There was no text on the parchment. It took Roy a few minutes of head-scratching before deciding that he had no idea what this was. Finally giving up, he decided to ask Geon. He’d given the Dungeon enough time to think anyway.
“Do you know what this is? The same man who saved me in the trial gave it to me.”
“Huh, what? Oh, that’s a cultivation technique. Looks like a pretty old one, too.”
Geon sounded distracted, leaving Roy to wonder what could have him so worked up. At least he now knew what the parchment was, and now that he knew what to look for, it finally began making sense to him.
Sitting down in the pose indicated, Roy placed the parchment on the ground before him. He studied it for a few minutes, following the various arrows until he thought he had a pretty decent understanding of the technique.
As far as he could tell, there were three parts to this technique: a breathing technique, a cultivating technique, and a cycling technique. He wasn’t entirely sure what the third would do for him since he already knew how to cycle Essence, but figured that if it had been handed to him by a stranger with power enough to enter the Trial of Beginnings, then it must be important.
Closing his eyes, Roy extended his senses, looking for the ambient Power Essence in the air. It was abysmal. The air was primarily flooded with blue and brown, the colors of Water and Earth. He could see some black mixed in as well, Darkness Essence, but the amount of gold Power Essence was almost non-existent.
Still, there was enough to serve his purposes. Taking in a half breath, Roy then used the cultivation technique shown on the parchment. He reached to the Essence around him, focusing on only the golden light. In an environment where the air was thick with other Essence types, it was a lot more difficult to cultivate the Essence you wanted. Once he felt a connection to it, he sucked in the remaining lungful of air. It would be difficult to get used to breathing like this, but he suspected that with practice, it wouldn’t as hard.
The Power Essence responded almost immediately, practically speeding through the air and flooding into him. Roy was both shocked and excited. This breathing technique far outstripped what he’d been doing before. He had a feeling that had he used this technique in the trial, he could have filled his core twice over in the amount of time it had taken him to fill it halfway.
He as annoyed with himself for not checking the scroll while he was in there but consoled himself with the fact that he wouldn’t have been able to figure out what it was before the world had collapsed around him. It still rankled him, though, as that single breath had been enough to strip the area of all the meager Power Essence that had been floating there.
Since he had the Essence in his core now anyway, he decided to try the third technique. Focusing inward, Roy began moving the essence in his core out in a steady stream. There were paths already formed for the Essence to follow, but he forced it to form a new one. His jaw tightened as the Power Essence began burning a new channel inside of him and sweat beaded his brow as he continually forced it forward.
It wasn’t nearly as bad as when Geon had first merged with him, but it was still extremely painful. He persevered, looping the essence in an infinity pattern around the core. Then he started the process over again, this time changing the angle. By the time he’d finished forming the eighth and last channel, his entire body was shaking with the effort of staying in his cycling position.
The worst was over, and now all he had to do was keep his breathing steady as he moved the Essence through the intricate pattern that he’d carved into himself. Now that he took a closer look at it, it somewhat resembled a flower. Once he began cycling his Essence through it, lighting his channels from within, it resembled one even more.
“Whoa! What did you just do?” Geon exclaimed.
“I followed the instructions on the parchment,” Roy answered, keeping his concentration on the cycling technique.
The feeling was incredible, and the effect on his Essence and core was immediately noticeable. The golden energy flowing through the pattern seemed to be refined, as though a host of impurities that he hadn’t even noticed were there, were now gone.
“What parchment?” Geon asked as Roy continued refining his Essence.
“The one I asked you about earlier. You told me it was an old cultivation technique.”
“I did?”
Geon sounded surprised, letting Roy know that he must have been really distracted before. Either that or the Dungeon had terrible short-term memory.
He was having a hard time concentrating on cycling and talking at the same time, and was glad when Geon stopped asking him questions. He didn’t know how, but he felt the Dungeon core focus on the parchment still spread out at his feet. He’d have to ask him how he was able to see without a set of eyes, though he already suspected he knew the answer.
Geon was a construct of living Essence, so it only stood to reason that he must somehow be able to see through using Essence, though it would be different than actually seeing as he did. The only question was if he could somehow gain senses that sharp. Sure, he could now feel the Essence in the world around him, but only to a limited degree. Perhaps that would change once he advanced.
Roy sat there for what felt like hours, continually cycling and refining his Essence. By the time he noticed that his cycling was no longer having any effect, the sun was already beginning to filter in through the trees.
The effect his cycling had had on his core was immediately obvious. It was shining just a bit brighter, and the Power Essence itself was so pure that the surrounding Essence looked dull in comparison. The amount of Essence he had left wasn’t even a tenth of what he’d started with, but at least he now knew how he would be able to advance- or so he hoped. The last time he’d filled his core to bursting, he’d had to vent the excess in order to avoid bursting. It was possible that it would be different with purified Essence, though.
If he was right, then all he needed to do was gather Essence, then cycle to purify it. Once he’d gathered enough power in his core, he would be able to push his advancement to the 1st Dan. Now it was only a matter of doing so quickly enough that he didn’t explode, as Geon had so eloquently put it.
It was only once he stood up, that he realized where he was, and that it probably wouldn’t be beneficial to his health to stick around. He’d been lucky that none of the Shah clan had shown up so far, but he was sure that they would be along soon. Inwardly berating himself, Roy was quick to roll up the piece of parchment, stuffing it into his robe and looking around the forest.
He then realized that he had no idea where to go. He wanted revenge on the Shah clan, but he wasn’t nearly strong enough to do so just yet. He’d never ventured far from the clan either, so he had no idea what the surrounding landscape would look like.
“Uh, Geon,” Roy said, suddenly feeling very much like the useless cripple he’d been his entire life. “What do I do now?”
“Hmm. Well, for starters, I would recommend heading deeper into the woods. I’ve already reached out to Ferry and she’ll be here soon. But I can sense Shah clan members approaching, and since you don’t know how to hide your presence yet, they will sense you immediately if you stick around.”
Roy took off running immediately, bolting down the path and heading in the direction of where he normally gathered gravel. Despite the fear of being caught, he still reveled in the feeling of actually running. This was something that he never thought he’d be able to do, and now it was as easy for him to do as breathing. While he ran, he was sure to question Geon.