The next couple of weeks was pretty standard. It was mostly wolves and Goblins at first. The wolves didn't attack us often, especially with Vivian around. Wolves respected boundaries set by other Wolves, especially when there was an abundance of food. As long as we didn't enter their territory we'd be left alone.

Same for them. Those who entered our territory were scared off and those who fought were killed. I got a bit better at using magic. I knew how to compress air and even create a small fire, but I couldn't figure out how to bend other elements to my will. I needed to experience other types of magic first, meaning that I needed to fight more Goblin mages.

It didn't go well a few times. As more goblins began to show up, they began to get stronger. Some fights Vivian and I could easily handle, she'd distract while I took them out from a distance with my rocks. If it got dangerous, I could even explode them with the magic I could use.

Other fights however almost cost us our lives. Hobgoblins were a thing. They looked similar to Goblins, but they were much taller, about the height of a fully grown man. Even the Hobgoblin mages had strength equivalent to the Goblin warriors. I was fortunate that they didn't travel in large groups. Most hobgoblins seemed to be leader types.

But they were strong, they could easily handle Vivian alone and if they were with a group of Goblins, it was nearly impossible to attack them. The first time we did, Vivian had gotten a large slash across her side from a Hobgoblin warrior. At the same time, it ordered the other Goblins to deal with me. Without Vivian acting as a distraction, I could handle that many Goblins.

The archers would prevent me from using magic and my rocks while the warriors and spear goblins would prevent me from getting close. My side and shoulder were punctured by spear and sword slashes.

Fortunately we were saved by a pack of Wolves. There was a certain kinship among wolves, even if they fought over territory. I was just lucky to be connected to Vivian or they would have left me to die.

We spent a few days healing up after that while I revised my strategies for dealing with this new threat.

In the meantime, we noticed a sudden influx of different types of creatures. Basically fodder, but they were magical in nature. Large bats took up residence in the tomb like buildings I'd discovered with Vivian. We'd decided not to stay there.

Fox like creatures took up areas near the wolf territories.

Kobolds also showed up, however they didn't seem to care about me or the wolves. The large lizard people were nearly twice my height and packed a mean punch when they wanted. They seemed to be busy dealing with the Goblins and Hobgoblins though, some sort of species war was going on between the two groups.

However, I was able to find a middle ground with them. I'd map out where the Goblin camps were and give it to them and they'd fight me in a duel. There was no fear of death, though the amount of time it took me to get this was ridiculous. Neither of us spoke the same language, so it was a lot of gesturing and what amounted to pictonary.

After being there for a month, the entirety of Olympus had become a thriving ecosystem of different races. I had gotten quite proficient in combat by training with the Kobolds.

With a flick of my wrist, I knocked the Kobold's blade away with my Ki hardened right arm while I brought my left forwards. With a sudden burst of magic, I sent a pulse of condensed air into it's chest, pushing it back. The duel had been won and I bowed in respect to my opponent.

The Kobolds wouldn't share their magic though, so I had to be content with these training sessions. I was thankful for that though. It was good experience for dealing with creatures bigger than myself. I also had to watch out for that tail of theirs. It was crazy fast and hit like a full body slam.

They even gave Vivian some experience fighting groups of armed individuals. The female wolf was quickly adapting and her Ki wisp was growing steadily as I taught her Ki control. I'd noticed a change in her shortly after she learned to keep her Ki from leaving her body. Her movements became more controlled, more fluid.

It often made me realize that losing Ki from your body made you use excessive movements in anything, burning even more energy. Over the past month, our food consumption had actually lowered as we learned to conserve the energy we had. I was even growing my hair longer, though my beard was kept trimmed with my sharp nails.

While I was incapable of using other elements at the moment, my control over air and fire grew. I could turn air into a burst that could deal some minor blunt damage as with my fight with the Kobold warrior. Fire was a bit harder to control. Fire was an element that once given the intent of expanding and consuming, continued to do so, becoming harder to tame the bigger it got.

After training with the Kobolds, I returned home to Artemis standing in the center of the hall "You've certainly been busy" she said looking me up and down.

Again she amazed me by how she looked. After a month of seeing only lines of Ki, seeing her in her solid glory was stunning "W-Well, I haven't had much else to do since you left me here" I said softly. Talking to a human, even a Goddess after so long was a bit weird. My shirtless state was also suddenly much more concerning.

