With the vast ocean of stars shining up above, I found myself once again in the middle of the empty void. To think that just this morning, I found myself well rested and refreshed after a long time, but now it feels like a memory from the past as I feel like shit right now. To think that I have that much power only to lose it as soon as I got it. What a damn shame.
Just think of what I could do with that much power. I would be nigh unstoppable. Even that crazy wind bitch earlier would be just another chump before my might.
As I gaze upon the stars like I always enjoyed, a thought came upon me. Mana, Ki and magic. Such wondrous things that are present here. If what they say is true, that both mana and Ki are present to all living creatures then why does Earth not have it? If I have such power, then why does everyone I encountered before calls me a Manaless human? Did this energy within me before I came here and they just can't sense it? Or did I acquire it when I entered this planet? Also, why do I find myself here sometimes when I fall asleep? Do I have a connection to this place or something? Also, how in the world could I get home? So many questions I don't have the answer to.
I sighed and look up the stars once more. Well at least it is quiet. That annoying voice is nowhere to be found. I continued to just lay in the ground as my thoughts wander. Apparently I could use Ki now. I wonder if I can use it here.
I closed my eyes and concentrated on feeling my Ki. I can feel it. Swirling in my belly and comes out to cover my entire body. I opened my eyes and look at my Ki covered hand. Its warm sensation alleviates the exhaustion I felt earlier, even by a little. I lost my concentration for a bit and my Ki started t quiver and loss its form. It started to leak once more before I found my focus once more and my Ki returned to its solid form wrapping around me.
I see. I can still use Ki while in here. Although I am still not sure if I am here physically or this is all in my head, but I might as well use this opportunity to practice controlling Ki without putting much focus in it enough that I can do other things while maintaining my Ki. Who knows, I might be able to master it enough that I can use it subconsciously.
Once more, I closed my eyes and feel my Ki with my senses. From where it begins, to where it ends. Get familiar with the warm feeling. Make it as natural as breathing. Inhale and exhale. Oh no. How do I breathe normally once again? No. no. Don't focus on breathing. Just relax. Let the feeling come to you. Yes. I am as calm as a lake.
I don't know how long I was meditating, but when I opened my eyes, I am no longer in the Void but inside my wooden cage once more. I gazed at my hand and there it is, my Ki, lazily covering my body. It is not as solid as I have hoped, but at least it is not leaking anymore. I was so focused on my Ki that I was surprised when I heard someone speak.
"I see. You're awake now. Wonderful." A voice coming from behind me said. I turned around to see who said it and saw Kurt standing beside the cage.
"Man, you almost gave me a heart attack." I try to calm my nerves. I don't know why. But his gaze makes me nervous. "How long have you been watching me?"
"Long enough." He answered. "Here, have some breakfast. Once you're done we can proceed on the next step of your lesson." He then handed me a bowl of stew.
Man, they do love their stew. Not that I complain. Food is food and it is tasty. I just hope I could eat some meat. The smoked deer meat got destroyed from yesterday's battle.
Taking the bowl from the bald monk's hand, I then started eating. I focused my senses in sensing the Ki around me. The sensation flooded my very being. The Ki from every living being surrounding me, from the people around, the trees, the critters scurrying about, up to the insects crawling in the ground, I can sense them all and it overwhelms my senses that I almost dropped my bowl in pain.
"Hey. Are you alright?" Kurt asked me. He opened the door of my cage to check on me.
Still holding my head in pain I replied. "Nah. I am ok. Just… headache."
He looked at me and with a small nod, he sat beside me. "You're already trying new stuff I see." He said as he look at me with a curious look in his eyes. "No need to hurry. It will do more harm than good on your growth if you try things you are not prepared for." He put his hand on my shoulder to assure me. "You will soon learn more of the intricacies of Ki. One step at a time. Now, finish your food so we can start."
He seem to be in a good mood today. Well, I haven't seen him in a bad mood before but somehow, I feel that he is more upbeat today. Strange since they have a companion who was kidnapped, but who am I to judge.
It doesn't matter. I will just finish my food first and go right to training. This excitement that I feel right now was just like when I first entered the gym with my Master. Training and learning new stuff to get stronger. I can hardly wait.
