Chapter 60 - Fundamental Rhythms

Most of the class looks at the teacher with confusion. Like me, it is not a term they are familiar with. Unlike me, however, they have people close to them who should have told them about that sort of thing to put them ahead of the curve. As if reading my thoughts, the professor quickly offers an answer to my question.

"I'm sure you must be wondering why you've never heard of this, not even from your parents or family members. The reason is simple! In the past this information was easily divulged to promote quicker progression. Unfortunately, it turned out that attempting to follow your body's fundamental rhythm when utilizing pureflow, without properly familiarizing oneself with it first, led to terrible outcomes. First, it led to significant battle inefficiency. It was like trying to run before learning to walk. Second, it often resulted in crippling injuries born from misuse of pureflow. The concept was simply too complex for inexperienced trainees. Due to these reasons, a law was put in place to not reveal technical information about further stages outside of DaiKar."

'Is that why rogue [enlightened] tend to be weaker?'

"Now, however, you are all more than ready to learn!"

The professor rearranges his glasses and a large holographic image appears at the front of the classroom. On it, a simple glass cup is displayed. 

"Has anyone ever been to the opera?" He asks.

A few students raise their hands, but I do not. I have never had the time or the money to engage in that kind of activity. Though, perhaps now that I am more financially stable, I could bring my siblings along to see an opera performance. I'm not sure they would enjoy it, but it is important to experience different things. The professor continues his explanation.

"If you have, then you must have seen this trick they perform sometimes. In said trick, the performer will emit a loud and powerful noise using their voice."

The glass displayed on the hologram shakes.

"In response, the glass will vibrate, and eventually, shatter."

The glass breaks into a thousand pieces. Upon an input from the professor, time flows in reverse and the glass is back in perfect shape.

"The thing is, however, that this is more than a mere trick. It requires extensive preparation and extreme precision. If the performer were to emit a sound which was unsuitable, it is unlikely that anything would happen."

Now exposed to a different sound, the glass shown in the hologram barely vibrates, if at all. The amplitude of the sound grows larger and larger, but with minimal response from the glass.

"Now, you see that the pitch of the sound is different from the previous one. Despite its amplitude being at least twice as large, the vibration of the glass cannot even be compared to the previous scene. Can anyone tell me why?"

Adam raises his hand and is given permission to speak.

"Adam Lockwood, Sir! I believe this to be a physics concept. The performer's voice matches the glass' resonant frequency which significantly increases its vibrational rate, eventually leading it to a breaking point.."

The professor offers him an approving nod.

"Great! If our education system has not failed you, you should all at least know this much! Now, guess what, our bodies are the same as this glass. All that's different is that you can consider the glass to be your muscles, and the performer's voice to be your pureflow!"

Most of us, myself included, throw curious glances at the professor, impatient to hear what he means by this. An image of a human male throwing a straight punch appears on the hologram. In that image, the activated muscles are highlighted in red.

"You see, when you throw a simple straight punch, for example, you make use of at least thirteen muscles as shown in this display. Each of these muscles has a different density, width and length, and just like the glass, they all have a resonant frequency of their own."

The holographic display zooms into the bicep muscle.

"When [enlightened] send pureflow to their muscles to increase their power, what they are really doing is causing micro-vibrations within the muscle fibers which allows your muscles to exercise more strength in combat. You all already understand how to channel pureflow. The difference between you and I, however, is that you apply it. The muscle-fiber vibrations you generate do not conform with their resonant frequencies, or fundamental rhythm."

The display zooms out to once again show the whole human male. The man is now in motion and waves of energy are seen being sent to each activated muscle.

"Newly [enlightened] such as you, tend to send a uniform wave of pureflow, either to their whole body, or to the part they make use of in the moment. You will subconsciously emit pureflow with a frequency that will work reasonably well for any muscle, essentially an average frequency. The perfect [enlightened], however, simultaneously sends waves of pureflow with differing frequencies tailored to each muscle in order to make them vibrate at each of their fundamental rhythms. This is what results in the greatest output of force and is one of the main aspects that separates second stages from first stages."

