Sorry for the wait. The chapter this time around is a little bit longer than usual, since I couldn't find a good stopping point and also not proofread yet. So please inform me of any mistakes that I might've made. Also enjoy the chapter!
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“Hey Al! I haven’t seen ya in forever man! How’ve ya been?” Riding alongside their cart was an aging man, somewhere in his late 40’s. Although the man’s face looks old and experienced, his body showed that he was still in his prime.
“Hello Bjorn. It has been quite a while hasn’t it, hehe. Last time I’ve seen you, you were off on a goblin subjugation quest wasn’t it? Seeing that you’re still alive I guess it went well eh?”
“Ah yeh, that quest was a whole fuck-fest. Since the start I knew it wasn’t gonna turn out well ya know. That group I was with at the time wanted ta take all the credit, so once we found the goblin raid party all hell broke loose. No one was listenin’ ta each other, we all got separated and routed. The leader of the party at the time was that over-confident idiot Shultz, I heard he quit being an adventurer after being rescued from the goblin camp, HAHA. Must’ve learned what it felt like to become a woman am I right? Hahaha… So, how’ve you and Celia been lately? I heard ya both retired after yer last dungeon exploration.”
At the mention of Celia’s name the atmosphere became dark and gloomy. Hiro could feel some sort of hesitance from his father. “Celia is no longer with us.”
“Ah… my bad, Al…”
“It’s okay... That’s right, let me introduce my son, Hiro. This is an old friend Bjorn, he and I were once companions.”
“Nice to meet you sir. I’m Hiro, son of Albert.”
“Son?! Really?!” Bjorn became interested immediately in Hiro. “Hmm… He looks nothing like you nor Celia… Are ya sure he’s yer son? I mean Celia an’ ya have brown an blonde hair. While little Hiro over here has jet black hair.”
“Hah~ There are reasons that I don’t want to talk about, so let’s drop the topic.”
‘So mother’s name is Celia, such a beautiful name.’
“Fine, fine, I don’t wanna pry. So Al! What brings Hiro and ya out here today? Have ya started feeling the old blood boiling once again? Couldn’t handle the peace’n quiet of Torin?” Seeming unfazed by the topic earlier, Bjorn once again changed the topic of the conversation. It seemed this man had an endless supply of energy for gossip.
“No you’re wrong Bjorn, I’m still retired. That life is over for me, it’s just my little Hiro over here wants to follow in my footsteps, haha.” Smiling gently as if he was approving Hiro, Albert patted Hiro’s back.
“Like father like son eh? Gahaha, I wished I had also settled down and started a family. For me it’s a little late, ah well. I can always pay fer a couple-a wenches here and there, hahahaha.”
Hiro was slightly confused at where the conversation was heading. Although he felt like he might understand a little about his father’s past, he was still clueless on who his father truly was. Feeling left out, Hiro decided to ask Bjorn the question that his father kept avoiding ever since they left Torin village a day ago.
“Mister Bjorn, I ha-“
“Stop! I don’t like bein’ called ‘Mister’ it just feels too formal fer me. Kid just call me Bjorn, that’s what my friends call me.”
Hiro knew he was going to like this man, “Okay Bjorn. I want to know about my father’s past. I feel like he’s been trying to hide something from me.”
“Eh~?! Hey Al! Don’t tell me ya haven’t told yer son about how famous ya are?! No way! Man ya are one cold man aren’t ya?” Bjorn’s eyes widened after receiving the request from Hiro. He pointed wildly at Hiro while looking back and forth between both father and son.
“Aw lay off me, Bjorn. I had my reasons not to tell him.”
“Well, the kids bound ta find out sooner or later, so ya might as well tell him now.”
“Hah~ I know… So where would you like me to start Hiro?”
“How about that time when you muttered something while holding the Symbol of Sienna?” Hiro was referring to the time when his father thought he was a Doppler. During that time, Hiro was too preoccupied with reflecting on the Doppler attack that he barely noticed what his father was doing.
“Oh that? That was when I used a level 5 spell from the white magic branch. Usually that spell is only used to cleanse the mind of the target, but in the case of a creature of darkness, it will damage it. For a Doppler, that spell will cause it to lose control of its current form and revert back.”
