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Sam walked down the crowded street with three animals perched on very conspicuous parts of his body: a ferret on his shoulder, an eagle on his head, and a two-headed snake wrapped around his face, yet no one seemed to care or even notice. Thanks to Werchbite’s ability, one involving illusions—Sam wasn’t quite sure about the specifics because Vercedei had kept its answers vague—people thought Sam looked like the most average person they had ever seen. Everyone saw him differently, but he was so bland in their eyes, no one remembered any of his features after he passed by.
As for Sam, he felt like he was playing a video game. His eyes were covered by the twin-headed snake, so he couldn’t see anything, but inside of his mind’s eye—which was surprisingly similar to a daydream—he could see everything around himself. He could even see through walls to peep inside of buildings, invading the privacy of everyone around him.
After dying and encountering that deep voice, Sam switched his focus from living a luxurious life to living a luxurious life while doing his best to strengthen himself. First, although he automatically mastered his chakras, he didn’t know what they were capable of doing, so he had to learn techniques for them and train in those. Then, he had to figure out a way to enter mantid society to pick up their historical record to unlock and master his heart chakra. However, currently, he was heading to school.
Sam came to a halt in front of a building. He pushed on the door, but it didn’t budge. He pulled on it, but it still didn’t move. Although he could see through his Ajna, the details weren’t very clear, and the sign that said, “Please use other door,” was unreadable to Sam, but the person behind him had no problem staring at Sam like a crazy person before opening the other door. Sam made a mental note for himself to work on picking up tiny details with his third eye chakra before following after the person.
Sam had signed up for a combat school, one which was really less of a school and more of a platform for newbies to connect to experienced awakened and seek their mentorship. The fees were paid to the platform to purchase credits, and credits could be exchanged for a mentor’s time. With the help of his graylings, Sam had already signed up for a one-on-one mentoring session for his root chakra. Although he could read books or watch videos, reading wasn’t his strong suit, and he wasn’t really good at studying through videos either.
Sam walked up to a counter, and Vercedei spoke for him since Sam’s mouth was covered. “Hello,” the snake’s blue head said in a voice as average as sausage, eggs, and bacon for breakfast. “My name is Sam. I signed up for the root chakra course at eleven.”
“Sam, yes,” the woman at the counter said, not noticing anything off about Sam. She messed with her keyboard before leaning over and pointing off to the side. “Room one-oh-four, right down that hallway.”
“Thank you, ma’am,” Vercedei said. “By the way, you should really think about what your husband said the other day. You asked for a sign; well, here it is.”
Sam mentally glared at the snake’s blue head, and he walked down the hall away from the counter lest Vercedei deceive that poor woman any further. The snake enjoyed making up lies as much as Raindu enjoyed stealing; Sam couldn’t even tell if the snake was being honest with him despite being connected to it through his and its thoughts. The woman stared at Sam’s back, but she couldn’t even remember what his face looked like or what his voice sounded like, but she did remember he had a good point.
Sam raised his hand up to his face and blocked one of his nostrils with his thumb before taking in a deep breath. Then, he switched his thumb to his other nostril and exhaled. Normally, he would’ve taken a deep breath through his nose and exhaled through his mouth, but the snake was gagging him. Rather than worrying about things he couldn’t control, he’d focus on the things he could … like trying to read room numbers posted on doors. Maybe he should’ve asked the graylings to sign him up for an Ajna mentoring session first.
Luckily, Sam could see through walls with his Ajna. Any room with more than one occupant probably wasn’t where he was supposed to go. Eventually, he stopped in front of a door and touched the sign, reading the number on the plaque with his finger. When his fingertip touched the numbers, they became clearer within his Ajna, confirming the room in front of him was where he had to go. Sam knocked on the door, and a masculine voice answered, “Come in.”
