EVERNA Arcel Raine's
Energy Yoga
Arcel was still standing glued and stunned in the training room at Adler von Bachmann Prison.
This was much worse than he originally thought. Alistair Kane once told him that the combined energy of the Seven Rainbow Crystals in his body would take his life at the age of twenty-seven, though as he remembered his age is now only twenty-two years and looks like he never moved from the equivalent of seventeen years old.
Now, Narayanan Singh aka Agent Brahma says that the rest of Arcel's age is less than two years away. Arcel was so inexhaustible, who was lying between the two travelers between the realms?
Is it that Alistair Kane who is the leader of all the travelers between the realms in the entire universe is deliberately lying? Masa Singh so recklessly stepped over his own leader, giving information as if the words of the leader were totally wrong and can not be held again? Who is right? Who said Arcel should follow?
Seeing Arcel's bewildered face, Singh cleared his throat, giving further explanation, “The head of Zeus is not a god, so he can make mistakes too. So, he entrusted your handling, which was a very special case for him to me.
He has only caught a glimpse of your condition because the test of it does not include a thorough and deep analysis of the inner energy. After all, with regular practice you actually shorten the rest of your time from five years to less-than-two years. So, in addition to fighting a lot, you need a training method that is much more difficult and more extreme than usual. And you're lucky because I'm very good at that extreme training method.”
Arcel snorting. “Really? What is the name of the training method?”
“In Arcapada we call it yoga. It was a method of training and cultivating the inner power spiritually through the poses of physical meditation. I myself am a yogi, a practitioner of the science of yoga. I used to be a fakir, a hermit who achieved a level of traveller power between realms after helping three brothers named Bahman, Perviz and Perizade and a half-century ascetic. Only after becoming a traveler did I learn yoga more deeply than anyone.”
Arcel. “Haah? Do I have to spend half a century with yoga to become a traveler between realms?”
Svida and Rajadesh also glanced at the father, as if to question the same with Arcel.
With a small laugh Singh explained, “I don't think it needs to be that long, Arcel. Remember, I used to be a devotee, not a yogi. Besides Chairman Zeus – ah, I prefer to mention his real name alone, Alistair Kane – pointed at me because he knew you would be able to become a traveler before the deadline for your curse arrived. So rest assured and do not worry, I think great talent and experience that many have cut your training time to about one year only.”
Svida chimed, “My father used to train one more person named Zet in the world of Terra Revia, and he managed to achieve the status of Master of Arcana in just one or two months. It was a title equivalent to a first-rate traveler, Moving Mount.”
“Really?” ask Arcel. “Is Zet a god-man or a god-drop more powerful than me?”
“Not necessarily,” replied Singh. “In terms of performance, your gait far exceeds Zet. You are the great hero who conquered Mephistopheles. If your true energy is not drained, you may be able to become a traveler faster than Zet, his real name is Amazeta Dionysos. You might want to remember.”
Arcel breathed a sigh of relief. “Alright, I'll learn yoga training methods, Agent Brahma. When can I start?”
“Today I will teach you the basic poses,” Singh replied. “But before that, you have to respond to two conditions from myself first.”
“What terms is it?” ask Arcel.
“One, we'd better not call each other by a password. Remembering unusual names we remember will interfere with each other's concentration and make our training so much slower.”
Arcel nodded. “Agree.”
“Good. Second condition, because now I am your teacher, Arcel, it is appropriate that you call me ‘Guru’. I appreciate your talent, so you better appreciate my efforts to train you, as a student like my own son.”
“Good, Guru Singh. Kindly help you also brothers and sisters, Rajadesh and Svida.”
\==oOo==
“So basically yoga science is the same as other meditation and cultivation science, right? The difference is only in the pose, right?” ask Arcel.
“Tak is just that. With the poses of ‘aneh’ outside our habits, energy will be more difficult to collect. But if you get used to it, you will be able to do that much faster than regular meditation.”
“Well, I will do it according to Master's instructions,” Arcel said as he nodded enthusiastically.
“Well, I'll show you the first pose.” Singh then stood up straight, two arms raised straight up, then put the palms together right above the head so it was a bit like a mountain top. That is the most basic pose in the science of yoga, namely Tadasana.
Arcel imitates Singh's pose with the straightest possible body position. Without having to try hard, Arcel did Tadasana perfectly and tried to gather energy to be stored as energy in.
However, the energy collected was very little, like panning gold on the banks of a river. Five minutes after, the energy gathered is just enough for the trigger, like a candle flame or weaker.
Seeing the frustrated look on Arcel's face, Singh explained in a calm, gentle and authoritative tone, “You need to know, this pose is a level higher than the usual ascetic pose. If you continue to use this pose, it is only half a century longer that you become a traveler between domains as well as I used to be.”
“Call right,” Arcel said as he heaved a sigh of relief. “Alright, let's do the other poses.”
To save time, Singh reduced the ration of each basic pose to three minutes each. Arcel managed to gather energy in from the Tree Pose, Vrikshasana and Triangle Pose, Trikonasana, all equivalent to a nutritious snack.
Then Arcel tried several other poses, among them the Down-Facing Dog Pose, Adho Mukho Svanasana, Chair Pose or Kursiasana, Boat Pose or Naukasana and the Cobra Snake Pose or Bhujangasana. Because it was only the first time, he had not been able to reap as much energy as he needed. The new obtained is approximately equivalent to a sandwich or sandwich only.
As sweat soaked throughout Arcel's body, the young man asked, “Are the poses that can more quickly gain energy, Master?”
“Of course there is, but you have to reach it gradually,” replied Narayanan Singh. “Because you have mastered the basic level poses, now is the time to learn the second level.”
Before Arcel could say anything, Singh had already demonstrated the Fish Pose, Matsyasana. Arcel immediately followed that pose. Three minutes later, it was Rajadesh's turn to demonstrate the Bow Pose, Dhanurasana.
These two poses require more balance than the first level poses in order not to fall and all the energy that has been collected is wasted. As compensation, the energy accumulated for six minutes was more, equivalent to one breakfast and one lunch, complete with side dishes.
Still, this was far from adequate to go to the level of a traveler between the realms, extending Arcel's life time limit in this mortal world.
Arcel then tried to imitate the Sirsasana Pose exhibited by Svida Singh. He stood upside-down with two legs on top and two hands on the bottom, with his head as a pedestal for his body. Head to foot, feet to head.
Arcel exerts little energy to “beautiful” true energy gathering process. Suddenly he convulsed violently, then fell on the floor and cried out in great pain. It appeared that beams of black energy were coursing through his entire body. Is that what you call the wrong exercise?
The main problem is, how severe is the effect of the wrong exercise? Is it just pain, permanent disability, or even loss of life?
Seeing Arcel's unexpected reaction, Narayanan Singh no doubt exclaimed, “Arcel, no!”
Author's Note: There are references to two novels, namely EVERNA One Thousand and One Nights (Vadis Publisher) and The Master of Arcana (NovelToon Original) in this episode.