The bamboo forest on the screen shimred as calming winds rustled the leaves. The large, barbarian-esque man who introduced himself as doroth the Tower Breaker sat cross-legged on a floating stone.
"Feel the rhythm of your life. Breathe in... hold... breathe out."
Thane mimicked him, eyes shut, matching his breath with the glowing spiral on-screen. A pulsing warmth began to hum faintly inside his chest.
"Huh? It’s actually quite nice... Like the sensation of lying in bed after a long day..." Thane smiled.
The energy of Spirit that he could sense began to move as he watched on every detail of doroth.
But his Supre Perception lengthened sothing that was already a special ability of Thane,
As a child, Thane had an odd trait that drove his parents up the wall. Whenever the TV was on, he would slip into a trance-like state. They would call him, clap their hands, wave in front of his face, and only after such efforts would it finally work. It was as if the screen had devoured his soul. He would just sit there, eyes wide, lips slightly parted, unmoving.
Doctors called it over-imrsion. So suggested minor dissociative episodes or intense hyperfocus. But it wasn’t harmful, just... bizarre. And slightly annoying and causing great inconvenience to his family.
His mom would tell him to go up and get sothing in her room, and Thane would spend an hour there as he saw the television on and would force his mother to rage and smack him awake.
They often scolded him for being "inside" the television.
And to Thane, he was really "inside" the TV!
In the philosophies of eastern cultivation, there were those who pursued harmony with heaven through ditation, visualization, and synchronization of body and spirit. In Wuxia and Xianxia tales, masters would ditate beneath waterfalls or atop mountains, harmonizing with the elents. They would seek the Dao, understand the flow of the world, and awaken their inner potential.
Thane, unknowingly, attained a trait that cultivators dread of.
It was a talent so profound that if a master of cultivation had witnessed it, they would have fallen to their knees and begged him to beco their disciple. He could easily go into a trance. What could have been used to make a martial arts expert, Thane used this gift on ani binges, baking shows, and late-night sitcoms.
He would cry when the bachelorette selected soone else that he didn’t want to win and live a happy life together.
He laughed, beca mad, and even cried at almost every show.
When Andy played with his toys at the end of Toy Story 3, Thane also played with his toys for three hours after.
Bruce Willis was dead in The Sixth Sense? Thane really believed his best friends were ghosts for two weeks.
The Going rry sank? Thane needed to get therapy and was clinically depressed for one month.
All these emotions were brought about by his hyper observation when in front of the TV. The sa Thane who could see the slightest prop error or unedited portion of a film was the sa Thane who couldn’t find the bottle of lotion that was in front of him, to the exasperation of his mother.
Thane’s eyes watched every detail of doroth, and to him, it was as if he were standing in front of doroth.
Supre Perception allowed Thane to truly feel what he was watching.
He could even feel the wind blowing inside the television!
[Enlightened Watcher Skill Attained]
Your observation skills are now unparalleled when in front of the TV. While watching any program, docuntary, or training footage, you absorb knowledge and techniques at an accelerated rate. You’ve weaponized binge-watching into a combat skill, making you a dangerously educated couch potato... minus the couch, and the potato.
"Your breathing must stabilize like this..." doroth intoned.
"Your spirit settles as your body maintains a state of constant relaxation. If you could feel it, then you begin the Beginner Flow."
A ripple ran through Thane’s body. His limbs felt lighter. His back straightened without effort. Energy, almost like a second skin, wrapped around him.
doroth stood.
Thane’s eyes opened. He was still watching TV, but in his state, it was as if he were seated in front of doroth.
"Spirit Energy is not magic. It is well-shaped in form. Your vitality is your reservoir. The stronger your body, the more you can channel. Spirit Arts do magnify inward, and can explode outward."
He demonstrated. His massive hand curled into a fist, and with a soft exhale, a pale glow ran down his arm. The air around him shimred. Then, he punched.
A massive boulder on the side suddenly exploded as if a wrecking ball had crashed through it!
Thane’s eyes went wide.
"That... That wasn’t magic?"
"This is not incantation. Not magic. Nor was it the power of brute strength. It is just... spirit!"
Thane followed suit.
But as he punched out, no energy was released.
"Hm? I can’t do it!"
"Not only that, but you can allow your body to perform miraculous movents. Behold..."
doroth paused and assud a standing position, and beca stiff as a board. He began to breathe in. A visible glow appeared over him. Finally, he opened his eyes and he rushed forward towards a mountain. And as he approached the huge cliff, he made a powerful stomp.
BOOOM!
The explosive step allowed him to soar as if flying, and he flew up to the top of the cliffside!
The cara followed the man, and an exciting guitar solo shredded as the cara followed the soaring man and landed with a superhero’s landing pose.
There was applause.
Thane also applauded.
"Spirit!" The man cried.
"So... it’s a power that is needed in this world..." Thane began to think.
The show went on, and soothing music played as doroth continued to discuss.
With more motivation, Thane followed.
A warm sensation gathered in Thane’s limbs as he tried to imitate it. His breathing fell into rhythm. A line of light traced itself along his spine.
"This is spirit..." Thane realized it.
[New Trait Unlocked: Birthing Energy Flow achieved!]
[Spirit Energy is now being created through your physical form. When activated, your Strength and Vitality increase by 2% for the duration of the flow.]
[Duration: Dependent on Focus.]
"Whoa! I feel it! I actually feel it!" Thane was excited.
"Should you sense the flow this, it will be the start of your journey as a Spiritual Energy fighter. The stage known as Birthing Energy Flow is the start and rely the entrance. Mastery of this stage took two years when I started as a youth. But this is the hardest stage. It took over two years to find that power. And I am regarded as the paragon of genius on this continent! Cultivation is like living on land all your life, wandering from the edges of a barren desert, searching for the ocean. And until you find it, you won’t be able to understand what it is to swim. But search on, apprentice! And grow!" The man advised.
Thane blinked.
The docuntary began to loop a white noise background imitating the sounds of the waterfalls and the waves. The birds and animals chirped around, adding to the ambiance.
Thane was rather confused at what the man said. He had actually done the ditation and felt the spirit energy coursing through him, but the docuntary told him it would take two years.
"Didn’t the notification state I already did it?" Thane was confused by the notification that appeared on the sidebar of his screen. How could he sense the energy in a few minutes when this hermit had spent over two years?
"I guess... this isn’t it yet?" Thane thought.
"It took him ’two years to find the ocean’, so the sensation I felt right now isn’t it? I guess I have to keep training." Thane went back to ditation as he continued to watch TV.
It was very strange for one to ditate with his eyes open, but Thane’s ability allowed him.
Thane began his imrsion and continued ditating as the soothing music played. With his ability to fall into a trance, he continued to perform masterfully as he practiced what rodoth was doing.
At that mont, Thane fell into enlightennt and was in a trance. Ti moved more slowly, but the show went on. doroth continued to teach episode after episode.
Each episode was segnted into a discourse for nearly an hour, followed by another hour of guided ditation.
Season 1 had fifteen episodes.
Thane didn’t even feel the hunger as he watched and ditated, as the fruit had given him a very full state.
Thirty hours of this ditation had passed. But Thane was so imrsed that even as doroth taught, he was in a constant state of enlightennt and ditation.
Unknown to Thane, he was achieving in those thirty hours what the doroth the Tower Breaker achieved in five years!
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