《Prime Magus of Earth》


 Lost Sight, New Vision

    Suddenly, I was in my apartment, sitting on my couch looking at my brother. My twin. He had longer hair than me, tied into a ponytail, but looking at those green eyes was always like looking into a mirror.


    Leaning slightly to the left, I could see the three girls as they followed him into the room. They''d playfully been called Max''s harem back in school. I was the only one who knew it was purely platonic between them.


    Alice, with her blond hair and blue eyes was as pretty as always. From her clothing, it looked like she was into soccer this week.


    Mary, her long brown hair hiding her equally brown eyes from my view. She was pretty as well. I could also see that she was hiding a rather large book behind her back, though I couldn''t see what it was about.


    Rein bounced out from around the others and stood in front of me "Sup Alex, gonna come with us?"


    Go with them...? Where? Oh...wait...there was some kind of festival or something. Max wanted me to go with them. I appreciated the thought but he knew I didn''t like dealing with large groups of people.


    "Ah...not really, I have a book I want to..finish..." I felt my words come to a stop as I began to wonder why this all seemed like it had already happened.


    Then a light began to shine, coming from the floor. It was silvery and gentle. What was strange was that it appeared right below Max.


    The light quickly spread until it was under the three girls as well. Time seemed to slow down as I looked at the light. It was strange, I could almost see that there were symbols within the light, forming a large circle around them.


    Even though I knew it was a mistake, I reached forward anyway, attempting to reach into the circle and pull someone to me.


    The silvery light flooded towards my eyes, forming one large word. For a second, I saw lines of weird symbols pour towards me, then there was a bright flash.


    feltit begin to move. That feeling was familiar. It was the same feeling I used to get when I was nervous about talking to a girl or felt like I was going to get in trouble. Butterflies in my stomach.

 From the Earth comes Knowledge. With Knowledge comes Magic!

    <div>


    The rate at which it changed into the yellow color of the wisp was very slow as well. From what I''d managed to find out, by listening to videos my parents found for me, was that the energy inside of a person was known by a lot of names, Ki, Chi, Qi, Prana. However, I was unable to find anything about the stuff that was outside of my body, the blue fog. When the wind blew, I watched as the blue fog moved along the air currents. It could only enter the body when it was breathed in and it seemed to go around objects.


    Those same objects, however, were also filled with this fog. From what I could tell, the blue fog didn''t leave objects either, it held the shape and didn''t even leave when it was broken.


    It seemed to follow the same principles of solid, liquid, and gas.


    But I still couldn''t figure out what it was.


    So now I was sitting in my parent''s living room, using meditation techniques to try and understand what this Ki was. Every time I breathed in the blue fog, my body would save a very small amount of it. After an hour or two, it would have vanished and the yellow wisp had grown by a small amount.


    I thought that by using meditation, I could hold more of the blue fog in my body. It was kind of right, but the amount I managed to hold was negligible.


    What was worse, this morning when I woke up, I''d found that the yellow wisp had gotten smaller. A little examination of the yellow lines that stretched out from it revealed that it was actually being released through my extremities. It wasn''t at a constant rate though.


    It was connected to how much I acted during the day. Hard exorcise would expel more of the wisp than just being lazy. When the wisp was nearly gone was when I was the most exhausted.


    I focused slightly at the blue fog faded away, revealing the more stationary fog within the coffee table. I touched it before standing up. I''d banged by knee on the table more often than I was proud of.


    It was somewhat easy to move around as long as I was able to see the blue fog inside of objects. The constant focusing and focusing on different blue fogs caused my head to hurt, but it was worth it to not run into things. I felt around for a moment, grabbing the walking stick my father had carved for me shortly after returning home.


    It was useful for when I went on walks, they helped me clear my head when I thought to much on this Ki stuff.


    "Mom, I''m going for a walk!" I called towards the kitchen where I could see her wisp moving about.


    "Alright, be careful!" I smiled when I heard the worry in her voice. She hadn''t been too happy about me walking around outside on my own, still wasn''t, but with my father''s help we were able to convince her to let me go out.


