"Animaxiom!"

"Anima? A 'soul relic'?" Anon could faintly feel a relic. But it was a very weird feeling. He couldn't see an object like he could with the hourglass. But it was like gaining control over another limb.

Just like how the brain named itself. This new 'organ' named itself too.

Anima Manipulator

Merely unlocking this relic didn't simply unlock itself. Three relics were noticed in sync.

Anima Reservoir

Anima Generator

Anima Manipulator

Ayil's hands were shaking.

"It can't be... I never thought I would see the day!"

Anon was surprised himself. He didn't know anything about these relics or where they came from. He had only created the ten seals. He naturally thought this phenomenon had to do with Ayil! She had somehow unlocked the hidden potential of his body.

Anon asked:

"Do you know what is happening to me?"

"Yes! You have manifested external Qi!"

"But how? A person that 'returns to dragon' should at most stimulate their internal Qi..."

Ayil looked at Anon with her eyes shining.

"External Qi is the stuff of legends. I require skin to skin contact just to release an infinitesimal amount of it. It took me decades to gain a single strand of manipulatable Qi. I went through countless pain and suffering and never reached your level!"

"You are a monster! It is as if your body has unlocked all the hidden potential within. I already considered your talent extraordinary. But this..."

"This is supernatural power!"

Ayil waited for Anon's response. But he didn't seem surprised at all.

"You? Aren't you excited!? This could allow you to become a cultivator! This is a profession of legend. It is complete fiction!"

Anon smiled and spoke:

"A cultivator eh? That could be interesting. But how do I do it?"

Ayil sneered and frowned.

"It is just fiction. How would I know?"

"I'll cancel all my apointments. I need to study this! If what you have is what I think it is. You can use the Qi to stimulate my meridians! I have long aged past my prime. Even with my skills and knowledge, age is wearing on me."

"Your ability may be able to extend my lifespan if used correctly!"

"But first. Let's do some test."

Ayil left for about ten minutes and then returned. She had a few boards and some bricks. She stacked the bricks next to one another and then put the wooden planks across them.

"You know nothing about Qi control. We will start from the basics and improve the difficulty."

"So I am going to need to break this?" Anon thought this would be quite easy. He could stimulate all the power of his muscles. As long as he didn't hit it with his wrist or make a mistake. He would be fine.

"Not exactly. I want you to break it without touching it!"

Anon felt the energy circulating throughout his body. He walked towards the plank and focused on the 'feeling' of animaxiom flowing through his body.

He gathered some of the energy and covered his hands.

"HA!" He slashed down and stopped a few centimeters away from the board.

Nothing had happened...

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

"..."

Ayil observed carefully.

"You have indeed coated your hand in Qi. But it is soft like cotton. Even if you smash cotton on wood with a lot of force. It will just disipate. You need to sharpen your control."

"Follow me..."

Anon followed Ayil for a few minutes. She took out her phone and called a cab.

"Where are we going?"

"There is a rumour that it is possible to unlock the 'seventh' sense. I saw you dodging those pellets from that fake gun earlier. The fact that you aren't blind from shielding your vision. Your other senses are indeed beyond the human limit."

"We can use this! But I have a different method."

Soon the cab arrived and Anon and Ayil got in. They drove for around 30 minutes.

They soon arrived at a highschool.

Anon wondered what her purpose was.

Ayil and Anon walked to the office and she talked with the receptionist for awhile.

"We have permission to use the gymnasium."

Ayil took Anon to the gym. There were kids running laps and some playing basketball. The gym teacher noticed Ayil and Anon and walked towards them.

"You are?"

"We are this years safety committee attendants." Ayil pointed at Anon.

"He is a potential olympian we are training to represent the country!"

Anon was a little confused.

The coach looked at Anon.

"Why is he wearing a blindfold?"

Ayil waved her hands and told him about Anon's special training.

"What!? He can see with that thing on!? Is he an anime character?"

The coach reached out his hand and introduced himself:

"I am Jack."

"I am Axiom."

Ayil looked around at the students.

"If we may. Can we borrow the students here?"

