LONE: The Journey Beyond

A week had passed since the first round of Awakenings happened.

Reven could be seen sitting cross-legged inside his room. He looked as if he were meditating and thinking deeply about something.

He was in the midst of his immersion when suddenly, his eyes snapped open.

His eyes were shining as a thought entered his mind and...

Eureka!

He got the answer he was looking for as he mumbled, "So, that's how it is. That's why, they said, the CSAR can only be started at the age of 13 or above.

It also explains the age requirement for the Awakening, which is also 13 or above."

A lot of things happened this week.

The Ardor cultivation technique [Basic Ardor Gathering Art] was made public.

Then there was the launch of Empress AI!

It was compulsory for all the citizens to have the Empress AI powered Wrist-Bands. This was going to become their identity proof, after all.

The device was linked to their DNA, so everyone had unique identities. In fact, it also had a much more important use, but that's for another time.

The revolutionary AI, 'Empress', was made by the joint efforts of the ISC and US, headed by Dr. Raymond Maxwell from the US and joined by many different scientists from both nations.

It was proposed by the US President to ISC to jointly create this project after the first UEA meetings.

They knew if they created it themselves, then the rest of the world would not legalise it because of distrust, so they proposed to do it jointly with the ISC.

It came to no one's surprise when the US revealed that they had been working for it for a long time. This made it easier for the scientists to work, as the Seven-Link technology was just the thing needed to totally complete the Empress.

The data from the first batch of Awakeners also came up.

It revealed many things, such as the minimum age requirements for starting CSAR cultivation and Awakening.

Another interesting thing that they found was that a person can have up to three Abilities; any more than that would cause the person's bloodline to collapse and lead to death.

Dr. Giovanni also revealed an interesting fact to Reven, saying that the GEP could even enhance the potential of the person and increase the chances of Awakening an ability.

In fact, they both decided on creating a GEP-2.0, which could increase and enhance someone's potential for cultivation.

The Guild system was also introduced by the UEA, and because of this, various changes in the political structure took place.

It was estimated that the Guild system would be fully incorporated within a year. By then, almost all of humanity would have the ability to cultivate.

At this moment, Reven was experimenting with the [Basic Ardor Gathering Art].

When he first studied this art, he saw that there were quite a few problems with it. With his Meta-Human abilities, it was quite easy to discover.

He also discussed this issue with some of his friends and got to know that there was no other way to make it compatible with the masses.

He realised that the art could be customized based on who was using it, and so he did.

The biggest problem with this art was that it didn't fully incorporate the five Basic sheaths or Koshas [1] of the body but rather directly incorporated Ardor into the body.

The five Sheaths were:

1. Annamaya Kosha, or Physical Body Sheath.

2. Pranamaya Kosha, or Life-Force Body Sheath.

3. Manomaya Kosha, or Mental Body Sheath.

4. Vignanamaya Kosha, or Wisdom Body Sheath.

5. Anandamaya Kosha, or Bliss Body Sheath.

What Reven wanted to do was incorporate them, as it would not only increase the efficiency of the use of Ardor, but the purity and overall capacity of the body and mind would also get a boost because of it.

He named this trait, where there would be harmony between the mind, the body, and the Ardor, as [Trinity Harmony].

Here, the problem was that when the incorporation of Sheaths took place, a proper balance between the physical and mental bodies and the bridge connecting them had to be maintained by the individual.

This made it extremely hard for most people to do. Not only that, it could also lead to utter destruction of the body if not done properly.

Other than that, it was extremely painful, as it ran on the principle of balance.

The founders of the [Basic Ardor Gathering Art] couldn't find a way to stabilise the technique if the incorporation of Sheaths was done.

Thus, they totally cancelled the idea and created this art.

Coming to the solution,

In one word,

None!

There was no way the human body could be balanced to the level required, as imbalance was totally incorporated into the human body from birth.

Though some balance could be maintained, it would not be at the level required.

Here came Reven's theory.

Rather than balancing the human body to incorporate the Sheaths, it was much easier to use Ardor itself to balance the body, and then using Ardor as glue, the incorporation of Sheaths could be done.