    It wasn''t like I walked around randomly. My parents lived in a suburban area on a large island, but there was still plenty of forests to explore. In my childhood, I used to follow the trail out behind the house often enough. Even blind I can still follow that trail.


    Stepping out of the house, I took a deep breath of the fresh air and sighed before I began to walk. I used my walking stick to make sure there were no stones or roots in front of me as I walked. After the first couple of times I tried walking this trail, I''d gotten a bit of an understanding where all the little traps were.


    I often thought of my brother and friends on these walks. The funeral had been nice enough, though with an empty casket it was surprisingly more morbid than if there had been bodies. Because of that, the dream I''d had in the hospital kept playing over and over in my mind. I wasn''t sure what had happened, but I was sure that event was what had allowed me to see what I could now see.


    Whether it was a twin thing or just a gut feeling, I was sure that Max was alive. I had no reason to believe so, I just did. I didn''t mention anything that was happening to me though, I didn''t need to worry my parents more than they already were.


    As I walked, the sounds of leaves blowing in the wind soothed my mind. Simply walking was a great way to empty my thoughts. I''d always been told that I thought to much about things, worried. I''d latch onto an idea and get carried away by it.


    I stopped suddenly, looking around. What was that? For a second I''d seen a flash of color among the blue..There! A flash of yellow moving across the ground.


    Using my walking stick to guide me, I headed after the color. Going off the path was a bit dangerous for me, but I couldn''t stop my curiosity leading me forwards.


    Damn my curiosity! I was scratched by a tree branch I hadn''t noticed. I needed to move slower but the light kept vanishing constantly. I stumbled forwards slightly and reached out to catch myself on one of the nearby trees.


    Directly ahead of me was a thin yellow line, similar to the lines that were inside of my body. I say thin, but it was about as thick as a finger. It stretched ahead of me, going farther than I could see. However, the tip moved, sliding across the forest floor. It passed by near me and I leaned down to touch it and found my hand coming into contact with a tree root and dirt.


    It was under the ground? I then pulled my hand back, realizing what I had just done. It could have been something dangerous, a snake or something and I just tried to grab it. Though...it was a bit too long to be a snake now that I thought about it.


    Instead of paying attention to the moving tip, I decided to follow the rest of it. It definitely lead somewhere.


    A couple of seconds of walking and I paused. Moving my walking stick around I found that there were no trees nearby. I could also feel cold air coming from ahead of me, in the direction where the yellow line was going.


    Moving forwards a little, I tapped my stick against the ground, hearing something different than dirt "Rock?" I cocked my head to the side and continued to move forwards.


    It was a cave. I made sure when I placed my hand on the cave wall, feeling the cool stone "I didn''t know there was a cave here" I mumbled to myself. Still, the yellow line continued on so I followed, ignoring the image of an angry bear that popped into my mind. I didn''t think there were bears here anyway.


    Still...


    I moved a little bit quicker. Coming around a bend I gave a soft gasp. Ahead of me was a yellow wisp, bigger than any I''d ever seen before. It was...beautiful.


    As I walked towards it, my stick suddenly hit something hard directly in front of me. My hands explored and I found that I was touching a large boulder of some sort. It was blocking me from touching the yellow wisp.


    Observing the wisp only told me so much, in addition to the line that left the cave, I could see many lines of various sizes stretching throughout what I assumed was the boulder. Unlike myself though, the yellow wisp never lost pieces of itself. It seemed contained within the boulder.


    As I watched the wisp, a new line formed reaching in my direction. Strangely enough, my own wisp responded as I watched a single line reaching towards my hand become much thicker. At the same time, the rest of my body turned slightly numb.


    It was interesting, like I''d figured out before, the yellow wisp was tied to my physical health. Without it being evenly distributed across my body, parts of it lost feeling.


    ''Wait! Stop, that isn''t right'' I berated myself ''I''m losing feeling in my body and I am just calmly analyzing it!?''


    What the hell was wrong with m..me...


    Energy. Lots of it suddenly flowed into my body. I felt like I was being looked at, like nothing in my body was hidden. Turning my eyes towards where my hand met the boulder, I could see the line from the boulder and my own had met.


