Chapter 3: Cultivation and Training
The young Damon abruptly awoke from his stupor and found that his surroundings had returned to those of the cave. He could still hear the name Silas Aldewyn echoing softly in the recesses of his mind. He shook his head to try and clear the resounding name before pondering about the conversation he had with the old man.
"I still don't understand what all that was… What is this cultivation he spoke of?" Damon looked down at the book he still held in his hands. Upon seeing the foreign text, a searing heat pulsated on his forehead, upon which he surprisingly discovered that he was able to read it without a problem. He rubbed his forehead, and then the pain disappeared. He frowned, but immediately focused back on the book.
"Mindspire Tempering Sutra… The old man mentioned something about this… What about the rest of the book?" Damon subconsciously muttered in the same foreign language as he slowly flipped through the pages of the book.
"Within the silent chamber of my mind, I observe the first strand of thought arise… Before it can take a form, I release it, and it falls back into the formless… Let no ripple of fear, desire, or memory disturb the sea of my consciousness…" Damon read through the sutra.
"… Each breath is the foundation, each heartbeat constructs the frame… The formless gains essence, completing the inner halls of my thoughts… I walk the inner halls with steady steps, and return with a mind unclouded." Damon let out a breath of stale air as he finished the last passage. Before he knew it, over an hour had passed.
"How many passages was that? What the heck? How am I supposed to read this every day, much less remember it?" Damon was flabbergasted by the thought of memorizing the sutra. It had already taken him over an hour just skimming through the pages.
"Although I am one of the smarter ones among the village children, there is no way I can remember all of that… Let's move on to the next part of the book, I guess…" Damon felt a little deflated as it seemed like there was no chance of him achieving any grand feats using this mystical scripture.
"This sutra must be recited once daily. The best time to cultivate the sutra is deep in the night when the moon is at its peak or during dawn, at the first ray of sunlight. This sutra will allow you to gather strands of mental energy from the environment to enhance your cultivation. A strand should be formed after two to four months, depending on the concentration of mental energy in the atmospheric essence.
"When enough strands have been gathered, they will automatically be drawn into the inactive mind node and awaken it. This process will usually take up to four years; however, the supplementary art I have created will circumvent this tiring process of slow accumulation and allow you to awaken the mind node in a mere year or so."
Damon paused reading for a second while he tried to make sense of the explanation. Two to four months for a strand of this 'mental energy' to form? It'll take up to four years to begin this 'cultivation' the old man talked about? Is it really worth the effort? He contemplated whether he should just give up, but he could not forget the scenes of the old man battling through the skies. If he had that power, he would no longer be just a helpless child. Thus, he continued reading.
"Using the mental energy strands, you will create the form of a spike. Use this spike to impale the barrier around the Mind Node. This will result in an awakened state of the Mind Node. The name of the sutra originates from the use of the spike to temper the mind. It follows the principle: Pain is the chisel, Will is the hammer, and the Mind is the stone. Don't forget to drink a mouthful of Mindsoul dew to aid in the recovery of the node.
"Awakening the Mind Node is the first step into mind cultivation. The node will begin to passively absorb mental energy and convert it to mental power for your use. This is considered the early stage of Node Awakening. Every major stage of cultivation is separated into early, mid, and late minor stages. It is advised you do not read further than your current cultivation stage, as more information will only dampen your determination and shroud your mind in doubt."
Damon put the book down for a minute as he rubbed his eyes with both hands. "I am only a little bit into the book, and there is already too much for me to follow. I should stop here for the time being, since the old man told me to do so anyway." As Damon stood up to go home, he realized it was the middle of the night; the perfect time to perform the recitation of the sutra.
"I guess it wouldn't hurt to give it a try…" Damon sat back down and flipped to the first page of the book. He began to chant in a slow yet steady rhythm. As he approached the end of the chanting cycle, multiple threads of mental energy started to form around him. One… Two… Three… Five… Seven…
Suddenly, the mental rune that the old man left behind lit up on Damon's forehead. It slowly dissolved as it emanated a light that covered all the surrounding strands of energy. The strands fused into one and formed an almost transparent spike.
Damon finished uttering the last sentence of the sutra and raised his eyes from the book lying in his lap. Slightly frowning, he mumbled to himself, "Is it because it was the first time? Or is it because I had to read the sutra from the book instead of memory? I didn't feel anything happening…" He stopped talking as he noticed the slight distortion in the space in front of his eyes. Just as he tried to get a better look at it, the spike plunged point-first into his forehead.
"Argh!" Damon's jaw locked as a raw, guttural scream squeezed its way out from between his clenched teeth as he fell to the ground and started writhing around in pain.
A pain more intense than anything Damon had felt had erupted from his mind. It felt like a flaming arrow had been driven into his head. After what seemed like years, the pain subsided slightly. His vision was blurry due to the tears filling his eyes, and his mouth felt completely dry as though he had not drunk water in days. Looking for anything that might help quench his thirst and soothe the pain in his head, he discovered the pool of opalescent liquid once more.
Desperate, Damon crawled over to the edge of the pool before dipping his finger in the liquid. Sensing nothing wrong, he brought his finger in front of his mouth before tentatively licking it. Though there were only a few drops worth of this dew on his fingers, the moment they touched his tongue, it felt as though drops of cold water had fallen onto his burning head, cooling it down slightly. He quickly cupped his hands and drank multiple mouthfuls of the shimmering white water. Immediately, the pain in his head disappeared like a dream, and his throat felt soothed.
Damon remained lying by the edge of the pool, covered in sweat from head to toe, gasping for breath. Although the majority of the searing pain was gone, a dull, lingering ache caused him to feel lightheaded. Opening his eyes caused the pain to intensify, as though he were allergic to light itself. The effects of the dew continued to relieve him of his suffering. After a while, he felt better and managed to sit up against the rock wall.
