10 Restricted
"Controlling me."
"And what is the way to control you?"
"..."
"You are the strongest existence on earth, wealth is nothing but trash in your eyes, and you have the power to command an entire army... apart from Seojun, they practically have no other way to control you" Shrugging, Dokuma continued "If I'm being honest, I would target your son as well. He is an easy prey to use, and although the risk would be considerable, the benefits would be even greater."
"..."
"Sister, listen to what I will tell you, because it is something that is worrying me lately" Losing from one second to another her smile, Dokuma frowned slightly and looked seriously at Sujin "I know I am not the one to give you advice in this aspect, but I have to say it... think well your actions during these last years, think well what is the role of a mother and analyze how far are the limits.... you should also start teaching your son to defend himself, because although you are strong and you could certainly take down the cult by yourself, we both know that to do that you would have to have the ability to move in large spaces, something that will obviously be impossible if you have to defend a weak man."
"..."
"I repeat, analyze the work of a mother..." Lowering her gaze towards Seojun, Dokuma continued "And I say this not only for your sake, but also for the sake of your son, who will undoubtedly be the first to be affected by your decisions."
"..."
"Besides-"
"Don't go on" Waving her hand in annoyance, Sujin frowned deeply and snorted "I get your point."
"Yes?"
"I'll see what to do in the future, for today just let me enjoy the moment."
"Tsk" Chuckling as the serious mood quickly faded away, Dokuma continued "You've been giving me quite the chills lately, I'd better get going"
"Do me a favor and take those rats off my back, while you're at it gouge the eyes out of one of them as a warning."
"At your command" Chuckling, Dokuma stretched her body and yawned, then waved her hand in farewell and disappeared from the place.
"A mother's work..." Staring at the face of the sleeping child in her arms, Sujin's eyes glowed strangely as her grip tightened a little more, then smiling out of the corner of her lips and disappearing from the spot along with her son.
***
"*Sigh. o*" Sitting by a large cliff, Seojun sighed with boredom as he stared at the sunset in the distance.
It's been about a week since Seojun was able to meet the cult, and only he knows how excited he was at the thought that he would finally achieve the freedom he had so longed for.
But who knew that from one moment to the next everything would take a turn for the worse?
For starters, his mother took an even more roundabout approach than the beginning, and it was certainly something Seojun never saw coming.
Turning his gaze to his back, Seojun looked at the gigantic rock covering the entrance to the cave and sighed bitterly again.
After waking up from that great day, he found a big change in his life, and it all started with that giant rock that appeared without any sign and made it totally impossible to even see outside.
Before he could even understand why the exit had been sealed or how even that giant boulder got there without waking him, Sujin casually informed him that all connection to the outside would be closed until he could defend himself.
How strong would he have to be to be able to defend himself?
Seojun doesn't know, and no matter how much he asks, his mother simply ignores him like air.
But as if that wasn't enough, not only the possibility of going out again was closed, but there were many more changes in his life that terrified him to no end.
How could he not be terrified?
His mother forbade him to eat any kind of food, she even forbade him to drink water.
How the hell is he supposed to survive without water?
Lowering his eyes, Seojun looked at the small yellow sphere in his hand and sighed bitterly again.
Since that day, his mother came with different spheres that seem to be medicinal, and without a doubt the most wonderful in his opinion in this one.
Just by eating one of these medicines, Seojun will not feel hungry or thirsty for the whole day, and not only does it take away his hunger, but it seems to give him even more energy than food usually gives him and completely satiates his need for hydration.
But while the yellow sphere doesn't seem to be a bad thing, Seojun has to eat about 8 different spheres a day, and only he knows how torturous it is to get through this because of its horrible taste.
Worst of all, aside from the yellow sphere, he is virtually unaware of the effects of all the others, and for some reason, his mother refuses to talk about it.
"Still playing that weird game of yours?" Suddenly appearing next to Seojun, Sujin looked up at the sky and asked with interest.
"Yes."