    "Interesting" a voice echoed in my head, like I was thinking but not of my own free will. The voice sounded deep yet...feminine?


    "Very interesting. A human? I''ve never spoken to your kind before. How have you come to find me?"


    I was about to answer before I felt the energy in my mind. It was so...calming, yet I was slightly worried about this...entity digging around in my mind. The energy was familiar though. My eyes widened when I realized why. My own wisp felt like this, I just hadn''t noticed until I felt a foreign wisp. They felt the same yet different.


    It was like I just knew which was mine and which was...hers?


    "Your eyes are quite special. Connected directly to your...what do you call it? Ki? An apt name for your life energy" I felt the voice pause as it spoke "I apologize if this seems aggressive. My kind do not converse this way. Your...mind would not handle it otherwise, I had to make sure I would not kill you"


    I was able to get flashes of information, but when I tried to get more, it made my mind hurt "Thank you for your consideration" it was strange trying to think towards someone or thing or..."What exactly are you?"


    There was what I could only describe as a chuckle "I am a living being, same as you. But I feel that you mean my kind. I am Gaian, we are of the stone and earth."


    "Another race?" I thought towards her. How? My mind buzzed as I tried to understand just what this implied "How long have your kind been here?"


    "Since before your kind was sapient. We are very old beings young Alexander"


    I blinked at the mention of my name before I chucked. Of course she knew my name, she''d been digging around in my head not that long ago.


    "I am sorry if I disturbed you. I saw your...Ki?...and followed it. It was the first I''d ever seen that wasn''t in another person"


    Another chuckled filled my mind "No disturbance. I hadn''t expected any being to follow my Ki, but it is a pleasant surprise. We are an inquisitive kind, new knowledge is always welcome. But it seems that I may have knowledge you seek"


    I had plenty of questions and I was happy she was willing to answer them "What is this Ki exactly? How can you move it so easily?" even though I could follow the lines, I couldn''t move it like she had before.


    "Control. My kind refer to Ki as Life Energy. It is what gives all living beings life, you, me, the others. Since it is your life, it is yours to control, you simply have to want it enough. To my knowledge however, humans have had very little success in fully controlling their energy.


    This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    They have even less understanding of how to increase it. The knowledge you have gathered is interesting but flawed. The techniques are not for increasing your Ki, but for using what you already have"


    I nodded, this sounded right to me. I could barely keep any of the blue fog inside of me. Oh! The blue fog "What is this blue fog that surrounds us?" I asked.


    Oddly enough, I felt confusion coming from the Gaian before I felt her Ki begin to probe my mind once more "I see. You can see it. Most beings cannot see it or even the Ki of other beings, only their own. Your eyes are certainly unique. We do not have an exact name for it, as it is simply what it is, Energy.


    By exploring your thoughts and knowledge, I have found another word that may help you understand. Mana."


    Mana? Like with wizards and stuff? That was...interesting. My head was beginning to hurt for an entirely new reason. This was all a bit difficult to digest. Ki and Mana, life and energy. Other races on Earth. I shook my head. Then I thought of something. This Gaian knew so much more than me, maybe...


    "Can I ask you to look at a memory of mine? My brother and friends were in an accident, the same accident that made me blind...but I''ve thought about it constantly and something was strange about it" if this being could see my thoughts and use words he understood, maybe she could also see what he''d seen.


    "I can attempt it. You must hold the image of the event in your mind so that I may easily find it" I nodded and closed my eyes, more of a subconscious action at this point. I focused on that moment, the moment the light appeared under my brother and friends, the words that appeared before I was thrown against the wall.


    At the same time, I felt the Gaian''s Ki begin to explore my mind.


    I was in a mountain. Deep underneath the surface of the planet, tendrils of my energy stretched out and touched others, learned what they learned. I saw the world. Distant lands. I saw a forest become a desert. I saw flat land become a mountain.


    I saw apes. I watched them move on all fours and eventually walk on two legs, I watched them develop tools and explore their world. I watched them settle down and war. So much war. Peace and happiness, hardships. Love and loss.


    What curious creatures these humans. Living as quickly as they could.


    A young human touches me and I feel his Life Energy. It is curious, I am curious. I reach forwards and it follows suit.


