Chapter Five: Early Life III

This was harder than it looked. Like, really hard. Tannen sat under a waterfall in a lotus position with his fists connected together. Chun Li was right beside him too, doing the same thing as he did. They had meditated for hours, trying to sense that ethereal energy known as Ki.

He understood that Ki was absorbed through his nose everytime he breathed. Then, Ki would course through his body where it will then be stored in his stomach. But, if every person could do it just by breathing, everyone in the world would be martial artists by now. It took immense concentration to visualize and sense Ki.

Tannen tried his hardest to sense that mysterious energy, but it felt as if he was reaching out towards the void. How the hell was he supposed to sense it? Was he supposed to feel a warm sensation? Something cold, maybe?

The echoes of rushing water didn't even help either. It made concentrating worse. Tannen groaned in frustration, "Hey, old man! How the hell am I suppose to sense Ki! It's been like two hours already!"

"Don't think, just FEEL! Let loose of everything and relax. That is the key!" Gen yelled from afar. He lounged under the shade of an oak tree, sipping on hot green leaf tea. "Take a look at your sister - she's already got it down to the teeth."

Tannen took a peek at Chun Li beside him and noticed faint blue aura had already surrounded her body. Tannen was both shocked and confused at the same time. When was she able to do it so quickly?

"Hey, Chunners," Tannen broke Chun Li out of her concentration; her blue aura disappeared in an instant. "How are you doing that?"

"I don't know," she answered. "I just felt something fuzzy in my tummy. It felt kinda good."

Tannen deadpanned at her explanation. Looks like he would have to figure it out on his own. He would have to follow Gen's instructions for now. And so, another hour passed in quiet meditation. It was the worst and the most boring hour in his entire life.

Tannen began to grow frustrated again. This all felt like a complete waste of time. Suddenly, a small pebble from atop of the waterfall fell down and smacked him right on top of his head.

"OW!" Tannen roared in pain. "Old man, I'm done! I can't do this crap anymore!" He stormed out of the waterfall. He shook his head rapidly, splashing water everywhere.

"Huh? We're done already?" Chun Li snapped out of her meditation. She was already circulating her Ki throughout her body. Chun Li quickly followed after Tannen.

"Obviously, you aren't going to sense Ki right away - well, that is if you're not your sister," Gen said, leaning back against the tree. He never expected Chun Li to have a high affinity with Ki. "It takes patience, Tannen, and a lot of it. Like I said before: time and dedication. That's how you will be able to master it."

Maybe Gen was right. He was too impatient about it. Some might take a day to sense Ki while others might take weeks or months just to detect a snippet of it. Tannen may not like it, but he would have to push through.

"I think It was fun," Chun Li said with a smile. "But, I was having trouble storing the Ki inside my tummy. It always seems to leak out everytime."

"That is normal in your case; afterall, you are but a beginner, my child," Gen explained. "As of right now, a martial artist's body is like a battery - it stores Ki and discharges it on demand, and we all have a maximum capacity.

But we are also different from a battery, we need to train our physical bodies in order to store more Ki. Right now, your body can't handle Ki absorption at the moment, so Ki leaks out."

"Oh... I think I get it," Chun Li nodded rather sagely.

"And that's what we will be doing now," Gen stood up from his comfortable spot, brushing the leaves off from his clothes. "My child, follow me for a bit."

"Okay!" Chun Li grinned excitedly and followed after her master. Tannen followed behind with a bit of a pouty face. He was suddenly pushed away by Gen.

"Hey, what gives, old man?" Tannen had nearly tripped over his own feet.

"I only wanted Chun Li," he answered bluntly. "You, on the other hand, still need to sense Ki; only if you do that will you be able to move on to the next step."

"Aww, c'mon," Tannen groaned. "Can't I do it later? I wanna strengthen my body, too."

"Absolutely not! One mustn't run before he can walk. You will only be slowing yourself down if you jump through training."

"Ugh, fine..."

Two weeks had passed since then, and Tannen hadn't been able to sense any Ki yet. What was he doing wrong? There had to be something wrong about the way he was doing. He had been going over the flaws of his training; being too anxious, not concentrating enough, focus more on himself.

Chun Li was already at the point where she could draw her Ki at will. It was as if using Ki was almost second nature to her. Him, on the other hands, it was a never-ending cycle of failure. Tannen had to figure something out.

The sky was a black tranquility under the dim velvet of the moonlight, where the crickets came out to sing, and the earth slept soundly below the stars.