Well, in theory, it looked right, but what was the best way to do it?

This is where Reven came up with an idea.

The idea of perfect timing!

The age of 13 and above, until 50, was the period where there were ways for a person to touch the Bliss Body at least once.

Which also meant anyone in this age group could start cultivation.

Since Ardor was technically not a part of the Sheaths and would be used as the carrier for opening and incorporating them, it had to be done before opening the Root Cog.

It was still going to be a painful process, but it was feasible.

The best time to start this process was when someone was going to Awaken.

For Non-Awakeners, this process was not possible, as the influx of Ardor needed at the beginning to harmonize the body and open the Physical Body Sheath couldn't be provided to them. Not for now at least.

Of course, there could be special circumstances, like a place with an extremely high concentration of Ardor, that might allow them to cultivate the Sheaths too.

Reven named the method [Harmonic Ardor Regulation Art], which stretched from creating the Perfect Foundation to the Crown Creation to finally becoming a Cardinal.

Phew!

Reven sighed in relief as he completed the art.

He wasn't going to give this art to the UEA, as he knew its value. Heck, he was not even going to give this to ISC as it might cause widespread chaos.

Reven got up from his meditation and took a shower, then went to his bedroom. He checked his old-cum-new AI Wrist-Band, which was modified with Nanotech and had the same personalized 'WHY SO SERIOUS?' logo.

The best thing about this was that it had its own server, and it ran using Ardor as the energy source.

He wore it and commanded, "Empress."

At the same time, a mental message came directly to his brain, and the Wrist-Band punctured his skin and took a drop of his blood.

[Initialising...]

[Please wait.]

A cold female voice spoke directly into his brain as a hologram formed around him.

[Scan complete.]

[DNA analysis completed.]

[Identity confirmed.]

[Health status: Normal.]

[Select the server.]

'Personal server for personal information and public server only for transactions.'

[Processing...]

[Servers set. System is ready for use.]

[Do you wish for a tutorial?]

[Select: Yes or No.]

'No.'

[Proceeding.]

[Empress is ready for your use.]

[Pleased to work with you, Sir Reven.]

"Just Reven is fine, Empress."

[I shall call you Reven, then.]

[You may check your status window by saying it or thinking about it.]

'Status.'

Reven said inwardly as a hologram came in front of him.

[-Status window-]

[Name: Reven Greh.

Age: 12 years.

Race: Meta-Human, High-Human.

Ranks: None.

Titles: None.

Awakened Abilities: None.

Cultivation: None.

Innate Abilities: Eidetic Memory, Enhanced Physique, Perfect Compatibility, Immunity, Regeneration.

Traits: Calm Headed, Seamless Intuition.

Alignment: Neutral.

Arts: None.

Techniques: None.

Skills: Combat Mastery, Weapon Mastery, Sage, Meditation, Super-Senses.

Equipments: None.

Affiliations: Captain of Meta-Human Squad, Member of Rahasaya Regiment, Lieutenant of ISC Armed Forces, Scientist of ISC, National Security Advisor of ISC, Member of Human Attack Front of UEA.]

"So, the Skills show things that have become intuitive to me. As for Ranks, I think it will show the capacity of a person or the power stats after someone becomes a cultivator."

Reven muttered, looking at his stats.

"Empress, what does Trait mean here?"

[It includes temperament, aptitude, and cognitive abilities.]

*Ring* *Ring* *Ring*

Just then, a call arrived.

Reven picked up the call through his Seven-Link embedded in the Wrist-Band and said, "Hello."

"Lt. Greh, it's an emergency…"

.....

Author's Notes:

[1] The Sheaths mentioned are part of the Yogic system. It was and is very famous in many parts of the World. It has many principles.

I have used the principle of balance as the basis. These koshas are protecting blocks of the body that are essential for the growth of the human body.

They are highly practical, as they are still used to treat many health issues. You may Google it for more information.

>> Do you like the system that I have introduced? I have made the system as real as possible. Hope you guys like it.

*****