    I understood. This human had made his first steps into understanding Life Energy, all on his own without help.


    "Interesting"


    I blinked before touched my face with the hand that wasn''t touching the boulder, the Gaian. What had happened? It was...like I''d been...living for a long time. I saw the world. I saw more than I''d ever before. It was...amazing.


    "To see your memory, I had to allow you to see my own. I am satisfied that you did not lose consciousness. It seems that your meditation was not entirely unproductive. You have unconsciously increased your own intelligence using Ki Arts. Impressive."


    "Ki Arts?" I asked her, still trying to get my thoughts back to normal.


    "Something I am only familiar with in passing. Ki Arts are the manipulation of your Ki to improve your physical attributes. The original name is more complex than that, but I believe the term Ki Arts is sufficient"


    I nodded "Like when martial artists break through boards or do amazing feats of acrobatics"


    "To a degree. Your planet is not the only habitable one. There are some races out there that have gained control over their Ki to an impressive degree. They visited this planet some time ago, introducing some of their techniques to your ancestors. It seems the techniques you discovered may have been diluted versions of those techniques."


    I sighed. Humans learning amazing stuff but being unable to hold on to all of the knowledge seemed common place "So what did you discover in my memories"


    "You spent far too much time in your room" I blinked at that before laughing.


    "Was that a joke?" I asked. I hadn''t expected the calm voice of the Gaian to sudden introduce a joke to me.


    "An attempt. As we have never conversed with humans, Gaians have thought a particular way for as long as we have existed. Touching your mind has opened new...venues to explore. Your question though. In your memories I saw something very interesting.


    You were correct in assuming that your brother and friends were not dead. The symbols that appeared with the energy belonged to a Deity"


    "A Deity...you mean a God?" was she saying that a God did something to my brother and friends? First aliens, now gods, this was getting out of hand.


    "In a way. A Deity is a living being just as you or I. They have reached the point where their Ki now permeates every cell of their body. From the knowledge we have received from other beings, they are capable of using great amounts of what you would call ''Magic''


    In times of trouble, a Deity will allow their world to call for a champion. In response, the Deity will summon a ''Hero'' to defend their world"


    Oh no. I sighed softly. It wasn''t like it was something unheard of. Humans had stories of that happening all the time, but of course that was fiction.


    "Your brother and friends were chosen to be heroes of another world. You weren''t. The energy deemed your actions as interference and responded accordingly in an attempt to eliminate you"


    "It tried to kill me? Damn that is harsh" I frowned at that. It seemed I got off lucky with just ending up blind. It could have been much worse.


    "Knowledge shows that Deities rarely care for more than the worlds that worship them. Your brother is a Hero, by my understanding, they will be treated well."


    Well, that was comforting at least. It was all very cliche, but if they were safe, I wasn''t going to look at it too unfavorably. Though that Deity or whatever was going on my shit list. Stealing my friends and family and even trying to kill me...well, I wasn''t sure what I was going to do to a God, but this Ki stuff sounded like a good start.


    "Magic. It is really possible?" I asked.


    "Very possible" I watched as a second line of Ki grew from the boulder and down to the ground. I watched as it interacted with the Mana of the cave ground, the blue fog seeming to shift before it turned a purplish color and shot upwards next to me.


    I flinched slightly before extending my free hand and touching the energy. What my skin met was cold stone "Oh...I get it! You used your Ki to move the Mana of the stone into what you wanted" I was a little surprised that I got it so quickly but I figured it must have been because I was still connected to the Gaian.


    "Exactly. Ki is the essence of life and reacts to your will. Mana is simply energy that exists. With enough Ki, anything is possible"


    I smiled wide. No matter who they were, everyone wanted to be able to use magic in their lives "Can you teach me?" I was eager to learn, more than eager.


    "Yes, however you are incapable of learning" the voice shot my hopes down "You have no basics in controlling your Ki, understanding how to produce the effects of magic will be difficult. First, you must prevent your body from losing Ki or your efforts will never gain results"


    How did I do that? I''d attempted to do something with it, anything with it, but I''d done no more than gained a little bit more Ki from the Mana "How?"


