Osai made it a point to interrupt his meditations each day to join his companions for dinner. He’d tell stories, and push down his frustration as Melfina seemed to focus on all the wrong parts, learning all the wrong lessons.

“It is important, I think, for you to understand the source of each boon on your path, Ren.” He paused his speaking to take a sip of tea. As his connection with the power in his body grew, his senses expanded more and more. He could taste the memories of each leaf, taste the struggle from seed to sprout, the press to find freedom from the earth, taste the warm bath of sunlight drunk in through hungry leaves, the sipping of roots after rain.

But still, when he looked at Ren, he couldn’t track the boy’s threads, couldn’t read his fate. Without knowing the consequences, there was only so much he could do. He contented himself with the kind presence of his young friend. And cherished the ache in his heart when the boy lifted his own cup of tea ‘just so’, the angle of his wrist almost an exact copy of the way Master drank tea. Osai’s heart was telling him it was time. Time to go. To return.

He shook his head and returned to the moment, to the crackling fire and fading light. “Mupali’katana told us the story of her battle with the bobcat to secure the spirit fruit that helped her save you. Do you have any questions?”

Ren leaned in. “Was that an Aether Tree like in the stories?”

Osai smiled. “It was. And the bobcat was likely one of the creatures it has attracted as a potential Guardian. Some trees will use their power to birth a guardian from the bones and life force of creatures that die in their soil. Younger trees tend to bond to creatures that already live in their lands. Our badger friend was very lucky that the tree didn’t have a proper Guardian. Those can be truly terrifying if they believe the tree is being threatened.”

“Ah!” Melfina held up a finger in exultation. “Such wisdom master. You are telling us the key is to find the trees when they are young and kill off any guardians before they become powerful.”

It took all his will not to bury his face in his palm. Thankfully, Ren responded for him.

“But wouldn’t that just provide more bones and life force for the Aether Tree to put into a Guardian?”

Osai smiled. “Indeed it would. Beyond that, Aether trees are benevolent and ancient life forms that maintain the balance of the wilds. Many cultures view them as sacred. It is wise to avoid trying to take advantage of such a being.”

At least one of them was learning.

After everyone had gone to sleep, and Osai was alone with his thoughts and the sounds of slow breathing and the soft breeze and rustling leaves, he decided it was time.

The pain in his limbs that had been a constant for the better part of a century had settled into a tingling hum. He learned to listen to the lightning. To move with it. This was the opposite of everything he had done to advance in his old life. That life had been about control, about imposing his will over the world, and then the River itself.

He’d been a Hero, at least by title and rank, much like Melfina. Then he’d ascended. He’d visited the courts of gods. He’d battled demons. But had he really changed anything?

Each dictator he cut down with his wrath made way for the next. He’d almost given up on his path when the Master had found him. What followed were the most beautiful and challenging years of his life.

And now, every time he looked at the boy he saw his Master, and his longing grew deeper.

*******

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Melfina, the Flame-Blade, was a harsh master. Even her jokes cut Ren. Deeper, in fact, than the brambles and splinters that tore his flesh during their physical training.

She insisted that the best way to learn Qi control was to work on physical cultivation.

“Every breath generates some Qi from the air, and every step pulls Qi from the earth. Every movement, every time your muscles burn. It’s negligible compared to the Qi one can harvest through meditating on an attuned element, or to what is stored within a natural treasure, such as the fruit you got a taste of.”

Ren almost retched just remembering it. The way the pulpy mix of mucus, fruit and badger stomach acid had slid down his throat was not something he could forget.

“A normal human will simply bleed out the excess Qi through their skin and breath. But someone with an awakened dantian has enough centralized power that you can train it to be like a magnet and hold onto that excess Qi.”

She wacked him with a stick as he tried to stand. His legs shook under the weight of his body, stuck in this wide squatting position, the earth stance. Each second that he stayed in the stance stretched longer, until it seemed hours passed within the space of each controlled breath.

“Qi is living energy. It is force, energy and potential and will and intent. It is in all things. And when you have enough of it, you can use it to expand the domain of your own intent.” She hissed out a breath and her presence sharpened, her gaze a blade at his throat.

His lungs froze and he pitched forward onto his hands and knees.

She laughed, her presence softening, but the sting of her switch on his ass was a pain that was sharp enough to make up the difference. He yelped and scrambled up under a barrage of blows that lingered in white hot lines on the flesh of his rump and back. She didn’t let up until he was back in the earth stance, fighting his focus and breathing back into the technique she’d taught him.

“The practice you are doing is a mix of intent and breath control. Think of the Qi of your breath like a limb that you can use to manipulate and direct the greater Qi of your body. It is important to root each breath in your belly, so that the flow is anchored in the dantian. This effectively empowers your technique based on the power there, rather than just the meager energy of a breath. It is the difference between a house with a foundation pushing back against a storm and a lean-to of twigs and leaves that will be blown apart at the first gust.”

Underneath the burning and straining, his muscles tingled, as though charged with hundreds of sparks. The feeling had been building with each breath.

“This kind of breathing technique is frowned upon by most modern cultivators. It is harder and slower, and doesn’t prioritize growing the dantian, instead also strengthening muscles and bones incrementally, enhancing the rate of healing and recovery of the body, and building more connection between the body and spirit. But all of the effects are mild. They are unaspected and most people walking the Way have inherited martial arts that require one to cultivate specific affinities along with Qi. For example, my path, the Cutting Phoenix Path, depends on my spirit and body having an affinity for fire and metal elements, and the sword, which is a conceptual affinity.

“But since your affinities are all screwed up by that dark Qi, this kind of technique is what makes the most sense for you.”

Ren was still beyond ecstatic that he’d finally learned a real cultivation technique, but why did it have to hurt so much to train?

“Once you can properly maintain this breathing while in the earth stance, we will move on to the metal stance then to the second level of the technique. Driving your intent through motion. This can be really painful since your muscles aren’t used to holding so much Qi and intent, but if you can master the technique, you should be able to develop enough Qi control to maintain the containment ring around your dantian. Now that you have more Qi and the dark Qi is centralized, we can’t know what would happen if it broke free of containment. Your life could very well depend on this.”

Well at least nothing was new. He’d been afraid for a moment that he’d get to be a cultivator for fun rather than to maintain a technique that was keeping him from almost certain death or becoming a puppet to an evil power.

It turned out that she was right about it being more painful when he used the breathing technique for movements. He wished it at least had a cool name.

Ren cherished every moment that he wasn’t training with the hero.

Bargan’atar was surprisingly good company. A simple but kind creature. And under the badger’s tutelage, he learned to scavenge his own food, to read a few signs of the forest, even to identify some of the medicinal plants he’d studied.

Too soon, the week was over.