I pestered Sen’o to teach me to integrate the soul after his performance at the gym. I had suddenly remembered whilst watching him fight and was not about to let it go. He lectured me for a while, I paid attention out of interest and necessity, he had made it very clear from the get-go; if I didn’t want to die I had to listen.

Eventually, he left. I was left to reflect and begin the process. I left in favour of my own room but as I looked inside the cave, empty and dark, I quickly went back into Sen’o’s. It was the same cave, save for a stray feather that he had neglected to explain. Yet, I felt oddly at peace on his mat, after journeying for so long together it felt wrong being so separated.

I touched my hands to the soul orb, the soul reached out immediately, Sen’o said I would need to rejuvenate it but it seemed plenty lively to me. It engulfed the string of qi I had injected immediately, as we came into contact I entered my dantian. The strength of the supposedly dormant soul almost overwhelmed me.

I mustered what little imprinted qi I had and pushed back. Sen’o said it would not take much and he was right, the soul caved almost immediately. Whilst my consciousness was inside my dantian the soul was directly communicating with my qi, it was an experience I was not familiar with but my cultivation technique had prepared me for.

I tried to communicate with the lost soul, it’s darkness rattled my mind. It exuded hopelessness and defeat, after so long stuck in a cage I was here to put it in another. I pacified my aggressive qi and tried a different approach.

I surrounded the soul, attempting a hug; Sen’o had not mentioned this as being a viable technique but it felt right. I felt the soul’s fear as my qi encompassed it, then the ensuing calm as it realised my intentions.

We stayed for an indistinguishable amount of time locked in our odd qi hug. The soul’s colour shifted as it went from the chaotic grey and white mess to a more muted blue. I felt its sombre acceptance, its subtle plea for a more fulfilling life than one trapped in an inhospitable sealing orb.

I obliged, offering it a partnership, acceptance, and a home in which we can grow and thrive. The soul accepted, melding with my qi and arriving in my dantian, taking the form of a large bird, it had a small sharp beak with a slight hook at the end.

It was mostly black with a blue belly and underwing. The black areas were covered in mottled white spots that shimmered as it flew towards me. It landed in front of me, approached me, then rubbed its head against my leg. I knelt down and stroked its fragile head, with the ability to closely inspect the marvelous creature, I noticed a yellow patch on the end of its wings that branched out like forked lightning across the wing.

I spent a minute reassuring the poor creature that it had a home inside my dantian, and that it was free to cultivate. I could tell that the Lonely Whispers technique was coming into play, considering the bird’s situation it would be more surprising if it wasn’t.

It was my first time exploring my dantian, something that only becomes available after reaching the second realm. Yet, somehow I already had a resident. We explored the dark, empty space that it was.

Then I began to cultivate, It lit up with the warmth and comfort of a level I had never experienced. I began to walk when suddenly there was grass at my feet, then a tree that the bird landed neatly on top of.

My cultivation blossomed, as did my dantian. Whatever we wanted at that moment became available to us as we roved.

The bird flew freely, savouring the space and freedom it had been granted. It made me comfortable to watch, my thoughts wandered to the Lonely Whispers technique and exactly how much of what was happening was thanks to that, or if it was thanks to me.

I shook myself free of the cultivation, bidding the bird a temporary farewell. I had to thank Sen’o as I was the type of person who would forget to do so if not done immediately.

I opened my eyes, unsure of how long I had been cultivating and eager to find Sen’o to brag about my outstanding success. I looked around the room to Sen’o sleeping in his bed, his back to me.

I smiled, I had become used to this view. He turned over, my breath got locked in my throat.

I knew. I knew it wasn’t him. But that face, something inside me snapped. It was him. I screamed. Pushing myself back off the mat and shuffling desperately backward until I hit the wall.

In my head he was getting up, approaching me with that disgusting expression. I was about to fight but my arms lay still, I wanted to kick but my legs felt numb.

I closed my eyes, sheer terror from expectation alone. I remembered the feeling of his hand desperately grasping my heels as he wrenched my legs apart.

I channeled my qi in panic at first but as the feeling of strength and control flowed through me, I felt the deeply rooted fear unhinge slightly. Unwilling to give up on the opportunity I forced myself into a meditative state, adjusting my body as well as my mind.

The Sen’o in my head lost his grip as I kicked him. He stumbled backward helplessly. I hadn’t seen it before. He was wiry thin. His sick expression was more full of delusion than malevolence.

The pathetic creature in front of me was not something to be scared of.

I opened my eyes again, Sen’o was looking at me worriedly. I sneered, his worry ticked me off, even if I was slightly grateful. I got up and clapped my hands onto his cheeks.

“This damn face,” I growled. Sen’o let me seethe and eventually cool down. However, I did not let go of his face. I examined it instead. He was not thin, his face was full and hearty. His face showed many emotions but no delusion and no evil.

I looked in his eyes and I found understanding, I found solace. A brief respite from the loop of self-hate and regret that had tormented me, and likely still would for wounds don’t close overnight.

The moment stretched and eventually I let go of his face. “That was extreme,” I sighed.

“Perhaps,” he said. I could only agree, neither of us had enough knowledge in the matter to know if it was extreme or not.

“It felt extreme,” I concluded.

“I’m sure,” he agreed. I sat down on his bed, next to him. Still slightly hesitant to touch him but managed to gently bump my shoulder against his.

“Shall we get breakfast?” he asked. My tummy rumbled an apt response.