"Borrow?"

"For an exercise. Axiom here is rather special. He..." Ayil leaned in and whispered something into Jack's ear.

"What!? Are you for real?"

"I don't play around with it comes to training. I am a past olympian as well and he is my student. I want him to show the world our countries greatness!"

Jack blew a whistle and gathered all the students around him.

"This is Axiom. He is a very skilled person. You guys are going to play dodgeball with him."

A student asked to join his team.

Ayil cut him off and said:

"It will be him versus all of you."

"What!?"

"He also won't be allowed to move!"

It was Anon's time to be surprised. A kid took out there phone and was talked about wanting to record this. Ayil spoke to Jack and told him this was 'secret training'.

The coach confiscated the kids phone and told him he'd get it back at the end of the class.

Another student came up to Anon and asked about his blindfold.

"I am training my senses..."

His answer shocked the students. One even laughed and said:

"How will he even play if he can't even move?"

Ayil smiled.

"Just watch..."

Soon the coach went to storage and carried a sack containing a dozen balls. He handed one to half the students and came to the halfway point in the gym.

Anon was standing by himself with his hands crossed.

Anon asked Ayil:

"What exactly am I doing here?"

Ayil laughed.

"I want you to redirect the balls from hitting you using your external Qi alone!"

"I see..."

Anon closed his eyes as he felt the energy circulating through his body. But right as the coach was about to start it. Ayil yelled.

"Those balls are too soft!"

"What?"

"Mix them with baseballs. Every student should at the minimum have a ball of their choice."

The coach returned to storage and came back with a tube of baseballs. Soon every student either had a soft ball or a baseball.

"Begin!"

Anon ignored his instinct to dodge and was hit in the head.

"..." The students were speechless. They expected to see something amazing. But he was out in an instant! It made sense. How could he win if he couldn't even move? Not to mention. He was blindfolded...

Ayil yelled:

"1-0. Again!"

This time all the students threw their balls at once. Anon was hit in the balls himself. He kept trying to cover his body in animaxiom.

He was slightly embarrased that he lost so easily.

One student collected all the balls and handed them out.

"2-0. Again!"

"3-0. Again!"

"4-0. Again!"

"5-0. Again!"

"6-0. Again!"

The students were starting to get bored. But then something that defied all logic happened. They saw a baseball about to hit Anon in the head where his eye was.

But it swayed and curved around him! Unfortunately, the next ball got him out.

"Did you see that?! How did he do it?"

The student that threw the ball shrugged and said he might've thrown a curveball.

"7-0. Again!"

"8-0. Again!"

"9-0. Again!"

Then something impossible happened! All the students threw all the balls at once. But they eached stopped about 7 centimeters away from Anon!

Some curved and missed him. Some were still floating in front of him as if he had some sort of invisible shield surrounding him.

Ayil nodded her head.

"9-1. Again!"

"9-2. Again!"

"9-3. Again!"

Anon had 'true vision' which helped his comprehension. He quickly started to master his 'anima manipulator'. While his control wasn't strong enough to stop a bullet. Stopping the attack of a teen throwing a ball at him wasn't so hard.

Unfortunately. It was time for the students next class.

One pulled on Anon's arm.

"Will you be here tommorow?"

Ayil shook her head. She had pulled a trick at the reception desk. The nonsense about him being a potential olympian was just a fabrication she had made. If they overstayed their welcome. They could probably get into some trouble.

Soon the next class arrived.

But Anon and Ayil had already left.

"How far can you extend the Qi outside your body?"

"Maybe about 20 centimeters?"

They took a cab back to the carnival. Ayil took him into the office and had him attempt to cut the board in half without touching it. She then demonstrated her doing it with a light touch.

Anon saw the underlying mechanism from his true vision. He could see the strand of Qi impact the board at a critical point. But she still needed to touch it to achieve this effect.

She wanted Anon to do the same thing. But extend it beyond his body without touching it at all!

She took a piece of paper and put it about 10 centimeters away from Anon's face.

"Try to cut this paper without moving..."

So began Anon's training.