Animus Path

Isn't normal to want? Wanting to see, to hear, to smell, to taste, to touch, and to love. How human that was? As well as feeble and fleeting.

-Six Desires

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As the moonlight spilled through the window, the Lunar fang gave out a caint radiance, activating passively.

One of the uses of the Lunar fang is the elevation of the spirit. The spirit, as one knows, is another essential part of a man.

Aside from the cultivation of the body and the mind, the rarest Path is the cultivation of the spirit.

[Note: Martial Path cultivates the body while Arcane Path cultivates the mind]

Only the gifted can cultivate this path successfully and one can only hope to be granted the opportunity as it was extremely rare.

As it turns out, this Lunar fang can elevate a cultivator's spirit, making one more sensitive to danger, keener intuition, broader senses and other wondrous effects of heightened spirit.

The Path of cultivating the spirit is called Animus Path. And someone who attain minor success in cultivating it is referred to as Anima.

[Animus=Spirit in this context]

Through the Lunar fang as the bridge, it enables Lex to sense his spirit and, if he is gifted enough, be able to cultivate his spirit.

In the dreamland, Lex finds himself lucid.

"This... It's my dream right?" he internally asked himself as seeing the scenery extremely bizarre with hazy, dream-like mist.

Walking inside his dream felt surreal to him. The scenes are constantly changing seemingly without pattern.

Suddenly, he discovered it is not without pattern but due to his scattered thoughts.

He tried concentrating his thoughts by thinking of a place he is familiar with, his house.

Soon enough, the scene depicted his house and he was sitting in his own room.

However, the dream is extremely unstable because it was his first time doing it.

Just a minute shift in his thought can cause massive change.

He tried walking around the room and touching the book at the top of the table.

It feels both real and unreal at the same time. He can lift it and feel its texture just like it normally is but also feel corporeal.

Then, a moment of inattention cause the dream to crumble and return into dream-like mist.

He decided try again and familiarize himself with th process.

Lex conjured their house again but this time the other parts aside from his bedroom.

Lex also tried to conjuring the training grounds, the arcane tower, and other facilites within the village.

Interestingly, he was not able to conjure people even those he is familiar with.

Since it is his first experience and he doesn't know anything with regards to this phenomenon, he just treated it as a realistic dream.

Conjuring different things and experimenting, his Spirit got drained easily and he later lose control of his dream.

Lex was forcefully extracted from his lucid dreaming and went back to sleeping soundly.

Soon, dawn arrive and he was woken up by his biological clock.

He felt refreshed from a good sleep, feeling his spirit invigorated. He sat on his bed and recall what happened in his lucid dream.

The feeling of both real and unreal is strange.Nevertheless, he still can not imagine how profound that kind of experience is.

"I should ask father about this," Lex murmured to himself.

After getting out of bed, he freshen up and quickly look for his father.

"Good morning, Father. Can I ask you something? I have a strange dream last night and it feels extremely real while I am inside the dream. I don't know how to explain it," Lex greeted his father and told him about the incident last night.

Sitting in the study room, Nyshof stop writing abruptly after hearing his son's recount of events.

He contemplated deeply, trying to remember a very distant memory.

'Gasp' "Could it be?" he absent-mindedly muttered.

Then, he look into his son's eyes and ask him, "Son, you should be familiar with what to cultivate in both the Martial and Arcane Path, right?"

"Yes, Father. For Martial Path, one cultivates the Martial Heart and strengthen the physical body and for the Arcane Path, one cultivates the Arcane Rune and sharpen the mind. What's the matter?" Lex hesitatingly replied, unsure why his father suddenly talking about it.

"You should know that human is made of three components: body, mind and spirit. The body is the vessel, our anchor in this physical realm. It house the Six Desires."

"The mind is the instrument, it enables us to connect with the world, understand and shape the mystic energies around us. It is where the Seven Emotions originates from," Nyshof paused.

After letting Lex grasp his point, he continued, "As for the spirit, it is suchan abstract thing and not many succeeded in understanding the full extent of it. However, some progress have been made."

"The spirit is sheltered within the vessel and can command the instrument. It is the ultimate of the three human components and it holds our memories, experiences and insights."

"Moreover, some theorize that it connects us to a realm beyond. Hehe. Anyway, that's what I remember from our Ro-, i mean library," Nyshof finished his recount.

Lex was somewhat puzzled with his father's last statement but immediately brushed it off since he has more pressing matters, so he asked, "You mean father that cultivation of the spirit is pissible?"

'Nods'

"Since the body and mind can be cultivated, why can't the spirit too, right?" Nyshof lightly remarked.

"However, if the ratio of Invokers and Martial Cultivators are low, the cultivators of the spirit are rarest among the three. Meaning it will be extremely difficult for one to successfully cultivate it," Nyshof said,

He further explained what the Animus Path is and what Animas are.

[Note: Animus Path- path of cultivating the spirit. Anima- cultivator of Animus Path]

Nyshof speculated that Lex's spirit might have been recently elevated causing him to lucid dream, and told him about this.

On the other hand, Lex did not think so because there is nothing worthy enough to make him elevate in spirit.

Then, he subcosciously lowered his head and touched the Lunar fang within his clothes.

"Don't tell me-" he muttered to himself.

He ask his father how can he cultivate his spirit and he answered, "All I know is it can only be cultivated while sleeping. As for why, you must discover it yourself. This is also the reason why some call an Anima as Dream Walkers."

"Anyway, you should seize the opportunity to cultivate if you can. Then, just like how you formed your Martial Heart and Arcane Rune, for Animus Path, you must form your Astral Body," Nyshof said.

"But I must warn you. Cultivation path is filled with danger and you must stay prudent in your path especially this one since not many had taken it before. I, your father, will always support you," from Nyshof's words, Lex can feel fatherly love and support.

Lex bowed and thanked his father before walking out of the study room.

Behind him, his father's eyes glistened as he muttered, "Our son has grown up well, Selene."