“Let’s get the basics out of the way and teach you some breathing techniques,” Phoenix said as he stood up from the table.
“How do I explain you to my grandpa?” Ash asked worriedly.
“Your grandpa won’t get up for a few hours, as the goddess knew we needed some time. Let’s find a nearby place to relax.”
Ash took Phoenix into the avocado grove that surrounded the house. He didn’t take them very deep, as he wanted to stay in earshot of his grandpa in case he woke up early.
Phoenix glanced at Ash’s bare feet.
“It helps with the Root chakra,” Ash replied. “The connection is easier to feel.”
Phoenix nodded but didn’t respond.
Ash sat cross-legged, taking a deep breath of the earthy air. The trees towered fifty feet above him, their narrow and upright growth making the grove dense. The sun had broken the horizon, and the immediate warmth pushed the air into action, causing the leaves above to rustle, as if welcoming him home. The faint hum of bees surfaced as the warmth roused them from their hives.
“How should I address you?” Ash asked.
“I am a simple Cultivator,” Phoenix replied as he sat across from Ash. “How about ‘Elder’?”
Ash bowed from his sitting position. “Thank you, Elder, for sharing your knowledge.”
Phoenix returned the bow. “Truly it is a pleasure to serve the goddess. I’ll do my best to aid you on the path.” After a moment, Phoenix continued. “You have hundreds of questions, and you will have thousands by the time I leave, but my purpose here is to prepare you for the changes now that your world has regained Spirit.”
Phoenix paused, likely because of Ash’s expression.
“The Bruja talked about Cultivators and Harvesters,” Ash said.
“The only difference between the two is how they gather their Spirit. Where I come from, creatures and people are saturated with Spirit, and killing them for that Spirit is what Harvesters do. Cultivators on the other hand, only consume the ambient Spirit from the world around them.”
“If the Harvester path provides any type of shortcut that’s all Earth will produce.”
“The people and creatures of Earth contain no Spirit, making it pointless to Harvest them. The Spirit in your world has leaked from the Pit and will remain unbound and easy to Cultivate.”
“Do you know what’s in the Pit?” Ash asked.
“I do not know the details, other than the Spirit has flooded into this planet from the Infernal Realm.”
“What is Spirit, anyway?”
“That is a simple question with a complicated answer. It is far easier to discuss Spirit’s uses, but if I had to pick a response, I would say Spirit is possibility. It glues creation and destruction together, allowing one to easily transition between those states.”
“That sounds a lot like magic,” Ash replied.
“Yes, some call it such.”
“You mentioned uses.”
Phoenix nodded, not losing patience despite Ash’s rapid questions. “Just like Spirit can alter the external environment, it can modify your body. Two sides of the same coin, so to speak. This process of strengthening your body is called Fortification. It will be the next step after you create your Core.”
Ash’s question had revealed a future step. He had displayed impatience and his questions had shown disrespect to Elder Phoenix’s process. “I regret interrupting your explanation, Elder, and I’m sorry. I’ll hold my questions until you’ve finished.”
Phoenix gave Ash a nod. “You display wisdom in understanding the difference between getting the knowledge you need versus the information you want. It bodes well for you.”
Ash liked the Cultivator more and more. Instead of punishing Ash for his curiosity, Phoenix had instead chosen to reinforce the lesson Ash had learned.
Phoenix continued. “Now that your world has Spirit again, I want you to focus on two things— collecting the Spirit in your center and condensing that Spirit into what will eventually become a Core.”
Ash forced himself to remain silent instead of asking Phoenix why he’d used the word “again” when referring to Earth. Had the planet had Spirit in the past?
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“Before I leave today, I’ll teach you the second sphere of meditation, two Cultivation poses, and one breathing technique.”
Ash’s eyebrows arched in surprise. He’d expected Phoenix to stick around at least overnight.
Phoenix responded to Ash’s expression. “We live in a time of great upheaval, a cataclysm the Universe may not survive. One of the powers tightly coupled to this battle is the Infernal Realm. The goddess detected an Infernal interaction with you but can’t pierce the veil enough to see how. It is cause for concern, and until we understand it, everyone must minimize their contact with you, including me. I will monitor from a far and when you’re ready for the next step, I’ll make myself known.”
Ash nodded in understanding, but his thoughts swirled. The Bruja had admitted the Infernal Realm translated to his concept of Hell. So now some demon might be heading his way, to rip his soul from his body and eat it or whatever demons did. Did Heaven not recognize every death he’d caused had been in self-defense?
Phoenix smiled. “While the specifics are unknown, it is highly unlikely you are targeted for death or capture based on the goddess’s instructions. I tell you this in the hope it eases your mind.”
“Thank you.”