While this information is new to me, it is not exactly shocking. I had always suspected that second stages must be doing something different in their pureflow usage compared to the rest of us. Take Maestro Lauren, for example. She is faster, stronger and more agile than any of the Lauderdale trainees despite her [melody] having to do with illusions. There had to be a reason for such disparity between us besides the fact that we are in different stages. The transition from the first stage to the second is generally marked by a greater understanding of one's [melody]. That understanding is so high, that all [enlightened] who have entered the second stage, did so because they were able to modify their own [melody] in order to give birth to a new related ability or significantly expand on their first ability. 

Now that I know of these concepts presented by Professor Rivaldo, it is easy to deduce that deepening my understanding of pureflow is a condition to reaching the second stage. I recall something Maestro Lauren said during our first meeting.

'We call this a pure tone and it is the basis of drawing out pure flow. When you get better, you'll be able to draw out more complex flow, allowing you better enhancement. Through this, you'll one day be able to alter the wave pattern induced by your [melody] in a constructive way and officially reach the 2nd stage.'

Indeed, it seems she was not lying to us. 

For the rest of the first class. The professor explains the curriculum for the second quarter. As I understand it, the class will be divided into two sections, the theoretical one and the practical one. During the theoretical segment, he will give lectures on the muscles used in common battle movements and the importance of each one in the movement. Our task is to memorize our muscles' activation patterns when performing various motions. During the practical sessions, we will first learn to 'sense' our muscles, and accurately send pureflow to each one individually. Then, we will have to figure out each of their fundamental rhythms and learn to send pureflow which will make them vibrate at that rhythm. Just from his explanation, I know that this class will be an extremely tedious, but rewarding one. If I can grasp all of these new concepts, my level of might will be nothing like it has been until now!

The class ends with the professor's explanation of fundamental rhythm and the course progression. He bids us farewell and tells us that he looks forward to seeing us in two days. He claims that, if we so wish, we can try out these new concepts even when we are not in his class. He seems to be certain that we do not risk harming ourselves as we are already familiar with pureflow usage. When he dismisses us, I stand up and exit the class, followed by Adam and the others. As we exit the room, Adam talks to me.

"That was quite fascinating, wouldn't you say? To think there is so much to pureflow, I'm quite taken aback."

I raise my head pensively.

"Yeah… Looks like we are still quite far from reaching the next level, but at least now we know the path."

Zora interjects.

"When I learn how ta do this, I'll be the strongest in the world!" She says while striking a pose.

Adam giggles at Zora's comment and I give her a snort. Then, I look for Sylvia who I have a feeling is angry at me for some reason. I find her walking not too far back alongside Ivana. I leave Adam's side and go towards them. Before I can say anything, Ivana places her palm in front of me.

"No traitors allowed!"

"I didn't even talk to Her! You believe me, right Sylvia?"

Sylvia stares at me with her bright blue eyes for an instant and finally answers.

"Why of course I do! I imagine that you just happened to be awestruck by her beauty and had no choice but to turn around and stare at her, right?! And then, she just happened to call you the 'perfect man' without any reason at all! Does that cover it?"

I can't help but stutter.

"W-well, that's, uh…"

She can't hold her laughter any longer.

"Pfft, hahaha! You were right Iva, teasing him is somewhat fun!"

Ivana smirks. "Told you so."

I roll my eyes and let out a long sigh. "Very funny guys."

I turn away from them and head to my original destination. Sylvia grabs my shoulder, forcing me to turn back around and look at her. She offers me a radiant smile which melts all of my previous annoyance.

"Oh, don't be like that Alden! Let's go to the cafeteria and have lunch together!"

My heart nearly skips a beat. I immediately understand what caused that reaction within me. It's that smile, it holds way too much power. I answer, slightly entranced by the view.

"...Sure."

She calls out to the rest of our little group.

"Zora, Alex, Adam, why don't you join us too? I'd imagine you do not have class at this very moment, no?"

They all look at their schedule and, upon confirming that they are free, decide to accompany us to lunch.