Chapter 28: Chapter 28: Soul Training (2)

Dyne opened his eyes as he realized the miracle of what he did.

“How did I do that?” He could once again feel that the Mist was creeping in his body once more.

“Soul force appears to be dependent on emotions? No. Emotions are affected by the soul. But it shouldn’t be that my emotions can affect and create Soul power... What's going on?” Dyne frowned.

He then considered several possibilities.

“Is this like Peter Pan? I think happy thoughts and my soul can use its powers?” Dyne considered.

“No. Impossible. I can feel myself getting angrier and angrier by the moment. The sadness, the grief, the pity, jealousy, and other thoughts are slowly driving me mad! Then how did I do that?” Dyne continued to ponder.

It should have been impossible for him to have joy. He didn’t have a Ra-Seru. He and Tetsu were not repelling the Mist but merely resisting it. As such, it would be impossible for Dyne to use Joy as the constant negative thoughts would prevent them from having those positive thoughts. 

“So I must have done something that allowed me to push the Mist away... Then what was it that I did?” Dyne went back to meditating and began recalling those people. But this time, the miraculous push didn’t happen.

Strafe was watching at the edge of his seats. Dyne’s miraculous encounter was already something that he had prepared for Dyne. He even knew that the Souls of the departed would bless him and allow him to sense the energies around easier. But of course, even then, it would have been a miraculous task.

Strafe's advantages when he cultivated in the ways of the soul were roughly on par with Dyne’s. But it took him a full year before he could mold his soul to move and affect physical objects. But for him to have the ability to create a genuine Soul attack, it took him four more years! Yet now Dyne was able to repel the soul attacks of the Mist for an instant!

Dyne continued to think and think. How did he do that? What was the secret? What did he unconsciously do when he recalled the expressions and faces of those people who died for him to make the game. 

This time no matter how he tried to picture their faces, no response was made.

He didn’t want to try to harness his soul once again. He could feel the breathing of Master Tetsu changing. If he did that again, he might get punched or kicked by Master Tetsu!

“Maybe I’m thinking incorrectly. It wasn’t their faces or the memory that triggered that... It might have been me unconsciously doing something when I remembered them. But what?” Dyne thought again.

He then remembered the night when he sat on the Genesis Tree. The contrasting emotions he felt between being so depressed and finally being under the Genesis Tree prompted something that allowed him to fall into some trance.

Dyne tried to get into the trance and slowly began to relax. He knew that he had to protect his emotions first. He thought back to that time in the Genesis Tree and tried to copy his state.

Slowly it began to happen. The Soul energy in his body was now reacting from the Mist. A tiny portion of his soul was rejecting the Mist. It initially was allowing the Mist to enter, but now, some strands would negate the Mist.

“Amazing...” Strafe marveled after sensing it.

Dyne maintained a meditative pose as he tried to reject the Mist continually. But there was still a lot of Mist that was able to enter his soul.

Dyne frowned and tried to move his soul around to create a shield of energy that would protect his soul.

It was awkward and difficult because Dyne was still figuring out how to move his soul in a very random way. All he could do were simple actions and movements. But something as complex as rotation was hard.

Dyne kept trying to move it that he was squirming and wiggling in his body.

Tetsu was getting angrier at Dyne's movements, but he constantly reminded himself that this was a test! He knew that his soul had been so affected by the Mist. But Dyne was moving so much that it was as if he would roll over anytime soon.

Dyne was still trying to figure out how to move his soul. He finally extended his hands out and began to twirl it as if he was mixing something invisible in the air.

“YEAH! THAT’S THE RIGHT STUFF!” Dyne finally rejoiced as he could see his soul moving. By imagining the direction in his body, he was finally able to make his soul move!

Strafe was gazing at Dyne with a strange expression. The actions that Dyne was doing was so weird and bizarre. Yet, he could clearly see Dyne’s soul moving. A portion of the Soul Energy that could negate the Mist began to spin at the same direction as Dyne's hands.

But even as Dyne moved his soul in a circular wave, the fact that only small threads of his soul were rejecting the mist energy caused only a smaller increase in the rejected Mist. And these Mist would soon penetrate and enter his soul after a few seconds.

Dyne stopped and was panting. The movement of the soul caused him to feel weak.

Tetsu was no longer in Lotus position but was digging his fingers on the patch of dirt, holding on to his sanity and doing his best not to smack the wild sounds of a heaving horse that was disturbing his meditation.

“It’s too weak. This wouldn’t work! I need to make those soul threads bigger!” Dyne focused once more and turned his attentions at the threads. He could see that some of the threads were disappearing and fading away except on the main thread he was keeping an eye on.

And the small lingering thread of Soul energy that could reject the Mist started getting smaller.

