Reivyn sat in the lotus position. He was deep in Meditation as he considered the little speck of Qi he had generated. He couldn't pull it out of his body, so it simply sat in his core with the rest of his Mana pool. The Qi speck was almost incomprehensively tiny compared to his vast reserves of Mana all around it. It was made from only one point of Stamina and Mana.
Okay, so like Xudrid said, creating the Qi was simple, Reivyn contemplated. It was almost at the snap of my fingers. Now, how do I turn it into a liquid?
Reivyn observed the speck from all directions. He couldn't pull it out of himself to manipulate it, so he delved his consciousness into his core. He made the Qi speck flit about and perform amusing maneuvers, but nothing was changing the nature of the Qi.
An interesting aspect that Reivyn noted was that there was always a little bubble of separation between the Qi and the Mana. The two never came into physical, or in this case metaphysical, contact with each other.
Well, the process can't be too complicated, Reivyn thought. I guess we'll just try out the usual.
Reivyn brought his willpower down upon the Qi speck and shot it through his meridian pathways. As soon as the Qi speck left his core and entered the beginnings of the complicated and winding paths of his meridian channels, ethereal smoke started to dissipate off of the Qi speck.
Within only a few seconds, the Qi speck disappeared, and his Stamina and Mana pools ticked up by one point.
Reivyn could tell that there were some changes being wrought upon the Qi, but he had so little of it that it disappeared before any of those changes could be made.
Is this what they mean by Qi Refining? He thought. Literally, refining the gaseous Qi into liquid Qi by running it through our meridians?
If one point of Qi isn't enough, we'll just have to accumulate more.
Reivyn once more summoned his Stamina and Mana pools. He extracted ten points from each pool and wove them together. It wasn't the same thing as weaving Mana for Spells. He wasn't left with distinct weaves or patterns. Instead, through the process of weaving them together, the two forms of energy melded together until they combined into one.
The Qi speck he was left with was ten times larger than the first one, though that still meant it was microscopic compared to the Mana sitting in his core. Reivyn mustered his will and once more forced the Qi into his meridian pathway.
The Qi was in a gaseous state and wanted to slip out of his control like any other gas would. He had to keep a constant focus on the Qi he was controlling to keep it together.
The ethereal smoke started bleeding off of it once more, and as the Qi traveled his pathways, the main substance of it began to shrink and condense. He was less than halfway through his channels when the ten points once more completely dissipated into nothing, and his Stamina and Mana pools once more ticked back up to 100%.
I don't believe it! If ten points aren't enough, try one hundred points!
Reivyn drained his resources and formed another Qi speck. He didn't waste any time observing it and immediately forced it into his meridian channel. The Qi speck this time was a bit more wild and out of control, and it was too big to comfortably fit in his meridian channel.
Pain wracked Reivyn's body wherever the Qi passed through, but no damage was done to the meridians. It seemed like the ethereal smoke dissipating off of the Qi was healing the wear and tear done to the channels as the Qi passed through.
The Qi continued to shrink and condense, but it didn't give his meridian channels any relief. Reivyn didn't mind, though, as he recognized that this was a blessing in disguise.
One's own Mana was gentle to one's own body, even when infused with deadly Affinities. Just passing the Mana through the meridian channels didn't have any substantive effect on the channels themselves. It was common knowledge that the System upgraded one's meridian channels when one increased in Tier.
That included more complex pathways as well as the quality of the meridian channels themselves. That was the only known way to increase one's meridian channel quality that Reivyn was aware of. That didn't mean other people didn't know of another solution, but Reivyn had never heard of it.
The Qi passing through made the Meridians act like a muscle that was being exercised. Small tears accumulated from the strain of pushing the Qi through, but the smoke instantly repaired the tears instead of having to suffer through muscle soreness.
Passing the Qi through his meridians was a slog. It was much slower than channeling Mana through the pathways. It took Reivyn almost an hour to get the one hundred points of Qi all the way through and back to his core.
By the time the Qi made it back to his core, it had fundamentally changed. No longer was it a gaseous form that he had to constantly corral to keep together. A small trickle of liquid Qi, made up of just five points, sloshed its way into his core, where it settled.
Reivyn glanced at his Stamina and Mana pools in his Status, and they had each reduced by five points in the maximum column. A new line was also present in his Status.