Sam pushed open the door and stepped through, closing it behind himself. He didn’t need to look around to see the contents of the room; in fact, he had already seen it before opening the door. There wasn’t much: two cushions on the floor, a person sitting on one of the cushions, and four crystal pillars, one in each corner of the room. As for the person, Sam couldn’t see his physical features that well, but Sam could see the man’s vibe. It reminded him of a stone statue covered in moss. “Hello,” Vercedei said for Sam.
“Have a seat,” the man said, sizing his new mentee up. All he saw was a completely average individual, which was odd considering his mentoring fee was the most expensive one. Usually, only the ones truly dedicated to their Muladhara or the rich snobs would sign up for his lessons. “What are you here for?”
“I’m in an unusual situation,” Vercedei said as Sam sat on the cushion across from the man. “You see, I’m a genius, and I have full mastery over my root chakra. I’m here to learn whatever you’re willing to teach me, but I do hope you’ll have one or two useful techniques worth spending my time and money on.”
Sam had no idea why the snake’s blue head had to make him out to be such a braggart, but he let it be. It didn’t matter what other people thought of him; as long as the snake got him what he wanted, Sam was willing to give it free reign over his manner of speech. It was nice in a way; he didn’t have to focus on conversing with other people, something he didn’t enjoy doing much in the first place.
“Oh-ho?” the man asked, raising an eyebrow. “Then, I’ll try not to disappoint you. What have you already learned if you don’t mind me asking?”
“Pretend I don’t know anything,” Vercedei said. The illusion of Sam the man was seeing smiled. “Imagine I’m a blank slate. If you could impart three techniques to me to make me into the strongest awakened, what would those techniques be?”
“Grounded Self, Vibration Assimilation, and Thrumming Pulse,” the man said without hesitation. He stared into what-he-thought-was Sam’s eyes. “What do you think? Are those worth learning?”
“Yeah,” Vercedei said. “Teach me.”
“We’ll start with Grounded Self,” the man said. “If you can’t master this, then you can forget about learning the other two.” The man sat up straight and adjusted his posture, his legs crossed over one another in the lotus position. “Sit like me and focus on your breathing.”
Sam copied the man’s actions as best he could. Although the details were blurry, he could still see the outline of the man and his inner organs—although they were represented by colorful hazes rather than organ-colored flesh. The man breathed in through his nose and out through his mouth, exhaling audibly. Sam wished he could exhale through his mouth, but the snake didn’t let him. Evidently, it didn’t matter as long as he exhaled loud enough to draw his attention to his breath.
“Grounded Self can be used defensively, but ultimately, it’s a technique to center yourself in the present,” the tutor said. “Focus on your breathing. When your mind drifts, let the sound of your breath interrupt your thoughts. Eventually, your body will reach a state of calm. When it does, remember how your body feels: which parts are tense, which parts are relaxed, how does your heartbeat travel through your limbs? When you can duplicate the sensation with your root chakra, then you’ve succeeded.”
Sam focused on his breath. Essentially, Grounded Self seemed to be no different from any of his other techniques where he had to focus on changing the vibration of his body through his root chakra. As long as he entered the state through meditation, if his Muladhara worked with him, it’d assimilate the vibrations, allowing him to enter a relaxed and clear-headed state whenever he wished. It didn’t take long for Sam to clear his mind, achieving total relaxation; after all, he didn’t really have any worries or anxious thoughts pestering him, not with the power of money and grayling butlers.
The tutor stared at his mentee, but he wasn’t sure what to make of Sam. However, did it matter? The money had already been deposited, so whether Sam succeeded in learning or not didn’t affect the tutor. However, if Sam proved to be an exceptional individual, it couldn’t hurt to befriend him, right? Everyone survived through their own methods; there was nothing wrong with forming social connections purely for benefits.
Sam didn’t know what the tutor was thinking; Sam wasn’t even focused on his Ajna, purely putting all his concentration into maintaining his breath while clearing his mind. Despite that, thoughts still appeared in his head, most of them involving why his breath was so weird. His stomach didn’t expand and neither did his chest when he inhaled. When he exhaled, his body didn’t change either despite him losing air. Also, about his heartbeat…, he didn’t exactly have one anymore. His heart and lungs had been destroyed by Paula and replaced by Werchbite’s crystalline creation.