    "You have already moved forwards. You were incapable of understanding the feeling of your Ki before. After meeting me, you have gained an understanding of the differences between the two, even though they are the same energy. All you need to do is practice. Continue absorbing Mana as you have before. It is growing late, you should return home before you worry your parents"


    I was still on understanding Ki. I understood what she was saying though, even without looking at it, I could tell exactly where the wisp in my body was, I could even feel the main lines that ran from it to my limbs. It was like being aware of your fingers and toes when you otherwise moved them without really intending to.


    "Wait, it is late? How do you know?" despite being able to see Mana inside of objects, I was still oblivious to the day and night. Changes in light could only be told from the warmth on my skin. Unfortunately, we were in a cave.


    "Yes, I can tell because I have interacted with the Ki of the trees, just as I am doing with you. With you, it must be willing as you are Sapient. Trees, and plant life in general, however are only at the beginning stages of Sapience, without any true understanding of what they are.


    I''m able to feel that the sun has began to set through the leaves of the trees. Before you ask, yes, when you have understood more of your Ki, you will be able to do the same"


    I nodded before bidding the Gaian goodbye. She had to break the connection, I didn''t know how. When she did, my body slumped to the ground as my Ki righted itself and spread back to the rest of my limbs. I hadn''t realized, but she had been keeping my body energized while the connection existed.


    Given the size of her Ki wisp, I couldn''t imagine how powerful she was. Mine was still only the size of my finger nail and it already let me simply function as a human. I wondered just how much I could do if I had more Ki.


    I grabbed my walking stick and struggled to stand. I felt like I''d been exorcising non stop for several hours. In a way, I have. My Ki had done something it had never done in my entire life.


    With slightly unsteady steps, I headed home. Fortunately, I was able to find my way to the trail, with a little help from a yellow line of Ki moving under the ground.


    Every day simply brought more questions, but now I had a teacher and a goal. Magic!

 Magic Training. Things are Getting Dangerous.

    I think I hate meditation. It is a skill that is easy to learn and hard to master. I was currently sitting in my room, on my bed, with my hands on my knees as I attempted to meditate. Meditation requires a person to completely empty their mind of all thought. I just had too much to think about. I''d oddly already accepted everything I''d learned. Ki, Mana, Magic, Aliens, other Worlds, it all was pretty interesting.


    My problem was my own Ki. According to the Gaian, my meditation was a good place to start. I had to figure out how to keep my Ki from leaving my body.


    I''d actually had some small success in that direction. Now that I knew the feeling of my own Ki, I could focus on it. I''d followed one of the lines to my index finger and found that with a bit of focus, I could stop the Ki from flowing out of my finger. It was a bit like placing my finger over a hose. The Ki didn''t want to be stopped, but I managed to stop it.


    Unfortunately, the hose was full of holes. Stopping the Ki from leaving my finger only stopped it there. If I was right, it actually increased the spill from my other extremities.


    Stopping the Ki from leaving every where else required me to be aware of all of my extremities at the same time. It was at that time that I noticed something disheartening. When there was no where normal for the Ki to leave, it began to seep out of my pores. That was much harder to stop. It''d taken me a day and a half to just stop it from leaving my hands!


    If Heroes and other worlds, and magic existed then why couldn''t this have been like one of those fantasy stories where I got a game screen that made everything easier?


    ...


    ...


    No ding. That was disappointing. Oh well, the hard way it was.


    Stopping the Ki from leaving my body was actually the easy part. However, it required my absolute focus, if I slipped on my control, even for a moment, it would flow out of me at an increased rate until it was back to it''s regular flow. Another thing I found, it was painful holding the Ki in. My skin and bones ached. As I watched the lines, they would expand at a very slow rate, a millimeter every four hours by my estimate.


    Given how small the lines were, it would take years for it to grow to a worrying size. At least at the current size of my Ki wisp. If I were to keep meditating, I might be able to increase the size of my Ki wisp and thus the rate of size increase for the lines.


    But! I couldn''t meditate and keep hold of my Ki at the same time. So I didn''t meditate. I focused on keeping the Ki inside of me. At first, I could only do it while sitting and not moving. Moving broke my concentration. Sleeping also broke my concentration. Every time I went to sleep, I would lose my control and by the time I woke up, it would be back to square one.


