"Now, I’m going to assume that many of you don’t have any idea what the Sea of Consciousness is, and even if you do, shut up and pay attention."
All the initiates blinked at Instructor Aphon’s words because they were already quiet.
However, Instructor Aphon did not seem to care.
"Humans, demons, and gods have a Sea of Consciousness. A Sea of Consciousness is not only meant for demons or humans, but for everybody."
"Now, the Sea of Consciousness is the inner space of the mind where all thoughts, perception, and awareness exist."
"It is not physical. It is not imaginary. It is a real inner domain tied to your existence."
"Just like the name, this inner domain has a sea, and because we’re demons, our sea is red unlike humans whose Sea of Consciousness is filled with blue water."
At these words of the instructor, Simon could not help but blink in confusion.
’Red? Not black? But mine is black.’
Simon was extremely confused and he tried to think of why his Sea of Consciousness was a different colour.
Unfortunately for him, he had only guesses and assumptions.
’Is it because I reincarnated? Because I have a Blessing while being a demon? Because I died? Because I was a Demi-God in my past life?’
’Or is it because of my Seven Stars Blessing? Or is it because of my Patron God?’
’Which one is it?’
Simon had a deep frown behind his mask as he had these thoughts.
Another thing that bothered him is the nature of his Sea of Consciousness.
It was heavy and sinister, and Simon was beginning to wonder if the sinister attribute of his Sea of Consciousness was also not normal.
’I might need to delve deep into my Sea of Consciousness in the future to look for any abnormalities. But it might not be easy.’
’My Sea is very deep and heavy, and if I try to enter with my current strength, I might not make it to the end.’
’Hmm. I should still give it a try regardless, and I’ll be more observant about my Sea of Consciousness from now on.’
Simon shifted his attention from his thoughts to Instructor Aphon.
"The water in your sea of consciousness is your mental energy, and mental energy is what allows your thoughts to exist and move."
"You can see mental energy as a fuel for your thinking. It allows you to focus and powers your mental techniques."
"Without mental energy, you’ll have no thoughts, no control, and no awareness."
"And if your sea runs dry, you might die."
Instructor Aphon paused, then he continued.
"Now, let me teach you how to enter your Sea of Consciousness, and it’s actually easy. Once you get the hang of it, you’ll be able to enter with ease."
Many Initiates who had no knowledge or very little knowledge on this subject listened with rapt attention.
"Everybody, close your eyes."
Everybody did as they were told without hesitation. Even Simon closed his eyes since he didn’t want to stand out for something so simple.
"Now, focus on your chaos flame."
"To enter your Sea of Consciousness for the first time, you need to ignore everything around you."
"You need to ignore the sounds, voices, and even the thoughts in your head. Focus only the sound and movement of your chaos flame."
"Even ignore my sound and just focus on the sound and movement of your chaos flame. Eventually, you’ll enter a trance and you’ll feel like you’re sinking and falling at the same time."
"It’ll feel strange, but don’t fight it."
As Instructor Aphon spoke, he saw that some students were having trouble ignoring their thoughts, his voice, and the sounds outside their classroom.
Their fingers would twitch or their arms would move slightly.
One even scratched his neck, causing Instructor Aphon to shake his head in disappointment.
’Well, it’s understandable that about 60% of the class are having a hard time entering their Sea of Consciousness.’
’As for the rest, I can see that some are focusing on their chaos flame and nothing else, but they haven’t entered yet. If they do, their auras and demonic energy around their bodies would become tranquil.’
He suddenly shifted his gaze to Simon and Sunless.
’But those two. It seems this is not their first time entering their Sea of Consciousness. I wonder if they’re a couple.’
While Instructor Aphon had these thoughts, Simon was inside his Sea of Consciousness, observing everything.
He decided to use this opportunity to enter his Sea of Consciousness and inspect it.
His Sea of Consciousness was dark and dim, and the only source of light were the Seven Stars above him.
Three of the Seven Stars had different runes on them, each representing his three skills- Fearless, Devour, and Shadow Sense.
He glanced at the Seven Stars, then he looked down at the black sea he was standing on.
"Hmm. It still feels heavy, sinister, and...evil."
He frowned deeply, then he inhaled and exhaled softly.
With a thought, he suddenly sank into the sea.
Plop
Entering the Sea of Consciousness was usually not a dangerous thing to do, but for Simon, it was.
The moment Simon entered his Sea of Consciousness, he was bombarded with countless thoughts and memories his mind had.
These were his current thoughts and memories, and they were all chaotic and random.
They didn’t make any sense, and Simon expected this.
The water in an individual’s Sea of Consciousness was like a jumbled mess of the individual’s thoughts, memories, and experiences.
It was only because of the uniqueness of the brain that one could actually make logical thoughts.
The deeper Simon went in his Sea of Consciousness, the more chaotic thoughts and memories he experienced.
And all these thoughts and memories were of the past.
Some were some days ago.
Some were weeks ago.
The deeper he sank, the more it seemed like he was going back in time to witness a chaotic jumble of his life.
And the reason why this was dangerous is because his physical body, or to be more exact, his brain could not process so much of these information.
He was still a Fiend.
He was still too weak for his brain to be able to decipher all these chaotic information at once.
He could die if he was not careful.