“No Al, the kid ain’t talkin’ about what ya used, but how ya can use magic. Even this old man over here can understand what the kid really wants ta know.” Hiro was vigorously nodding his head at Bjorn’s amused comment.
“Will you shut it Bjorn?” He growled, “I was just getting to that. Now Hiro, I’m sure you are wondering why I know how to use magic. The truth is that I used to be an adventurer like Bjorn until I took an arrow to the-“
*WHAM!*
“Enough with the jokes, ya twat! Since you keep avoiding the questions I’ll answer it for ya!” By this point Hiro was giggling at the interaction between Bjorn and his father. Hiro could tell that they were both very close friends and loved to joke back and forth a lot.
“I’ve sort of already figured that father was an adventurer. Hehe, it was pretty obvious when he used a spell that one time. Although I wasn’t all too sure until he introduced me to you, which confirmed my suspicions.” The jolly atmosphere that Bjorn seem to emit was quite contagious and left Hiro in a joyful mood.
‘It also explained why the rest of the villagers asked for father’s help whenever they were having trouble. Ah! Is that why there haven’t been that many monster attacks in Torin, because father has been periodically hunting down the monsters in the forest? That would explain why he would disappear for lengths from time to time.’
“Well now Al, yer kid ain’t half bad! The ability ta think fer oneself is a good quality to have fer an adventurer. Now kid, ya know yer father was an adventurer, but did ya know what he was known fer?” Bjorn’s tone was full of mischief as he looked at Albert who was red in the face.
“What was he known for? I bet he was known for slaying a dragon! Or maybe he lifted an ancient curse! Wait wait! I’m sure he rescued a princess from a demon!” Hiro’s inner adventurous fantasy was ignited.
“PFFT! Hehehe….GAHAHAHAHA! Ya bet kid! Yer father is an amazing man un! *snicker*” Bjorn was nodding his head and trying to stay on his horse while dodging Albert’s swings. “He is one amazing man, he literally had adventurers of all kinds runnin’ after’im and askin’ fer his help! *snicker*”
“Grrrr, enough already Bjorn. Look here Hiro, the truth is that during my time as an adventurer I was sought after by a lot of new adventurers.” Albert was fuming and red in the face when he explained this to a perplexed Hiro. “I had some weird luck in attracting new adventurers, so because of this I would always end up partying up with ‘noobs’ and helping them out for a time. That’s how I ended up with the nickname ‘Papa’….”
“*Snicker* Right~! Hiro yer ‘Papa’ over here ain’t just any normal adventurer either. He’s not goin’ into details, but yer father was sought after by a lot of WOMEN adventurers. Gehehehe! Catch my drift? So Al! Why did you leave out the ‘Big’ part in yer nickname eh? I’m sure there were many women screaming out ‘BIG PAPA!!!’ Every night am I right? Hahahaha!”
“Shut up!”
*THWACK!*
“Ow!”
“He doesn’t need to know that much *cough*. Now back on topic, because I’ve helped a lot of new adventurers during my time as an adventurer, I became well-liked by-
“Women!”
*Whack!*
“Ow!”
“By many adventurers, so you could say I’m still well-known by many top tier adventurers.”
Ignoring the point that Bjorn was trying to get across, Hiro was mesmerized by his father’s fame. All his life, he didn’t know that such a famous person was right in front of him. Although his father didn’t slay a dragon or a mythical creature, he was still proud that his father was well-known.
“So… Why did you retire so young ‘Papa’?”
“*Snicker*”
*Wham!*
“Ow!”
“Hiro, please don’t call father, ‘Papa’. I don’t really like that name, especially if a man is saying it… And to answer your question, it was because something important happened. I don’t really want to talk about it yet, but I’ll tell you when the time comes.”
“Can you at least answer me this: Does this have something to do with mother?”
Nodding, “Un! And in a way it involves you too Hiro.”
With that last line they were left in silence. One was an ambitious young man, the other was an embarrassed man, and the last an aging man who was rubbing the many lumps on his head.
---
The caravan traveled for a while longer at a slow and steady pace until evening rolled around. They had stopped near a river bank and began setting up for the night. Surprisingly enough, through Albert’s connections with the adventurers in charge of defending the caravan, they were allowed to travel with the caravan for free as long as they provide their own food.