    A month. I did this for a month. During that time, I got to the point where I could hold it in while I moved around, but everything I did was impossibly slow. Sometimes while eating I would suddenly stop because I was too focused on my Ki.


    I often went to talk to the Gaian, mainly to complain and get some pointers on what to do. She wasn''t much help.


    "My kind possess very little ways for our Ki to leave our bodies. We are stone, we enclose."


    It wasn''t any help. It was one of those things that was just figured out. Eventually, I did.


    I''d read some stuff in the past, about martial artists who were capable of training their bodies to respond to a threat without their conscious mind having to think about it. They just reacted.


    I think Ki is like any other bodily function. It can be trained. One morning, I woke up as usual, moved to the bathroom and began taking a shower. I felt...amazing. Better than amazing. The shower felt amazing, little drops of Mana striking my skin, I felt at peace.


    It wasn''t until I got out of the shower that I realized that I hadn''t started my Ki control again. When I focused on my Ki, I found that it was already being held back. That was why I felt so good. My Ki was no longer struggling to break free from my body. If I focused more, I could see the faint yellow outline of my hand as the Ki moved along the insides of my hand, seeming to be barely held by my skin.


    Every movement of my body felt smooth, like I was a machine that had been well oiled. I could understand. For all my life, this energy had been small and it had even been slowly leaking out of me. Now, it was being contained and nourishing my body. It was like I''d always been in the desert without knowing it and now...


    I laughed, a solid hearty laugh.


    After I was dressed, I sat on the bed and took up a meditation pose. A single breath in and a single breath out.


    I could feel Mana now, not in the way I would feel other things, not even my Ki. It was a soft hum in the air, pressing against my skin and exciting my Ki. When I breathed it in, I felt my body react to it, the small lines of Ki in my lungs latching onto the Mana and holding it there.


    The amount it could hold wasn''t much, but it was still a new sensation. I could feel it as the Ki began to slowly refine the Mana into new Ki for my body.


    I was suddenly struck with an idea. Every time I''d spoken with the Gaian, I lost feeling in my limbs when the Ki from them was drawn to create the connection. I wondered if I could do the same thing now.


    I focused on the Ki in my feet and drew it towards the Ki wisp in my navel. Then I redirected the Ki towards my lungs in thin lines. In an instant, I doubled the amount of Mana I could turn into Ki. When I breathed out, more Mana remained in my body than previously.


    With more lines working, the time it took for mana to be converted into Ki was shortened as well.


    I got too eager...


    I found out there was such a thing as too much Ki.


    As I was meditating, simply feeling the Ki and Mana interacting, my stomach suddenly began to heave and the Ki wisp within my stomach went wild, sending bursts of energy through my limbs. I was suddenly feeling sick as I moved to get of the bed and fell to the floor because my feet wouldn''t respond. I''d kept the Ki from them for too long and now I was paralyzed! No wait...they just fell asleep.


    Then I threw up. On my floor. Apparently I could also expel Ki through my mouth as a lot of the excess Ki I had gathered was immediately sent out of me as well.


    This was my first experience with Ki Poisoning, something I learned from the Gaian after the fact. Absorbing more Ki than my body could contain was very dangerous. I was lucky I was a novice, my inexperience resulted in the excess Ki being evicted from my body. Had I been any better, I would have unconsciously held it in and died.


    Well, for the first time I was thankful for being shit at something. At least I knew my limits. I had to wait for my body to adjust to the amount of Ki I had. It explained the pains I''d felt before.


    After the feeling came back to my feet and I''d cleaned up the mess I''d made, I decided that I needed some fresh air.


    Holding my walking stick, I observed the mana within it. I wondered if instead of mana, I could replace the mana with my Ki, but a quick look at my own Ki and I realized that I didn''t have enough to do that. It was a thought for another time though.


    The view outside was much more colorful. With the increase to my Ki as well as my control, I could see more than before. It wasn''t a lot, but I could see the Ki in the trees and plants. An animal that ran passed me also had the smallest flicker of Ki as well.Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.


