Back in the cavern, Haze waved me over to her and the twins, and I quickly approached, “Yes, master?” I asked once I got to her.

“I want to know your goal for these three training days. What are they?” She asked.

“I’m aiming for my next core, or at least reaching the threshold of the next core.”

“Tha’ wud be yer turd core, righ’? The Solar core?” one of the twins asked. I think her name was Leila. I wasn’t paying attention to who asked, though.

I looked down at them, noting they were fifteen centimeters shorter than me, and I nodded, “Technically, yes. The solar core would be my fifth and sixth core, actually.”

“Wha’?” Shersha asked as she and her sister cocked their heads, mirroring each other, “How is tha’ possible?”

“By being very stupid, and you will not try and replicate what she did,” Haze said sharply, “Don’t go putting dumb ideas into the heads of new students. Now go. Get your cores up to level five. You have one hour before I’m going to grab you and give you one on one training.”

I bowed sharply, “Yes, master,” and then went to a corner of the cavern to sit and meditate alone.

Sitting down, I began cycling my ice-claymore core. I cycled through my channels and quickly gathered as much as possible, pulling in the chakra around me and making it my own. I then did what I always did and stuffed all the chakra into the now-tight core. Breathing in, I felt my breath catch, and I exhaled, breathed in again, and exhaled. With each inhale, I felt my chakra pushing against the walls of my core, slowly expanding it until I could breathe normally. Then I cycled again and again I stuffed all the chakra into the confined space. And slowly expanded it until a ding rang in my head.

Ding

Second Core 2: Ice, Edge, and Force level up

Second Core 2: Ice, Edge, and Force Lvl 5

The third core is available for unlock.

I smiled and began cycling my Shield core. Pulling in the ambient chakra like a vacuum and expanding the core like the last. Until I got another ding and notification telling me, I had reached level four. Yes! All right! Three more expansions, and it’ll be at level five! Let’s go!

“Zeana! Time’s up! Get over here!” Haze yelled from the center of the cavern.

Fuck! I always lose track of time doing that. “Coming!” I hollered back as I stood and rushed over to her, my tail swishing back and forth with annoyance.

“How far you get?” Haze asked once I got to her.

“level five for my ice-claymore core and beginning of level four of my shield core.”

“Ah, so close. All well. You’ll get it tomorrow. Anyways want to hazard a guess as to what you’ll be doing?”

“Ummm … I’m going to learn to fight with my fists better?”

“No. You’re going to learn chakra control.”

I blinked, “Okay, I’m lost. What’s that?”

“You remember when you finished rebuilding the bathhouse, we fought.”

“Yes.”

“You remember what weapon you made with your chakra?”

“Yeah, I made a giant ice claymore which was awesome.”

“Yep. That is called chakra control. It lets you make things out of your chakra. Swords, walls, bows and arrows, and so on. It takes a lot of chakra to make, but you don’t have to maintain them once you make them. And you have something most other people don’t have.”

I nodded along and waited for the answer. When it became clear that none would come, I began to guess, “The ability to split cores?”

“No.”

“Three chakras in a core?”

“No.”

“Four cores when I should have two?”

“That’s the same as your first guess, but worded differently, no!”

“A hydra tail?”

Haze sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose in exasperation, “You have a spirit within you.”

“You are an absolute imbecile,” Fangbao said, his thunderous voice booming in my head.

“Oh, right,” I scratched the back of my head, “I forgot.”

“HOW CAN YOU FORGET THAT I’M HERE!?!”

“Well, you don’t talk a lot!”

“I shouldn’t have to! I am literally a ball of pure power within you!”

“Yeah, you and three other orbs of power!”

“Hey!” Haze yelled, getting my attention and ending the argument, “If you’re done arguing with yourself, I would like to start explaining.”

I cleared my throat and bowed deeply, “Yes, master. Sorry master.”

Sighing, Haze continued, “When you create something with your chakra, that object will only last so long, and you can only make a certain amount and only specific things. Take your storm core, for example. You can’t make anything out of it unless you have a spirit within you for that specific chakra. In contrast, you could make shields and walls out of your Shield core and possibly a few other things. So, for now, you’re going to work with your Ice-claymore core and make as much as you can. Got it?”

“Got it.”

“Jax! You’re with Zeana for training!” Haze called out, and I jogged off to train with Jax. Now that I knew this little tidbit of information, I would have so much fun making weapons to fight with, and I wanted to see what I could do.

***

On day three of training, I made very little progress forging something out of my chakra. I decided on calling it forging since I’m building something out of the chakra and not controlling the chakra once it leaves me unless I physically move it. I did have some success, though. With my Ice-claymore chakra, it turns out that making big things is easier than making small things. If I make a claymore, it will keep its shape, but if I make a normal sword, it easily breaks like, well, ice. But if I make a really ridiculously long sword, it will work as intended but with more reach.