Achievement!
Refine Qi!
Unlock the new resource permanently
Achievement!
Refine Qi without a Cultivator Class!
All Stats +3
Achievement!
Refine Initial Qi with Tier 3 Meridian Pathways!
Upgrade the quality of Qi by one whole Tier
Wait, what? Reivyn was dumbfounded at the Achievements. The first one made sense to him, and it was more of a notification than an Achievement. The reward wasn't something given by the System for the Achievement. Or is it? I mean, which came first? The chicken or the egg?
It wasn't the first Achievement that stunned him. It wasn't even the second one that caught him off guard, though it was a pleasant surprise. The third Achievement left him confused and needing answers.
The quality of Qi? He thought. From the context, I'm guessing that the quality of Qi is based on the Tier of meridian channels. Is that why it's impossible to form Qi in Tier 3 or above for most people? With the rate that the Qi dissipated as it passed through the channels, one would need to have at least a hundred points of Qi just to get five permanent points like I did.
I'm guessing there's usually a wall that people with no Qi usually can't pass through. The meridian channels are just too narrow and weak for one hundred points to safely pass through. It's most likely the fact that my Class is Mythic, so my Tier 3 channels are already sturdy enough to handle it.
That begs another question: What Rarity is the minimum needed in Tier 3 to accomplish the task? Is it Mythic, or is it Legendary. From what I gather, Epic isn't strong enough. That's probably why it's hard for Tier 2 non-Cultivators to form a permanent Qi pool, too. Rare Rarity Classes just don't produce strong enough meridians.
Reivyn's gut told him he had the right answer. With that mystery solved, it was time to get answers about the quality of Qi. Xudrid hadn't said anything about further refining Qi as they increased in Tier, but that was probably only because he hadn't gotten to that step yet.
Well, I can hold off on going to find Xudrid right now, Reivyn thought, calming himself down. It's getting late. I might as well do a few more passes to increase my Qi pool.
Reivyn had decided to refine a whopping 1,000 points of permanent Qi. If it took an hour to process one hundred points of gaseous Qi into five points of liquid Qi, though, that was going to take a while.
Reivyn gathered up another mass of gaseous Qi and once more sent it through his meridian pathways.
---
"Yeah, you have to refine your Qi every time you upgrade to a new Tier," Xudrid confirmed. "It's one of the basic requirements. Even Vyria and I have to do it with the Qi in our Golden Cores. Let me tell you, it becomes a chore at Golden Core."
Reivyn stared at Xudrid. Xudrid stared back. Neither one of them had an expression on their face.
"Was that on purpose?" Reivyn asked.
"I don't know what you mean."
The two stared at each other for another moment.
"Anyway, liquid Qi inside your core starts off at Tier 2. Everyone has a minuscule amount of Qi inside their bodies, much like everyone has a minuscule amount of Mana, even if they're not born with the talent to use it. In fact, that's why everyone has Qi. Stamina and Mana mix on the micro-scale without anyone trying to do it. The ancient records in the sect say that's how the first Cultivators learned how to become Cultivators in the first place."
"That makes sense," Reivyn said, nodding his head. "The first iteration has to come from somewhere, and how would anyone know to try something without first observing it or knowing about it?"
"Yup. Anyway, you're in Tier 2, but you have Tier 3 meridian channels, so you're Qi should be Tier 3 to start off with. Not having created Tier 2 Qi, you won't notice a difference until your first re-refining."
Reivyn left off the part about getting an Achievement that elevated his Qi quality. His Qi was, in fact, Tier 4, but he wasn't going to reveal that secret for no reason.
"Is it always this inefficient to refine Qi?" Reivyn asked.
"No, not at all," Xudrid shook his head. "It gets worse. For me to refine my Tier 3 Qi into Tier 4 Qi, I have to gather up 500 points to get ten. And it has to be at least 500 points. The efficiency doesn't scale down. If I gather 499 points of Qi, I won't get nine points of refined Qi; I'll get zero and have to start over with 500.
"That being said, Tier 2 Qi Refining Cultivators typically only need to gather 20 points worth of Tier 1 Qi to get two points of Tier 2 Qi. The fact that you needed a hundred points is proof enough your starting quality is Tier 3.