    It was pretty amazing. We were all so different, shape, size, color, but we all held the same type of energy within our bodies. I looked to my left and saw two wisps. It was strange but...I knew they were my parents, even who they were individually. If mana felt like a hum, their wisps felt like the sun''s warmth.


    "What are you two doing out here?" I asked, smiling towards them.


    "Enjoying this nice afternoon" my mom said, and I could hear the smile in her voice.


    "How did you know we were here?" I still couldn''t see, so my dad''s question was the right one. I couldn''t just tell them that I saw the life giving energy within them and knew them instinctively.


    I gave a soft laugh "You know what they say about being blind, all your other senses get better" this was truer for me than they probably realized. The change in my Ki had also increased my senses, I could smell new things and my sense of touch was better. I could feel the moment the wind shifted before it began to blow "I could hear you two breathing"


    "I see, that sounds cool, are you going for another walk?"


    I nodded at my mom''s question "Yeah, I want to figure out what I am going to do. I can''t just stay here forever" among the meditation and Ki control exorcises, I had been wondering what I was going to do with my life.


    My major goal was to learn Magic from the Gaian. After all, it is magic. But I wasn''t sure what I was going to do in the meantime. From what I gathered from her memories, she could reach me no matter where I was on the planet so it wasn''t a problem if I went somewhere else.


    "Maybe I''ll go to Tibet?" I wondered "I''ve been kind of enjoying this meditation stuff I learned, maybe I''ll spend some time with the monks there" learning about this stuff on the internet was only half as effective as learning it from the people.


    My father stood up and walked over to me, placing his hand on my shoulder "We''ll support you in whatever you decide to do" he said softly.


    I wondered what they thought of me. They''d lost one son, maybe they thought I was lost in grief and this meditation stuff was a way of dealing with it. Perhaps it was.


    Nodding, I headed down the path. Maybe I should have said more to them at that time. But I didn''t know what I was going towards.


    "Things are changing Alexander. You are changing."


    I was standing in front of the boulder once more, my hand pressed against it''s surface. This sounded ominous "What do you mean things are changing? Some apocalypse isn''t going to happen is it?"


    "To my knowledge, no. It is not unheard of. At the moment, there are no signs of such an event" the Gaian''s voice echoed in my mind "I anticipated your success with Ki control and I have enlisted the aid of a Deity who owes my kind a favor"


    A Deity...that didn''t sound so good. After all, it had been a Deity who had taken my brother and blinded me.


    "Do not worry. This Deity is different from the one who damaged you."


    "Right. I''m much better than that one" I made a face at the voice that appeared behind me. I didn''t want to turn around. It sounded like a little girl.


    But turn I did. What stood in front of me was...awesome. It was a solid yellow person, the same yellow as the wisps, except I couldn''t see anything wispy about this one. Since I''d been blind, this was the first time I''d seen another person. I could make out golden yellow eyes and flowing golden hair. It was like staring at a statue of golden yellow energy.


    I was right, it was a girl, but it wasn''t a little one. I was nearly six feet tall and this woman stood at least a head taller than me.


    "Sup." the woman nodded her head to me as her voice changed to be less...godly I guess. It also raised up to the voice of an actual woman.


    "This is..." in an instant, I felt the Gaian digging through my mind once more. It was a familiar sensation. For the most part she had conversation down, I rarely noticed any change, but this once again informed me that the way she spoke to me and the way she thought were probably very different. Every so often she had to search for a word or phrase that her kind did not know.


    "This seems accurate. This is Artemis, or at least the name your people gave her"


    "Artemis...as in the Greek goddess?" mythology was always my favorite subject, though I''d never considered it.


    "Exactly. Got you with that high voice bit too" she grinned at him. It was weird being able to see someone, even if they were completely yellow "I know what you are thinking. Artemis was supposed to have less than good relationships with men. Humans exaggerate, though I''m assuming you know that already.


