After a long day of school, Saneko sat cross-legged on the worn rug inside the shaman's yurt, trying her best to look attentive as the old man droned on and on about the importance of meditation. She'd been there for hours already, and her patience was wearing thin. She kept having to remind herself that she was doing this for banana smoothies.

"Remember, true power comes from within. You must learn to cultivate your inner energy, to connect with the vast ocean of-"

"Yeah, yeah, the ocean of cosmic whatever. You've said that like a hundred times already."

"You wish to learn to cultivate magic, yet you can't even put in the bare minimum amount of effort required."

"Yeah, because it's boring as hell!"

Aside from getting her classmates to bow before her, she was used to being able to do anything with ease. She was born with what was essentially a cheat code to life, yet the one thing she could never do was stomach boredom. Even with her full mastery of her mind, it was something she just couldn't do.

"Well young one, you are clearly not ready yet. Why did you even return here?"

"BECAUSE OF BANANA SMOOTHIES!"

"Oh yes, that is correct."

Saneko looked down and crossed her arms before letting out a tired sigh.

"It doesn't matter anyway. I'm stronger than anyone else as it is."

"Yes, I am well aware of that. Even I must admit that I don't exactly know why your mother wants you to do this so much. I witnessed you teleport right before my eyes, so I know very well that you are far beyond anything this world has seen."

Saneko was about to get excited because the shaman was acknowledging her, but her excitement was immediately replaced with confusion upon hearing his statement.

"What is the big deal with teleporting anyway?"

"No cultivator can do it. It requires one to know the exact location of a place, down the the microscopic details."

"Microscopic? Like germs. Those things are everywhere all of the time. How hard could it be to remember where they are?"

"Wait, you can see them?"

"Can't everyone?"

The shaman rubbed his eyes. He realized that it would be better to not question it. He had already accepted that a girl with horns was sitting before him, so this shouldn't be surprising to him.

"Never mind that. Let's just continue meditating for now."

"Ugh."

Hearing Saneko's audible boredom, the shaman shook his head before standing up. Saneko looked up at him to see where he was going. He walked over to a table and retrieved a rock from it. He walked back to where Saneko was and handed it to her. She looked at it, staying silent for a few seconds.

"... What is this?"

"This is a spirit stone. It's said to contain the essence of the great ocean that connects all things. Try to hold it and see if you can sense the energy within it. Only cultivators can do so."

"It just looks like a regular rock to me."

"Appearances can be deceiving."

Saneko rolled her eyes, but took the rock anyway, looking down at it with her usual bored expression.

"Now, close your eyes and concentrate."

She begrudgingly closed her eyes. She didn't even know what she was trying to do exactly. All she knew was that she definitely wasn't sensing anything.

"This stupid rock doesn't even do anything."

Saneko opened her eyes and handed it back to the shaman.

"It didn't work?"

"No. It's probably broken."

"It is definitely not broken. I feel connected to all of the world when I hold this rock."

Saneko looked at her hand and placed it on the ground. Suddenly, there was a slight shift in the Earth's gravitational pull. Nothing too noticeable for low ranking cultivators, but the shaman could definitely feel it.

"What did you just do?"

"I connected myself to the world. I am the Earth now. I didn't need a stupid pebble to do that."

"What do you mean you are the Earth?"

"What does it sound like it means? I'm everywhere. It's kind of overwhelming to be honest, but I can see every single spot on the planet right now."

This was true, however, like everything else she found overwhelming, she tuned it out. She was really only focusing on the shaman right now, but she could indeed see everything if she truly wanted to. In a way, she was in a state of omnipresence. Once she removed her hand from the ground, her senses returned to normal.

The shaman took a deep breath, reminding himself that he should just be expecting stuff like this from her.

"Perhaps we should take a break and try again later."

"Good. I'm starving. Got any food around here?"

"I have some store bought banana smoothies."

Saneko's eyes immediately glistened with excitement. She remembered that the shaman loved banana smoothies just like she did. Her excitement was short lived though. The store bought banana smoothies came in a can, and while they had a similar taste to the ones she bought from the ice cream store, they weren't nearly as good.

"Eh, it's alright I guess."

The shaman didn't answer. He was too busy drinking from his own can. After finishing the smoothie, he put the can down and began to speak again.

