Chapter 7 - Soul

"I would like to learn both cultivation methods so please teach me," said Julius as he bowed to his teacher while sitting down.

Hearing this brought a smile to Jun's face as he could finally begin to raise the one disciple he actually thought could bring peace to the world. Unlike many others Julius didn't look to have any ulterior motives to gain from cultivation. Most just wanted overwhelming power to destroy their enemies or control others however, Julius was a different case. The prince didn't even know why he wanted to study the arts of cultivation. He only got into it to make his father proud.

"Sounds good to me. We should probably start off with meditation first since that'll be the easy one for you," said Jun as he stood up from where he was sitting. He slowly walked towards Julius and laid his palms on the prince's shoulder before pushing his back to the ground so that Julius would lay in a sleeping position. While he was caught off guard by this, Julius just went along with it.

"Now close your eyes," said Jun and Julius listened as he did what he was told.

...

"Just take slow and deep breaths... inhale... exhale... inhale... exhale," Jun repeatedly instructed Julius as he tried to get his breathing up to a certain rhythm.

"Good, now just continue to do so..." said Jun before flicking his finger on Julius' forehead which hurt the prince as much as it would've hurt for him to get his by a truck.

"Ow-" before he could even finish his complaining expression, Julius went dead silent as his mind completely shut off and his soul went somewhere. There was nothing in the place where his soul was taken. All there was nothing but white light. As he continued to be confused, Julius heard a voice which was familiar.

"Do you know why people have heroes?"

"It is neither because that person is good or bad. It isn't because they are kind or evil."

"There is no moral aspect to heroes. They can kill as many people as they want but will always be forgiven."

"The reason heroes exist is because they are unquestionably the strongest to ever live."

"So tell me kid, what do you think would happen if a hero was to turn against the very people that support him?"

Julius finally remembered where he recognized that voice. It had been nearly a decade but he could never forget that sinister voice. It was that of the old madman who kidnapped him when he was merely a child.

"What do you want from me?" Julius asked in an angry tone.

"You've finally begun your journey I see. Well, everything shall reveal itself in due time. Just become stronger so that you are powerful enough to stand your ground when the time is right," the old man's voice spoke before other voices began to add on.

"200 years have been used all for you."

"Do not waste all the lives that have gone through hell to get you your power."

"We have given you everything you'll need."

"So defeat the one who's call they heed."

...

"I still don't understand. What am I even supposed to do?" Julius said as he began to get more confused than he was previously. After waiting all this time, he was finally given a chance to learn more about what had taken place that day but now, he was left with more puzzles.

A few moments later, the white light began to get shrouded in darkness as a suffocating presence began to take over. Before he realized it, Julius' soul was underwater. Julius didn't know if souls could drown but for some reason he chose to make his soul close its mouth and nose so that he couldn't risk it. However, before long, he would need to give up as he was running out of the small amount of air he had in him. Seeing as he couldn't hold out much longer, Julius gave up and allowed himself to say his goodbyes to the world before he would drown.

However, Julius did not drown. Instead, when he allowed himself to let go of his nose and mouth, Julius found that he could breathe underwater just like he could breathe air itself. In fact, it was more relaxing than anything he had felt before. All Julius wanted to do in that moment was stay like that for eternity and never go back to reality.

"Wait, how am I breathing underwater? How am I controlling my soul? How do I even know this is my soul?" Julius asked himself before completely forgetting about all his questions and concerns due to the overwhelmingly relaxing feeling he received in that moment.

Although his time in the water was utter bliss, that would quickly come to an end as he was woken up from the state of relaxation by Jun who flicked his forehead with his finger which forced Julius to wake up with a gasp for air. When he realized what the old man had done, Julius looked at his master with a face of anger and irritation.

"Don't worry kid, you'll be able to return there soon enough. But the question is, did you have any distracting thoughts while you were in that state?" Jun asked the prince.

Of course Julius knew that the state in which he spoke to the madman and the other voices wasn't part of the cultivation process so he chose to not speak of it however, the part about the underwater stuff, he could talk about.

"Well, yes I did. It was a bit scary but my brain went straight back to relaxing after just a few moments. Is that bad?" Julius asked.

"No, not at all. Most people in fact have trouble adjusting to that state of mind and usually wake themselves up from it by force. But I can see that you're getting accustomed to it from the start.. A few distracting thoughts are to be expected from anyone," said Jun as he joyfully explained to Julius.