Has he forgotten me?

Dante couldn't help but wonder. He was startled when, just after the dragon left, he tried to leave the room and found himself sealed in the place.

When his fear was almost turning into despair, the door finally opened.

"Hey senior. I hope we can work well together-"

The abrupt closing of the metal door marked the return of Dante's despair.

"Hey, kid. Before you leave this room, let's stabilize your core, so that you have at least some control over your Qi. Since your new type of Qi is unique, curiosity will not do any good on our behalf. You need at least some basic foundation."

Circling Dante, Isaac walked toward the darkness. When Dante could no longer see the powerful cultivator, a clapping caused lights to begin to come on throughout the room, as if a row of dominoes had collapsed.

Despite having a sense of how tall the room was because of the previous events, Dante couldn't help but be dazzled by the whole thing.

The environment had clearly been made envisioning a training place. Throughout the room were a few doors, which presumably would lead to a resting place and bathroom.

Without uttering another word, Isaac walked over to an arena that stood in the middle of the large room and turned to Dante.

"Come along, boy. We will do your training in this room. I hope you are fully aware of the amount of resources that will be invested in you. Don't waste them, and don't waste my time."

As if he didn't already put enough pressure on himself, now he would still have to meet the expectations of others. Trying to focus on the opportunities that were offered in return for this, Dante walked over to where Isaac was standing.

In a square, the floor was a dark brown wood.

When Isaac sat cross-legged, Dante took the cue and sat down as well, in front of his new master.

What kind of Qi did he have? Being a Slayer, Dante thought he would certainly be above gold. Were all Slayers in the realm of the sovereigns? One more drop to the sea of questions that loomed in his mind.

"Now, I want you to show me what you can do. When there is a switch of Qi type, control often needs to be relearned. Channel what you can between your hands in this way."

Isaac began to emanate a kind of warm energy from his hands, which condensed into a circle in front of the boy. What surprised Dante was not the strength of the Qi, but the absence of any special kind of energy emanating. The control required to do this was far beyond anything Dante could do at the moment.

Before practicing the exercise, Dante needed to ask some questions.

"Hey, what's your name?" Dante asked. It was best to start with the basics.

Isaac sighed. He was so unaccustomed to this that he hadn't even remembered to say his name to his new student.

"My name is Isaac, young one."

Dante took the time to observe his master better. The Slayer's skin was dark, and his white hair was arranged in a small ponytail.

Trying to regain focus, Dante tried to better understand the situation. "is it common to have these monster core exchanges? I have never heard of it happening before."

Sighing, clearly showing his impatience, Isaac replied, "No, it's not. It's very rare. Whoever must mediate the change is someone very powerful, and the type of monsters, both the old and the new, must not be totally incompatible. In your case, there was a change from a normal fire bird to a rarer type, so it was possible. Now, practice, boy."

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Concentrating, Dante accessed his core. Now that he had understood at least some of what had happened, he was more careful with his concentration.

His core looked, in a way, like a circular lantern. Dante could feel an energy much more powerful than his old one in there, waiting to be released.

Foreseeing the pain he would feel, he ordered his Qi to slowly flood his channels. Although it still hurt, it was much better than before. Focused on his task, he concentrated his Qi in his hands, and then tried to form a sphere.

The problem was that control had never been Dante's strong suit in Qi manipulation. According to his family, it was normal when using fire-type Qi or similar, because fire didn't need to be controlled, it just needed to be strong.

So, instead of being round, the energy in front of Dante hovered in the air in a chaotic, ungoverned shape.

"Okay, that's enough."

After looking at Dante for a few seconds, Isaac said, "I'll be straight with you, kid. We're going to have a lot to do around here. Normally, only ones that are already properly trained are accepted for the Slayer test, as a Slayer's training only enhances the disciple's path, and does not teach new ones."

Agreeing with his head, Dante looked down at the floor in shame. He knew he would have to work much harder than the others to get to the same place. It is hard to get a question right that he had never been asked before.

Seeing the boy's expression, Isaac couldn't help but feel that he was being too harsh. So far, the boy had been exceptionally kind, and receiving only incomplete responses back.

Deciding that he should at least be a good teacher in the time he had left, Isaac stood up and said, "Don't be so discouraged, I wish I had had an opportunity like you are having. Imagine starting down a path from scratch, adapting your new techniques so you can correct the mistakes of your training."

Seeing that the boy's countenance visibly improved, Isaac stood up and headed for the exit. "I'll get a knowledge stone and be right back. I know some paths that can help you. While I'm gone, I want you to do an exercise for me. Sort out which types of Qi make up your sub-type. Your Qi is a single type, but it can be separated into its bases, albeit roughly."

When Isaac left the room, Dante was more hopeful. What he was told was true. His now self was much more experienced than when he first grasped the techniques of his old path.

Deciding to put the pessimism aside and focus on the task he had been given, he focused on his Qi again, so as to project it in front of him.

The chaotic form of energy still persisted. Like a labyrinth, the bright energy danced between Dante's hands.

Trying to focus on what he felt in the Qi, Dante deepened his senses into his own energy. When he did, he felt only sparks, so he could not accurately identify which types of Qi were present in his energy.

Trying to remedy the problem in a rudimentary way, he decided that it would be a good idea to simply inject more strength into his cultivation, so that the aspects of the energy would be more evident.

Overloading his channels with the hot Qi, Dante quickly felt pain. He found it curious that he now felt pain only when he forced more Qi than he normally did.

The energy in front of him became even more chaotic, dancing all over the place. Being able to clearly feel the heat coming from the Qi, he quickly concluded, unsurprisingly, that the element of fire was still present in his new energy.

Since the flame emanating was more yellowish than red, Dante already had a vague idea of what the other basis of his new Qi might be. A guess, at least. However, even after several minutes of concentrating on trying to identify any other properties of the energy, he had no success.

After some thought, he decided it was time to try a different strategy. Closing his eyes, he ceased the flow of Qi from his hands, so that the flame in front of him quickly went out.

With his eyes closed, he focused on perceiving his surroundings. Ordering his Qi to circulate in his channels, he carefully observed the effect of the Qi on his skin, the sensations coming from every part of his body.

Then he spent some time in that trance-like state, focusing entirely on the sensations in his body. It was a strange, almost alien sensation, to feel the new energy circulating inside him.

There!

Dante could finally feel the other element in his Qi, even if only vaguely. In the areas where his body was in contact with the light emitted by the flames, he felt the Qi vibrate slightly within his channels. Light was the other element of his energy!

He can't help but feel excited. He had never seen a path that involved the radiant energy of light itself. Combined with his Qi of fire, ideas bubbled up in Dante's mind.

He was only concerned about the difficulty of using the elements in conjunction. Although Qi energy was a combination of the elements, understanding each of the parts of Qi was essential for a cultivator. In this case, fire and light didn't seem to have that much relation to each other. Fire was clearly destructive, while light should be mostly used for healing, as far as Dante could remember.

When he opened his eyes, Dante stood up and decided to take a rest. He went to the end of the room and found that his suspicions were correct. One door led to a restroom, and the other to the showers.

When he entered the restroom, he was surprised. On one chair was Isaac, his head resting on a wall, asleep.

Without wanting to be rude, Dante waited a while and sat down in the other chair to rest. His channels were burning. To continue cultivating would only mean taking an unnecessary risk crippling himself.

Exhausted from everything that had happened, it didn't take long for him to fall asleep as well. He was not sure how much time he had spent there, but from the weariness of his body, it was time for bed.