Stolen novel; please report.

I think the reason I can’t make something small is because of the force aspect of the chakra. To explain this better, it’s like filling a glass with water. Once you fill it up to the rim, there’s no room for ice. And I think that’s what’s happening. My small ice weapons can’t contain the third chakra, so they become easy to break. But I’m not focusing on that today. I’m focusing on making something with my now level-five Shield core. And to test what I make, Jax and I are fighting.

We stood opposite each other, fists up and at the ready. I concentrate on only using my Shield core and making something. Once I have it in my mind, I cycle the chakra through my body and rush forward. Jax lets me come for him, patiently waiting. I close the distance between us in a second and force my chakra out of my fist as I throw the first punch at his abdomen. My fist impacts an invisible barrier several centimeters away, and Jax stumbles back, rubbing his head.

“I think you made a big wall again,” Jax hedged.

I sighed and checked. Reaching out my hand, I felt a thin layer of dust, the tell-tale sign of shield chakra. I felt around the construction, making me look like a mime, and measured its dimensions. The wall was two meters tall, one meter wide, and ten centimeters thick. “Yeah, I made a wall. So, Shield chakra can make shields. What a shocker,” I said, destroying it with an enhanced kick.

“Well, at least you got weapons down for your Ice-claymore core.”

“True,” I shrugged, “Just wanted something for my Sheild core too.” Un-consciously I opened my stat screen and reviewed everything to refresh my memory.

Name: Zeana Si’enn; Title: The Endless Storm; Race: Deadly Zin; Cores: 4; Age: 8.

First Core 1: Lightning And Force Lvl 7

First Core 2: Water And Life Lvl 7

Second Core 1: Earth And Force Lvl 5

Second Core 2: Ice, Edge, and Force Lvl 5

Skills:

Quick Advancements Lvl 8

High Pain Tolerance Lvl 1

Natural Abilities: Flight, Hard Skin, High Agility, High Dexterity, High Intelligence, Hivemind, Multiply, Genetic Alterations, Kitsune Form, Split Cores, Climbing Form, Tsudzurao Form, Quick Transformation.

Racial Abilities: Sin, Penance.

I closed the screen, noting nothing new besides the new levels on my cores. I then twisted and cracked my back, which felt so good. And I saw the twins leaning against one of the nearby steel pillars looking exhausted. So I asked, “Has anyone talked with them yet? And gotten to know them?”

Jax shook his head, “Haze doesn’t want to scare them off, so we’re keeping our distance for now.”

I looked back to the two exhausted girls and said, “I have an idea.”

“Uh-oh,” Jax and Fangbao said in unison.

“Relax, no one will get hurt.”

“I don’t trust that. Ninety percent of your ideas end with you in the infirmary and nearly going to the afterlife. Whatever it is, don’t do it,” Jax countered.

I frowned and cycled my healing chakra. Jax shook his head. I raised my right hand. Jax shook his head vigorously. I then forged a ball of water the size of my head. Jax shook his head even more vigorously. A smile curled my lips, and I turned to the twins. Jax lunged at me to stop me, but he was too slow. I cycled my storm chakra and jumped at an incredible speed toward the twins.

With a loud bang, I hit the steel beam above them and dropped before them as they both yelped. “Hey, want some water?” I asked, proffering the floating orb of water.

“How are ye doin’ tha’?” Leila asked, pointing at the orb.

“Practice and a lot of chakra. Seriously though, I’m almost out of chakra and can’t keep this going forever. You want some or not?”

The twins nodded, took a handful of the water from the orb, and drank from their hands. They each took two sips of the water and looked refreshed and ready to go. “Tanks for the wa’er. It feels refreshin’ for sum reason,” Shersha said.

I let the orb of water dissipate into particles of chakra before I answered, “That’s cause I used my healing core to make the water. And I honestly had no idea if it would heal anybody. That’s neat. Anyways, what training does Haze have you two doing?”

“Conditionin’,” Leila answered, “We’re not the strongest or the fastest, so we nade stronger bodies. It’s really ‘ard.”

“We’re also cyclin’ loike crazy to strengthen our channels,” Shersha added.

“Ah, I don’t know about any of that. I had a different teacher before Haze. Anyway, how old are you two?”

“We’re eight,” the twins said in unison.

“Oh, sweet! Same as me! Though I guess you would be younger since I should technically have a birthday coming up within a month. I guess. I don’t really know.”

“How are ye the same age as us? Ye’re too tall!” Shersha said, astonished.

I scratched my cheek sheepishly, “Yeah, I am pretty tall for my age. Lucky me, I guess.”

“Wha’s yer secret?!” Leila asked, taking a step forward and clenching her fists.

“Aye, we want to be tall too!” Shersha agreed, mirroring her sister.

“Umm, I don’t really have one. I just am tall.”

