"Look through the house. If you find anything that looks important, take note of it but don't touch it," The Headmaster said.

Vaultmaster Song looked over the enchantments within the residence as the other elders fanned out, each of them moving quietly and slowly and hesitating even to breathe.

Headmaster Siluvius stood near Vaultmaster Song and whispered, "Have you found anything?"

"The Essence gathering enchantments have been drowned out and rendered inoperable. I could fix them, but they'd simply flood with Essence and stop working again almost instantly in the middle of this maelstrom," Vaultmaster Song said.

"Are we in danger?" Headmaster Siluvius asked.

Vaultmaster Song shrugged. "Hard to say. Whatever the cause, it has not seen fit to kill us yet. There is little to be done except hope it continues to ignore us," he said.

Headmaster Siluvius nodded and checked over the house with the other elders. It didn't take long for them to look over everything. Especially as most of it was empty. Jie hadn't bothered to move in anything it seemed.

They met back in the room with the empty food platters. That's where the pull felt strongest. But there was nothing to be seen.

"It's time to go," Elder Shi said, "We've violated my student's privacy enough as it is."

Everyone nodded. Not all of them agreed with that statement, but who in their right mind would want to stay here?

Headmaster Siluvius stopped Vaultmaster Song as the rest filed out of the residence.

"We can't do anything about something of this level of power. But, if the enchantments continue to fail, it won't be long before the students start to take note. We could easily have a panic on our hands," Headmaster Siluvius said.

"Or have them all gather around it like slack-jawed idiots in the lair of a beast," Vaultmaster Song said, "You'd like for me to repair the privacy enchantments then?"

"Can you?" Headmaster Siluvius asked.

Vaultmaster Song considered that for a moment then nodded. "It won't be easy and I'll have to repair and maintain them frequently," he said, "It would go easier with Elder Shi's help."

"I'll speak with her privately later," Headmaster Siluvius said, "She'll help you. Even if only to safeguard her disciple."

"They've been growing close. Do you think Elder Shi knows more than she lets on?" Vaultmaster Song asked.

"Almost certainly," Headmaster Siluvius said, "but she's playing dumb."

"Probably just as well," Vaultmaster Song grumbled, "I'm happy to be as ignorant as the cause for this Essence draw wants me to be. I'll work on the enchantments later tonight. What do I tell anyone who asks questions?"

"Tell them the truth. You're performing maintenance. If they have any further questions, they're welcome to speak with me. I'll tell everyone to keep their mouths shut about what they sensed tonight. The last thing we need is for a bodyguard to be irritated by some moron yapping about their presence here," Headmaster Siluvius said.

Vaultmaster Song nodded. "Shall I return the enchantments to their previous levels or alter them so elders can sense fluctuations? It may give us some advanced warning should anything change," he said.

"Do so if you think it wise. Though I can't imagine any amount of advanced warning being enough if something of such power should choose to act against us," Headmaster Siluvius said.

It felt strange to talk about what he was certain was Jie's bodyguard while in the room with that very presence but attempting to hide their plans from them seemed more likely to provoke them. The last thing Headmaster Siluvius wanted was a misunderstanding.

At least this way they would hopefully know and understand why they took the actions they were taking and not mistake their behavior for any kind of plot against Jie or her bodyguard.

Irritating such a powerful presence would be tantamount to suicide, but the world was never short of fools willing to leap from cliffs. It seemed wise to make it very clear that he and his academy had stronger survival instincts than that.

With that, the Headmaster allowed Vaultmaster Song to leave the residence as the others had. He cast one final glance over the empty food platters.

"That girl sure can eat," he muttered as he too left Jie's residence.

The elders stood far away from the house as though it were haunted now.

"So? What shall we do?" Elder Kanev asked.

The Headmaster scratched at his cheek with his disembodied metal hand.

"Nothing," he said.

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"Nothing? She clearly poses a threat to this academy!" Elder Kanev said.

"We couldn't even find the cause, and I wouldn't be surprised if it was a bodyguard. Perhaps one of many," the Headmaster said, "I wished to see if there was anything that posed a danger to the school. I believe that it does, but do you want to argue with whatever is inside there? Not to mention... can you imagine how powerful her family must be? No. We'll just have to hope she doesn't lose her temper and have us all killed."

The elders swallowed hard at that last statement.

For some reason, Elder Kanev looked particularly pale.

***

The next day, Jie arrived right on time for her training with Elder Shi.

The older woman smirked. "I thought I told you not to train more last night and to focus on studying the scrolls hmm? So, what were you doing in the Training Hall my disobedient disciple?" she asked.

"I was studying my martial skills," Jie said, her face a picture of confusion.

"And you needed to visit the Training Hall after studying them for what? An hour? Two?" Elder Shi said. Her tone made it clear she didn't believe it.

"Yes?" Jie said, not sure where this was going.

"Then, I suppose you won't mind showing me just what you had to test there hmm?" Elder Shi said.

Jie frowned. "That's what I planned to do anyway? I'm not sure I'm doing it right. Are you feeling okay today? You're in a weird mood," she said.

"You... have the skills ready to show me?" Elder Shi said, her eyes wide.

Jie's frown deepened. "Yes? Seriously, what's with you today?" she asked.

