A new enemy appeared and it was probably the most difficult creature I'd faced since coming to Olympus. It was a bird. It was only about the size of my hand but the irritating little thing was faster than even Vivian was. Not only that, it had a razor like beak that would tear through stone like it was butter.

It was also surprisingly hardy, I struck it with a rock but it didn't do much more than stun it. What made it worse was that instead of immediately flying away, it instead spun like a top and burrowed into the nearby stone like a mole, making it even harder to get to it. It seemed to be intelligent enough to understand that my earth based magic wasn't progressing well. Little prick...

Water magic was progressing better, I could get the water to sway back and forth if I focused, though I could't get it to leave the container it was in. It was different from fire that sought to expand and consume, I could direct fire to a certain extent. Water however sought to fill it's container and was an element comfortable where it was.

All in all, I liked air magic the best. The mana in the air was easy to move, happy to follow the slightest direction. I could make a breeze or an explosion with very little effort. I was confident that if I had enough Ki, I could make a tornado. At the moment, I could barely make a dirt devil though.

I was beginning to understand how Ki and Mana interacted in respects to the elements. The better my body understood the movements and intents of the world around me, the better I could manipulate them.

Water desired a container to fill, so I'd give it one. I flowed my Ki into the small pool of water before me and instead of imposing my will on it, I slowly let my Ki follow the natural flow of the water. Slowly, the Ki and Mana changed into the purple color of magic. I slowly moved my hands in a graceful motion, mimicking the flow of the water. In turn, the water began to mimic me. To water, a container wasn't something it filled, it was something it copied.

I became it's container, my movements became it's movements. With flowing movements I stood, the water standing with me. A gentle twist and the water spun around me gently.

I smiled wide as I guided the water back into it's previous container "I'm becoming a regular Avatar" I said with giddiness. That show had used actual martial arts as the basis for the skills. If martial arts had come from other worlds, it made sense that it had some truth to it.

Unfortunately, I hadn't paid much attention to the martial arts of the show when I was younger. So I had to learn it the hard way, from the elements themselves.

I began to practice the opposite of water magic with the earth. Instead of guiding it, I needed to force it. Extending my Ki into the ground, I slowly filled and grasped the Mana with it.

Then I waited. The earth and stone were unyielding, but it didn't mean it didn't change over time. It just took time. I slowed down my Ki, making it move as a snail, creeping, touching, and converting the Mana into magic.

Years and years would pass before a single stone would change. I just needed to compress that time down into an instant.

To the ground and to my mind Ki flowed. I remembered how it felt to be connected to the Gaian's thoughts, to see her memories of time passing.

I slid my right foot forward and shifted my hand upwards. I felt the ground move before me, growing into a solid wall. It felt...different than simply moving stone with Ki. There was no weight. It was not related to my Ki strength, just how much I had. If I had enough I could shift the entire world.

The earth moved for me instead of me moving it. I brought my hands together and shoved them forwards before splitting them once more. The wall before me spread to allow me to step through.

Then it became unresponsive. I frowned before I felt weak and dropped to the ground. Right, turning Mana into Magic also required me to lose Ki.

Moving the earth was not an easy thing. It was quite possibly the hardest of the four elements to manipulate.

I moved and rested against the wall I'd created. If I could keep practicing, it would give me some cover in battle against archers and mages. I still felt that I was far from separating the earth and using it as a weapon. It was better to stick to my telekinesis for that.

After a little bit of time meditating, I headed out to explore. Vivian had noted that a small forest had sprung up in the south. That was unusual, trees didn't just grow over night. Unfortunately it would just be me this time as Vivian had found something interesting closer to the center of the area. I was going to meet up with her after I checked out the forest.

With a wave of my hand, my now completely yellow walking stick flew towards me, pulled along by the string of Ki that connected it to me. It was quite similar to Vivian how the Ki line worked, without the sharing of thoughts. It was more like I'd stretched a part of my consciousness to another place.

I tapped the stick against the ground before walking in a southerly direction. It was still a little hard for me to control freely, but I could call it to me at any time. I hoped that in the future, I could use it to fight hands free. The Ki inside of the stick could be given basic commands such as 'Come' 'Go' 'Hit' but I hoped to be able to lengthen the types of commands, such as defending me against attacks.

This stick had been with me for a while, I wanted it to remain for much longer. It was a bit sentimental but I liked it.