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This man never ceases to intrigue me. First was the sinister energy when we first met. After that was his simple yet effective fighting style that can even put up a fight against mine. Then there was the mind boggling amount of Ki in his body. I was sure there wouldn't be any surprises for a while, but there he is. Already able to maintain his Ki without much thought. Although his control is not yet polished, I didn't expect him to be able to accomplish this for a day, much less a fortnight while he sleeps.
I first made aware of his feat just before the break of dawn. I woke up early to relieve Philip from his sentry duty. At first there was nothing amiss, the surrounding is quiet, apart from the sound of nocturnal critters moving about the forest.
While I was standing on guard, my thoughts wander on what I am going to do about Cloud's training. Proper Ki control enough to maintain it while fight is not easy. Normally it would take weeks just to have some semblance of mastery. Weeks that we don't have if we want to rescue Mark as soon as possible. That is why I am in a dilemma.
As I ponder on a training program to speed up his Ki control, I was startled by something. It was a whirlpool of Ki, wild and ferocious. I turned around to seek where the torrent of energy was coming from and there he is. He should to be sound asleep due to extreme loss of Ki from before, but even as he sleeps I can see some semblance of Ki control. At first I was afraid that he is going to run out of Ki as his energy lashes out and was about to wake him up. Then suddenly, his energy became calmer and then after a few moments it became chaotic once more before going back to calm. I was dumbfounded by the phenomena in front of me at that moment. It was clear that he is manipulating his Ki, but I don't have any idea how. I meant to teach him meditation techniques to improve his control but right now he is showing Ki control that should not be possible without at least a year of study. Only once word can describe what I am seeing right now. Genius.
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"Ey, better close your mouth or you might swallow an insect." A voice said. I turned around and saw Ortho already awake and started his work on his broken rune rifle. "You look like Mark when he sees a new creature or magic."
"Really? I didn't know that." I watched him dismantle one of his invention that was broken during the fight in the camp for spare parts.
I turned back to observing the sleeping man as he unconsciously manipulate his Ki to become more solid. "Is this how you guys feel when you see something amazing?" Although I don't share their same enthusiasm, I guess I am the same with my fellow party members.
"Is the lad really that amazing? I know that he have a lot of Ki, enough for me to sense it even though we dwarves have the least attunement to mana and Ki here in Astera. But even if he have that much energy, it means nothing if you can't use it." He stated as he replace some of the busted parts of his beloved rifle.
That is Ortho's favorite line. As a dwarf, they don't have much mana and their Ki is just average. Mark said it must be because of the low concentration of mana in the Dwarven Kingdom. Which makes them the total opposite of the Elven Kingdom which is highly saturated with mana. This should've put the dwarves at a disadvantage against every race in Astera if ever there be war but they were able to match all of the races in strength if not surpass them because of one thing. Their ingenuity.
The Dwarven territories are rich with resource called Mananite. Mananite are ores that has absorbed mana from the surrounding for a long time. They were able to harness the energy from these ores to power up their machines, from simple devices that produces light up to their wall mounted cannons capable of firing devastating blast of elemental magic.
Although I haven't laid eyes to such wonders, hearing stories from Ortho whenever he is drunk on the amazing achievements of his people truly amaze me. Such imagination and creativity, but they waste it by focusing mostly on strengthening their Kingdom's military power. Just imagine what they could achieve, how much the standard of living of people might become if they focused their attention on things that could improve the lives of the people in this world.
Truly the folly of the God's creation. Wasting their blessing of Mana just to destroy one another.
While Ortho keeps himself busy in his work in repairing his rifle, I stood up to go around for a round of patrol. I expanded my Ki sense to check if there are concealed individuals near the camp. Although I can only expand my Ki sense for only three meters in diameter, the ability to sense life energy is useful in discovering any concealed enemies that may be observing them since although the people outside of the Monastery can hide their Mana so as to not be discovered by other Sensors, they are not familiar with Ki thus not able to hide their life-energy to be picked up by those who can.
As my Ki wash over the environment, I can feel every living being from the trees and the critters, up to the blades of grass and insects in the ground. I continued to use Ki sense while walking around the camp. After finishing my round, I found there are nothing in particular. But even when everything seem calm, I still can't shake the feeling like there are eyes watching us from afar.
We should've changed camp site but Philip was adamant on staying here. Saying that he intends to let the enemies know our position so we could capture one to interrogate since we are stuck and have no clue where they took Mark.
