2 Mother’s Lecture and Father’s Gift

After a few minutes of a silent dinner, his mother came up with an idea.

"Hey, Daniel. How about I show you my power, again?" Madison asked with a smile.

Hearing her suggestion, Daniel's eyes lit up, as he nodded his head aggressively.

Closing her eyes, a soft, blue glow began to surround her. As the glow got brighter and brighter, her hair started waving as if a wind was blowing within the house; at the same time, the light from the fireplace and candles got drowned out by the blue glow from Madison.

She held her hand out, faced up. Suddenly, Daniel began to feel an energy coalesce above the palm of her hand. As the energy ball in her hand got bigger and bigger, It began to turn into water. From a teardrop, to the size of a golf ball, then to the size of a baseball. Then it Froze.

He was amazed at this mysterious power of her's.

As if it was her job, Madison began to explain what it was.

"This, son, is qi. It is the energy that surrounds all living things," she paused to make sure he was following. "There are different types of qi, but I can only use water qi and ice qi .When you get older, you'll be able to do this as well, through cultivation. Cultivation is the use of this energy called qi to get stronger. It is possible to use it to strengthen our bodies, known as body cultivation, or either control it to fight, known as spirit cultivation, just as those wizards in the fantasy books I used to read to you, controlled magic to cast spells."

She paused again before continuing, "To cultivate, you must absorb qi through your meridians by sensing it and leading it through a path predetermined by your body. To absorb qi, you must sense it in your surroundings, and to sense it, you must enter a meditative state. Cultivation has two known realms: Seed Formation and Qi Condensation, respectively."

As she spoke, Daniel paid apt attention to every single word.

"Each realm has nine stages in each, however, I'll only explain the first realm for now. To enter into the Seed Formation Realm, you must absorb qi and gather that qi within a certain place in your body. After you do that, you must continue to absorb qi until your body feels as if it's about to explode, only then have you reached the first stage of the Seed Formation Realm. To advanced stages, one must create these seeds 8 more times. On the 9th time of creation, one must merge and fuse all of the seeds into one superior seed. That is how you enter the Qi Condensation Realm. I have reached this realm."

Daniel's eyes began to shine a fierce light, and he began to feel the urge to cultivate and get stronger as he absorbed all of the information his mother was explaining to him.

"I want to get stronger….I want to cultivate…" he muttered unconsciously, excitement brewing within him.

"Cultivation is hard, son." Those words resonated with her most inner self, "You can only cultivate at 16. Only then, will your body be strong enough to withstand the initial power of qi. If you want to cultivate before that age, you must undergo rigorous training so that you can strengthen your body to withstand those energies. Only those with special physiques and bloodlines will be able to cultivate before that age."

"I understand, mom. I will work hard. Harder than anyone has before"

Suddenly, Madison's aura underwent a change: From calm, to serious.

"The first step on the path of cultivation does not begin with absorbing qi or anything like that. The first step is steel-ing your heart so that no one can hurt you. You must steel your heart so that nothing can be used against you, whether it's your friends, me, or even your future wife. With a weak heart, this cruel cultivation world will swallow you whole. Cultivators will do anything to gain benefits. Just remember son, your life is the most important and valuable. No one else's life can ever be worth the same as yours; not even mine."

As she finished talking, she smiled; however, it was one filled with sadness.

Hearing his mother's wise words, Daniel's eyes began exuding a solemn light.

"I understand, mom."

After that, they finished eating their food. Madison washed the dishes as Daniel went back up to his room. She had a conflicted light in her eyes.

"Son…."

Daniel walked up the stairs and down the hall. The hall was dimly lit.

There were 5 doors down the hall way: two on each side with one at the very end.

As he walked passed the first, he thought, "Mom and dad's room."

Walking passed the second, "Bathroom."

Now the third, "Guest room."

As he walked up to the fourth door, he put his hand on the doorknob. "My room."

Before he opened the door to his room, he looked toward the door at the end of the hall way, which could barely be seen.

Suddenly, a memory resurfaced.

"Daniel, under no circumstances, should you go into that room." A man with a face filled with shadows told him in a strict, fatherly tone.

Daniel only came up to the knees of that man, he must have only been 2 years old at the time.

The memory showed the door with the man pointing toward it.

"Yes, father." A small, little voice spoke broken english, like a baby first learning to speak.

The memory then ended.

"What are you hiding, father?" Daniel asked himself as he began walking toward the door.

A few steps later, he reached the door, and turned the knob. Surprisingly, it opened easily; the man, presumably his father, must have seen no need to lock it after he told him about it all those years ago.

Going inside, he looked around. It was a dusty, old room. In the air, were thick particles of dust, as well as on every surface. The walls were filled with books, and in the middle, there was a desk and a chair. On the desk, was a worn, thick book covered in a layer of dust that called it home, as well as a little lamp that was already on. It was very dark in the room, barely lit by the small lamp.

Walking up to the desk, he wiped the dust off of the cover of the book. It read "Guide to the Aries Kingdom".

"A guide? What would he need this for? It doesn't matter. Since he was never in my life, this is the least he can give me." Daniel decided to take the book off of his father's hands.

Taking the book, he walked straight to his room.

His room was not that big, same with his bed: not that big. The only things he had in his room was a desk, a bed, a closet, and a window. The room was colored black, and there were no candles; only the moon's light lit the room. He also noticed something else.

"So the things that I feel moving in the shadows are motes of qi? I just thought that shadows usually move like that….No wonder mom looked at me weird when I asked her what was moving in the shadows that day…" he thought.

"I wonder what would happen if I tried to absorb it now? She said that I have to meditate to sense qi….but I can already feel it….No, I shouldn't. I should see what this book is about," he thought, looking at the dusty, old book.