"But, if you plan on improving your Qi in the future, don't fall into the trap of complacency. Eventually, your meridians will adapt to the strain of one hundred points worth of Qi, and you won't suffer any strain nor gain any benefits. It's recommended to always use enough Qi to cause at least the same level of strain as the minimum. If you don't, you'll have a really hard time when you have to go from one hundred points to five hundred points."
"Upgrading Tiers doesn't handle that?"
"It has some small effect, but it's not enough. Plus, your pathways will become longer and more complex on top of improving in quality."
"I see. So I should aim for being able to handle 500 points of Qi before reaching Tier 4?" Reivyn didn't know if the increase in quality was done after the fact as a pure reward from the System, or if he would actually have a harder time with having to refine a Tier above himself in the future. Only time would tell, and he wouldn't find out until he reached Tier 4.
"Of course not," Xudrid denied. "You'll want to aim for around half-way, so 250 points. There's no lasting benefit to going further, as increasing your meridian quality above that for your current Tier won't have any benefit, and it's perfectly fine for preparing for the next Tier. It will also mean that your rate of refining will increase once your meridians adapt to that amount. The Qi will flow as fast and easy as Mana at that point."
"Alright, thanks for the information. Now..."
Reivyn was cut off from asking his next question as a loud boom and shockwave rocked the office they were conversing in. Reivyn searched out with his Divine Sense but didn't pick anything up. There weren't even that many people milling about within his range, but the few that were weren't panicking or anything.
"What was that?" Xurdrid asked, shooting up to his feet.
"I don't know, but I don't think it's an enemy attack," Reivyn replied.
There were no alarms going off, and Reivyn didn't see anyone outside of the building scrambling to take action.
"Let's go see."
The two left Reivyn's office and headed out of the headquarters building. Whatever had caused the commotion wasn't within range of his Divine Sense before he stepped out of the building, so he had to investigate the old-fashioned way: with his eyes.
Reivyn immediately spotted the source: His father was sparring with Vyria.
Reivyn came to a stop as he looked up and up and up at the huge, ethereal sword springing up from Vyria. Refix stood with his sword and ethereal arsenal at the ready. Vyria hadn't even drawn her weapon yet, and she stood hugging her sword to herself as he had first seen atop Dagger Mountain.
A pulse of energy that Reivyn could barely perceive went out with Vyria as the epicenter, and Refix launched himself to the side while parrying with all he had. A giant rent appeared in the ground where he had stood from the force of the energy attack produced by Vyria.
The gash in the ground wasn't deep. It was only a few inches in depth, but it matched the length of the height of the ethereal sword surrounding her.
Refix immediately dashed in to close the distance between the two, slashing his sword as he leapt forward. He was laughing manically as he performed the maneuver, but another energy pulse heralded an ethereal parry from Vyria.
Refix matched his strike to the parry, and he was stopped in place. He didn't get pushed back, but it seemed like he was pressing his sword against an invisible wall. If Reivyn could barely perceive the energy from Vyria, he would have no idea what was going on.
Time seemed to stand still for a moment as they stood, locked in position, before Refix powered through and completed his sword swing. Vyria had a look of surprise on her face as she danced back, finally baring some steel from her sword as she blocked the strike.
She was lifted up off the ground and tossed away like a rag doll from the force of the blow, and Reivyn could see her eyes open wide with even more astonishment. Reivyn could tell from the way she was blown away that Refix had altered the nature of his slash to match a heavy blow from a warhammer.
Vyria deftly gained control of her momentum in the air, and she silently fluttered to the ground. Before her feet touched dirt, though, another pulse preceded another blast of energy aimed at Refix.
Refix became a veritable tornado of steel and ethereal weapons as he used the centrifugal force to alter the trajectory of the energy while once more advancing on Vyria.
"You'll have to do better than that, girl!" Refix shouted.
A clear ringing filled the air, and Reivyn's own sword at his side seemed to resonate with the sound. He looked down at it, and he could almost feel that the sword wanted to be released from its scabbard.
Vyria had drawn her own sword completely out of the sheathe, and she took up a stance where she dual-wielded her sword with her scabbard. She matched Refix in intensity as she met his onslaught, and the two were locked in a deadly dance.