Phoenix continued. “I’ll provide a brief overview of your spiritual system and promise to offer more details during future stages. For now, there are four distinct parts that make up this system. The first is your center, which is a container. The container holds the second piece, your Core, which is formed from Spirit. Twelve Meridians are distributed across your body and constitute the third part of your spiritual system. Your pathways make up the final part of this system. They connect your center to your Meridians. For every Meridian there is one incoming pathway and one that returns to the center. Imagine your center as the heart, your Core the blood, your organs are Meridians, and the pathway to the Meridian is an artery, while the return pathway is a vein.”
Ash had put some pieces together already. The fact Phoenix had freaked out when testing Ash meant that something odd or powerful about his spiritual system had revealed itself to the old Cultivator.
The Bruja had completely hidden this with the Hello Kitty Band-Aid, but as that also drew attention, she had modified the concealment with the My Pretty Pony Band-Aid. Now she had made it look like Ash had two of these connected Meridians, something they considered below average and would help him remain under the radar.
“Your movements reveal Step training. How much meditation do you practice daily?”
Ash spent four hours a day in chakra meditation as he attempted to awaken them. He’d done this from his earliest memories, along with the Step training. Just one more feather in the cap of his cult hypothesis. And evidently, he sucked at meditation as he’d barely managed to awaken one, his Root chakra, although his Solar Plexus chakra felt close.
Time spent with Grandpa Pine and with Maria had allowed Ash to make progress on the Heart and Sacral chakras, and he trusted the responses from his Throat and Third Eye, while the Crown and Divine ones he’d barely sensed let alone activated or awoken. Not much to show for fifteen years of daily meditation.
“I’m not sure what you consider meditation, so I’ll describe my day.”
“That would be wonderful.”
“I start every morning with ten minutes of what Grandpa calls ‘thoughtless’ meditation. Then I do a ten-minute form followed by meditation again. I do that sequence three times over the day.”
“Is this a Step form?”
Ash shook his head. “No, it’s a family one. I’m not sure why I’m doing it. I assumed it was to warm up my muscles.”
“Okay, so that’s an hour of meditation already. Any more?”
“I spend fifteen minutes at the beginning and end of my Step practice, calming my mind and reflecting on the lessons the day’s training revealed.”
“So would you say this mediation is not as deep as the first one you described?”
“Yes. The first one I’m not supposed to think at all.”
Phoenix nodded. “Please continue.”
“After Step practice I eat and stuff and then spend four hours in a deep internal meditation my family has practiced forever.”
“What is the purpose of this meditation?”
“I’m trying to find my chakras, activate them, and eventually awaken them.”
“Interesting, I’m not familiar with chakras. Perhaps they’re what we call Meridians. Can you describe them to me please.”
“Sure, like I said before there are eight of them. They run vertically up the body. Root at the bottom and Divine at the top. Divine is technically outside the body I guess, so the top one in the body is the Crown. Grandpa tells crazy stories about their uses, but I’ve only ever gotten feelings.”
“Are they connected to each other?”
The question surprised Ash, and embarrassment caused his cheeks to flush. “I don’t know. Grandpa is waiting for me to open my second chakra to advance my training and I never bothered to ask about the details. I’m going to say yes because it feels like they communicate. For instance, my Root chakra will usually trigger my Third Eye and sometimes the Solar Plexus.”
“Very interesting. I think what you’re describing is completely different from Meridians. We will come back to that. For now, please show me what you called the thoughtless meditation.”
“Ever since the Pit appeared that meditation has made me dizzy.”
“Immediately?”
“No, but always within a minute.”
“Show me, please.”
Ash immediately complied, sitting up straight and clearing his mind of stray thoughts, a little difficult after the morning’s events. Years of practice allowed him to quickly enter the trance-like state.
A few seconds later, Phoenix spoke quietly. “Can you hear me, Ash?”
Ash opened his eyes and nodded.
“Well done,” Phoenix said. “We call that the second level, sphere, or layer of meditation. I can see you’ve already mastered it, which is great as it’s the level we use for Cultivation. That means your self-reflection meditation used with your Steps is a level one meditation. Do you use a particular breathing technique?”
“No, just whatever feels natural. Is that what’s making me dizzy?”
“I believe so. The breathing pattern you used came from your advanced Step training and it overlaps enough with the Cultivation one to create issues. Out of curiosity, are you allowed to demonstrate the chakra meditation you mentioned? Please know this is only a request, and absolutely do not reveal any of your family’s secret meditations.”
Ash considered the request. No one had ever asked to see them other than his grandpa, and he couldn’t recall ever being told to hide their existence.
“Sure,” Ash responded. “It’s not a big deal. I can go the deepest in my Root.”