Shattered Sanity

That night inside his dorm room, the first thing Riven did was practice the meditation manual he had received from Professor Elena, as he could no longer wait to properly begin his journey towards becoming stronger.

Sitting cross-legged upon his bed, Riven placed the [Heavenly Storm Breathing Method] before him and opened it to the first circulation diagram, carefully studying every instruction until the entire sequence had been committed to his photographic memory.

The technique was considerably more complicated than the Four-Corner Method he had previously practiced, although the underlying principle remained familiar, as both methods relied upon controlled breathing and deliberate circulation to attract Aether from the surroundings.

However, where the Four-Corner Method circulated Aether through a relatively simple pathway, the Heavenly Storm Breathing Method demanded precise control over where his existing reserves moved with every inhale and exhale.

Riven lowered his gaze towards the instructions once again.

[First Circulation.]

[Inhale slowly while drawing Aether from the Soul Vessel upward towards the neck, before allowing the circulation to descend through the heart and enter the lungs.]

[Exhale. Guide the circulating Aether downward from the lungs towards the navel, then continue through both legs until reaching the toes.]

[Draw the circulation upward from the toes towards the navel, then return it to the lungs before beginning your next inhale.]

[Repeat the complete breathing sequence twice. Two completed sequences constitute one Heavenly Storm Breathing Cycle.]

Riven read the instructions twice before closing his eyes, straightening his back and resting both hands comfortably over his knees.

’All right.’

Taking his first slow breath, he focused upon the Aether already resting within his Soul Vessel and attempted to draw a small portion upward.

The response came surprisingly easily.

Aether moved from his Soul Vessel towards his neck before Riven carefully guided it downward, following the pathway illustrated within the manual as it passed towards his heart and then entered the region surrounding his lungs.

Once he felt it arrive, Riven slowly exhaled.

The circulating Aether descended through his lungs towards his navel before separating across both legs, although his concentration slipped when the two streams reached halfway down his thighs.

’Shit.’

Riven thought as he felt the circulation divide unevenly between his legs, with considerably more Aether flowing towards his right side than his left, forcing him to stop before the imbalance ruined the cycle completely.

’I could not divide it properly....’

Riven thought, as opening his eyes he studied the manual again.

’Divide Aether across both legs simultaneously and evenly.’

The instruction had seemed simple enough while reading it, although controlling two separate streams of Aether with equal precision proved considerably more difficult than memorizing where they were supposed to travel.

After studying the diagram once more, Riven closed his eyes and tried again.

The second attempt progressed further.

His Aether reached the neck, heart and lungs before descending towards his navel, where Riven deliberately divided the circulation evenly and guided it through both legs.

This time, both streams reached his toes.

A faint excitement entered his expression before Riven attempted to draw them upward again, only for the left stream to move considerably faster than the right.

’Damn it.’

Another failed attempt.

Yet rather than frustrating him, each mistake made the structure of the technique increasingly clear, as Riven opened the manual again and compared what he had felt against the circulation diagram.

His photographic memory ensured he never forgot the pathway.

What he lacked was the control required to reproduce it.

By his fourth attempt, Riven no longer needed to check where the Aether was supposed to travel, while by the sixth, both streams successfully returned from his toes towards his navel at almost the same speed.

His breathing remained the greater problem.

Whenever too much attention went towards controlling his Aether, his inhale became too fast or his exhale ended before the circulation reached its intended position, forcing him to restart the sequence from the beginning.

For nearly half an hour, the same process repeated as Riven attempted the circulation, failed somewhere along its pathway, referred to the diagram and began again.

Until eventually he somehow managed to produce one successful cycle through sheer luck alone.

’I did it....’

He thought, as a faint tingling sensation spread across his skin.

His eyes remained closed as he felt traces of Aether from the surrounding atmosphere gathering around him, although unlike the neutral Aether he had struggled to attract while practicing the Four-Corner Method, this energy felt strangely familiar.

Sharper.

Restless.

Almost as though countless tiny sparks were brushing against his skin.

’Storm Aether.’

Riven maintained his breathing as the gathered Storm Aether entered his body and followed the circulation he had just created, eventually flowing towards his Soul Vessel.

The amount was small.

Barely eight units according to the manual.

Yet Riven immediately noticed the difference.

When he had practiced the Four-Corner Method, attracting Aether always felt like dragging something reluctant towards himself, requiring constant concentration merely to maintain the process.

This felt different.

The Heavenly Storm Breathing Method was considerably more complex, yet somehow it also felt more natural, as though his body understood the Storm Aether being drawn towards it even while his mind struggled with the circulation required to guide it.

More importantly, the difference in absorption was incomparable.

Riven slowly opened his eyes.

”So that’s one cycle...”

A smile gradually appeared across his face as he looked towards the [Heavenly Storm Breathing Method] resting before him.

He had made mistake after mistake simply trying to complete the first cycle, yet now that he had successfully performed it once, Riven remembered precisely how every movement had felt.

The timing of his breathing.

The division of Aether at his navel.

The speed at which both streams needed to descend.

The sensation of Storm Aether entering his body.

Closing his eyes once again, Riven straightened his back and began another inhale.

He still had a long way to go before reaching Spark Rank.

However, at least now, he had finally started down the path that was going to lead him there.