Traveling to the forest took a short amount of time. My physical attributes were much higher than before I'd started using Ki, I could run across a city without getting tired. If it weren't so unfair I'd participate in a marathon when I got back. I was still at the basics as well, I could feel that there was so much more I could do with Ki. Maybe I'd be like Superman and leap tall buildings in a single bound.

Every boy wanted to be a superhero when they were a kid, I just happened to have the abilities to do so.

I stopped at the edge of the forest, frowning. These trees had Ki like any other tree on earth, small and common. It was a bit interesting. Everything else that had shown up this past month had been at least basic in Ki usage.

What was especially interesting about these trees was that even though their Ki was small, they were all connected by a single thread that raced through their trunks and into the ground.

I took a stroll through the trees, following the single Ki line to it's source. It was an old, gnarled tree without any leaves.

It moved.

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The bark cracked and the roots snapped as it pulled massive hands out of the ground, it's legs spreading to hold it's weight as it rose from the kneeling position it had been in. It's eyes glowed with yellow Ki and I could feel it's Killing Intent, even from this distance and it hadn't even attacked yet.

It certainly wasn't friendly.

I twirled my walking stick in my hands as I readied for battle. There was no other option. While I'd been occupied watching the large Ent as it readied itself, the trees around me had locked together to prevent my exit.

At it's full height, I could barely stand at knee height. It was easily the biggest creature I'd fought to date. The thin, spine like fingers swiped at me before I dove under the hand, rolling forwards as I began to spin a couple of rocks above my walking stick/staff.

With a couple quick swipe of my staff, the rocks shot forwards and slammed into one of it's legs but the wood was like iron, the little rocks barely dented it.

"Damn" I spun the staff gently as it took another swipe at me. I jumped back out of it's range and brought one of my hands forwards, building Ki into my palm and quickly creating a small flame. It suddenly flinched back from the flame and I grinned "Just because you are durable doesn't mean you aren't dry wood"

I spun a few more stones above my hand and focused. More Ki surrounded the stones, interacting with the mana in the air. In an instant I ignited the rocks. I jumped aside as a few roots shot into the air from underneath me before I fired the flaming rocks towards the Ent.

I was aiming for a spot I saw near it's chest, a beating heart shaped source of Ki. It was the first time I'd seen Ki not in the shape of a wisp.

The moment before the rocks hit the Ent, several other trees suddenly lurched forwards, pulling roots from the ground as they intercepted the rocks. It was beautiful to watch as they burst into purple flame, but they burned too quickly for healthy trees.

Inside of them, their Ki burst forwards, speeding up the process of burning until they were nothing but ash. They'd burned themselves fast enough that the fire couldn't spread through the rest of the forest.

The Ent glared at me, though a grin split it's face.

"Fine, lets do this the hard way" I rushed forwards. A twist of my staff and I felt a gust of air appear behind me as I channeled a spell, shoving myself upwards. I focused Ki into my right arm, strengthening the wolf claws and hair before I brought it down onto the Ent as I fell on it.

There was a solid sound as I struck it, knocking it back slightly. It fell to it's knees just as I ran forward and clawed at it's chest, trying to open it to get to the yellow heart.

Several of my claws broke as I pulled a large chunk of the iron like wood before the Ent twisted it's body and knocked me away, sending me bouncing across the forest floor.

I coughed slightly, feeling blood leak from my mouth "Yep...definitely broke a rib" I mumbled as I slowly stood up, holding my side. I looked at the piece of wood in my hand, feeling it's solid texture. I stabbed it into the ground before looking towards the Ent.

"Yeah buddy, I'm still standing" I grinned as I tossed the staff into the air and slapped my hands together, digging my Ki into the ground. Time slowed down in my mind as I put the earlier practice into effect.

Rushing forwards, I ordered the staff to hit the Ent. It dropped down just as I shoved my hands forwards, magic sending the ground upwards to grip it's feet, holding it in place.

I stepped up onto the make shift prison I'd created and rushed towards it's heart, reaching my hand out to grab it before a hand reached caught me by the leg. It lifted me upwards so that it could stare at me.

I knew it was going to kill me. I should have sealed it's hands as well, but I'd barely had the energy to catch it's feet.

A shadow flashed by and the Ent's eyes flashed with surprise before it looked down towards it's chest. Following it's eyes I was surprised to find that the heart was now missing. The energy of the Ent slowly stopped flowing to the rest of it's body and it lost the light in it's eyes. I called to my staff and it zipped forwards into my hand before I shoved it into the gaps of the fingers and used it for leverage.