"Do you know how to summon spirits?"

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

"Hm?"

"It's a thing many cultivators can do. I was wondering if you can as well."

"Probably. I have summoned spiritual beings before if that's what you mean. I mean, I can practically do anything so it shouldn't be a surprise."

Saneko was feeling haughty again even though the shaman already knew her true personality. She couldn't help her Demon Babe personality from coming out.

"I don't exactly know if that counts. Allow me to give you an example of what I mean. I can summon spirits by chanting. Sometimes I will summon the spirit of an evil demon, or sometimes one of a fallen human."

Saneko sat there, still looking bored, but watching to see what exactly the shaman was going to do. He began to chant in a low, melodic voice. Saneko stood up straighter, a hint of mild interest on her face. Before too long, a shimmer of light appeared in the air.

"Spirits are like fish in the great ocean of existence. We must learn to cast our nets and draw them near."

Saneko leaned forward, genuinely curious now. But as the shimmer grew stronger, she felt a familiar presence.

"N? Is that you?"

Nakialia looked around, confused. She had been fully manifested into the room.

"Saneko? What's going on? Where are we?"

"In Mongolia."

"HUH?"

The shaman's jaw dropped. He could see spirits as he had the ability of True Sight. High ranking cultivators will sometimes learn this ability, although it is quite rare. It simply allowed for humans to see spirits, although, in some instances, it will allow humans to touch them as well.

"So you do have a connection to the Astral Plain."

"No, I just have always been able to see spirits."

Nakialia was still completely lost.

"Who the hell is that guy?"

"He's the shaman. The guy who discovered cultivation."

"Oh... Now I feel like a jerk for not knowing him."

The shaman reached out his hand and it began glowing with a white flame.

"I shall purify the spirit now and cleans this area."

Nakialia's eyes widened in horror. She immediately reached out her arms to protect herself, knowing exactly what the shaman was about to do, despite not being able to understand him.

"NO!"

Saneko giggled to herself and gave Nakialia a smug smirk.

"Looks like he's going to exorcise you N."

"HELP ME!"

"Hehe~ Alright fine."

Saneko stood up and put her arm in front of Nakialia to protect her.

"She's my friend so you can chill with the whole purification stuff."

The shaman was a bit confused, but he put his hand down, letting it return to normal.

"You truly know this spirit?"

"Yeah, I've known her for years."

"And you can interact with her?"

"Yeah."

Saneko patted Nakialia on the back to prove that she could. Nakialia just looked uncomfortable though.

"I thought you said you don't have any tie to the Astral Plain."

"I don't. I mean, I could probably teleport there if I wanted, but I don't have an actual tie to it or anything."

The shaman began to laugh loudly which caught Saneko and Nakialia off guard. They gave each other confused glances, not knowing what was so funny about what she just said. The shaman wiped a tear away from his eyes as he calmed down.

"Teleport? To the Astral Plain? I know you're powerful, but that is preposterous."

"Oh yeah?"

Saneko loved a challenge. Her body started to fade into a transparent state. She didn't exactly know what she was doing since it was her first time interacting with the Astral Plain, but it seemed like she was doing it successfully. The shaman's look of amusement was completely gone now and replaced with a look of sheer terror. He backed away frantically.

Saneko, who was now in a ghostly state began to laugh at his reaction.

"What? I told you I could do it."

"No... it's impossible. The depths of The Ocean are unsurpassable."

Saneko's body returned to its physical state. She sat back down and let out a few more laughs.

"Okay, be for real. What is this ocean you keep talking about?"

"The ocean? You don't know what The Ocean is?"

"Well duh. I know what the ocean is, but what does it have to do with anything?"

"Not the ocean. The Ocean."

"You just said the same thing twice."

The shaman facepalmed. The only thing scarier than Saneko's incomprehensible abilities was her complete lack of understand of how the world worked.

"The Ocean is where we live. We are in The Surface. The physical world."

"Oh, you're talking about the worlds above. I have heard about them."

"No I am not. Those are all within The Surface. The Astral Plain is within the second depth, The Shallows."

Saneko did not expect to be given a lesson today, so he rolled her eyes and sighed exasperatedly.

"I don't exactly get your point, but alright."