“Oh yea Bjorn, I’ve forgotten to ask this earlier but why was the caravan so late?” Albert had forgotten to ask Bjorn, because of the embarrassing content of their last conversation. “If I remember correctly you guys should’ve arrived at the village around the time when that bright light happened.”
“Hah~ Yer right. It’s exactly ‘cause of that light that we’re so late. When that light happened, all hell broke loose. All our animals and horses went crazy and scattered around. It took us a couple of days ta round’em up an’ a couple more ta reach the village.” At the mention of the Bright Night phenomenon, Bjorn’s usually jolly face darkened by a fraction.
“Still, even without that weird light, Mitchell’s caravan is usually early by a couple of days.”
“Haha, yer also right there. Let me tell ya something Al, times are changing. There were many monster attacks on the road. Even bandits are attacking Adet’s caravans now. If I were ya, I would get ta somewhere safe. Like the big city, ain’t no way Torin would be safe any longer.”
“Right, thanks for the info. I guess it was the best decision to move out.”
Hiro came running up to his father and Bjorn. While they were chatting away, Hiro was instructed to set up a tent for themselves. “Father, I’m done setting up our tent, is there anything else that you want me to do?”
“Ah that’ll be all thanks, you can go do whatever you want while I make dinner. Talk to you later Bjorn.” Albert then began to make his way to their tent.
“Umm… Father I’d like you to teach me how to use magic…”
“Eh~? Didn’t the mages from the academy say that you didn’t have talent for it?” Dumbfounded, Albert had blurted out the first thing that came to mind. Regretting it immediately, “I mean I’ll teach you, but in order for someone to use magic, they need to be able to be to sense their Astral Body.”
“How do you know if you are sensing your Astral Body?” Hiro’s hopes slowly began to drop.
“Well… I’m not sure. It feels as if there’s another you, except this other you is invisible. Also the other you is exactly where you are and does exactly what you do… Gah! It’s hard for me to explain. I’m sorry Hiro, but you will have to ask an expert.”
Crestfallen, Hiro decided to go speak with the cheerful Bjorn and see if it will lighten his mood. While Hiro and his father were speaking, Bjorn had wandered off to where the rest of the adventurers were. They were all sitting cozily around the campfire roasting the slabs of salted pork that they had bought in Torin Village.
“Hey look who’s here guys!” Beaming excitedly at the sight of the dejected Hiro, Bjorn was the center of attention. “It’s Al’s kid! Hiro come have a seat over here!” Bjorn moved aside and made some room for Hiro.
“Heh, he’s just like his father. A natural lady-killer.”
“Tch! Damn bastard!”
“Hey now guys, don’t be jealous just because we fall for good looks.”
“All pretty boys can go die in a ditch!”
“Gahaha! Seems like everyone likes ya Hiro!” Bjorn was laughing at the reactions from the rest of the people, all the while elbowing Hiro who was awkwardly sitting there.
“Heh, looks like they don’t like me.” Hiro concluded jokingly as he sat down. He was getting embarrassed from all the attention he was getting.
“Hahaha, settle down guys! Yer scarin’ the kid! So Hiro are ya really plannin’ on becomin’ an adventurer like us?” At the mention of Hiro becoming an adventurer, the rest of the people at the campfire became quiet, waiting on Hiro’s answer.
“Erm… I’m not confident in my skill, but I dream to one day become a top class adventurer!” Hiro puffed out his chest a bit when he finished the sentence, as if to bolster his confidence.
“Ya hear that guys?! The kid wants ta be like his ‘Papa’! Gehahaha!” The rest of the people began to laugh along with Bjorn. Although it felt like they were making fun of his father, Hiro knew that they were just having fun with one another and meant no ill will.
“Yea, please just give the rest of us guys a chance! We don’t want another ‘Big Papa’ running around!”
“Oh please be quiet Ed! Little Hiro, let this big sis teach you how to become a top class adventurer… If you’d like we can start right now, Heh.”
“Right… Bjorn, can I ask you a few things?” Hiro chose to ignore the nonsense that the rest of the group were spouting, since it seemed that the ale that they were passing around was slowly affecting them.
Bjorn who was taking on long sip from the bottle paused for a moment, “Eh~? Sure, ask away.”
“How do I become an adventurer? Is there something I must do to become an adventurer?”
“Eh~ Why don’t ya ask yer father? I’m sure he would more than gladly help ya.”