Elder Shi pressed her fingers to her temples. "Heavens, grant me strength..." she muttered, "please show me your progress with the skills so far."

"My first skill was a ranged attack skill. I'm not sure if I'm doing it right though. I haven't used a skill like this one before. Please let me know if there's something I need to correct," Jie said.

Jie snapped out her hand, two fingers pointing outward, and a bolt of lightning crackled through the air. It smashed into the wall but left only a small scorch mark that rapidly faded. This place was designed for sparring, after all.

"Heavens!" Elder Shi said, "Uh... I mean... that was... impressive. Ahem. Yes, well done. What technique did they give you? I'm familiar with most of those available in the academy, and while I know of a few similar to yours... I don't know of any quite like that."

"It's the finger of light skill. Do you know it?" Jie asked.

Elder Shi blinked. "Finger of light? But... that power... that effect... hmm... did you modify it somehow?" she asked.

"Not on purpose," Jie said, "I tried to follow the instructions as best I could. I still don't know what it's referring to when it talks about projection, but I did my best to figure it out."

"You were never taught projection techniques?" Elder Shi asked, "That's quite basic... it's just the concept of shaping and directing your qi outside of you. It's not that difficult, and you've obviously figured it out already. But, you mean to tell me this is the scroll you only started studying last night?"

"Yes," Jie said, "did I do something wrong?"

Elder Shi shook her head and chuckled. "Heavens, if those fools only knew..." she muttered, "no you didn't do anything wrong. You just surprised me is all. You do know that even geniuses would take a week or so to get the skill to where you have it."

"But... why? It's not that hard," Jie said.

Elder Shi's chuckle grew to a laugh. "You have no idea how many people would cough blood if they heard you say that. Finger of light isn't a particularly hard technique, but it's far from the easiest. Even the easiest technique would usually take longer than a few hours to master as you have! You can start using it in sparring already, you little monster!" she said.

Jie shrugged. "I'll take your word for it," she said.

Elder Shi took a deep breath. "I swear... even I want to strangle you sometimes. I'm damn good, and you're making me look bad. Anyway, you'll study your other skill tonight then?" she said.

Jie nodded. "I guess so. I still want to perfect them both," she said.

"Perfect...? Please don't tell me you also got your other skill to the same level?" Elder Shi asked.

Jie shook her head and Elder Shi let out a relieved sigh.

"Of course not. It's super easy, so my understanding of it is better," Jie said.

Elder Shi gave a strangled cough. "I... see... show me?" she said.

Jie focused and easily surrounded herself with the blue hue of her qi armor. Lightning snapped and crackled along her body and through her hair, making her look like a goddess.

"It looks... is it defensive or offensive? I want to say defensive, but it has an aggressive feeling to it," Elder Shi said.

"It's qi armor," Jie said, "I think it's supposed to be defensive. Mine doesn't react the way it says in the scroll though."

"Qi armor? And it looks like this on you? It's intimidating as hell. You do know your eyes are glowing blue, right?" Elder Shi said.

"They are?" Jie asked as she touched her face and blinked.

"Don't worry about that now," Elder Shi said, "just know that you look intimidating like that. It could be useful, but if you use it at the wrong time... just be careful."

"I will," Jie said.

"So... you were saying it reacts differently?" Elder Shi said.

Jie showed her the explosive reaction her qi armor had on contact and how she could control it if she wished.

"This is... fascinating. I think you've somehow evolved the skills into something else. I imagine it's a combination of your weird qi, and your own interpretation of the scroll," Elder Shi said.

"So... is mine better?" Jie asked.

Elder Shi chuckled and covered her face with her hands. "Yes. You managed to improve on work that took ancient masters decades to create in a single night," she said, "where the hell do you come from? Do I have to worry about a hundred little monsters coming here and making me feel bad or just you?"

Jie giggled. "You're so silly," she said, "I don't think that'll happen."

"Just who is your master? He's got to be someone incredible," Elder Shi said.

Jie nodded. "He is," she said, "he can tell you more if he wants though."

"Just... tell me one thing," Elder Shi said, "Is he more powerful than the Headmaster? Do you know?"

Jie laughed. "I can't tell exactly how strong the Headmaster is, but I can say that my master is much stronger," she said.

Elder Shi nodded. "I don't suppose you could arrange an audience with him for me? If... there's a favor I'd very much like to ask," she said.

"Sorry," Jie said, "he's a bit busy at the moment."

Elder Shi sighed. "I suppose he must be. He wouldn't let me train you if he wasn't, would he?" she said.

Jie frowned. "I... I don't know. I don't think so," she said.

Suddenly, she felt guilty about learning from Elder Shi, but Ming was focused on healing, and she'd promised to get stronger. Elder Shi was helping her with that.

"Alright, I'll stop asking," Elder Shi said, "For now anyway. I expected us to work on your skills all of today, so I didn't bother getting anyone to spar with for you. As such, you'll spar with me. Don't worry, I'll take it very easy on you."

Jie nodded. "Okay," she said.

"Not even a moment of hesitation? Sometimes I wonder why you're never afraid of our sessions..." Elder Shi said.

"Why should I be? As long as it makes me stronger, I'll do anything," Jie said.

Elder Shi narrowed her eyes. "You would, wouldn't you?" she said as though thinking aloud, "Right then, here I come!"