17 Chapter 17- Enlighten me about enlightenment

"OM NAMAH SHIVAY"

Oliver's world was filled with darkness again. But this time it was different from before. This time, he was completely engrossed in the mantra. He was in a trance. Neither asleep nor awake neither was he able to move. Just focused, only on one thing "OM NAMAH SHIVAY". Slowly and steadily Oliver lost track of time.

...

After sometime later, Oliver noticed something. In the background, he started to hear some sound...

[Cracle][Cracle][Cracle]

'What is that sound' When Oliver started to focus on the sound, he started to realize that there were some lightning sparks right in the middle of this world which was filled with darkness. The more he focussed on the sparks the more clear-headed he got. Until finally he was able to see the clear picture.

These sparks were continuously charging up but when they reached the peak they almost broke apart by making the [Cracle] noises. It was as if they were about to explode but for some reason, just at the end, they would break apart.

Oliver continued to observe them more and more while his head started to get more and more clear. He started to recall what exactly he was doing when he heard his own voice.

"OM NAMAH SHIVAY"

Just as he said the mantra the third time, he saw the spark broke apart. 'Wait are these sparks related to the mantra of the Supreme path of Shiv?'

He started to notice this strange process again and again. He saw the lightning build up again and again but when he said the mantra the third time and breath out, the sparks would dissipate.

It was then that a thought came to his mind. 'What if I speak the mantra one extra time before I breathe out? Will the sparks finally show what they are hiding?'

As soon as this thought came to his mind, it took a root and without any further wait, Oliver decided to test out his theory. He took a deep breath in, the air got collected into his lungs. It was then when he noticed that it felt as if cold energy passed through his lungs and flowed into his veins, nerves, and muscles and then it got stored inside them. It felt refreshing as if you had just drunk a cup of iced water when your throat was completely dry.

'This must be mana. I see so it stores itself into the whole body. Making the body sort of empowered or enchanted.'

But when he said "OM NAMAH SHIVAY" the first time of this cycle, he observed.

He saw the mana getting compressed inside each body part as if getting forcefully packaged inside a suitcase.

'I see, so mantra forcefully compresses all the mana inside the body to make more room for more mana.'

Soon his theory got proved right when he spoke "OM NAMAH SHIVAY" the second time and manna got more compressed.

"OM NAMAH SHIVAY"

He called out again when he saw the lightning spark charge up to the maximum. But before it broke Oliver tried to say again.

However suddenly...

[CRACKLE]

Suddenly Oliver woke out of his trance. He was out of the 'Dark World', or so what Oliver had started to call it.

He saw himself still standing in the backyard while Olson facing him with a face full of concern.

"Master what...

[Thud]

Oliver fainted....

Seeing Oliver faint, Olson finally sighed.

'This kid, just what kind of monster is he. Gaining enlightenment on the first time he practices the Supremacy path of Shiv. Just what absurd kind of comprehension ability does he have.'

'To be able to stay meditating for three days straight, even though it was due to enlightenment which itself is a proof of his genius.'

Sigh

'Looks like I lucked out this time, to get such a successor. Looks like I can only put my hopes on him.'

"I should bring him to his room. I doubt he would be able to wake up till day after tomorrow."

.....................(2 days later).................

Just like Olson had predicted Oliver woke up a day after the next.

Oliver suddenly jerked up from his sleep but end up hitting his head into the slab which was still attached to his back.

"Ah, Fuck, dammit this thing is still attached to my back. No wonder why my back is aching so much, must be due to my sleeping posture getting fucked because of this thing."

{Don't you wanna know what happened?}

"Nah, I have a general idea what happened. But how long was I sleep for"

{You have been sleeping for more than a day. It's already 1:30 pm I think you should have some food. Your body is in severe need of energy.}

"Hmm"

Oliver stood up from his bed and headed to wash his face before going to find some food for himself. But after walking a couple of seconds he stopped.

'Hmm??? Wasn't that a bit too natural?'

He touched his back to find the same cold surface of the metal slab.

"What the... Shouldn't I be trembling right now?"

{No Oliver. You should know that the stats of your body have overall increased quite a bit just after one practice of body cultivation.}

{It's quite surprising, for you to improve your body more than you could have in a year without the body cultivation art. You were able to achieve all that in a single practice.}

This completely shocked Oliver. After all, he still remembered how tired and painful his body felt after standing for just a couple of minutes with the slab on his back.

"Show me the stats"

{Status}

{Strength- 10/16}--> 13.9/16

{Agility- 11/16}--> 12.5/16

{Intelligence- 18/15}--> 18.1/15

{Awarness- 13/15}--> 13.2/15

{Vitality- 10/16}--> 12/16

{Soul- 1.97/1}--> 1.97/1

Seeing the status Oliver's jaw dropped. 'How the fuck can this happen?'

