Soul energy: Chapter 4

For the night, Zen, Ry, and Uncle Spot went on to create great memories, feeling a sense of relief upon finding the last pieces left by their parents. This discovery filled them with hope and empowered them to let go and embark on a new beginning.

The red desert had returned to its original appearance. All the lush grasslands and trees had vanished. There were no sounds of critters to be found except the occasional sound of sand guzzling due to wind.

The morning in The Red Desert is… red, quiet, with no life and sand is all you can see. They say people have to survive just the day, well it is easier said than done.

In this red wasteland of a cold everything seems the same ….. nothing changes, the footprints vanish as soon as they appear. This makes people feel like they have made no progress, it breaks and destroys people's will and plays with their conscience. But it was easier for our trio as Uncle Spot knew his way around the red desert, otherwise, they would have ended like others…lost forever and succumbing to the coldness of the desert.

As the morning sun cast a warm rose glow over their campsite, Zen and Ry eagerly sat on a rock, their eyes wide with anticipation, even though the Boon of the Red Desert vanished just as fast as it appeared. Uncle Spot stood beside them, packing and ready to set and go.

"Look, it's all transforming to the red sand ." Said Ry after witnessing this transformation.

"Look at your hand, the fruit you are eating is also sand," Said Zen with a smile.

"Spit it out or else you'll be gulping sand" Uncle Spot remarked.

Foods, fruits, woods, leaves, and logs all transformed to sand simultaneously and at the same speed. Leaving no traces of knowing its existence, it was like….there was nothing here before.

For the trio, it was just a fun moment before they started to pack up their camping gear and ready to go home, during which Zen saw the chest, in which the bow caught his attention. Ry seeing his brother explore had enough reason for getting excited as well.

"Are you going to open the chest? Zen "

Ry was filled with excitement when he asked this question to his brother.

"Yeah! But let's ask Uncle Spot as well" says Zen also full of excitement.

After hearing the boys calling for him, Uncle Spot came over and saw an open chest. He took a moment to admire what he saw: it was a bow, its sleek design shimmering in the fading light.

"Ah, boys, behold the legendary bow—the very one your mother used to wield," Uncle Spot exclaimed, a smile gracing his face as waves of nostalgia washed over him.

"Mama used to use this" the boys exclaimed as they couldn't ever imagine their gentle mother could have the ability to use such a weapon. But they soon recalled that their mother was the dominant force in their house.

Seeing the boy's exclaims, Uncle Spot continued "This bow is not normal. It was gifted to your mother after they helped free the Peno-be-scot tribe. It has great abilities if I remember correctly.

Zen's excitement grew, and he leaned forward eagerly. "What kind of abilities, Uncle Spot?"

Uncle Spot leaned in, his voice hushed. "Well, young warriors, this bow possesses the power to create protective barriers, shielding you from harm and that's not all! With a touch of soul power, the elemental nature of the arrows can change. Fire arrows, water arrows, wind arrows—you name it! It's as if the bow draws its power from the very essence of nature itself."

"What's Soul power, Uncle Spot?" asks Zen

Uncle Spot replies "Soul power is something magical. You can't see it but it exists and if one is trained in the power of the soul then one's soul can be used to absorb the energy of the universe. If someone has absorbed enough energy in their soul then they can do magical things like flying in the sky and whatnot. I don't know much about it, maybe 35 per cent…..well you can be more powerful if you learned even 10 per cent.....now let's get back to the bow. It's a gift from the Peno-be-scot tribe to your Mother.

...…She was great, she used to be so fast with this ..her enemies, never even knew what hit'em….."

Ry's eyes widened with wonder. "Can I use the bow too, Uncle Spot?"

Uncle Spot patted Ry's head affectionately. "Oh, little Ry, I know you're eager, but this bow is a bit too big for your tiny hands at the moment. But fear not! Your time will come. When you grow a little older and stronger, the bow shall be yours to wield."

Zen, unable to contain his excitement, jumped up and down. "Yes! I get to use the bow!"

