There was a child standing in front of me in an empty space. He was pudgy and wore a cheap black suit that didn’t actually fit him. I couldn’t step forward or even lift my arms. The fat kid glanced back at me and his piercing gaze felt like it would stab into me. He should have been crying. I definitely remembered crying.

“I have never been stupid.” He looked at me like I was the one who killed his parents. I couldn’t even swallow the lump in my throat.

“So why do you keep acting like I am?” He turned away and turned to mist.

I woke up panting and sweating. I couldn’t control my breathing. I reached underneath my bed and grabbed the bastard sword and hugged it to my chest as I laid on the floor. Suddenly I could breathe again. I’ve never been the type of person to dream. Maybe flashes of color or something like that, but this… That was definitely me.

I hit my head against the wall lightly as I leaned up against it.

I’m not stupid. I don’t think I’m acting like I am. I just can’t handle all the things going on. I thought the stress would go away if I smiled and kept moving forward. I glanced down at the ring on my middle finger. At this point I was considering chopping the damn thing off. My grip tightened on the scabbard. Obviously that was a bad idea. I touched the pommel to my forehead and put the sword back underneath my bed.

It was still the middle of the night but I went outside anyway. The workspace felt like sacred ground in a way. The little fire danced in the moonlight. I sat down next to it and sighed heavily. I reached outwards and felt the fire on my fingertips. It didn’t burn me anymore. At first I only felt immune to fire when I went into trances but now I was having trouble remembering the last time I fell into a trance. I was still immune to the fire though. Now that I knew about the blessings I considered the possibility that it was somehow related. More importantly it seemed that the language comprehension was one of the blessings as well.

“I suppose you can’t tell anyone if I share my secrets with you right?” I watched the flames wrap around my hand.

“I can’t quite say I’m lonely, since everyone is so nice, but I’m still not really part of this world. I feel like I’m alone in that way.” The fire danced a bit more as if it was responding to me.

“Now that I know there might be more like me I don’t know if I should try to find them or run away from them. What if whatever happened to me isn’t like the blessings that they got? What if they just kill me with whatever super powers they have?” I sighed as I felt the warmth of the fire in my palm. It wasn’t something I could control. Andre had told me that the only power he got was an inspection ability but I have seen enough anime to know that it could probably become a cheat ability.

I took a deep breath. I knew something was happening to me. My senses had been getting sharper every day. I had always been strong but now I felt like I could crush stones in my bare hands. I smiled at the smoldering fire. I did my best to sense every part of it. It almost felt alive. A strange sense of a flowing river went through me and the fire seemed to shrink away. I let myself be carried along and matched my breathing with the flow. Slow and steady. I pulled my hand away and stopped trying to control the flow. I felt a tingling sensation in the bones of my right hand. I glanced down at the ring on my finger and it had a light glow. I picked up a chisel from the workbench and gestured towards the ring. It almost felt like it was being absorbed into me rather than the ring. I then pulled it out and put it back in its place.

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I began to smile at the sky. It might not be much, but this was the first time I had used the ring. It was something.

I turned back to the fire.

"I suppose I owe you one." I said as I grabbed a teardrop shaped crystal that seemed like it was made of liquid fire from the coin pouch I kept it in. I held it above the fire and shattered it between two fingers. It was a good thing I had always controlled my strength. I might actually hurt someone if I didn't pay attention now.

My theory was confirmed that it would go off like a firecracker if I burst it. The fire seemed to merge with the one in the forge and a form began to take shape. It wasn't quite humanoid but it seemed to be trying to maintain something similar. I froze for a moment. The little sprite reached out towards my hand and hugged the fingers. I patted the things head while hiding my fearful expression. Or at least I did my best at both.

I might have fucked up.

__________________________________________________________________

Bai Xiu sat in the herb garden. Her breathing was steady as she felt the spiritual plants around her. She hadn't realized how much she learned before. Even trimming the garden helped her step lightly. Every step she took she felt like she was following the same patterns. Not in a boring way, more like she already knew the path to take.

The boy that she met before was suddenly her sparring partner. It was enjoyable, and the large foreign man that was teaching them a foundation technique was nice, if rather talkative. His ridiculous 'Rules of Fighting' didn't make any sense, and half of them seemed to be made up on the spot. Though she certainly understood rule number one. Try not to fight. When she really thought about it she didn't know if she could actually hurt someone so she would probably follow that rule.

Her sparring partner was certainly strong. Wang Hu was an entire realm higher than her. Luckily, when they practiced they weren't allowed to use internal energy. He even had an elemental awakening. She had never heard of such a thing until she came here and now she had met two people that had done it. Her teacher hadn't told her much about them. He simply laughed it off, saying that if she was lucky she would know soon. She didn't really care that much. Though she did think the fiery red hair of the woman that called herself the local guard captain was quite interesting. She idly imagined what she would look like with such red hair. It didn't seem fitting.

She was pulled from her thoughts when she smelled tea. Her master was sitting on the bench against the house with two cups prepared. She stood up and brushed off the dirt on her robes before taking a seat next to her teacher. He watched the small garden with her while the moon shone overhead.

"How does your foundation feel?" He continued to watch the garden.

"It doesn't feel like much has changed." She took a sip of the tea. If it really mattered he would say it directly. He smirked and nodded into the distance.

"I suppose you wouldn't be able to tell." He set down his cup and sighed.

"The technique you are learning is very strange, and I don't know the extent of that strangeness yet." He almost looked apologetic.

"It doesn't care about element or affinity, it doesn't even care about your spiritual talent. I had thought you would react like the Wang boy did, but you are developing something else." He looked at her intently and she felt the light touch of his spiritual sense.

"He developed a whirlpool of energy instead of a normal core. You on the other hand have created something I've never even imagined." She looked at Xinyi sideways.

"You have created a solid bead." He looked at her with an incredibly serious expression. She had no idea what he was talking about.

"When you develop your energy pool it will usually resemble a pond. Once you have reached the upper realms that pond will develop into a lake, or even a sea." He gestured outwards.

"Yours is completely solid. I have no idea what it will lead to, so I want to give you a choice. This will be the last chance you have to change your foundation technique." Bai Xiu sipped her tea as she listened. She didn't have any trouble wielding her energy when she chose to. She also sort of liked the technique. She had never felt stronger every day before. She liked that she could feel the results of her training.

"I want to keep doing it. Instead of a lake I'll just make a continent." She continued to sip her tea. Xinyi's eyes went wide before he began to laugh with his hearty chuckle.