I dropped to the ground, suppressing a shout as I put stress on my broken rib. Using my staff as a walking stick once more, I stood up and looked around.

A small bird landed on my stick and cocked its head at me. Held in its mouth was the still beating heart of the Ent. I blinked and held out my hand and it deposited the heart into it.

"Uh...thanks?" I said confused. Then I remembered, the bird hadn't really ever attacked me and Vivian, my original desire to attack it had stemmed from it's song. It sung mostly at night when I was attempting to sleep.

I was curious. Slowly, I extended the Ki from my staff and had it enter the bird. Its wings fluttered for a bit before I felt the energy within it respond.

"Master!" the birds high voice entered my mind before it flew around me "Energy good!" I frowned before I realized what it meant. I'd often practiced my meditation when I couldn't sleep. I would often extend my Ki into the surrounding area to test my control.

Apparently, the bird had been feeding on the Ki that hadn't dissipated in the air. From its thoughts that I could pick up, that was the reason it had stuck around.

Gently, I touched its head before extending a thread of my Ki. It opened its mouth and sucked the Ki in.

A beast that ate Ki, that was interesting. I looked at the heart before injecting my Ki into it. It was definitely alive, throbbing with Ki, but I couldn't feel anything from it. It was empty of intent. I turned my attention to the Ent's body and walked closer. I struck it firmly and watched pieces of it crumble.

"Oh...was it using the energy of this heart to harden it's body?" I wondered before walking back to wear I'd stabbed the previous piece I'd ripped off. It was still solid. I picked it up and observed it "The energy drained away from the Ent, but the piece I broke off is still solid" I looked thoughtful as I examined the wood.

The heart...maybe it reacts with other wood? I gently touched it to my walking stick and watched as it slowly melted, spreading to cover the wooden frame. The golden energy pulsed but didn't do more than that. Until it interacted with the iron like wood. The wood melted away and was absorbed by the energy. The stick in my hand quickly began to heat up, forcing me to release it.

Instead of falling over, it continued to stand there. Observing it, I could see small roots digging into the ground, holding it in place.

The heat continued to grow until it felt like I was standing near a furnace. Then it rapidly cooled before the energy melted off of the stick and into the ground, spreading out to the surrounding trees.

"A gift, to thank you"

It was like a whisper, the sound of leaves swaying in the wind filled the air, forming a few short words before the trees slowly shifted to reveal a path out of the forest.

Tentatively I touched the staff, finding it cool to the touch. When I pulled it up, the roots retreating back into the wood. I squeezed the staff slightly, finding the wood firm and strong, like iron.

"Ironwood" I said softly as I gently swung the staff, striking the ground an hearing a sturdy thump "Nice and strong" with the staff's current strength, I was sure it could handle being struck by a sword.

Looking around at the trees, I gave them a light bow in thanks for their gift before turning and heading along the path out. The Ki from the trees had all returned to normal and was even stronger than before. It seemed the Ent had been stealing the Ki to power the heart and keep itself strong.

The little bird flitted around me "Master, Master!" it said excitedly before landing on my head. It seemed quite happy to be connected to me. I felt weird for getting another animal to join me, like I was some kind of beast taming mage.

From the feeling of it's talons, I could tell that it was much stronger than a bird its size should be. Moving it from my head, I used my hands and Ki to explore it's body. Its beak was as sharp as I'd thought and the strength in its jaw wasn't something to laugh at. No wonder it had been capable of tearing the heart out of the Ent.

The feathers of the bird were pleasant and soft to the touch, the muscles underneath showed how it was able to fly so fast. It could take off like a cheetah on land and maintain that speed for much longer.

Strong as an individual and probably unstoppable as a group. I shivered. I was glad that the bird seemed to be alone. A flock of these things could rip a creature like Vivian apart in mere seconds. They were like sky piranha in a frenzy.

"Master. Emergency." Vivian suddenly set me a thought, a feeling of urgency filling my mind. I hurried my pace, ignoring the pain in my side and heading towards the center of Olympus where the yellow line of Ki that connected us lead.

The bird, who I needed to now name, flew into the air. I felt its joy at flight and its vigilance in looking for danger near me. It was quite astute, again making me wonder if I attracted these types of creatures. Vivian was similar in her attitude.

I shook my head and moved faster.