As soon as Doko finished explaining the theory basics to Drake, he started the practical lesson.

"First of all, I need you to close your eyes and focus on feeling every inch of your body. When you become familiar with your body and understand everything about it, turn your attention to the middle of your chest, next to your heart. That's where our soul lies. What you will "see" will be a ball of light. When you can clearly sense your soul, we will proceed by teaching you how to absorb Ki. It will help you a lot if you sit down cross-legged."

Following Doko's instructions, Drake sat down cross-legged and closed his eyes. It was hard for him to calm down. He tried for many hours before finally relaxing, but at that point, the sun was already setting so Doko decided to call it a day.

"You need to relax and calm yourself. If you are anxious, you won't be able to calmly feel your body. Do not let your emotions affect you. A warrior has to face everything with a calm mind or else your enemies will take advantage of it. Let's stop for today. Go back, eat and rest. We will continue tomorrow as soon as the sun rises, I will come and pick you up."

Drake nodded and sat up, stretching his body a bit before making his way home. Until he reached his house, Doko's eyes never left his back.

"Did going berserk affect him so much? It should have been easier for him to feel his body. Based on his bloodline alone, he should be able to start gathering Ki on day one, yet he couldn't even relax enough to feel his soul. I should ask Ginna for a calming pill for tomorrow..." murmured Doko before leaving the area heading to Ginna's home to ask for the pill.

After Drake reached his house, he was welcomed by his mother who already had some fruits ready for him.

"How was your first day little one? Did you learn to communicate yet?"

Drake just made a grumpy sound and focused on eating his fruits; then he headed straight to his bed. Ginna could see that he was upset, so she realised there was a problem with his training, but she let it pass since if it were something serious, Doko would have already notified her.

As soon as Drake lied down on his bed, he fell into deep thought.

'How can it be so hard to calm down. I used to spend days without making a sound while hunting animals yet now every time I close my eyes, I see that hated goddess, and I can't help but get angry and feel the hate I have for her.

This won't do. If I can't control my emotions during such a simple exercise, I will get killed the moment I step outside this village. This world, based on the history of this village alone, is a world where the strong prey upon the weak. I will probably get in a lot of life and death situations, especially if people find out the race I belong to now.

The only way to get stronger faster is not to give up. I will keep training even when I eat and sleep. Maybe it will help me remember the days of hunting. The feeling before pulling the trigger. The stillness that comes with that extreme focus.'

Unfortunately, his body was too tired, and soon he fell asleep.

The next day, Doko woke him up even though Drake was still feeling a bit tired. However, that did not stop him from eating his breakfast fast and following Doko immediately after.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

A few minutes later they arrived in the same spot as yesterday, and before he started trying to feel his body, Doko gave him a pill.

"Take this; it should help you calm faster."

Drake immediately accepted and ate the pill, and he took his position sitting cross-legged once again. He tried to ignore the image of Delia that was appearing in his mind and focused on remembering the feeling he had while hunting. Thankfully this time, Drake managed to calm his mind, and he felt everything around him becoming still. He entered the state he wanted, the same one he had right before going for the kill. It was a focused state that all that mattered was his prey. During this state, he focused on his body and tried feeling everything that he could. It was effortless. He could feel even his blood running through his veins.

Ba-pump... Ba-pump...

The only sound he could hear was his own heartbeat. He turned his attention to the middle area of his chest, and he could faintly sense something. He instantly knew that it was his soul. He tried to focus on that, and soon the image of his soul became clear. It was a red ball of light. The moment he succeeded, he got excited, and instantly he got out of his relaxed state and opened his eyes.

"Seeing your excitement, I guess you felt your soul," Doko said with a small smile forming on his face.

Drake nodded and waited for the next part of the instructions. Now it was time for him to learn how to absorb Ki through his soul.

"Now, I want you to focus once again on your soul and try to move your consciousness inside it. When you succeed, you will get a glimpse of the true form of your soul.

Everyone's soul, when you first feel it, is like a ball of light. The colour of your soul is based on your emotions so it can change at any point depending on what you are feeling at any moment, so you should not pay attention to it much. Until you refine your soul in the second realm of cultivation, your soul will only have the form of a ball of light. Afterwards, depending on its true form, it will change shape. Mine, for example, has the form of a mountain. That gives me a higher affinity with the earth element and makes my body very suitable for body training techniques.

After you get a glimpse of your soul's true form, you will be able to sense the natural energy around you, the Ki, so you can then have your soul absorb it. You will realize the process naturally as if it is to eat food or drink water so you won't be needing any help there.

Following the absorption, you just need to think of what you want to say and the persons you want to. As long as you channel your Ki to your mind while you think that, then your thoughts will be transmitted to the ones you desire. Since your thoughts will be transmitted through Ki, it is impossible for others to overhear your conversation unless you want them to, but keep in mind it is possible to see the transmission of Ki. Using our communication technique nobody will know what you said, but they can find out that you said something through sensing the disturbance of Ki, unless you mask it.

It is a law that every time you use a spell, or you absorb Ki, a disturbance can be sensed in the surrounding area. That is the basis of how all sensory techniques work, by detecting that exact disturbance. In order to avoid being noticed, you have to hide this disturbance. I will teach you how to hide the disturbances in your surround natural Ki after you learn our cultivation method."

After Doko finished his explanation, Drake closed his eyes once again and focused only on his soul. He immediately sensed it. Then, he tried to move his consciousness to his soul. The moment all his thoughts and consciousness revolved around it, the red ball of light started changing its shape, it was slowly transforming to look like a person. It wasn't long until he realised that his soul, had the form of his appearance when he was human. He did not know if this was bad or good, but he was happy anyway since seeing his soul's true form, meant that he succeeded.

Suddenly, he felt like he was taking a breath for the first time. Only that the one feeling alive this time, wasn't his body, but his soul. He was feeling like a different person. It was like he was seeing the world in black and white, yet now, it was in full colours. Unbeknownst to him, his body emitted a light that lasted for mere seconds that was only noticeable if someone was paying attention to him. Doko was.

"Welcome to the world of cultivation young man." Doko smiled.