"To be honest, I kind of forgot I left you here. After I sent the wolves after you, I kind of wandered off to do some other stuff" she grinned at me, making me frown.

"You forgot about me?" I asked as I ran my eyes up and down her form. I suddenly found myself examining her Ki for weaknesses, something I could exploit. But she was a solid statue of Ki. Brute force greater than hers would be required to crack her open.

"Sorry, things were happening on my world that needed my immediate attention. Some Deities aren't comfortable with just having their worlds, they have to invade others as well" she sighed as she walked over to me, touching my head "You have definitely gotten stronger"

My muscles were firmer and my Ki wisp had grown to double its previous size, of course I was stronger, but that mention of her world being invaded by another Deity was a bit worrisome. I was a bit startled when her Ki swept out into the area around us "Interesting. Seems my idea worked after all"

"What idea?" I asked watching as her Ki reentered her body. The range of her Ki had reached far greater than I'd seen since the Gaian. My own Ki lines could reach a few feet out from my body before vanishing.

"Well, while my world was going through its problems, I couldn't very well keep sending you things to kill. Instead, I tied this area to another world. A little sneaky manipulation of magic and I could fool that world's deity into thinking this was a dungeon as they pop up all the time" she laughed softly "I hadn't expected it to thrive this quickly in such a little time. If you continue to survive, I may use this area to train my world's warriors"

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Vivian chose this time to appear with our next meal. When she saw Artemis, her hackles rose up and she dropped the strange-looking fox creature from her mouth, growling.

I reached my mind out to hers and calmed her "She is a...friend" I said smiling at her.

Artemis looked surprised "What did you do to this Moon Wolf?" she asked as she examined Vivian "I thought you'd killed them all if you were alive, but this one seems...different than normal" her Ki dived into the wolf. It took her a moment but she quickly found the connection between the two of us "Oh, I see. In a moment of desperation, she locked onto your Ki to save herself, forming a companion link" she turned to look at me before looking towards my arm.

"I thought that your arm looked a little too fuzzy, even for a man" she said moving over and examining my arm "This is also Moon Wolf fur" she looked at me "What happened after I left?"

I quickly explained the contents of my fight with the wolves that first night. How I killed the first wolf accidentally and the second wolf with a hasty explosion, which resulted in the loss of my arm. I also explained about the moment I woke up and found my arm the way it was now.

"Assimilation" Artemis shook her head "You are kind of a monster aren't you" she saw my look of confusion and explained "Ki is a living force, filled with your desires. Your desire to live, to deal with the wolves, to heal your missing arm brought forth a great desire, one that resulted in your Ki acting on that desire.

Your Ki actually left your body and latched onto the nearest source of Ki, the Moon Wolf you'd just killed. Your desire for your arm led it to devour and absorb the wolf's arm and then recreate it in place of your missing one"

She laughed "Very few mortals have this happen. It requires a very strong desire to live and one that desires more so than anything else. I've seen some mortals fully transplant their soul into another body in a desire to continue on"

Shaking her head, the Goddess continued to laugh "A Companion link with one of my creatures and an assimilation of one of their body parts" she grabbed my cheek and squeezed "I'd love to make you my champion, the Hero of my world. Unfortunately, I only take one champion at a time and she still hasn't passed on" she suddenly kissed my forehead "I hope you get strong enough to become a Deity, I'd love to see what you'll do"

I could feel a blush build up on my face "U-um..." I shook my head to get my thoughts back into working order "When do I get to go home? I'm sure my parents are worried about me"

She shook her head "Don't worry about them, I did a little...reworking of their memories. They believe that you've gone off to do what you said, travel to find the Tibetan Monks, the Dali Lama specifically in India. As for when you get to go home...lets give it another month. I'm working on one final surprise for you" she grinned at me and tapped me on the nose "I'm sure you'll enjoy it.." and then she was gone. I really had to figure out how she just appeared and vanished without bothering the surrounding mana.

Still...another month. That didn't sound too hard to do. I'd already survived one month, another would be the norm for me at this point. Besides, Vivian and I still wanted to get revenge on the Hobgoblin that beat us before.