When I came back from my patrol, Cloud's Ki became a lot more solid and calmer than before, he almost master the basic of Ki control while asleep nonetheless. I guess I have to move on more practical training later. Since Philip was already awake and was tending to our breakfast, I use this moment to go beside his cage and check on him. I put my hand on his pulse to check on his progress when he suddenly woke up.
He seemingly surprised to see me as soon as he opened his eyes and I gave offered him breakfast. As I handed him a bowl of stew, I felt his Ki wash over me. Surprises upon surprises. Just his first day and he is already trying to sense Ki. Although it seems it is too early for him to learn as he buckle up in pain as the sensation of hundreds of life-energy around him overwhelms him.
"Already trying new things I see." What a monstrous pace of learning. I wonder how much he will advance in the path of Ki mastery if he could train in the Monastery? Still we need to focus on the task at hand. Rescuing Mark. . "No need to hurry. It will do more harm than good on your growth if you try things you are not prepared for." I put my hand on his shoulder to reassure him. "You will soon learn more of the intricacies of Ki. One step at a time. Now, finish your food so we can start."
I too ate my food in order to prepare myself on the grueling training we are going to do. Alora already woke up and once she finished her food, she then go out to scout the perimeter while also try to find traces of the ones who kidnapped Mark. Ortho has already finished his repair and now placing traps around the camp with Philip while we wait for the ones who kidnapped Mark to return.
Once Cloud and I finished our food, I opened his cage and marched toward the clearing at the side of the camp. "Let's see your Aura." He turned his head with a confused look in his face. He must be unaware that he was already doing it while he was asleep before. "Aura is when you cover your body with Ki. You control your Ki like this." I then controlled my Ki to cover my body. My Aura extends about a few centimeters from my skin. "Can you sense it?" I asked.
"Yeah. Although I can't see it. I can feel your energy covering your entire body." He answered.
"Yes. This is Ki Aura. It is covering your whole body with Ki, boosting both your defense and offense. This skill is crucial in fighting against those who can use magic or Ki." I picked up a rock and crushed it with my head. "As you can see, I received no damage. Those who can't use Ki or Mana to boost their offence can do little to no damage to those who can depending on the strength of their Aura." I then walk towards a large fallen tree near the edge of the camp. "Aura, depends on how you use it can also allow you to do this." I then grabbed the tree and lifted it from the ground, threw it in the air and with a single punch broke it into pieces, soliciting a gasp of awe from Cloud.
"Hey. Alora wouldn't like that you keep on destroying the trees in here." Philip chuckled as both he and Ortho was already finished laying traps around the camp.
"Sorry." I answered and started to pick up the wood scattered from the punch earlier.
"Nah. Don't worry about it. It was already fallen from the fight from before. Since it is already dead, might as well use it for firewood." Ortho stated as he helped in picking the wood. "Just focus on teaching the lad. The sooner he is useful, the sooner we can chase after Mark. Gods know what they be doing to him."
I returned my attention to Cloud who was already focusing on Aura control. Even though his Aura is far from the strength he showed before he lost is for being unable to control his Ki, it was still amazing that he is able to master controlling the amount that he has left. His Aura only extends 5 cm from his skin but it was solid, no leakage to be found. "Good. Your Aura control is good. I don't know how you were able to do that it your first try but this is good news."
"If you only knew." I hear him whisper.
What does he mean?
I shake my mind off the thought. We need to focus on the training. Time is of the essence. Philip already sent his letter to the guild through a messenger hawk but I am not holding my breath that they will help. We need to be ready to move as soon as we get a clue on where to go or when we capture an enemy and get our information that way.
"Let's move on to application. You seem to have enough grasp on controlling your Aura. But still, it is only when you are stationary. Moving while maintaining focus on your Aura is different especially in combat situation. We will skip the steps where you will maintain your Aura while doing mundane tasks." I then use my fighting stance. "Instead we will spar. We will forcefully make your body adapt whilst in battle." I motioned him to do the same.
"Heh. I thought you to be of a patient teacher kind. Maybe I was wrong." To be honest I also would like to do this step by step. But time is of the essence. "Oh well" he sighed before he continued. "I am always game to a friendly spar. Don't underestimate me and hold back. I had a lot of practice and I would like to see how stronger I have become."
I don't know what he is talking about lot of practice, since I have only taught him about Ki just last night. But still, I look forward to what he show me.