"No matter how hard I try, I don't know what you could discover by looking at the sky..." Frowning slightly, Sujin continued "Are you sure you want to spend your time like this? You won't have much time to rest in the future."
"I'd like to believe it will be worth it" Sighing with boredom, Seojun took a wooden branch next to him and drew a small line along with a few others as he thought 'We're already 21 hours into the day and it just got dark... how come I never noticed that the day lasted this long?'
"..." Frowning even more, Sujin looked down at her son's bored face and sighed, then suddenly appeared on his back and hugged him against her body "Would you explain to your mother what you're doing?"
"I'm calculating the time."
"Calculating time?" With interest on her face, Sujin looked up at the sunset and asked "How would you do that?"
"I count every second that passes and then turn it into minutes, then the minutes I turn into hours."
"Seconds, minutes, hours?" With confusion in her eyes, Sujin asked, "What is that? I've never heard a similar term before."
"It's a measure of time that I invented." Without taking his eyes off the sky as he counts every second in his mind, Seojun continued "I'm not sure yet, but we should have around 24 hours of sunshine and it should be the same with nights..."
Scratching her hair as she listens to everything with confusion, Sujin tried to analyze her words for a few seconds and shook her head, then shrugged her shoulders and asked "Do you need me to help you with anything?"
"Mmmm... I need a bowl with water, a tree leaf and some branches."
"Anything else?"
"Food?"
"You want to argue again?"
"*Sigh*" Shaking his head, Seojun was silent for a few seconds and asked "When can I start using the internal energy?"
"Have you memorized the main meridians yet?"
"Mn"
"And the secondary meridians?"
"I still couldn't say that I learned the route of all of them, but most of them."
"Then you'll have to wait until you learn everything and then we'll just start feeling the internal energy."
"Can't I start now?"
"Sure you can, but it's not a good idea" Shaking her head, Sujin continued "As I told you a few days ago, it is very common for people to start their path to martial arts without bothering to remember the meridian route, and you have to know that this is a big mistake. While you may instinctively circulate your energy, if you do not know the routes by heart, it is not uncommon for you to strain some routes more than others, and there is even the possibility that you may not even feel some of the main meridian routes. All this will cause that some meridians are less worked than others and that will cause a serious imbalance within you, something that makes you very susceptible to a deviation of energy and then an imminent death. Remember this my son, the most important thing when cultivating your internal energy is not the speed of cultivation, but to form a good foundation."
"Good foundation..." Muttering to himself, Seojun kept counting the seconds inside his mind and continued "I guess I don't lose anything by waiting a little longer..."
"Do you need anything else besides what you asked for? I'll go get everything now."
"Mmmmm... bring me branches of different sizes and various leaves from trees."
"Whatever my little one says" Laughing, Sujin kissed Seojun's cheek and suddenly disappeared from her place.
Not in the least surprised by the sudden disappearance, Seojun sighed with boredom as his gaze remained on the sky.
After knowing that he won't leave the cave for years, Seojun went into endless boredom knowing that he will practically do nothing but eat and sleep, causing him to search his mind for any kind of entertainment he could have here, and after much thinking, he only came up with such boring things as knowing how many seconds a day has and similar crap.
What can you do?
Although he would have liked to spend this time doing something as interesting as cultivating his inner energy, unfortunately he still has several momentary limitations.
He will have to learn the meridian routes, then he will have to learn how to move the energy in the meridians and how to circulate it without causing shocks or deviations. Then learn how to breathe, exercise your body, get your cultivation method and much more.
While Seojun doesn't know if all this is really necessary, he simply can't do anything else, being totally at the mercy of his mother.
He simply doesn't know anything more fun than this, after all it's not like his life has been all that fun, and it's not like he has much to amuse himself with in this cave.
But even if he set out to do something as banal as calculating the time, only he knows how difficult it really is what he is doing.
He had tried for 6 days straight to count every second of the day, Seojun experienced firsthand the mental exhaustion he feels as the hours pass, and as if that weren't enough, with just one second of losing focus, all the work done is completely lost.