The young Damon suddenly became serious. His hands and legs trembled as he recalled what had caused the agony he had just suffered. He could also feel a strange energy within his mind.
"The Mindspire Tempering Sutra. So this entire thing is real… Pain is the chisel, Will is the hammer, Mind is the stone? Does this mean I need to experience this again to gain the powers the old man spoke of? How did he come up with such a crazy method? Is this the awakening of the Mind Node that was mentioned? Didn't it say it would take a year or two?"
Damon trembled at the thought of experiencing such torture again and again. However, he immediately thought of the words the village boys spoke earlier that day. He knew there was something special about himself. He was not crazy. If he could continue to gain power, he would be able to take revenge on the rest of the bandits. They were probably smiling just like the bandit who killed his parents as they raided the village. Recalling the very smile that had haunted his nightmares ever since that day, he decided that this pain in his head was less than the pain of helplessly watching his loved ones die.
Damon's eyes blazed with a determination that could not be seen in children his age. With that thought in mind, Damon ran back down to his home to rest. Thankfully, the villagers had come together to fix his house for him after the attack, allowing him to have a warm bed to sleep in. They also provided him with the food he required to survive. Though he was not very good at it, he had watched his mother cook enough times to somewhat replicate her moves.
The next morning, Damon ran straight back up to the hidden cave before reading through the Sutra once more. He could feel a strange energy entering his mind through his head. It gathered in a spot just behind the middle of his forehead. The Sutra called this the Mind Node. The energy contained within was called mental power. This was the power he needed for his revenge. He tried reading the sutra once more; however, it did not provide any additional benefits.
Ah, so this is why it's only done once daily. I guess I'll have to do the other method… Even if it causes horrible pain…
After a round of mind spike tempering followed by a similar scene to the previous night, Damon walked out of the cave while rubbing his temples. It was time to train using his thoughts to control objects. He placed a stone atop the same boulder as the previous day before again attempting to move the small stone. He stood there sweating buckets down his back, his veins bulging on his neck, his face turning purple. Yet, the stone still did not budge, no matter how hard he tried. Why… Why won't it move? I thought I was special… Am I actually just crazy? Is this all just imagination? Was the pain from those spikes just brain damage?
Damon shook the depressing thoughts from his head. No! He refused to believe it. He was unwilling to accept it. He still needed to get his revenge on the rest of the bandits. If his thoughts still needed more time to grow stronger, he would instead focus on his body.
Hence, aside from his daily recitation of the Sutra and mind spike tempering, Damon started running up and down the mountain until he couldn't stand any longer to gain endurance. He lifted large stones above his head until his shaky arms gave out to gain strength. He practiced fletching arrows until his fingers bled to teach himself archery. He drew and released the bowstring of his father's bow until his left arm became black and blue to increase his aim and proficiency. It was for revenge. It was for his mother and father. As he experienced more pain, yet continued to persevere through it with sheer will, his mind grew stronger as well.
Time flew by as Damon continued his cultivation and training. Over the mountain, the seasons flashed by. During the searing heat of summer, a profusely sweating Damon was running up the mountain with a backpack full of rocks on his back. As the dried leaves of autumn drifted about in the wind, Damon was standing in the forest, shooting arrows at the falling leaves. When the snow of winter covered the mountain, screams of agony rang out inside the cave, causing some of the snow to tumble down the cliff. The floral scent of spring entered Damon's nose as he meditated amidst the flower petals fluttering through the air.
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Two years later, Damon breathed out a heavy breath as he finished his daily cultivation. His lips turned up into a small smile as he inspected the Mind Node within his own mind. It had grown considerably in size since his first awakening, and it now radiated with much more power.
"So this is the so-called mid stage of the Node Awakening Realm. I have finally managed to reach it after all this time."
Damon had now grown a head taller, and his body was strong and sturdy, yet filled with numerous scars and calluses. Aside from his daily cultivation and physical training, he had started doing chores for the villagers in exchange for the supplies he needed. He didn't want to rely on anyone else, only himself.
Damon picked up the Sutra and flipped over to the section about the mid stage of Node Awakening.
"Good job, my apprentice, for reaching this stage. Here, your mental power now has the strength and capacity to be channeled into physical objects. This will give you the ability called telekinesis. It is the ability to move things with your mind…"
Damon's eyes glowed bright as he read through the pages. This was it. This was the power he sought. He immediately ran outside to test the power. Once more, he stood facing a small stone sitting atop a boulder. This time it would work, surely.
Damon focused intensely on the stone, widening his eyes as he circulated the power within his mind. Nothing happened. What is this? Did I do it wrong? Is it the stone? He approached the stone and picked it up. As he tossed the stone a few times into the air, he had a sudden thought. Holding the stone atop his open palm, he focused on channeling the power within his mind.
The stone slowly floated into the air unsteadily before dropping back into his hand. Damon's face grew heated as he thought of all the time he had wasted staring at the stone.
So, he had to touch it? That would make things a bit more difficult for him. The power would have its limits. However, the scenes of Silas's abilities flashed past his mind; the methods displayed were not as simple as that. Silas had definitely been able to move things without having to touch them first. There must be a different reason. Perhaps he was just too weak at the moment.
Without further thought, Damon regained his concentration and began channeling his power into the stone again. He could feel a connection to the stone, as though a thin invisible thread connected him to it. It almost felt like an extension of his own body. His thought was enough to make it move. This time, it flew away from him and struck the trunk of a tree in the distance.
So, this is it. This proves I wasn't crazy. This is the power that will give me the strength to take vengeance on behalf of my parents. The bandits won't see what's coming.