Still, despite lacking a heart and lungs, the meditative technique of focusing on his breath was successful, and Sam entered a state of complete calm. However, when he thought about how he had achieved a calm mind, his mental state was temporarily interrupted, and he had to focus on his breath once again. Despite Sam’s failure, the tutor didn’t notice anything amiss thanks to the illusion the snake’s purple head constantly emitted.
After thirty minutes, half the time Sam had booked for his lesson, he achieved a complete state of calm. He thought his vibrations would be calm and low in frequency, but they were heightened as if he were on a hike. While in this state, he could think things through clearly without being blinded by emotions. He could already see how it’d be helpful to calm his nerves if he were faced with something terrifying; at least, he wouldn’t be so afraid that he’d seize up in fear. He also wouldn’t be nervous when facing new challenges or dragged down by self-doubt in crucial moments. It was no wonder why the tutor had chosen Grounded Self as one of the three techniques; it allowed Sam to perform at his best whenever he wished.
When Sam’s root chakra reacted, sending a chilling pulsation through his body, he savored the sensation, observing how the pulsation assimilated the vibrations within his body. When it was over, Sam stopped relaxing and focused on his Ajna, taking in his surroundings once more. “I’ve mastered Grounded Self,” Vercedei said for Sam. “Was that quick or what? Like I said, I’m a genius.”
“Not bad,” the tutor said. “However, Vibration Assimilation won’t be as easy to learn.” A smirk appeared on the man’s face as he held his hand out towards Sam in a handshake gesture. “Take my hand.”
Sam grabbed the man’s outstretched hand, and a shocking sensation traveled up Sam’s arm and through his body as if he had stuck tweezers into an electric outlet—something he had done when he was young and stupid.
“Focus on your Muladhara,” the tutor said. “Chakras are vibrational centers of the human body. Feel the vibrations coming out of your root chakra. Allow them to interact with the electric shocks I’m sending into you. Try to meld your Muladhara’s vibrations with mine.”
Sam listened to the tutor’s instructions. For some reason, they were oddly familiar to what he could already do. Even the name, Vibration Assimilation, sounded like what he had learned atop the surdock’s back. Absorbing the vibrations caused by negative—or positive, in the case of Grounded Self—effects, and replicating them to reproduce the effects. Sam allowed the chilling pulsation to rush out of his root chakra, wiping away the feeling of electrocution as the cold sensation washed through his limbs. “I already know this technique,” Vercedei said. “It’s the first thing I accidentally learned to do after I unlocked my Muladhara.”
“But Vibration Assimilation is an advanced technique,” the tutor said. “It takes years to learn; are you sure you’re doing it right?”
In response, Sam mimicked the vibrations from the shocking sensation, electrocuting himself and the tutor in the process. The tutor’s eyes widened—not that Sam could see—and he withdrew his hand. “I see,” the tutor said while frowning and looking at his hand. “Out of curiosity, did you electrocute yourself as well just now? It was awfully strong.”
“Yes,” Vercedei said. “Whatever effect I want to transmit to my opponent, the vibrations travel through my body first.”
The tutor stared at Sam in silence. “So,” the man said after thinking about his words, “you’ve been hurting yourself to hurt others? Like picking up a cactus with your bare hands to hit someone with it?”
“Is that not how it’s done?” Vercedei asked out loud while mentally questioning Sam’s intelligence.
“I, I suppose that’s one way to do it,” the man said, “but most Muladhara practitioners concentrate their vibrations into their hands. Although the strength of your techniques will be muted, isn’t it better than crippling yourself to hurt someone?”
Sam had no response. He didn’t know he could localize the vibrations to a certain part of his body. If he used Sick Attack on just his hand and grabbed someone, he wouldn’t feel nauseas at all while the unlucky recipient of his grasp would feel dizzy and hungover. He’d have to practice this localization technique. Although he already knew Vibration Assimilation, at least, he still picked up a new trick for it.