“Why is it getting smaller? I want you to get bigger! Bigger, you here me! Get bigger!” Dyne finally shouted on the place he called the dantian, where he could see his soul was.

Of course, in Tetsu’s view, Dyne was shouting at his... 

This enraged Tetsu all the more, and Tetsu stood up and retreated towards Rim Elm. He sought a place where he could meditate as he knew the Mist had already affected him.

Dyne was oblivious to all of this and panicked as the small thread was getting smaller and smaller.

Dyne then reached out both hands, and it was as if he was holding between the two ends of a string. Dyne kept pulling the string out. And then, he felt his soul trembling. His primitive means had worked.

As Dyne kept pulling the string, the string grew larger.

Strafe was surprised. In all of his years of training in the soul and guiding others in the soul, this was the first time he witnessed something so primitive and downright embarrassing but at the same time effective.

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But in this act, Dyne had felt a strange piercing cry from his soul. As Dyne extended the thread out, and as it grew larger than all the previous threads that appeared combined, he felt that his body was undergoing a strange change.

“What’s going on?!” Dyne was cursing as he kept pulling. It was as if a strange sensation occurred in his body that he didn’t know where. It was like an itch that he could scratch. The sensation was incredibly uncomfortable to Dyne.

“It’s the changes in your soul. You have made that soul large enough that it is affecting your body.” Strafe explained. He finally explained because he had yet to know someone who could manipulate their soul as fast as Dyne did.

Dyne endured the strange sensation. He took the invisible thread. He could tell that this long thread somehow repelled the Mist.

Dyne decided to test it out. He started to spin his hands as if he had an invisible lasso.

“Hiya! Hiya!” Dyne shouted as he gave off several whips.

Tetsu was so annoyed that he opened his eyes again and glared at Dyne. But his glare suddenly turned to amazement.

He could see that a small portion of the Mist around Dyne was actually retreating! Tetsu stood up and glanced at the amazing event before him. He slowly returned and approached Dyne.

“Too tiring!” Dyne complained as he stopped lassoing his soul thread.

“Movement of the soul expends more than maintaining it. Try to make it a shield or a ring instead.” Strafe gave his advice.

Dyne tried to follow what Strafe said, and it was as if he was roping himself with something invisible. But as he did, the soul thread was not getting ‘tied up.’ The two ends of the thread, which Dyne unconsciously released, caused the thread to start getting smaller.

“What are you doing? That’s soul energy! You can’t tie your own soul like that! It isn't physical!” Strafe reprimanded.

“Well, I don’t know what to do! I have to try to make a physical manifestation to make my soul maintain that energy!” Dyne complained. 

“The thread won’t do. Make it bigger. Create something large enough to cover your entire soul!” Strafe shook his head.

Dyne took a deep breath and calmed down.

Tetsu noticed that Dyne stopped with the weird movements and rested his two hands on his lap. The pointer and thumb fingers of Dyne’s hand continued to remain connected. So as he sat down doing the Ok hand sign on both hands, it appeared he was in a meditative state.

Tetsu was curious and drew closer and approached Dyne as he could hear Dyne muttering something.

In truth, Dyne was complaining, saying repeated curse words that were not common to the English language in the world of Legaia.

Immediately, Dyne moved as if he began crumpling paper and pulled something out like he was stretching dough.

“HAAAA!” Dyne shouted as he pulled. The sudden shout startled Tetsu and caused him to stumble backward.

The stunned Tetsu had the urge to kick Dyne to his face.

Dyne cursed and angrily shouted as the soul remained a single thread.

“You’re doing it wrong! You already shaped it as a thread. Compress it into a ball or something thicker that way. If you pull it, it will stretch out!” Strafe observed. Truthfully, he didn’t know what to do. It was the first time that he had seen Soul Cultivation happening like this.

Dyne complained as his heart was being affected by the Mist. He once again took a deep breath.

“Alright! Flatten! Flatten! Become a ball! Become a booger!” Dyne began to rub the thread in an attempt to make it a ball, but every time he would extend it, it returned to being a thread.

“More compression!” Dyne took several deep breathes and was trying to ball up the thread once more.

His arms kept pressing against each other, and veins started to appear on Dyne’s face.

Strafe observed the soul thread's status and noticed that it was starting to gather like a ball.

“Continue! It’s working!” Strafe shouted.

Dyne continued to press his palms.

“It’s working! It’s working! It’s working!” Dyne happily cried.

Tetsu was startled. He could see Dyen’s ecstatic expression and drew closer and observed the palms of Dyne. Was there something forming in Dyne’s palm?

Dyne’s continued pushing finally caused it to come out.

“Pppppprrrrrrrrrrttt!” A thunderous fart came out of Dyne as he pressed too hard.

“Aw drats! Did it come out?!” Dyne stopped from what he was doing to check on his butt.

POW!

Dyne was knocked unconscious.