The merchants left a few days later. Until then, the sect members had had to find new places to spar, which would include the forest. Jiao Shi even encouraged it, saying that fighting amidst and around trees would help their situational awareness. In the evenings Dahe had been reading the books on weaving. He had also been using his new calligraphy set to practice his writing. He really needed to get a place of his own.

It was time to try his hand. He had read the instructions thoroughly, several times. He began preparing the thread as instructed in the books. Slowly, step by step, he wrapped the loom longways in what was called a warp. Then he began to move the thread back and forth, over and under each thread. When he was done, he had a small rectangle of cloth. He looked at it carefully. It didn’t seem that he was particularly good at it.

After carefully pulling it off the loom, he set it aside. He gazed at the small loom, wondering what to do with it. Being able to make his own clothes would be useful. As well as the fact that he had plenty of books on weaving, knitting and other sewing skills. His schedule was clear for the moment, so why not continue?

He began to reset the loom, but he gave himself long warp threads, so that he would be able to make a long roll of cloth. He decided to start with a length about his own height. The weaving was simple enough. Back and forth, and over and under. Nothing to do but move his hands. With nothing else to do, he let his mind wander. He began to do his mental exercises. They were supposed to allow him to feel and eventually manipulate the world’s energy. The shuttle passed back and forth, his arms moving the shuttle and loom.

He began to absorb the motions into his brain, and over time, was able to do it without thinking too much. Then he began to feel something. A tickle, in his brain. ‘How does my brain feel?’ he thought. But he continued weaving and that tickle came back.

While he kept weaving, he tried to focus on that tickling sensation. It might just be that energy everyone talked about. It was nearly supper before he was able to recreate that tickle consistently. Feeling hungry, he left for the dining hall.

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“That’s it” said Di Er. “that’s the feeling of energy. Congratulations.” Di Yi nodded. “That’s good. You just joined, did you get a mental exercise from somewhere?” Dahe nodded while chewing his food. “Yes. it’s actually a family technique.” He had had his story planned out, well in advance. Di Yi blinked, “where did your family get its own technique?” Di Er was watching him with wide eyes, chewing his porridge. Dahe smiled, “A long time ago, hundreds of years, there was a wanderer. My ancestor was able to do him a favor. That and the fact that we have a gift for memory interested him. So he stayed around a bit and put together a method of gathering and absorbing energy that would ease the burden. It’s not fast, average actually, but it’s a smooth trip.”

Dahe was proud of that story. He decided he would try to avoid adding on to it, to prevent it from becoming too complicated. He had also asked his roommates their opinion on his weaving. The response he got was, ‘rough but serviceable.’ He had a feeling, weaving might be where his talent lay. Especially since he was able to zone out and use it to focus on gathering energy. The first step was to gather the energy to his brain, to effect a change. He was letting it soak into his brain. Essentially basting his brain in energy.

After going through his sparring practice the next day, he decided to eat lunch alone. Thinking about his path forward. If weaving was helping him focus, he would have to do more weaving. Dahe decided to focus on tasks that were less time intensive so that he could focus more time on his weaving and energy gathering. His schedule became simplified. Sparring in the mornings, the occasional task, and then weaving the rest of the day. He hardly stepped foot into the library anymore.

It had an effect. He was beginning to feel the flow. After a few weeks, he was able to bathe his brain in energy, helping it absorb the new energy of the world. At a certain point he realized his brain was changing. But then he realized it wasn't really his brain in the first place. It was a new brain from the goddess. that thought upset him.

But feeling the energy flow took most of his time, even though he did his best not to become a hermit. Which was difficult to do when you shared a barrack with twenty other men. Another month later, he was consistently able to summon a flow of energy to his brain. Swirling it around, he made sure to soak every nook and cranny of his brain with energy. And finally, he began to feel something.

His brain was starting to be the transmitter instead of simply a receiver. From the brain he was able to push the energy around his body.

But he didn’t. That wasn’t the path of his personal cultivation. He was instead supposed to make sure that his brain was completely imbued with energy. After it couldn’t contain any more, then he could move on to his body. So he returned to his loom, to weave and gather energy.