“Well… I’m sure he would, but since I’m a man now, I can’t have my father holding my hand every step of the way.”
“Hehe, I like yer answer kid. Fine I’ll tell ya. The first thing ya gotta do is go ta one-uh the Adventurer Association’s buildings. Then ya gotta register as a new adventurer. Easy as that, even a baby can do it.”
At the mention of how easy it was to register, Hiro felt saddened. He thought that it took skill in order to become an adventurer and that it was a title to be proud of. “That’s it? There’s no test or requirements that have to be fulfilled?”
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“Test? Ah yes! There’s one, but I can’t really tell ya, since the examiner gets ta decide fer ya.”
*Gulp*
“Is there some way I can prepare for it?” Hiro was hoping that the wisdom that Bjorn possessed from decades of being an adventurer would be helpful.
“Nope! *Burp*”
“Eh~?”
“Yer on yer own kid.”
“… EH?!!!! Isn’t there anything that you can teach me that’ll even slightly help me?”
“Are ya good with magic?”
“No…”
“Good luck kid.”
“…”
---
“Hah~” Hiro felt hopeless, although Tenga said that he must be the one to take the first step, he doesn’t know where to start. From around his neck, hung a small pouch. Reaching into the pouch, he retrieved a small blue marble.
‘I wish Tenga would finish his meditation already, I want to ask him a few things…’
Hiro kept staring at the mysterious soulstone that held Tenga’s soul. The soulstone although dimmer, still emitted a blue glow, which Hiro found intoxicating. It was a good thing that Hiro went off and away from the adventurers before taking out the orb or else they might question what he was holding.
‘I wonder how long it takes to meditate from that… It’s almost been a week and there still isn’t anything from Tenga.’
Pulling up the soulstone to eye level, Hiro was staring profusely at the stone. Hiro was hoping that there might be some way to call out to Tenga. The longer he stared at the orb, the more drawn in he became. Soon, Hiro began to feel as if his mind were becoming separated from his body. He still felt his body sitting there, but he also felt as if he were floating.
“What’s happening?!” He yelled out in surprise as his consciousness began to get pulled towards the blue orb. Although physically the blue soulstone is small, what Hiro felt was unimaginable power has huge as the sun.
Hiro was no longer out on the road and by a campsite. He felt that he was in the void slowly drifting towards the strange blue sun-like sphere. The closer he got to it, the scarier it felt and the more captivated he became. It was scary, mysterious, and safe at the same time; Hiro couldn’t do a thing but stare as he loomed ever closer to the blue sun. Just as he was about to smash right into the humongous blue sun, he came to a stop.
‘What is this thing?’ Hiro held out a hesitant hand to touch it. ‘Wow… How strange… I can’t touch anything, but I still feel some sort of resistance. It’s as if something is preventing me from going inside. Huh? What’s that sound?’
Somewhere deep inside the mass of blue light, there was a strange rhythmic hum followed by a buzzing sound. It was familiar and yet strange at the same time, ‘I feel like I’ve heard this somewhere before… Where did I hear this strange sound?’
“srRRNK-WHEWww srRRNK-WHEWww!”
‘…’
“AHHHH!!!! Hey old man!!! Wake up! I know you’re in there!” Hiro finally remembered where he last heard that strange noise. It was somewhat similar to his father who loved to snore when he slept. Without another thought, Hiro began trying to pound on the immaterial barrier that prevented him from entering.
“You said you were meditating! You dirty liar!”
“sRRNK… Huh?! Wha?! Who?!” It seemed that all that noise coming from Hiro had woken up the great ‘meditating’ sage. “Who are you?! How are you able to talk to me?! Wait… Help me! I’ve been trapped in this prison for who knows how long, please if you can hear me, help get me out of here!” It seemed that Tenga was still half asleep and had forgotten that he had recently met Hiro.
“Oiiii! Remember me?! It’s Hiro, you know the guy that you saved back in the forest?!” Hiro waited a bit longer for Tenga to stop his dazed ramblings before continuing, “Fully awake now?”
“Didn’t I tell not you disturb me when I’m in deep meditation?!” Seemingly in a grumpy mood, Tenga lashed out at Hiro.
“Deep mediation my foot! You were just sleeping without any worries! Don’t lie to me old man, I even heard you snoring!”