Vyria performed just as well as Refix, matching him blow for blow. Neither one could get the upper hand, and even Refix's ethereal arsenal was unable to distract her enough for him to get the upper hand in the conflict.
Reivyn watched in awe as Vyria transformed from a meek girl into the definition of a human weapon. He felt like he wasn't looking at a person wielding a sword but just a sword fighting another person. He didn't know how to accurately describe the sensation, but it was a level of oneness with the sword that he and his father were unable to attain with their Skill Level.
"Wait, has Vyria reached Transcendence with her Swords Skill?" Reivyn asked, turning to Xudrid.
"Of course," Xudrid confirmed, nodding his head. "The patriarch wouldn't have let her come out to experience the wider world without much more supervision than pairing up with me if she hadn't."
"What's her Transcendent ability, if it's not a secret?" Reivyn queried.
"Sword Body," Xudrid said. "She isn't just one with her sword. She is the sword. It might sound like it's the same thing, but it's not. There's a world of difference, as you can see."
"Yeah, I see it," Reivyn chuckled. Vyria was actually pressing Refix onto the defensive as their match continued. "Was that giant ethereal sword a Qi Skill?"
"That's right. Though she's uniquely suited to using the Skill with her unique constitution. It basically costs her no Qi to keep it up and use it indefinitely."
"That seems almost unfair," Reivyn said.
"You're one to talk," Xudrid snorted. "I've seen some of your Magic practice. You can bombard high-Level Spells almost without end, and the variation and utility you bring to it are unheard of. Most Tier 4 Mages and below that I know of only have easy access to Spell Casting as you do for their Class Spells. They have to actually take some time to formulate anything more complicated."
"Oh, well, I have a secret for you," Reivyn said, glancing at Xudrid out of the corner of his eye. Xudrid turned to look at him, as well. "Those are Class Spells. Almost all of them."
"Wha-?" Xudrid was once more dumbfounded. That revelation was almost too much for him, and it seemed like his brain was about to short-circuit. "I've seen you Cast, like, a hundred different variations of your Spells!"
"What can I say?" Reivyn shrugged. "I have a good Class."
"I can see why you're skeptical of switching to a Cultivator Class," Xudrid said.
Reivyn just smiled. He spotted Kefira and Serilla watching the match in the distance, and he gave them a little wave when Kefira looked over at him and Xudrid standing there.
The sparring session was winding down, and it seemed like Vyria was going to come out on top. Refix wasn't out of the match yet, though, and he still had a few surprises up his sleeve.
A pulse of Mana spread out from Refix, one that Reivyn had never seen his father conjure before, and a barrage of Spells formed above his head and launched themselves at Vyria. They were simple Bolt Spells, but the surprise attack, coupled with Refix's Skill with his sword and his ethereal arsenal, was enough to catch Vyria off guard. Refix knocked her blade away, and his own came to rest with the tip a fraction of an inch away from her throat.
"That was an excellent match," Refix said. "I couldn't have beat you with my Sword Skill alone."
The surrounds burst out into cheers as Refix lowered his sword. Reivyn and Xudrid joined in on the congratulations. They made their way to the two standing in the sparring pit as the rest of the crowd dispersed to attend to their own duties once more.
"I had no idea you were so accomplished with your Sword Skill," Reivyn said to Vyria. "I'll definitely have to try my hand at a sparring session with you. Maybe we can get a one-verse-one-verse one melee match going with all three of us."
"Now, that sounds like a fantastic idea!" Refix shouted with a grin on his face.
"I can agree to that," Vyria said. "But I would like your help with something else in return."
Reivyn was slightly surprised that she spoke out on her own. He had expected Xudrid to once more do the talking for her.
"Sure, what's that?"
"Can you help us with our Spear and Shield Skills? Xudrid and I are quite dreadful at them."
Reivyn stared into her eyes for a second before he chuckled.
"After witnessing that display, it had slipped my mind that you and Xudrid are beginners with those Skills," he said. "Sure, that's no problem."
"Thank you," Vyria nodded her head once before putting her sword back into its scabbard and hugging it to her chest again.
"Excellent!" Refix clapped his hands together. He rubbed them together enthusiastically with a manic grin on his face. "I have just the training regimen for it."