Welldark B2 Ch. 04

I made a tightly clenched fist and carefully submerged it, barely creating any ripples or disturbance. After a few moments, I raised it back up. A few drops of water dripped from my skin, barely anything joined when I loosened my fingers.

"We submerge ourselves in the untapped force, but it only touches the very surface of our souls. Just like little water sticks to a clenched fist, so too does the little Astrality we have contact with manage to expand our capacity to wield it. However, we are also safe, because this distance prevents the power within us from coming into close contact with that outside us. Now, to increase the effectiveness of the cultivation, we need to find a way to do away with that difference. One is through training, the other is through having a master of cultivation hand you an Astral Essence. A piece of the Astral Sea, carried over to this side, which will use the proximity of your soul to return to its origin. It uses you and you then use it. Whichever of the two paths you follow, it now looks more like this."

I raised my hand again. Instead of making a clenched fist, I made a loose one. The fingers formed a basic funnel. When I submerged and then brought up my hand again, water dripped out of the little hole my pinkie left open. "And so additional power from the Astral Sea reaches you," Esther summarized.

"Precisely," I said and moved over to the valve to stop the flow of water into the bathtub. "In the Astral Sea, your soul is part of the might of the cosmos. Diving into it too early risks your soul 'fraying', because your will is not yet strong enough to keep yourself consolidated. Once you can overcome that hurdle, the cultivation is a lot more efficient, because you do not merely absorb what rubs up against you, you can actively pull it into you, expanding your Astral Capacity."

Esther hummed and resumed her caress of my body. Given that I had already resolved to give her that massage, I received the care happily. Repayment in full would not have to wait long. "Do I understand correctly that our current meditations are practice for the eventual diving into the Astral Sea, then?"

"Yes." I grabbed the protein shake. The cold, chocolate flavoured milk was a nice contrast to the lukewarm water and Esther's hands working my thighs. "Eventually we won't need the room either. It's easier there because that place is somehow tied to the Astral Sea. No idea how. Maybe it's some kind of demi-plane?"

Esther inquisitively stared at me, then shook her head and smiled. "Mysteries will be solved, in time. Magic is always a mess."