Tannen came out to the training grounds again and sat down on the rocky surface. It was the same place where his father had trained him and Chun Li. He had come here everyday to meditate ever since he trained with Gen. Tannen made sure to sneak out here when his family were sleeping.

He hoped that he could catch a mere glimpse of that mysterious Ki that always seemed out of his reach. It was that one giant wall that Tannen couldn't climb. So, he meditated. Ten minutes. Nothing. Twenty minutes. Nothing. One hour. Nothing. Three hours. And yet, nothing.

"Dang it! What the hell am I supposed to do!" Tannen slammed his fist into the ground in rage. "Ow!"

He instantly regretted it, hastily shaking the pain off from his hand. Tannen sighed in frustration and laid flat on his back and looked up to the stars. They were like bright, little fireworks up there. Yet, he didn't enjoy looking at them.

He hated this - this stupid meditation training. Constantly sitting down in silence while looking at nothing - it irritated him. Maybe this just wasn't working for him at all. Two weeks of effort with nothing to show for it; how the heck was he supposed to put up with that?

Suddenly, a headache rushed through his brain, stopping all traffic of thoughts. It was painful. Aggravating. Soon, a snippet of memories were forced into his head.

His mind could barely handle it all at once. It was a strange sense of familiarity, yet foreign at the same time. Finally his headache stopped as sweat dripped out from his forehead.

He remembered something. It was a cultivation technique. The Breath of Heaven, if he remembered correctly. Why did he remember something like this, and why would it appear just now?

"What the hell is going on?" He sat up again. Tannen needed a moment to contemplate and think things through, analyzing the new memories he gained.

The Breath of Heaven was a breathing technique. Instead of breathing Ki through his nose, his whole body act as a sponge, absorbing Ki through every single pore. It was distinct, much different than what his master had taught him.

"This... this could actually work," Tannen muttered to himself. He didn't know how he knew a technique like this, but he would worry about that later. Tannen wanted to try out this new breathing technique.

He calmed himself down again, breathing in and out. Tannen had to imagine his body like a machine wherein the Ki is used as an energy source; his mind is the computer that controls the pores like tiny valves. Through this, he can control the Ki that flow into his body and into the fluid linings, in this case, veins.

This was the essence of Breath of Heaven.

He meditated, controlled his breathing and directed his attention to his pores; essentially following all the instructions from his newfound memories.

Then, a strange energy brushed across his skin, surprising Tannen. It was brief, barely lasted a second. But, he knew that had to be Ki. The air around him was too cold. This felt warm.

"It actually worked," he opened his eyes again in astonishment.

He didn't think he could sense Ki that quickly - it hadn't even been a minute yet! The old method hadn't even shown results in over two weeks. The Breath of Heaven was far superior in terms of cultivating Ki. Feeling invigorated again, Tannen began training; he was going to show that old man who's boss.

Finally, the next day arrived, and Tannen couldn't be more excited than now. He had trained nearly all night and was ready to prove himself. Gen, Chun Li and Tannen made it back to the waterfall.

"Alright, Tannen," Gen said, a bit of monotone in his voice. "You know what to do."

"Actually, I won't be needing to do that anymore " Tannen said.

"Hmm? Are you telling me that you're going to quit?" Gen frowned. "I didn't think you'd be such a disappointment already."

"Master, Tan-Tan is not a quitter," Chun Li said, a bit angry.

"No. I think It would be better if I just show it to you right now," Tannen said.

He stood in place and closed his eyes, taking in one deep breath. In that very instant, streams red Ki began to swirl around his body like snakes, shaping into an outline of his body. The next moment, Tannen finally released it all, a smirk made its way to his lips much to the shock of Chun Li.

Gen paid close attention, analyzing every aspect of Ki flow around the boy's body. His eyes widened when he noticed a peculiarity; Tannen's Ki wasn't entering through his nose, no, it was going into every single pore on his body.

Gen never seen such a method in his entire life. This truly was unprecedented - this was something that could change the martial arts world forever.

"Well, color me impressed, boy," Gen said, coughing into his hands. He tried to act normal, "I didn't think you'd actually do it. Well done."

"Yeah, Tan-Tan, that was super cool!"

"So, am I finally ready for my next set of lessons now?" Tannen asked. He had waited for so long for this. After so many setbacks and so many failures, he could finally move towards the next step.

"Don't get cocky just because you're able to sense a bit of Ki; It's only going to get harder from here; but, the main question is: are you up to the task or not?"

"I am," Tannen said with confidence.

"Then, get ready; I won't go easy on you."