Chapter 22: Rhythm of the breath

Under the morning sun's benevolent gaze, "I'm going to teach you how to feel the breath of the universe," Finn said as he stood up, followed by Elaine.

"Ver, I'll be your mentor from now on. I'll teach you all I know starting from today. Follow me," Elaine left, followed by Ver.

Timothy and Jake looked at Finn with questioning looks.

"The way to harness the breath is different in men and women." Finn sat down on the grass in a lotus pose and gestured for the boys to do the same.

"So, you are going to teach us here?" Jake had a "look at where we are" expression.

"Yes, here in the capital, 90 percent of the people are all Konquerors. Alright, we may begin. The first step to feeling the breath is for you to focus on the sounds all around you—from the birds chirping or the wind blowing, to footsteps or your own heartbeat and people's voices—all of it. You listen to them and learn to differentiate their rhythm and frequency," Finn spoke.

Timothy closed his eyes and did as instructed. At first, he had a hard time differentiating between the sounds since they were overlapping, but he took a deep breath and focused.

"Now you tried differentiating between the sounds, but you failed since they were all overlapping. So, this is where step two comes in. Try focusing on all the sounds at the same time, and you will see a sound in its natural form—waves. The waves will have different colors and will be tied together like a knot. You have to untie the knot and follow each wave to the source," Finn explained.

Timothy did as Finn said. He tried focusing on all the sounds at once, and the more he listened, the more he started seeing the waves, each with a different color.

There were three of them—blue, green, and red. Each color had a different category of sounds. When he listened to the green one, he could hear the sounds made by nature like leaves falling or rain and many other natural elements, called geophony. When he listened to the blue one, he could hear animal vocalizations, for instance, wolves howling far away, and hooves hitting the ground. These were all sounds made by the collective habitat of animals, called the biophony. The red one was made up of environmental sounds created by humans, called the anthrophony. By being able to listen to all the sounds of the world and being able to separate them, Timothy had untied the knot. Just as he did, Finn spoke again.

"If you have managed to untie the knot, concentrate even harder on the gap in between the knots and tell me what you see."

Timothy concentrated on the knots, and he could faintly see a very thin rhythmic wave that seemed to be disappearing and appearing as if it was a heartbeat.

"Wait, I see it, I see the breath of the universe!" Jake shouted first before Timothy could say anything.

"I see it too," Timothy spoke.

'These two are monsters; I didn't expect them to grasp this today,' Finn thought as his left eye twitched a little before he smiled.

"Now follow its rhythm, breath as it is doing, follow its rhythm, and remember the rhythm of the breath is different for everyone. By following its rhythm when you are breathing, the breath will be drawn towards you and saturate your soul directly," Finn spoke.

Timothy was now comparing between these techniques and the one his father gave him. They both had many similarities, except for the last part. Father's technique said to not follow the breath's rhythm but do the opposite of it, like when the breath appears instead of breathing in, he should breathe out, and vice versa. So, Timothy decided to trust his father and use his technique.

"You can continue practicing it on your own spare time. I have already taught you the basics. Now, I need to show where our combat training is going to take place. After all, I did offer you a chance to be part of the king's blade, so you have to be better than the rest," Finn stood up and left the garden, with the boys following quickly behind him.

Their destination was the underground training facility under the castle. Before entering, Timothy and Jake were searched by the two guards at the gate. Even Finn was powerless because these guards reported directly to the king.

"What was that all about? Who could possibly attempt anything stupid here?" Jake asked.

"Your people and his," Finn answered with a smile.

Jake didn't say anything else as they continued down another flight of stairs. They finally reached their destination.

"Are we still under the castle?" Jake asked.

"Welcome to the...SMITHING! Here, you will be turned into the finest blade fit for a king's use," Finn spoke with a dark tone.

Both of the boys swallowed hard, and they followed Finn into the smithing. This place looked like it was straight out of a nightmare. There were many teenagers who were busy training and tempering their bodies on the training course. Blood filled the whole place. Some had missing body parts, but they were still immensely focused on their training , their eyes burning with resolve. There was one that had a missing ear, eye, and arm, but he was still suffering pushing himself . The facility featured a huge pit with a siper thin rope stretched across it. Crossing it meant risking a deadly fall. Additionally, there was a cage-like setup that shot needles, and participants had to block them while confined inside. These were just a couple of the perilous challenges awaiting the trainees.

"Why didn't you tell us you were bringing us to our deaths?" Jake asked , his eyes pleading with Finn to let them go.

"The human body can only break past its limits under pressure and in the middle of life and death."

"From today onward, this is where you train. Try not to die. I believe in your ability to survive," Finn added.

He turned around and left , looking at the other teens busy training Jake gulped but them he smiled.

"Let's do this," They both stepped forward, thus beginning their training in the smithing.