'There is no way the progression in power should be so fast even... Does this mean that a couple of days of practice will make my body stronger than the average adult male?'

'Just like that? No, I should ask about this to Olson. He must know what is happening.'

..................(food time skip)...............

After wolfing down the lunch he walked to Olson's room and knocked.

The door slowly opened and Olson came out. Seeing Oliver in front of him, he invited him inside. Oliver came and sat on a chair waiting for Olson to speak.

"It's good that you woke up. Did you have your food? Your body was extremely tired and then you passed out for around two days."

Seeing Oliver nod Olson continued, "Do you know what happened?"

"I understand the gist. I practised the mantra that you taught me and when I woke up from it, due to my extremely tired body I fainted out for two days."

"But when I woke up my body felt extremely more powerful than before. Does a single practice lead to such good results?"

"Cultivate... what you did was not just some normal physical practice. The art of using body cultivation techniques to improve your body is known as body cultivation or just cultivation. And you are right, usually, the improvement isn't that much with just cultivating once. Body cultivation is a slow and steady process. Even though the Supreme path of Shiv is much faster than other cultivation techniques, body cultivation is just slower than other ways. But the result is explosive powers in comparison."

"But still there is a substantial increase in strength on the first time you start cultivation, as it is the first time the mana gets forcefully compressed inside the body."

"Even after that, the only reason you were able to achieve such huge improvement on the first time cultivating is that you reached enlightenment. Even though it's the first time you cultivated... you sure are a lucky guy."

Oliver narrowed his eyes after listening to Olson's last comment. 'Huh, me lucky. The person who has never won a simple game of coin toss in his entire life is lucky? The person who got shit by birds three times a row when going out on parties is lucky? The person who got covid, twice, even after taking its vaccine even though he didn't even take a single Fucking step out of his home during the whole quarantine period as much as crazy he became, is lucky?'

{Press X to doubt}

{I also think that this old man is hiding something. But it doesn't matter, it's not like we can make him speak the truth.}

{He will tell if he wanted to and if he doesn't then what can you do about it?}

"Master, what's this enlightenment, and how did it help me?"

"In simple words, Enlightenment is when you gain a deeper understanding. It can be of anything cultivation, magic, or even sword skills. It is when you lose yourself into whatever you are practising and focus your all on that thing. How long do you think you have been cultivating?"

Oliver got confused and replied," I am not exactly sure but like I think it should be around 15 maybe 20 minutes."

After a seconds pause, Olson told, "Oliver you were cultivating for three days straight. You were lucky that cultivation gave you enough mana and develop your body to sustain such a long period of enlightenment because with all the weight on you. You should have been crushed long before."

Hearing this Oliver's eyed bulged. He couldn't believe that he had been standing there for straight three days cultivating with the damn slab on his back the whole time. What surprised him even more, was that he thought that he had been doing that for just 15- 20 minutes.

'Well, that explains why I fainted for two days straight. But Arthur why didn't you tell me about it?'

{I did ask that the first thing you woke up but you said that you already knew.}

'Goddamit'

Seeing Oliver in deep thoughts Olson woke him up, after all, he was curious himself.

" Tell me, Oliver, what you experienced, in painful details. I want to know everything that you underwent and conceived from the moment you started cultivation."

Oliver nodded and started to explain everything that happened....

After Oliver dictated him everything, Olson spoke, "Well first thing is that the place you call the 'dark world' is also known as the Soul world. Others also call it the soul space or mind space or mind palace. But the name is self-explanatory it's a world where your soul resided in. That place is unique to each person. What I mean is that every person has a soul world where his soul resides."

"Second your thinking was correct the more number of times we can repeat "OM NAMAH SHIVAY" in between a single breath, the more mana is compressed and the faster the cultivation becomes as well as greater improvement of the body."

"It is said that only when you are able to repeat it ten times in between each breath do you reach the first stage of the Supreme path of Shiv. It's also said that when you reach the first stage it greatly improves the body as well as your endurance and recovery abilities. Even I have only reached till I can repeat seven times between each breath. Only my great-great-grandfather who was a peerless genius on the path of body cultivation was able to reach the first stage."

"The only reason you failed this time to increase it to 4 times is because your enlightenment made you forget yourself in the cultivation, then when you woke up from it, your enlightenment broke and you woke up from cultivating."

"Well that is that, rest is for another day. But since you are already in my room I think you should start your learning sessions."

"Master, enlighten me," Oliver just replied in affirmation.

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