"Turn your thoughts inward and try to sense the energy flowing through your veins," Greg lectured, sitting in a meditative pose. His elbows rested on his mid-thigh, and he allowed his hands to hang slightly over his knees.

"What fifteen-year-old is capable of understanding that?" I grumbled, more to myself than to Master, but he responded nonetheless. One eye opened as he peered at me. "Most of my other disciples could when they were younger than you. I figured a talented individual like you could handle something so simple, but I suppose it's my fault for assuming." I could've been wrong, but I swear I saw a wry grin slide across his face for an instant.

Refusing to be outdone by his apparent other disciples, I sat still and tried to ignore any and all thoughts. I focused first on my breathing, feeling each breath as it entered my nose, traveled into my lungs, and filled them. In complete silence and stillness, I could faintly hear my heartbeat and feel its rhythmic thumping in my chest. It still felt impossible to feel or track any blood flowing through me at any given moment; attempting it brought along a weird sixth sense. After finally becoming aware of it, I realized it had always been there, but I subconsciously ignored it. Similar to how my nose was always in my line of sight, but was simply removed by my brain.

Upon recognizing this sixth sense, I could feel weird and unevenly distributed motes of energy scattered through every portion of my body. Flexing my muscles, concentrating, and even self-inflicted injury elicited no reaction from them. "How strange. You perceived them pretty quickly but lack the ability to influence them. To my understanding, demons immediately gain the ability to wield qi once they sense it inside themselves. It's part of the reason that demonic warriors have a higher ratio than other mages."

His words broke my concentration, causing my 'control,' or lack thereof, to sink even lower. "It's weird. I can't really explain it, but it feels like they want to listen but are being stopped by something. Or maybe something's missing?" I thought aloud, grabbing my chin with one hand. My instincts flared, and I ducked my head to the right, barely dodging a lethal blow aimed at my head. I failed to fully dodge and still got nicked on the cheek, blood trickling down.

Without time to question the situation, I continued the momentum, rolled, and kicked off the ground, standing to face the attacker. "What the hell was that, Master?!" I shouted in frustration, confused by his antics. Without a word, he charged at me once more. Once within range, he punched at my sternum, but I twisted away from the blow. Before I regained my posture, he brought his left fist to my chin, aiming for a left hook. Forsaking my form, I leaned back and narrowly avoided him, feeling the wind blow past.

I planted my right hand on the ground to catch myself, only to be swiftly kicked and launched into the air. Disoriented, I barely registered the approaching axe kick aimed at my midsection. With instinct guiding my movements, I formed a sloppy cross block mid-air just in time to soften the impact. The force of the blow still sent me spiraling back to the ground, creating a small crater upon landing. I fought to regain my breath as my vision swam, feeling blood trickle down my cheek. What the hell is going on?

Above, I could barely make out Master's figure, but my vision blurred as I saw... six of him? Suddenly, he was charging toward me with terrifying speed, the six figures merging into one as he drew closer. Instinct took over, and the instant before his fist should've struck me, I twisted slightly, causing him to punch the ground. Seizing the opportunity, I launched my elbow into his jaw. His head snapped back with the impact, and he remained stunned for a moment before recovering. Every muscle in my body tensed, ready for the next move.

A light laugh escaped his lips. "That's the first time, kiddo. Congratulations on using qi," he said, finally facing me. Against my better judgment, I focused inward again, feeling the energy flowing through me rather than stagnating. While I couldn't control it yet, the fact that it responded was a relief. If Master hadn't pointed it out, I might not have noticed the change. Hold on.

"What the hell was that?! You tried to kill me!" I shouted, frustration and adrenaline fueling my words. "If I had been a fraction slower, I'd be dead!"

"But you weren't, and you didn't die. I kept your speed in mind when attacking. Besides, I figured thinking your life is in danger might be a trigger. But that last move... should've hit you. How did you evade?" he asked, studying me closely.

"Honestly, no clue. I just thought 'I have to dodge that no matter what.' And then there were six of you at the end," I replied, recalling the terrifying moment when six Gregs descended upon me. It was the second most terrifying moment of my life so far.

"It seems my guess was right. Your eye and instincts are monstrous but your body is lacking in comparison. For the six of me, your vision was probably impacted by you being slammed into the dirt." He answered, pulling a potion out of a bag. "Here, drink this. I'm pretty sure it broke from that last hit. We need to keep this momentum. Actually, put on the training weights as well." He ordered, an evil grin plastered on his features.

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"Are you sure I'm the demon here?" I quipped.

