Without warning, Malachi charged like a bull, his shoulder crashing hard into Demeris. As they began to fall to the ground, Demeris, who anticipated the sudden attack, swiftly initiated the infusion of his entire Qi into his body, rapidly repairing some of the damage incurred from the powerful collision.

By the time they hit the ground, Demeris's Qi had fully replenished. Seizing the moment, he harnessed the energy to power his legs. Aided by the momentum of their fall, Demeris skillfully flipped Malachi over him.

Malachi landed with a thud, visibly surprised by Demeris's maneuver. As both combatants regained their footing, they squared up once again. Malachi threw a punch, connecting with the side of Demeris's head, causing him to fall to the ground in a heap.

While Malachi began to gloat over his perceived victory, to his surprise, Demeris swiftly stood back up seemingly unscathed. With a taunting smirk, Demeris goaded, "Is that the best you can do?"

Anger, but more so, confusion assaulted Malachi’s mind. It seemed as though Demeris hadn't felt the impact of his attacks at all even after being struck twice with Qi-infused blows. Then a hint of worry crossed his face as he realized that his own Qi had been entirely depleted.

However, a reassurance washed over him as he supposed that Demeris, too, must have exhausted his Qi by now. With his size and strength, he knew he still had the advantage.

What he didn’t know was that Demeris had been using his fast-replenishing Qi to heal himself constantly. At this moment in the fight, Demeris was fully healed and his Qi was back to full.

Malachi, preparing to charge once again, was taken by surprise as Demeris suddenly bolted forward with an unexpected burst of speed. In the blink of an eye, Demeris stood in front of him, and before Malachi could react, a swift punch was aimed directly at his face.

The punch landed with precision, leaving Malachi staggered. Before he could recover, another punch followed, sending him to the ground. Slow to rise, he struggled to comprehend where Demeris had drawn the Qi to enhance his speed and deliver the powerful punches.

Demeris approached the still dazed Malachi and unleashed a knee strike infused with all his Qi and pent-up anger, targeting Malachi's solar plexus. The blow struck with brutal force, causing all the air to escape from Malachi’s lungs, crumpling him to the ground again, writhing in pain in a fetal position.

Demeris loomed over Malachi, his anger almost tangible, remembering how he and Ronan suffered from his barbaric cruelty. "I will make sure you will never hurt anyone again," he declared with determination. Without mercy, Demeris unleashed a ruthless stomp on Malachi's lower leg, the bone breaking beneath the merciless force. A scream of agony erupted from Malachi, his pain so intense that he lost consciousness.

Demeris left, but not before taking the coin pouch from Malachi's hips. He decided to make his way back to the dorms to check on Ronan. As he was leaving, looks of awe and disbelief were aimed at him. It seemed that many who witnessed the fight were still in shock of the outcome.

Demeris found Ronan awake and currently puzzling over the sudden disappearance of most of his injuries.

Ronan, seeing Demeris, squinted and said, "What happened? How did I get better so fast?" he questioned, confusion etched across his face.

Demeris hesitated for a moment, then decided to conceal the truth. "I got you a healing potion," he replied, a smile on his face.

"A healing potion?" Ronan looked puzzled. "Where did you get the money for that?"

Demeris shrugged, casually bouncing the coin purse he got from Malachi on his palm, "Oh, you know, I had a bit saved up. Lucky, I guess”.

Ronan offered a faint smile. "Well, thanks, Dem. I owe you one.”

“It’s nothing,” Demeris replied.

Demeris suggested to Ronan that they should return to work before the Master caught them, emphasizing the risk of potential repercussions if they got caught idling. Ronan nodded in agreement, though adding that they should beware of Malachi. Demeris just smiled and the two of them promptly got up, making their way towards the gardens to resume their tasks, talking lively and sharing jokes along the way.

