Chapter 07: Breathing Technique

While Alfred was waiting for Aponi, he has nothing to do. So, he decided to sit down and just read the parchment again, hoping he found some clue about the instruction, but after a while, he gave up. Instead, he tried to memorize the runic symbols in their English translation.

After memorizing the runic symbols for a while, Alfred realized the importance of translating runic symbols for making a rune. Because if he wanted to make a rune, he needed to write the rune using the runic symbols, and for that, he needed to understand what was the meaning of every runic symbol.

Alfred was trying his best to memorize the runic symbol when someone entered the tent. Alfred smiled when he saw Aponi.

“You are finally here”

“I am here to check your wound and also bring you some food, are you perhaps waiting for me?” Aponi replied.

“Yes, I have been waiting for you, I like to ask you something”

But before Alfred can ask. Aponi interrupted him.

“Wait, is your question important?”

Alfred thought for a while.

“Yes, it is kind of important”

“Then let me check and clean your wounds first before you asked me, also here eat some food”

While Aponi was cleaning Alfred’s wounds she asked him some questions about his injury.

“How do you feel right now? Do you feel pain anywhere?”

“Yeah, it is kinda weird because I already lost my right foot, but I can still feel the pain coming from it” Alfred replied.

“I see, that is what you call phantom pain. It is a pain coming from a body part that is no longer there. It is normal you do not have to worry about it.”

“how do you know this stuff?” Alfred asked

“We learned it from our ancestors. We do not really know how our ancestors know this kind of stuff. Never mind that, I am done checking your wounds you can ask me your question now”

Alfred still wanted to ask Aponi about the phantom pain, but it seemed Aponi didn’t know the answer. Therefore, Alfred asked Aponi the question he has earlier.

“I know this question is a little weird, but I hope you can answer me. Do you know the Energy?”

“You mean the Life Energy?” Aponi replied

Alfred became excited.

“Oh! Do you know it? What is this Life Energy and where can I find it?”

“Calm down I am not going anywhere” Aponi tried to calm Alfred down.

When Alfred realized that he was acting too excited, he forced himself to calm down. It was just he didn’t expect that Aponi would know about the Energy, that he had been racking his brain to figure out.

When Aponi saw Alfred finally settle down, she started explaining what Life energy was.

“You do not have to be so excited. Life energy is pretty common knowledge, but at the same time, it is very hard to understand. You see, everything in this world has Life Energy within them, and when they die or get destroyed this Energy will dissipate and spread in the environment.

Life Energy is easy to find, even now while we are talking Life Energy is surrounding us, it is just invisible to the naked eye so we cannot see it. Life energy has a mysterious power, I heard that monsters and beasts often use Life Energy to fight, but I am not sure how.

What I am sure of, is that the hunter of our tribe used the life energy to make themselves stronger, I do not really understand it. They say that they use some kind of breathing technique to absorb the Life Energy, I am not very knowledgeable about the Breathing Technique though. That is all I know if you want to learn more about Life Energy you should ask Shaman Catori.”

Alfred touched his chin and thought.

‘So, is the Life Energy the energy I need to use to write a rune? If it is, it makes sense because if Life Energy is common knowledge in this world, then not specifying what kind of energy I need to use to write the rune is understandable.’

“Aponi do you think I can talk to Shaman Catori?” Alfred asked.

“Yes, you can, do you want me to take you there?” Aponi replied.

Alfred wanted to reject Aponi’s help, but he suddenly remembered what Vir said to him, and he smiled.

“Then, please help me.”

When they are walking Alfred still used a stick to help him walk, he didn’t use the prosthetic that Elder Ahote gave to him because his wound was still fresh. However, even though Alfred was still using the stick, he didn’t have a hard time like last time, because this time Aponi was here to support him.

Shaman Catori was busy mixing some herbs together, then suddenly someone spoke outside of her shelter.

“Shaman Catori it is me I brought Alfred, he said he has something to ask you, Can we go inside?” Aponi asked for permission to enter.

“Come in.” Shaman Catori replied.

The first thing Alfred noticed was the strong scent of herbs when he walked inside Shaman Catori’s shelter. Alfred analyzed the inside of Shaman Catori’s tent, he saw different kinds of ornament hanging around and herbs covered in some kind of leaves. while Alfred was admiring the decoration, Shaman Catori Spoke.

“So young Alfred what is it, that you wanted to ask? Is this about the parchment?”

“Yes, it is in fact related to the parchment. I wanted to ask you about Life Energy, Aponi already explained to me the basics, but I want to know more and how to control this Life Energy.” Alfred replied.

When Aponi felt that the topic was quite serious, she decided to go out, then give them some privacy.

“Shaman Catori I will excuse myself, I have something to do. Alfred, I will go first and come back later”

“Ok thank you again for bringing me here.” Alfred said.

After Aponi left, Shaman Catori excitedly asked.

“Can you read them all now? Did you regain your memories?”

Alfred shook his head.

“No, I did not regain my memories, but I was able to read the parchment.”

Shaman Catori became even more excited.

“Then what did the parchment say?”

“The parchment is an instruction on how to make a rune or rune formation.” Alfred said.

“A rune you say, yes I remember you said that this parchment is about a rune formation. Do you finally understand what is this rune?”

“I do not fully comprehend it yet, but I have a rough idea what it is.”

Shaman Catori’s eyes brighten and she eagerly asked.

“Can you explain to me what is this rune for?”

“Runes are ancient letters to cast some kind of magic.” Alfred replied.

“Magic you say? What is this magic? this is the first time I heard the word”

“I do not really understand what magic is, but what I know is, if I follow the instruction in the parchment, I can do some kind of magic. For example, I can summon fire in thin air using runes”

Shaman Catori became shocked and exclaimed.

“What did you say! that this rune can summon fire in thin air?! How is that even possible?! Is this parchment even real?!”

“I also do not know if the parchment is real or not, but I want to try it. That is why I am here to ask you how can I control the Life Energy, to try and follow the instruction.”

“Alright, I am now fully interested in this rune. I will help you, but you are far from being able to control Life Energy. Before you can manipulate the Life Energy, you need a lot of Life Energy stored within you, to gain Life Energy you need to absorb it in the environment, but before you can do that, you need to be able to feel the Life Energy in your surroundings, after that you can finally absorb them.”

Alfred was stunned, he thought that he just needed to learn how to control the Life Energy, he didn’t think that it needed a lot of procedures before he can do it.

“So, Shaman Catori how can I feel the Life Energy around me?”

“You do not need to worry young Alfred, that is why I am here, to help you do that. I will teach you a breathing technique, this technique is used by the hunters of this tribe to feel and absorb the life energy in the environment. So, before you can feel them, master the Breathing Technique first.”

After that, Shaman Catori taught Alfred the Breathing Technique step by step. After a while, Alfred finally got the hang of it, he can now do the Breathing Technique on his own. Shaman Catori smiled she was impressed.

“You are a fast learner. You only take a small amount of time to learn the Breathing Technique, but remember to be patient. If you cannot feel the Life Energy that is fine, it takes time to be able to feel it. Just keep repeating the Breathing Technique until you can finally feel the Life Energy. I will leave you alone for now and do my own things.”

When Aponi came back it was already dark outside, she wanted to apologize to Alfred for being late, but when she saw what Alfred was doing, she looked at Shaman Catori.

“Shaman Catori did you taught Alfred the Breathing Technique?”

“Ahh you are finally here, yes I taught it to him, you should take him back it is already late. After you come back to his tent. Tell him to be patient and just keep repeating the breathing technique.”