“Snoring?! Me?! No way! I-I w-w-was just chanting to speed up my recovery!”
“You just stuttered! You liar! You can’t fool me!”
“Bah! So be it! Why are you here?” Tenga decided to admit to sleeping before he embarrassed himself any further and changed the topic.
“Well to start off, where am I?” Hiro was trying to look into the blue light to see if he could see how Tenga really looked like.
“There’s no point in staying out there, come inside.” As soon as that was said, the invisible barrier disappeared and Hiro finally went into the blue mass.
Once inside, Hiro saw a middle aged man in elegant clothes sitting at a table meant for two. The man looked to be about in his late 30’s and had a neat and sharp haircut. His hair was a dark shade of blue and he had a lazy look on his face. The elegant clothes that he was wearing was sky blue and had gold trimmings running throughout, making it look like strange symbols. Surrounding him was a light blue background, there were no floors, no walls, and no ceiling.
Tenga motioned towards the seat in front of him, “Sit.”
Hastily sitting down, Hiro began his stream of endless questions. “Where is this place? How did I get here? What is this weird blue light that we’re in? Most importantly How di-“
Holding up his hand to stop Hiro, Tenga cracked a calm smile, “One question at a time Hiro. To start off, I’ll answer your first question. Right now you are inside my consciousness, that’s how you are able to see me. You might not know this, but this was how I’ve been communicating with you in the past. That dull ache you were experiencing was the result of me entering your mind.”
“Amazing… So how was I able to do this?”
“It takes great concentration and power to be able to see this world. My guess would be because of the soulstone that I’m bound in, because so much of my power is concentrated inside such a small area that by luck you were able to become absorbed into the flow of magic.”
“Um, can you explain it in simpler terms?”
“That wasn’t simple enough for you?” Dumbfounded, Tenga thought of an easier explanation. “In idiot terms, you got lucky.”
“Eh~”
“*Cough* Now are there any more questions that you have?”
“Yes there are, I want to know why your consciousness was like a huge ball of blue flames. Also why is the inside of it just this table and chairs?”
“Ah now that is an interesting question. I won’t go into too much details as to why it is so. However I will tell you that this so called ‘ball of blue flames’ is the soul of the person. The colors of the balls vary from person to person. Also-“ Before anything else was said, the surrounding area, which had been blue until now suddenly changed. They were back in the room where Hiro had found the soulstone. “I can change what I see at will. It’s just merely more convenient for me to concentrate on recovering than to waste it on scenery.”
“Amazing… So are you able to see other parts of the world with this ability?”
“No, what this is, is merely an illusion, built from the memories of myself. So this room is from my point of view and memory of the place. You may see it a little differently.”
What Tenga just said held some truth. Although it looked similar to the same room Hiro was at a while back, there are some minor differences. The most obvious was the size, it seemed almost two times larger. Another difference he could spot out was that the books were newer and neatly stacked against the wall.
“I see what you mean now, so let’s say I want to relive a memory from the past, will I be able to recreate that memory?”
Amused, Tenga pondered the thought for a moment before speaking, “It’s true that you can recreate the memory, but it’s a very difficult task. You will have to remember what kind of smell was in the memory, along with the position of everything. If you don’t clearly remember the memory, then there will be holes in the scenery and it won’t be a true memory. Although I applaud you for that question, none of this has been achieved so far.”
“Heh thanks for the compliment.” Hiro was genuinely happy that he was praised by Tenga, it’s one thing to get praise from your father and a totally different thing when it’s coming from a sage that could alter the laws of nature. “If this isn’t asking for too much, how do I use magic? I know that you’ve said I have to take the first step myself, but what is the first step?”
“What do you mean? It’s common knowledge that you have to find the barrier that holds back your life energy.”
“Eh~?”
“Gah! I don’t know whether you are a genius or an idiot.” Submitting himself to the endless explanations, Tenga began to lecture Hiro about the concept of magic. “Ok, first what is magic?”
“The power to perform miracles?”
“Correct! Now where did magic come from?”
“…”
“Seems you are clueless. The answer is from the gods. God’s have the ability to create anything and everything. It was through these gods that life began on Gaia, although I said that the gods created life, they also created death. In order to remain supreme and unchallenged, they gave every living thing on Gaia mortality. Amongst us mortals there are also those who seek to challenge these gods, they are known as immortals. However, I digress, magic has existed even before the gods came into existence.”
