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Where am I?

Did I die?

Those were Emery's thoughts as he found himself slowly drifting in seemingly endless darkness. He didn't know where he was exactly going nor had any control of his destination. It was like flying through a vast void.

There was nothing, but his lone thoughts that kept echoing throughout his mindspace, doing his best to keep what probably proved him still alive. He could perceive the time, as he could still count seconds and minutes, but none of his senses would tell if he was in fact still alive.

A few moments later, as Emery continued on experiencing this ethereal-like state, he started to feel some kind of energy appearing on his left and right side respectively: one was shining brightly full of life, the other let out pitch black glow and had a completely opposite feeling to its counterpart.

Seeing the two forms of energy floating next to him, Emery finally understood where he was.

'These are my two cores," Emery muttered to no one in particular.

Upon further recollection, he finally remembered he had once felt this kind of feeling. It was like when he was entering his cores with the help of Killgragah, only that this time he couldn't feel the connection to his body - it was like the tether between them had disappeared.

At the moment, Emery could clearly feel how his two cores were gradually refilled. becoming stronger with every passing moment. Slowly but surely, he could finally sense something, but not through his ears or other bodily senses as one would expect.

Knowing very well what it was, Emery swiftly got into a lotus position and started to concentrate his mind on Spirit Reading. The process was awfully difficult and the result was mediocre. He could only perceive some faint noises and a blurry shadow of a figure moving around him.

It took him what felt like hours of trial and error, before he could roughly sense what his situation was.

'It seems my consciousness is severed from my body, and from the way it looks, I am stuck inside my spiritual core,' concluded Emery, after getting the gist of the situation.

At least, that was part of the [Soul Tempering Meditation] he read before everything happened.

Emery was currently still unable to tell what happened to his body, but he knew that he could not just sit around and let fate work its magic. Therefore, he decided to continue the mediation technique he read before.

However, this time, instead of channeling spirit energy from the head (crown) towards the solar plexus, as written in the book, he had to do it the other way around. From the solar plexus to the heart, then toward the throat before making its way to the crown, after passing through the third eye.

A few hours into the meditation, Emery discovered that his [Spirit Reading], which he had been using since he got himself into this predicament, could perceive a much larger area. It was able to pick up the blurry pictures of two different figures that seemed to be coming in and out. However, he had no idea who they were.

"At least it looks like the meditation is working"," Emery thought to himself.

Fueled by the successful result, Emery decided to continue his endeavor in mediation.

After days, he finally managed to feel one of the major spirit points: the heart.

Dum... dum…

It was faint, but Emery knew his heart was still beating; that his body was still alive. At the same time, with a bit of concentration, he regained his sense of hearing through Spirit Reading and was finally able to sense the situation outside.

"Brother, come here! It was faint, but the spirit core had managed to connect to the heart again!"

"You are right, brother. Thanks to Titan's beard, it finally works!"

"To think that all these ingredients we have been pumping to his body finally work. Brother, do you think we can get reimbursement for them?"

"You are hopeless! Don't talk about such matters before we make sure the acolyte is back to life!"

Emery was surprised, because he recognized who the owner of one of the two voices belonged to. It was his apothecary master, Master Grom. Apparently, the other party together with Master Dulin were trying to bring him back again.

"I should not give up either!"

Emery returned his attention to the mediation and submerged himself in it, as he threw aside any unnecessary thoughts. At the moment, in his mind, the [Soul Tempering Mediation] was the only one that existed.

Gradually within days, Emery managed to channel his spirit energy to the other major spirit points. Eventually, he reached his final destination and was about to open up the last one - the crown spirit point in the brain.

By this point, he mustered all the concentration he had, because he knew this was the last point of the endeavor. He could not afford and definitely did not want to fail in the last stretch of his journey.

Emery was so immersed in his efforts that it took him some time to realize a notification had appeared in his mind - this was after he had finally been able to connect to the crown spirit point.

[You have mastered Soul Tempering Mediation - stage one]

At the same time, Emery felt a deluge of spirit energy rushing from his solar plexus to his head and he was finally able to gain complete control over his body again.

All of his five senses returned. Emery could feel everything through the body again, through the skin, the nose, the ears. Every stimulation was coming back into him. When he opened his eyes, Emery found himself submerging in a familiar liquid inside a familiar tube.

It was also at this moment Emery's eyes locked with those of the two dwarves, who were looking at him with joyful eyes.

"We did it!!" Master Dulin exclaimed happily.

"Urgh, finally!!" Master Grom said with relief.

Emery, however, was busy familiarizing himself with his body and discovered he had a hard time attempting to move his body. Even though they had seen the former's struggle, the two dwarves still hadn't opened the tube and let him out yet.

"Welcome back to the land of the living! You stay there for a minute!"

Emery was still trying to feel every part of his body. When the liquid was finally drained, he suddenly felt the strangest feeling he had ever experienced. Alas, he didn't have a chance to ponder what it exactly was, as the tube door opened.

The sight of Emery walking out of the tube would surely remind those who saw him of a baby learning to walk. His body was swaying left and right, while his legs wobbled as they were lifted to the air.

However, from just the one step he had managed to take with great difficulty, Emery felt as if he was filled with an unstoppable power.

To be continued