“Aww,” the twins said and bowed their heads, disappointed.

“LISTEN UP!” Haze yelled, getting everyone’s attention, “Gather your things and head outside! We’re leaving for the wong empire right now!”

Everyone cheered at that announcement and rushed for our duffle bags. The twins were the only ones that didn’t cheer and just gathered the backpacks they brought with their names sewn into them. I hefted my duffle bag with the belts and my spell tomes for some reading materials.

I rushed out of the cavern as fast as my little legs could carry me and heard Cami laughing as she called after me, “Hey, Zeana! Where are you going?!”

“I’m going on an adventure!” I called back as I ran through the tunnel and heard Cami laughing even harder.

Racing through the tunnel, I reach the exit first and stop. I have no idea where to go from here. So I dropped my duffle bag and sat down on it. Waiting for everyone else to catch up with me. Once they did, Cami walked behind me and asked, “I thought you were going on an adventure?”

“I did. It ended as soon as I got out of the tunnel. It was a lovely adventure.”

Cami laughed and turned to Haze, “So, where to now, master?”

Haze raised a finger to signal silence and then pointed to her ear. So we need to listen for something. I closed my eyes and listened. Besides the sounds of the forest, I can’t hear anything unusual. A minute passed, then two, and a slight humming slowly grew. It slowly got louder and louder until it sounded so close anyone could hear it. I opened my eyes and looked around for the source of the sound, as did everyone else.

“Over there!” Shiro yelled, pointing south. I followed his directions and saw a small dot over the horizon that quickly grew in size. I couldn’t place the object’s shape, but whatever it was, it had to be at least ten meters off the ground and moving incredibly fast.

The object got closer and closer until I could see it clearly. It was a ship, like one of the old pirate ships from the seventeen hundreds in my original world. It had three masts with golden glowing sails that pulsed with energy, and the dark wood of the ship glistened in the sunlight as the ship rushed along, getting closer and lower to the ground. The captain of the ship is going to pull up, right? R-right? “Get down!” I yelled, and everyone dropped to the ground as the ship passed a few centimeters over our heads.

I looked up at the ship as it flew overhead and saw it shoot straight into the sky as somebody yelled, “WOOOHOOOO!!!” once the ship was completely upside down, it slowed like a rollercoaster at the top of its ark and came shooting down to the ground. The ship did several barrel rolls before pulling up, banking to the right, and circling high above the ground in ever-growing circles.

Then the ship stopped a meter off the ground before us. And a woman jumped off the ship’s deck with a backward summer salt and did a superhero landing before standing. My jaw dropped as I beheld the woman before us. She stood as tall as Haze with Caramel skin. Her right arm was missing and replaced with a sleek robotic arm with three bubbling green veils sticking out of its shoulder. While her left arm had a glowing green and black viper tattoo that coiled around the length of her arm, ending at her wrist. She wore black baggy chap pants with several deep pockets, black skin-tight shorts, and a black skin-tight crop top with no sleeves revealing her well-toned abs. Her emerald green hair was cut short and messy, and she had a long venomous green braid that nearly reached the ground. Her green eyes had slits like a snake, and her smile revealed a pair of fangs.

But besides all of that, she looked almost exactly like Haze. I could tell cause as soon as the mysterious woman landed and stood, Haze rushed up and got nose-to-nose with her. The woman didn’t react. She just wiggled her green feathered ears and smiled. “What? You looking for a fight?” the woman asked, and even her voice sounded like Haze.

“You’re late,” Haze growled, sneering.

“I’m early,” she countered.

“You were supposed to be here this morning.”

“Well, I’m here now. So are you going to back off, or are we going to do this?”’

“I want to hear an apology.”

“For what?!”

“For being late!”

“Or what? You’ll tell mom? You know she won’t care.”

“She won’t care if I beat the crap out of you.”

The two fell silent for a tense moment, then they burst out laughing and pulled each other in for a hug. “Good to see you, sis!” the woman said as she hugged Haze excitedly.

“Good to see you too, sis!” Haze reciprocated.

I shook my head and exclaimed, “Wait, wait, wait. Sis! As in, sister!?”

The two women stopped their hug and faced us. “Listen up. This is my little sister, Shivan, but everyone calls her Seven. Treat her with respect. And yes, Zeana. Sis means sister. It’s nothing new. I know you’re a little slow on the uptake, but even you should know that.”

“Bu-da-wha-ah- screw you!” I stammered and picked up my bag, “I’m not slow.”

“HAHAHA! So these are your students. It’s nice to meet you all!” Seven laughed, then said, “Come on, let’s get you situated, and I’ll show you around my ship.” A rope ladder toppled down to us as if on cue, and Seven immediately began climbing it. Grumbling, I followed after her, feeling a little excited to see the ship and get on the way to the Hollow Throne Tournament.

***