[Tracy must have sensed my base chakra's activation.]
[No! She must also suspect that I was aware of it or even induced it. And then hid all this from her.] Hugo thought but instead registered a surprised expression on his face.
"Aunt Tracy! What are you talking about?"
"Do you know what the red serpent is? Is this some part of the powers of mystics? Was this caused by the eggs." Hugo fired inquiries at the pace of a machine gun; his tone expressing genuine confusion.
He still had no idea why his base chakra had behaved abnormally. The serpent in the chakra and its activation went against the system of training described in the Kratos manual.
"We shall get to that," Tracy replied succinctly.
"But first, calm down, regulate your breathing, and continue focusing your mind towards the red crystal in the middle of the serpent. Try to visualize touching it with your mind." Tracy added; her tone like that of a mother talking to her newborn.
Hugo nodded and followed Tracy's instructions once again. He had even forgotten that he was still seated in a pool of unpleasant greasy water.
He just emptied his mind, regulated his breathing, and tried to visualize touching the red crystal in the middle of the coiled serpent with his perception.
"BAM"
An explosion went off in the depths of his mind as the crystal and red serpent appeared directly in his mind's eye.
The serpent's surface was adorned with a variety of mysterious symbols alien to Hugo. The serpent, which was in the coiled form, appeared to be biting its own tail. At its center lay a blood-red crystal pulsing with every breath he took.
Hugo felt a distinct deep connection with the crystal, but a more vague one with the coiled serpent.
Hugo could also tell that the serpent and crystal were made of pure condensed energy. But what he couldn't confirm was whether they were alive.
"Weird!" He mumbled.
"Do you feel a connection with the crystal?" Tracy questioned; her voice filled with expectation.
"Yes." Hugo nodded.
"Okay, that's good." Tracy's tone was filled with excitement.
[Was her previous behavior just an act to fish some information out of me?]
[She is an assassin of the Dark Church, she should be skilled in emotional blackmail. I can't be sure if she was acting.] Hugo was still confused about Tracy's previous behavior.
"Continue visualizing and trying to touch the crystal with your mind until you feel a distinct connection with crystal. This will help you gain some control of your body."
"We shall talk about the rest when you are done. Don't damage the Matriarch's attic because you can't control your new-found strength." Tracy added and started walking towards the door.
[But I already feel the deep connection with the crystal!] Hugo was perplexed but chose to remain silent.
[A man gotta keep some secrets.] He inwardly sighed.
"Aunt Tracy! Wait! You still haven't told me why you were crying before!" Hugo inquired as he had a feeling that Tracy's jumbled emotions should have been related to his base chakra.
"We will talk when you're done. First, finish doing what I told you." Tracy added; her tone nonchalant as she hurriedly left Hugo's attic room.
Hugo had a feeling that she was escaping from his room.
[What's wrong?] Hugo mused as he turned his attention back to his body.
[I should attain a deeper level of connection with the crystal if I use the familiar Fibonacci-Breathing-Sequence. I will try it out first.] Hugo deliberated as he started his meditation.
He visualized the energy vortex, the coiled serpent, and the crystal as he simultaneously practiced the Fibonacci-Breathing-Sequence.
And in a flash, the three entities directly appeared within his mind's eye. The crystal and the serpent were so vivid that Hugo could even make out the shapes of the mysterious symbols on their surfaces; a feat which was not possible by just regulating his breathing.
Hugo could now feel a deep connection with all the three entities as he visualized them while practicing the Fibonacci-Breathing-Sequence.
[What would happen if I touched the serpent with my consciousness. Visualizing the mana channels helped when I practiced before. This should work some magic too.] Hugo mused and gave in to the temptation.
He again calmed his mind, steadied his heart, and opened his imaginary door to his spirit world. His mind had long forgotten the greased liquid that his body was immersed in.
"Oh my God!"
Hugo was dumbfounded when he arrived in his spiritual world.
A pool of red liquid had formed at the far end of his spiritual world.
"Are these the benefits of becoming a mystic?" Hugo wondered as he moved towards the pool.
"How deep is it?" He muttered as he bent down to touch the red liquid.
"Aaaaaaahh…" Hugo let loose a moan.
As he touched the liquid, a feeling of pure bliss filled his mind. Although the pool was very shallow, Hugo could tell that the liquid would greatly benefit his soul.
"I can't waste this." He mumbled as he walked into the pool. In a matter of seconds, he felt pleasure second to none. He felt his soul and mind calm down as his thoughts became the clearest they had ever been.
[I will visualize the base chakra while seated in this pool. The other issues can wait.] Hugo mused as he released a trace of mental energy to keep the imaginary door into his spiritual world open.
Hugo had confirmed that the Psykhe-Mental-Exercise could be trained by visualizing anything including objects that were in both the astral and material world. That was the discovery he had made while practicing the agonizing Kratos-Body-Yoga earlier that day.
"Visualizing the mysterious symbols and ciphers should be even more effective for training the soul. But I need to first investigate the situation with the base chakra."
Hugo calmed his mind and then started the visualization of his base-chakra while practicing the Fibonacci-Breathing-Technique.
"BAM"
With an explosion akin to a blast of a bomb, the serpent, and the crystal; both mirror images of their forms in his base chakra appeared in his spiritual world. They were like spiritual three-dimensional projections hovering before the pool in his spiritual world.
Hugo could even make out the very minute symbols on the surface of the crystal and the serpent; a feat previously impossible when not in deeper meditation.
He felt his soul get nourished at speed greater than before. His thoughts became clearer and it felt like he had gained some kind of enlightenment of some profundities in the Universe.
"PoP"
As he tried to take in more of the details of the symbols, he heard a popping sound, and in a glow of reddish light, the two entities once again disappeared from his spiritual world.
"What happened?" Hugo mumbled as he looked around.