"What I'm saying is, how can you go to an entirely different depth of The Ocean? They should be completely inaccessible to any being in any world, even the worlds above. No matter how high they stack, they should never be able to reach another depth."

Nakialia just stood there, not understanding what was going on because both the shaman and Saneko were speaking in Mongolian. Saneko still didn't really get what the shaman was saying, but all she knew was that he was making her out to be powerful, and she liked that. She nodded vehemently.

"I suppose I am just that powerful. Isn't it amazing?"

"A being like you, who can make the impossible possible, still can't learn a single cultivated skill? I don't believe it."

"Well, you yourself were about to purify N. Aren't you able to interact with the Astral Plain too?"

"I assume N is the name of the spirit I summoned. The ability I have that allows me to summon and interact with spirits is an ability of its own."

"... That makes no sense at all."

With a sigh, the shaman realized that he had to be more clear.

"The ability is not me. I can never enter the Astral Plain. Only the dead and the demons can do that. My power does not reflect myself."

"Alright, well, I guess that confirms it. I'm a god! No wait... I'm THE God!"

Even though she couldn't understand a thing they were saying, Nakialia knew Saneko was getting full of herself again. With a sigh she began to disappear.

"I'm leaving. I don't think staying here will be beneficial to me in anyway."

Saneko looked over and nodded as Nakialia disappeared. The shaman also saw her disappearing, but didn't really react. Saneko started to think more deeply about what the Astral Plain meant, and it left her wondering something.

"If the Astral Plain is in another depth or whatever, does that mean N is super powerful too?"

"By nature of her existence, yes. From what I witnessed, she seems to be just a normal young girl, and probably can't even break a plank of wood with her own physical strength. But regardless, her existence is beyond ours. People without any spirit based abilities would never be able to defeat a spirit, no matter how weak."

"Hmm. I see. Well at least I'm stronger than her."

All Saneko cared about was if she was stronger than everyone else. It was the only reason she'd care to learn anything. As long as she could apply it to herself, she was happy.

"So tell me. What other depths are there in this ocean?"

"If you truly want to know, I'll explain it to you."

Saneko nodded, shifting slightly to get more comfortable.

"There are countless depths. We've already discussed the first two, but there are five that I am aware of. I know of them because of that rock I showed you, however, it only allows us humans to see things that we can comprehend."

For once, Saneko wished she was a cultivator, only because she wanted to prove that she could use the rock to see past what every other human could see. She pushed these thoughts aside though, and let the shaman speak.

"The third depth is The Current. It holds possible realities. Whenever a human does anything, they shape their own destiny in this world, but an infinite number of alternative possibilities are also created. And then there are the impossibilities. Worlds that can never happen. Well, all of them are in The Current. The fourth depth is The Trench. Ideas float around in The Trench. They-"

"Hold on. Ideas? Like thoughts?"

"Thoughts, concepts, ideas, notions. Whatever you want to call them."

"So, just by thinking, I have entered The Trench. Sounds easy to me."

"Not exactly. It's more fundamental than that. It's more like... say you wanted to create a world-"

"Oh, I could create a world easily!"

"Please be quiet and let me speak."

Saneko narrowed her eyes. She was the one being rude, yet she still couldn't help but feel disrespected. Taking a deep breath, the shaman continued.

"Say you wanted to create a world. You just had a thought. That thought is in The Trench. Anything us humans can even imagine is held within The Trench, because it holds all things that can possibly be imagined."

"I bet my imagination can go beyond it."

"Do you ever get tired of attempting to show off?"

"Nope."

The shaman was trying his hardest not to get upset with her. With another deep breath, he finally spoke up again.

"And the fifth depth is The Deep. It's duality. Yin and Yang. Creation and destruction. Not much else to say about it. As for the sixth and beyond. Well, I call the sixth The Abyss as I have never been able to sense anything in it, and the same goes for the other depths."

Saneko immediately stood up and put her hands on her hips. She smirked, showing her teeth as she did so. The shaman already knew she was about to do something he didn't like.

"Oh yeah? Watch me destroy it all!"

"NO!"

Saneko slouched and pouted. The only way she really knew how to show off was with destruction. Truthfully, Saneko didn't even know if she could affect anything past the Astral Plain, but that didn't matter. Logic never stopped her before, but maybe destroying everything would be going a bit too far.