Uncle Spot chuckled heartily. "Easy there, Zen. Remember, this bow is not just a toy. It carries the memories and spirit of your parents. Treat it with respect and care."

Zen nodded solemnly, realising the gravity of the situation. "I promise, Uncle Spot. I'll protect it with everything I have."

Uncle Spot smiled warmly, a mix of pride and joy in his eyes. "I know you will, Zen. Now, let's not waste any more time! Let's see if you are worthy of wielding it …"

Zen holds the bow up but notices that there are no arrows to use along it, So he asks Uncle Spot about it " Uncle Spot, there are no arrows to use with the bow?"

"This bow does not need arrows, Let me show you the reason for that."

After saying that, Uncle Spot pulled the string of the bow and as soon as he did that, A golden translucent arrow was conjured.

Seeing this the boys were amazed but their amazement did not stop there as Uncle Spot shot the arrow in the air and after a second or two the arrow fell near the trios and a golden dome filled with inscription on it was present right in front of their eyes.

Seeing the kid's faces, Uncle Spot could not stop his hand and shot another arrow right towards the dome, piercing it and the dome slowly crumbled filling the surrounding with a golden hue.

"How was that? Awesome right." boasts Uncle Spot.

"It was Awesome" the boys exclaimed.

Then Uncle Spot handed Zen the bow. The bow was still a little big for Zen but he could not handle it albeit barely.

"Pull the bowstring," Uncle Spot said to Zen.

Seeing Zen could barely pull back the string of the bow, Uncle Spot gave him a hand and then told him about the way to use the power inside Zen.

"First, calm down and feel the energy of the universe," said Spot.

After calming down Zen could faintly feel the energy Spot was talking about but he could not hang onto it.

Noticing this, Spot passed some of his Soul energy to Zen, so he could hang onto it and absorb it.

"Hang onto the feeling and absorb it inside of you. We are family so our soul signatures are similar." After saying this Uncle Spot gave Zen a moment to absorb the energy and store it inside his soul.

"Uncle Spot, I think this is my limit," said Zen with a pained expression on his face.

But Uncle Spot did not give him the liberty to stop." Keep on absorbing the energy. Keep on doing it until I tell you to stop." Said Spot with a stern attitude.

Seeing his brother get hurt, Ry protested" Uncle Spot, stop it. Can't you know that it is hurting Zen?"

"This is how awakening occurs, Ry. I can notice Zen's potential. This is the first time he has felt the universal energy but not only could he endure it but also absorb it and turn it into soul energy, So I need Zen to endure it a little more." Uncle Spot said with one emotion in his eyes.

Hearing this Ry stood and encouraged his brother to endure a little more.

After a while, all Zen could only hear the cold blowing winds and the painful gurns that Zen would release occasionally.

Some time passed by and finally Spot asked Zen to stop now "You can stop now Zen. It's enough now. Any more and your life could be in danger."

Hearing this, Zen stopped, let go of the bow, fell on the cold sand, and started panting.

Ry after seeing his brother like this passed some water to him. " Drink some water "

"Thank you, Ry" Zen said, looking towards Uncle Spot.

"You did well, Zen. I think you have the potential to rival the prodigies of the Hao academy" Said Uncle Spot with a wide grin on his face.

"You are so bad, Uncle Spot. you should have given us a heads up if it was gonna hurt him that much" says Ry with a face full of anger and rage.

"I am sorry about that but would Zen have been willing to do it if I told him about it? Remember this No pain, No gain" Uncle Spot apologies to Zen.

"It's okay Uncle Spot. You did it for me" Zen Comforts Uncle Spot.

After the boy forgave their uncle they moved on to the stuff they were doing before.

"Hold the bow and Pull the string once again but this time use the Soul energy stored inside of you to empower your body and bow" Saying this Uncle Spot picked up and handed the bow to Zen.

[Zen's pov]

I could feel something different inside of me. It was as if someone had filled me with something that I couldn't grasp the concept of it —but knew was good for me.