“It is,” Vercedei said. “However, as a genius, I grasped the concept the instant you mentioned it, so you can move on from teaching me Vibration Assimilation to Thrumming Pulse.”
The tutor stared at Sam for a bit, wondering how someone with such an average face and vibe could be so talented and arrogant. Of course, Sam could’ve been a master of the Muladhara, and he signed up just to show off, but wasn’t that a waste of money? “Very well,” the tutor said, not caring about Sam’s background any further since the credits in his account had already gone up. “Thrumming Pulse is one of the greatest techniques I’ve developed, and its main principle is based on amplification through the repeated stacking of vibrations. In fact, the sole reason most people hire me is to teach them this very technique, but of those people, only those who’ve tempered their Muladhara enough have learned it.”
“No refunds,” Vercedei said, the illusion of Sam nodding in the tutor’s vision. “I understand. You don’t have to worry about that with me. Even if I fail to learn Thrumming Pulse, which I won’t, I’ll leave you a good review.”
The tutor chuckled. “I’m sure your name will resound through Oterra one day,” he said. “After all, you’re a genius. With your endorsement, I’m sure my business will be booming.” The man stood up and walked to one corner of the room, standing next to one of the crystalline decorations. “Allow me to demonstrate the main principle of Thrumming Pulse.”
Sam focused on his Ajna, watching the tutor’s every movement. The tutor placed his hand on the crystalline decoration, and the stone thumped as if it had a heartbeat, the pulse traveling through the whole room. Even after the man removed his hand, the crystal thumped at a steady pace, sending vibrations through Sam’s cushion and up his spine. Then, the tutor walked over to another corner of the room before placing his hand on the crystal pillar. It didn’t take long for the crystal to pound like a heart, following the same rhythm as the first crystal structure. The vibrations from each statue stacked upon each other, increasing the strength of the sensations traveling through Sam’s body.
The tutor walked around to the other corners of the room, activating the statues such that they pulsed as one. Then, he took a seat on the cushion across from Sam. “As you can see, when timed correctly, vibrations can be amplified to increase the effects of your techniques,” the tutor said. “The timing is different for every technique, and some techniques are impossible to amplify, but some techniques can theoretically be stacked as many times as you want. I recommend you practice amplifying Adrenaline Rush first.”
“Teach me Adrenaline Rush,” Vercedei said. “I’ll assimilate it from you.”
“Sure,” the tutor said before placing his hand on the ground. A surge of energy flowed out of his palm, and the four pillars ceased their thumping. Then, the man stuck his hand out towards Sam. “Adrenaline Rush is similar to Grounded Self, but instead of calming you down, it allows you to ignore pain, which in turn allows you to push your body beyond its limits—though, it will hurt like hell afterwards if you tear your muscles through overexertion.”
Sam grabbed the man’s hand, and a faint ripple traveled up his arm, increasing his heart rate while sending blood rushing to his head. It didn’t take long for him to assimilate the man’s technique, but it did leave him exhausted. Apparently, even if he was absorbing vibrations from other people, his body couldn’t handle assimilating too many techniques at once like the jigglers’ limitations in Et Serpentium.
“Now that you know Adrenaline Rush, it’s just a matter of practice until you learn Thrumming Pulse,” the tutor said. “Feel how the vibrations travel through your body. Observe how some of the ripples bounce back from your skin, returning to your Muladhara. You want to activate a second usage of Adrenaline Rush at the right time to amplify those reverberating vibrations; then, if you’re skilled enough, perform Adrenaline Rush a third time.” The tutor smiled at Sam. “Personally, I can amplify my techniques up to six times, but a true master can stack an effect nine times.”
Nine times, huh? Sam wondered what’d happen to someone if he stacked Sick Attack nine times on them. Would they puke out their organs? Maybe they’d just keel over and die.