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

After a while, they went to different areas to do their work. Demeris, now by himself, thought about his fight with Malachi while he worked. He was amazed at how helpful his Qi was. Towards the end of the fight, he guessed that Malachi had run out of Qi as he seemed slower. On the other hand, Demeris still had plenty of Qi. Even after punching Malachi twice in quick succession and making him fall, Demeris's Qi was again back to full the moment Malachi hit the ground.

"I wonder if there are other ways to use Qi," he thought aloud to himself. Determined, he decided to bring it up with Ronan later in the dorms and ask him what he knows.

And so that night, when both Demeris and Ronan were in their own beds, Demeris turned to Ronan. "Hey, Ronan, what do you know about Qi? I mean, is there more to it?"

Ronan, looking a bit puzzled, raised an eyebrow. "Why the sudden interest in Qi, Demeris?"

Demeris chuckled, trying to downplay his curiosity. "Oh, you know, just curious."

Ronan leaned in. "Well, to be honest, I don't know much except that it boosts our physical abilities. It can also heal, but you will need a lot. Aside from that, I don’t know anything else, except that I heard from someone once that Qi is the reason why a cultivator can fly.”

Demeris, remembering his encounter with a cultivator, interjected, "Flying? I thought they used those magic flying swords. That's what I saw."

Ronan shook his head. "No, those aren’t magic swords at all. They are ordinary swords infused with Qi, and even without swords or anything else, cultivators can still fly, or so they say."

As they continued talking about everyday matters, Ronan gradually succumbed to drowsiness. Demeris, feigning sleep, lay in his bed with thoughts of using Qi to fly swirling in his mind.

Once Ronan was soundly asleep, Demeris quietly rose from his bed and slipped outside. Under the radiant glow of the full moon, he ventured into an open area and began experimenting with his Qi. He wanted to test, first and foremost, his control of his Qi.

He concentrated, directing all of his Qi to gather in his open palm, and the translucent energy around him promptly shifted to form a shapeless blob in his hand.

Next, he directed his focus towards molding the concentration of Qi into a sphere, only to find that the resulting form was incomplete, displaying noticeable gaps. Despite multiple restarts, his efforts to craft a flawless sphere were consistently met with imperfection. Frustrated by the lack of progress, he repeated the exercise numerous times, hoping that consistent practice would enhance his mastery. Yet, to his dismay, he still failed to produce a perfect sphere.

In the moonlit darkness, he sat in contemplation as time flew by, reflecting on the imperfect spheres he had crafted earlier. Seeking clues to their imperfection, an idea struck him suddenly, sparking excitement as he eagerly started a new attempt.

"I’m so stupid," he muttered to himself, as he once again willed his Qi into his palm.

Qi coalesced in his palm. Determined, he urged the Qi to shape into a sphere once more, this time focusing on controlling the size of the sphere. His efforts bore fruit as a flawless sphere made of Qi materialized in his palm. "I was unconsciously attempting to create a very large sphere earlier, one that needed more Qi than I can provide," he mused to himself, laughing silently.

Holding the sphere aloft in his palm, he commanded it to take the shape of a square. His Qi obediently followed suit, shaping into a square at the speed of thought. Experimenting further, he envisioned a rectangle, and once again, the Qi transformed accordingly. He continued to shift the shape of the Qi concentration in his hands effortlessly—sphere, square, rectangle, oblong—each change responding seamlessly to his every whim.

After a while, he decided to conduct another experiment. Up to this point, his Qi had been kept in close proximity to his body. Intrigued by the prospect of projecting Qi away from his body, and to test his control at a distance, he reshaped the gathered Qi into a sphere once more and, on this occasion, directed it to move away from his body. Immediately, the Qi moved further away from him.

With a mere thought, he commanded it to encircle him, and obediently, the spherical Qi complied. Increasing the pace and the distance, he directed it to move faster and faster until it became a blur, rotating around him, passing through the tree branches like a ghostly light. Enthralled by this display, he allowed the sphere to continue its rotation. When he commanded it to halt with a simple thought, the sphere abruptly stopped. A sense of joy illuminated his face, and his eyes reflected his amazement.