Uncle Spot kept on instructing me about how to wield this unknown strength that I now possessed and said

"Guide the energy to various parts of your body then into the bow. Imagine an arrow and try to mould your energy to make it."

I could feel my Soul. I could feel the energy flowing out of it to various parts of my body and radiating outside of it as well. I heard Uncle Spot saying me to pour this energy inside the bow and use it to conjure an arrow with it.

I tried to conjure an arrow just like how Uncle Spot did and I did it but the valour of it paled in comparison to the arrow Uncle Spot conjured earlier. Maybe with time, I could do it as well.

"Shoot it! " Said Uncle Spot.

I let go of the String and shot the arrow into the sky just like Uncle Spot. But it could not conjure anything and was just a regular arrow. I felt disappointed that there was nothing special about the arrow.

"That was great" said Uncle Spot but I could not understand what was great about it.

Uncle Spot continued " I can't believe that you were able to conjure it so soon. You are a prodigy Zen."

Saying this Uncle Spot picked me up and hugged me tight. If he had put a little bit more strength into it, I would have passed out.

Ry also jumped onto us and we fell on the sand. Uncle Spot and Ry could not stop their laughter and seeing this made me laugh as well.

After a while, we got up and Uncle Spot told me to shoot more arrows but this time also think of the effect it will possess.

I imagined an Arrow that could form a shield just like the one Uncle Spot had conjured. As I kept pouring my soul energy into it I could feel it leaving my body. I invested nearly ten times energy more than the regular arrow. After approximately putting fifty per cent of my energy into the bow to conjure this special arrow I shot it into the Sky.

After a sec or two, it came down and as soon as it touched the sandy surface of the red desert, A dome was formed just like the one Uncle Spot had made albeit a little smaller than his.

I could feel the fatigue kicking in now but I wanted to continue shooting more arrows but Uncle Spot stopped me.

"Stop it now, Zen. Take it easy" said Uncle Spot and made me sit down on the sand. Only now that I could feel the sweat covering my whole body.

Ry got away from me pitching his nose and pointing away from our campsite. "You smell really bad. Get away from me and wipe yourself over there."

I got even closer to him to teach him a lesson to act smug against his elder brother.

" Get away from me you stink" Saying this Ry started running mindlessly.

Suddenly, Uncle Spot stopped us and poured water on me.

I protested by saying " Stop it, Uncle Spot. I will get sick"

He didn't stop and replied by saying "This is to cool you down and also to save Ry from the smell."

But only now did I and Ry notice that Uncle Spot was conjuring water out of nothing. We asked about how he did it.

" This is the result of the water god's blessing. Well it's the lowest one anyway nothing special to boast about," said Uncle Spot with a little bit of an embarrassed face.

But to us kids, It was the most amazing thing that we have ever seen a person do.

I inquired about the blessing "Uncle Spot, What is a water god's blessing?"

"In this galaxy, there exist godly beings. One of them is the water god. I got this blessing when I was a devout believer in the water god. Well I wasn't that into it so the blessing I got was preliminary." replied Uncle Spot

"But you can shoot water from your hands. Think about the water battles we can have." Said Ry completely missing the point.

"There is more to live than water fights, Ry" I replied nonchalantly.

Uncle Spot could not hold back his laughter after hearing what Ry had to say about his blessing and said this to Ry

"Yeah, we can do that anytime you want. I am always up for a water battle with you Ry."

"You better watch yourself, Uncle Spot. I can attack you anywhere at any time so stay safe," said Ry but was caught off-guard when Uncle Spot shot a water ball at him making him fall.

"You see, I was something of a water battle champion when I was young," smirked Uncle Spot.

Ry replied as though he accepted his defeat "I accept that you won this time but you better watch your back as I will have my revenge, Uncle Spot."

"I will be waiting" answered Uncle Spot and handed a towel to both of us.

After we got cleaned and dried, we looked into the remaining items in the chest.