We were welcomed by a new instructor, a lady with long hair down to her shoulders, dark yellow eyes, and medium skin, as today is the beginning of our specialized training.
"I’m going to presume that most of you are familiar with the term "sol" before we begin today’s lecture. For those who aren’t, don’t panic; we’ll start with the fundamentals." The instructor’s tone was one of explanation.
"Sol is a form of energy that permeates both our atmosphere and our bodies. It is also known as the energy of life or the energy of miracles. Every living thing depends on this enigmatic energy to sustain its existence."
"It is a hypothetical concept that humans invented to help them grasp certain phenomena that science is unable to explain." I paid close attention as she began to speak.
"Sol is a type of energy that can never remain still and constantly flows in one direction. It cannot, therefore, be stored. Sol can move through channels in our bodies, which resemble pipes. These pathways are known as ‘sol channels’. To remain alive, our body needs a constant flow of sol in all of its channels. Our bodies have a virtually limitless number of little and large sodium channels."
The projector was then turned on after she reached out to grab the remote. We could see something like a presentation near where she stood. It had yet to be started.
"Similar to breathing in oxygen and breathing out carbon dioxide, this is a subconscious process. Our eyes, ears, noses, and mouths allow sol to enter our sol channels, where it then travels to every area of our bodies before leaving through our hands and legs."
She then started the presentation, showing us an animation of a human body diagram with tens of thousands of white lines, some small and some enormous, scattered all over the body. She must have been referring to the Sol channels.
The white lines around the eyes, ears, nose, and mouth started to light up as the animation zoomed in on the face. Like water streaming through a pipe, the illumination permeated the entire body. The last lines to glow were those surrounding the hands and legs, after which all the lines continued to glow as if they still had life in them.
"The lines will always be shining because there is a steady flow. The passage of sunlight through your body never stops. It will go from the atmosphere into your body and then return. You will experience this cycle till the day you pass away." She started up again.
"You might be asking why I am telling you this, so allow me to demonstrate something to make the significance of this lesson clear." She then gave us the go-ahead to follow her.
We were led into a chamber that opened off the main circular hall. On a table nearby, I noticed some sort of gadget. On the ground, there were iron logs that had been laid out. She finished her explanation as we shut the door behind us.
"On Earth, sol is only used by human bodies to survive and is only present at very minute levels in the atmosphere. You may have seen some people who have gone beyond human limitations, such as monks who have been able to prolong their lives. They have perfected making the most of the extremely scarce amount of sunlight that is present on Earth."
"Unfortunately, that is the best you can do on Earth. However, things are different in Limbo. In contrast to Earth, sol is abundant there, and as you descend, the amount of sol in the atmosphere grows. This space was created to replicate the atmosphere of limbo, just as we can make rooms with zero gravity."
She turned on the tabletop gadget. Both a buzzing noise and a white light came from it. "Please pick up the iron log and place it upright on the ground". She inquired as she turned to face us. Cliff picked up when she called.
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"Now, try punching it," Cliff was told. Cliff looked at her in confusion, but she maintained her expression. Cliff was ultimately forced to punch the log. He shed a little tear and then shook his hand.
The teacher came up to the log and said, "Watch closely." She took a deep breath and then closed her eyes. As we watched what transpired next, our eyes widened in horror. The log was broken into thousands of tiny fragments by her fist.
"Like in Limbo, there is an abundance of sol in this room. But why couldn’t this youngster break the log as I did? " She asked while indicating Cliff.
I said, "It’s because you could use it and not us."
"Exactly. You won’t necessarily get stronger just because you’re in limbo. Both your body and all of you are used to living on Earth. Because they have been doing it since you were born, they will take in the same amount of sol even if there is a higher concentration. Your bodies need to be told it’s good to take in more."
"It is comparable to inhaling deeply. It will move through your body more quickly if you breathe in more oxygen from the atmosphere and direct it towards your body. Your physical strength gets a boost and your senses get enhanced when sol flows more quickly."
A guy behind me questioned, "How are we supposed to take in more when our bodies are used to taking in the amount present on Earth?"
"One word sums up the response to this query: willpower. We can only direct the flow of water; we cannot control it. To wave a red flag in front of a bull is analogous. We may direct the sunlight in the environment into our bodies, boosting our physical strength until our minds are concentrated, provided our willpower is strong enough to do so." She answered
"Those are the essentials. You will practice in these dedicated chambers over the course of the following month until you are ready. You will discover how to focus your willpower and train your mind until you are prepared to confront the first realm."
"This is to get you ready for what’s coming. There are creatures and people in Limbo whose bodies have adapted to live with an abundance of sol, so they will naturally be more powerful than you, just as your body has adapted to living on Earth with the limited amount of sol." She finished.
That was a lot of information to take in. I was prepared to discover how to use this mysterious gift.
In the days that followed, we received instructions on how to meditate and cleanse our minds. We needed to learn how to direct the sunlight in the environment into our eyes, ears, noses, and mouths after clearing our minds. I had to meditate nonstop for three days before I could do this for two seconds.
This was just like deep breathing, as the instructor described it. Similar to how we inhale oxygen, our bodies maintain a subliminal flow of sulfate. But that flow’s velocity was normal for Earth. We had to increase how much we ingested in order to speed up the flow. We had to use our sheer willpower to direct the oxygen in the atmosphere into our bodies, just as we actively take deep breaths to enhance the amount of oxygen we inhale.
It was only when my mind was empty that I could do this. Then I would picture the thousands of white lines of various sizes that made up my body as my solar channels. Sol would flow through my imagination's channels as it floated through the atmosphere. I would then attempt to drag the atmosphere’s sol in the direction of my channels’ entrances, which were my eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. I was able to do this to accelerate the flow of sol and enter what I called the "Zen" state.
In this state, my senses were heightened, and I was able to perform tasks that were beyond my normal capabilities. However, this was just a small taste of what was possible with Sol. In limbo, the amount of sol present is much higher, and those who are able to harness its power can achieve even greater feats.
Five days after being given the explanation, I could only achieve a state of Zen for about two seconds. This was because reaching Zen required me to completely clear my mind and maintain unwavering focus, and I could only do this with my eyes closed. I found it difficult to completely clear my mind and maintain focus for a longer period of time. It required a lot of mental effort and discipline, and I often found myself getting distracted by my own thoughts or external factors.
I practiced regularly, but my progress was slow. I would often only be able to achieve a state of zen for a few seconds before my mind would wander or my focus would slip. Despite this, I remained determined to improve and continued to practice every day. I knew that achieving a longer period of Zen would require a lot of hard work and dedication, but I was willing to put in the effort to achieve it.
After numerous sleepless nights, the final day of the specialised training arrived. The time to demonstrate what I had learned since I arrived at the lakefront had finally come.