“Hold on a moment Tenga, if you say that the gods created life, but wanted to remain supreme, then why would they give us the ability to use magic?”
Tenga was smirking mischieviously, “Simple, they fell in love with their creations. Love is a powerful emotion, don’t forget that. It was because of love that the children born from it were able to use magic. This was known as the ultimate gift from the gods.”
“So if we have the power to create miracles, how come we can’t create life like the gods?”
“It’s because of the true nature of the gift. Just like the gods, the ability to create miracles is tied to their life energy. Since we are mortals, if we were to overuse the gift, we would perish.”
Hiro’s brain was working overtime to comprehend what Tenga was saying, “If what you say is true, then when the gods and ourselves had a child, wouldn’t that child also be a god? Since they have the blood of a god within them, they would become demi-gods or at least live forever right?”
“Interesting conclusion to come to Hiro. Let’s not forget though, in the past our ancestors may be partially a god, but remember this: we were also half-mortals. We will never truly become immortal like the gods, it was because of this sole reason and time that the divine blood in our veins waned with every generation.”
“How do you know all of this?”
“Hah~” Tenga looked like he had just aged half a century, “It was during my quest to find the answer to ‘The Question’ that I came across all this information. I would ask you not to pry too much into details.”
“Alright, but what is the point in teaching me this?”
“You still don’t understand?! Hiro, I’m not sure you are sharp or dense…” Tenga began to gather his thoughts, “The point that I’m trying to get across is: if you over use the gift, you will die.”
“Alright… I’ll be careful.” Hiro remembered the stories his father used to tell him. There were many powerful mages who had overused their magic and that resulted in their deaths. However, he didn’t ever hear of the mages dying from overusing it. Just that their magic energy ran out and they fainted, resulting in the other party killing them. “Strange… Tenga, you could die from overusing magic?”
“Of course, that’s how it’s always been.”
“Then… How come, in all the stories I’ve heard, none of the mages have died directly from overusing magic spells?” Hiro asked in puzzlement.
Feeling that Hiro wasn’t lying, Tenga was also puzzled. “Strange… How long was I locked away for? Maybe something has changed in the time I was gone…”
Hiro understood that they were getting off track. “Anyways, how do I begin learning how to cast spells?”
“Hah~… Remember where we’re at right now?” Tenga brandished his arm, showing the blue space that they were currently stuck in. “This is my soul, mind, and also at the same time my life energy. Now what did I tell you earlier? I hope you didn’t ignore everything.”
“Hm… You said something about magic being connected to our lives?”
“Correct, now connect the two points together.”
Hiro began to think, he thought long and hard. “So if the blue mass is your life energy then that means… I have to look for something like that in myself?”
“Bingo! The brat isn’t as stupid as I thought!” Clapping his hands in applause, Tenga was mocking Hiro. “Now did you remember that strange feeling that was preventing you from going into this place?”
‘Now that he mentioned it, yea I remember…’
“It felt like some invisible barrier kept pushing me away. Did you mean that?”
“Yes, in order to cast magic you have to find the barrier holding back your life energy and break through it. While your life energy is connected to your mind, you can then use it to cast a spell.”
“Interesting… So how do I find mine?”
“Well, there are two methods that I know works. There’s the long and boring method and then there’s the short and risky one. Which one would you like to try?”
“Is there any reason in choosing? Of course I would go for the shorter method!”
“Are you sure? I haven’t even explained what it is.”
“A real man doesn’t hesitate when it comes to things like this!” Hiro was looking proud at what he had just said.
“So I guess you are prepared to die? Hah~ and so young too…”
“Eh~… Wait just a moment! What do you mean ‘prepared to die’?”
“It has been proven true countless times that when under great danger, humans are SOMETIMES able to create miracles. So what I will have you do is a life or death fight with a creature that I will summon.”
“Woah woah woah!!! Hold on! Don’t you think we’re putting the cart before the horse? I’ve changed my mind!” Although Hiro was ethereal, he felt his real body begin to sweat.
“Haha, I knew that you wouldn’t agree to that condition.”
“So what is the other way?”
“You’re going to love it. It’s what great sages in the past have done.”
“So what is it?”
“Meditation.”
“Like what you were doing earlier? Sleeping?”
“Shut up.”