Powerless to resist his hellish torture that he called training, I reluctantly drank the viscous liquid, feeling my bones and flesh recombine. Slowly, I made my way toward the training weights, trying to delay the inevitable, but the adrenaline compelled me to move faster than I desired. The weights he had provided were rather unremarkable in appearance. There was a grey shirt, what Greg called a tank-top, long loose pants that ended at my ankles, slightly oversized shoes that I simply slid my feet into, a headband, and wristbands. Each item was heavy enough to leave a beast-man not using mana to be unable to move, so Master usually had me choose only one to wear during a spar. For the shoes and wristbands, it was always two at a time.

"I'm removing the handicap, kid. Since you have access to qi now, you can wear them all at once and fight back," he said, his tone serious yet his grin mocking. Just wait until I'm stronger than you, old man.

As I put on each weight, my feet sank lower and lower. Each item added to the challenge, requiring cataclysmic concentration and strength for each step and arm swing. I couldn't turn around to see, but I was leaving deep indents on solid ground with my weight alone.

"I doubt you'd even be able to blink comfortably if qi wasn't flowing through you." He mocked, earning a punch to the stomach. Or so I thought, he grabbed my fist and redirected my strength, ending with me doing a front flip and facing the sky on the ground. These damned weights made my fist slow enough for a child to dodge. That punch was slower than any I've ever thrown.

"Don't get cocky Ashoc. Using qi and being a master of it are two different things. If I were petty, I'd attack you right now but your master is quite forgiving." He joked, twisting his foot on the dirt, consequently getting dirt on my face. Enraged, I tried to jump up only for the weights to keep me planted. I rolled over and put both hands on the ground, attempting to push up and regain my standing position. This only caused me to sink fall lower as the ground couldn't handle the force being exerted upon it. The more strength I put into my hands, the lower my hands, and the rest on me, sank.

Then, I realized there was something pressed on my back, increasing the weight to a degree that I couldn't get up. I threw my left arm back to remove it, but the pressing sensation disappeared at the same time something collided with my arm and flung it back down. Afterwards, the pressing was back. "Master, what the hell?!" I growled, anger and humiliation growing from the pit of my stomach.

"Surely, the disciple who tried to sneak attack his master isn't complaining about having a hard time getting up." He taunted.

Getting an idea, I threw both arms behind me, hoping he'd launch them both back. Sure enough, he deflected both and I poured my own power into their velocity forward. Once they came into contact with the ground again, the speed they were moving launched my torso upward. I capitalized on the momentum and brought my right leg up and forward, taking a knee to balance out. I used that knee as a start and stood back up, letting the irritation show on my face. Grabbing my left arm and forcing it back into its socket, I prepared to fight master.

"Not bad," he said simply before darting toward me. By the time I noticed his dash, he was already in front of me. He swung his right leg forward to sweep my left, but I lifted it just in time, grazing the top of his own leg. The unexpected contact momentarily drew my attention away, allowing his straight punch from the right to graze my left side. The graze brought pain, but I refused to be caught off guard again. This time, he followed up with an uppercut from the left, and I attempted to deflect it. I could only change its trajectory slightly, so instead of hitting me square on the chin, his fist struck the right side of my jaw. His left shoulder twitched, indicating another strike was coming. This time, it was a left cross. I braced myself for the impact, knowing it was going to hurt.

I allowed him to make contact while rolling my head into the punch and planting my right foot into the ground. With a swift turn on my right foot, I used the momentum from his strike to do a full rotation. As I rotated, I brought my right arm up and put as much power into it as I could, aiming for his nose. Greg's eyes widened, and he attempted to bring his arms up to block, but it was too late. After the punch landed, Master slid back, leaving skid marks on the ground. It felt like my fist had exploded muscle by muscle, leaving only a numb sensation behind. Once Master came to a complete stop, a soft plop could be heard. I looked at where he had slid to and saw a drop of blood fall onto the ground. My vision began to blur, and the sound of my own heavy breathing was all I could sense.

Greg chuckled softly as he wiped the blood from his nose. "Impressive. You're starting to get the hang of this."

I nodded, trying to regain my focus. "Thank you, Master. I still have a long way to go."

He smiled. "Indeed, but you're making good progress. Now, let's continue." With that, he launched into another series of attacks, and I did my best to defend myself, each strike and block pushing me further beyond my limits.

The fight continued, each exchange of blows pushing me to my physical and mental limits. Sweat poured down my face, mixing with the blood from my injuries. Despite the pain and exhaustion, I refused to give up. With each strike, I grew stronger, more determined to surpass my master.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Master stepped back, a look of satisfaction on his face. "That's enough for today," he said, offering me a hand up. "You did well, but remember, there is always room for improvement." There was a pause before he spoke again. "It might be true after all."

Before I could say anything in response, my fatigue caught up with me and the darkness took over.