and smash into the wall.
"I have to escape!" Thane panicked. But as he tried to gather the Spirit, he could not accumulate enough as the goblins rushed at him and were wildly swinging their swords!
Thane saw the club-wielding goblin right in front of him and the three others charging at him.
A vine dangled above the two, close to the wall on the other side.
His eyes locked on it. Every muscle in his body screamed up.
Thane lunged and evaded the attacks of the goblins and jumped in between the two swinging weapons.
SWISH! SWISH!
Thane ducked and rolled as he landed, and with enough Spirit on his legs, he planted his feet to escape back to the skies above.
But his boots slipped on damp stone, and he fell forward.
THUD!
The damp stone caused Thane to slide back towards the goblins, who were running towards him.
"Why do you test me, Lord?!" Thane complained.
Clubs were swinging. Spears were stabbing. And Thane was on the floor!
"That's it!" Thane exclaimed.
FWIP!
The Celestial TV was turned on.
[ENEMIES DETECTED.]
[Celestial TV shutting down...]
[5]
The time prompt appeared. It moved thankfully slowly, not decreasing by the second.
After a few seconds, the next number appeared.
[4]
A familiar jolt was felt.
Thane felt the familiar jolt at each countdown of the Celestial TV. But it gave him enough time.
He had channeled Spirit and managed to gauge the attack of his enemies and his surroundings.
Thane followed the breathing of Merodoth.
[3]
His meditation went far from being able to gather spirit. It calmed the soul and re-diverted his life power.
The spirit energy rushed to his head, and his vision returned.
He drew in a slow breath, forcing himself to recall Merodoth's teaching.
"The Sevenfold Breath of Spirit..." Thane muttered.
Each cycle of breath was said to align the soul with a facet of the Spirit: Power, Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Might, Knowledge, and Divinity.
Merodoth claims that he has learned up to Counsel, but his master had reached Divinity. And this mysterious master of Merodoth was so powerful, his punches could shake the continent@
Thane inhaled, and with it came a warmth that filled his chest, pressing against his bones. He held it, feeling strength flood into his limbs like molten iron poured into brittle clay. His exhale carried fear, doubt, and the tremble in his knees.
The breathing technique allowed the Spirit Energy to swell in his body. He had learned the first of the seven breathing techniques.
The Spirit of Power.
At once, his body stilled. The panic that had clouded his vision melted away. His muscles no longer twitched with fear but thrummed with vitality. His lungs expanded like bellows, pulling in strength with every breath.
His lungs expanded, chest rising in a steady cadence. With every inhale, he imagined drawing light through his nose, sinking it into his core. With every exhale, he pictured pushing the darkness and fear out through his mouth.
[2]
[1]
Thane rolled to the side as time returned to normal, barely evading the attacks.
TWANG! TWANG! TWANG!
He rolled to the side and used his two hands to create a Spirit Dispersing Deflection Strike on the ground.
BOOOM!
Thane was thrown back to a standing position, and the Spirit gathering on his two hands was released as he attacked forward.
POW! POW!
Two punches from both hands landed beautifully. Thane had already assessed his position and prepared for his counterattack.
SWISH!
A sword swung as Thane backed away just a bit and dodged the sword narrowly. He stepped back three times and planted his feet on a small rock.
BOOM!
His legs kicked as he used the rock as a springboard.
BANG! BANG!
His two fists struck another pair of goblins right on the bulging monster core.
Thane then pushed his head lower as a club swung above him.
"YAAA!" The goblin cursed as it missed and swung its club back again.
Thane gathered the spirit and Thane slapped the incoming club with Spirit Dispersing Deflection Strike.
The club was knocked back, and Thane was also pushed back from the explosive connection.
With his foot on the rock again, Thane made a springboard dash and stuck the area where the Monster Core was.
POW!
With that, the last of the Goblins were sprawling on the ground, suffering in great pain.
Thane stumbled down as well. The bleeding was already dripping down his back.
"I was too... arrogant!" Thane cursed. He saw the spear close by and grabbed it.
Without any hesitation, he began to take the spear of the nearest goblin and began to stab the goblin to kill it.
STAB! STAB! STAB!
With the last of the Goblins dead, his Fight or Flee adrenaline disappeared, and Thane immediately stumbled and was gasping for air.
The remote appeared at once, and Thane replayed the episode that focused on breathing in the show [Spirit Energy 101].
Thane followed the breathing technique even as his vision faded.