In the meantime, I walked over to where my walking stick was resting. Over half of the stick was colored in my yellow Ki, the energy flowing like liquid gold. I'd been afraid that it would vanish if I didn't convert it all at once, but it didn't change at all. The mana and Ki within the stick just acted like oil and water, never interacting. The moment I took the stick into my hands and injected my Ki into it however, the mana began to be converted into my Ki.

This process was actually quite exhausting. It was a mental strain to not allow the Ki to go back into my body. The more and more I did it however, the more the stick became 'Mine'. I had the feeling that once it was completely infused with my Ki, I could call it to me at any time, it would be as much mine as my body was.

After an hour of infusing, I sat down to meditate. Meditation was no longer a pain to begin. The moment I began was the moment I became one with my Ki. I absorbed mana into my body and turned it into new Ki at a quick rate. Replenishing lost Ki was always easier than enlarging the wisp or the pathways for the lines.

Still, it was relaxing to do so. It was something that I had down to a nearly instinctive thing. With a flick of my wrist, several small rocks shot towards me, slowly revolving around my body, as if they were the planets and I was the sun.

When I opened my eyes, Vivian was resting next to me, her large side pressed against mine. I hadn't even realized that I'd included her in my mediation as the rocks circled around the both of us. I quickly brought them to pile up before me.

I felt the stone underneath me and had a thought. Slowly, I let my Ki seep out of my body, letting it flow deep into the ground forming a solid circle beneath me. I didn't attempt to do anything, just felt the stone with my Ki, what it was, how it acted, how it felt.

It was sturdy, unmoving, unyielding. The mana of the stone and ground was much different from air and fire. It's purpose was to hold still, to never alter itself. I needed to change that purpose with my will. I imbued it with that desire, the desire to bend itself to my while, to flow with the intent of my Ki.

Grow upwards to pierce the air above you. That was my intent, the will of my Ki. Change the ground did, into an inch long spike, sticking out of the ground before me.

I grimaced. I'd been expecting a much more impressive change, but I suppose that the stone was more unyielding than I understood. I attempted to reverse the process. The inch long spike was just as unyielding as it had been before, but I managed to get it back to its original form.

Tapping Vivian's side, I stood up and left the hall. I had to thin out the Goblin groups and I knew of a few without a Hobgoblin leader. Grabbing her fur, I pulled myself up onto Vivian's back before urging her forwards. Her speed was as impressive as always as she leaped across the ground with sure footing.

In short time, we ended up near the edge of Olympus, where the clouds met the land. It was funny to think that this was still Earth and yet my home planet still felt so out of reach at the moment. Despite there being clouds here, there was no way to get passed them. Walking into the clouds simply returned one to the spot they started from.

I could see that it was magic, but it was a magic far above my expertise. However, studying the wall of clouds was not my intent this time. I'd finally found out where the Goblin's came from.

Near the clouds, a small doorway would open up, just enough for four goblins to come through, two at a time. It was a good hunting ground. The newly arrived goblins were unaware of what this place held. I could ambush one group and quickly remove all but the Goblin I wanted to test myself against.

I originally used this plan to test myself against Goblin mages, perhaps even learn new magic. Alas, the only magic the mages knew was the compressed air explosion that I'd managed to learn and they were open when they started chanting. I did learn that Hobgoblins had better magic but I couldn't get close enough to examine the magic in use before they noticed me.

So I'd been testing myself against the others, the warrior, speargob, and archer. The warrior was good for testing my ability to judge attack patterns without using my ability to detect Killing Intent. They weren't bad at hand to hand combat either when I removed their swords.

The speargobs, as I affectionately call them, are a little more difficult. Their speed with the spear is impressive and unlike the warriors who attempt to deal as much damage as possible, they aim for weak points such as joints and vital organs. They aren't above aiming for crotch shots either, assholes.

The archers are my favorite as it lets me test my reaction time. Arrows are fired at incredible speeds and I have to be able to predict where they are aiming to either dodge or snatch them out of the air. It is good for training my telekinesis. The fast-moving projectiles are a far cry from the stationary rocks I was used to handling. To catch a moving arrow with my Ki took longer than I'd imagined and not every time was a success. Sometimes I ended up with an arrow sticking out of me.

"Alright Vivian, let's get the speargob this time" I said grinning as we headed towards the new arrivals. I was still a little upset about the last one's crotch attack.

Lets see how that bastard likes it.