    Some things are right though. In my world, I am worshiped as the Goddess of Challenge, your people picked up a few things when I visited before my ascension to a Deity. I was asked to come here and put you under some strain. Unlike the Gaians who posses a nearly infinite lifespan, you have a limited amount of time to learn this stuff"


    I''d figured that out before. From what I''d learned from being connected to the Gaian, their concept of time was really stretched out. They even passively absorbed mana and turned it into Ki. It had taken me a month just to control my Ki.


    "A humanoid being is much more adept at teaching a humanoid being. Artemis possesses the necessary abilities to give you a challenge. To my knowledge, humans develop the most in conflict"


    "So I am going to give you some conflict. You already have the understanding you need to use magic right?"


    I frowned at that as I tried to remember if I''d received any instruction of using magic. Right, it was the act of using your Ki to change mana into the form you wanted it to be.


    The goddess smiled at me before grabbing my hand "Lets go" she said before the world shifted around me. At least I assume it did, the only inkling I actually had that my surroundings had changed was the sudden pull of mana on my body as well as the connection between the Gaian and myself breaking.


    "Where are we?" I asked. I could feel sunshine on my face as well as the wind so I knew were were outside of the cave.


    "Olympus" Artemis said "It''s been left untouched on your world for some time so there isn''t much damage. Magic is useful that way. Same reason you humans haven''t found it. I can train you here without being disturbed"


    She touched my forehead and my eyes began to burn. I tried to flinch away but I found myself unable to move. I could feel her Ki enter my body. That small thin stream was greater than my entire body''s worth.


    Then she released me and frowned "I can''t fix your eyes. It is so bound to your your Ki that I''d need to destroy it to give you new eyes" she sighed "Can''t do that without destroying who you are though"


    I gave a sigh of relief at that. A being like her could crush me with a blink. I''m glad she didn''t.


    "Also, you''ve been looking right into my eyes for some time now" she said looking him in the eyes "I was told that you had special eyes, but you are definitely blind right?"


    I nodded "I can only see mana, ki, and the interaction between the two"


    She looked surprised "And every cell in my body is made of Ki" she covered her chest "I wish I''d known that"


    I rolled my eyes "Your clothes look like they are made out of Ki too, so it isn''t like I can see through them" she was wearing what I''d imagine a huntress to be wearing. What I''d expect a ranger to wear, though it was as yellow as the rest of her.


    She shook her head "You are no fun" she said before shrugging "Alright, first things first, we will teach you the basic magic. Moving stuff."


    It sounded like telekinesis. Cool. Moving stuff with my mind would be neat.


    She pointed ahead of her and I watched as a single strand of Ki left her finger and raced through the air. It hit something and slowly surrounded it. It took me a second to realize that it was a rock.


    "Moving things is the simplest magic because all it does require is making your Ki interact with the Mana of an object. Once connected with the mana, your Ki can move it like it is part of you" she flicked the rock towards me. It struck my shoulder making me wince.


    "Simple as if you''d just picked up the rock and thrown it" she said grinning.


    "Why didn''t you then? It seems as if you could save Ki just by moving stuff physically" I said rubbing my shoulder.


    "You could with a small rock. But the interaction of Ki with Mana enables you to ignore weight to a degree equal to your Ki level. With my strength, I could move stars"


    "Deities have limitations as well?" I asked. That was news to me. Yeah, she could move stars, but I would have thought that a god could move galaxies or even universes.


    "Of course. Our bodies are capable of producing Ki in every single cell, however our strength is set as a constant. We can''t train and get stronger than we already are. It is why we go to worlds and become ''Gods'', mortal faith has more power than you know"


    I nodded and looked down at the rock that had been thrown at me. Kneeling down, I picked it up in my palm. I moved a line of my Ki towards my palm and gently allowed it to leave, touching the Mana of the rock. Upon leaving my body, it quickly dissipated into the surrounding ambient Mana.


    Artemis chuckled "It isn''t that easy you know. Without your body to hold it, the Ki quickly returns to it''s original state of Mana. You have to hold it in it''s form"


    I frowned "So after a month of training my Ki to stay in my body, I have to now train it to stay out of my body?" I asked.


    "Pretty much. Life isn''t easy. It is always a struggle to take even one step forwards. You think I was always this powerful?"


    With a sigh, I used my walking stick to find a good place to sit down and play with my Ki. The thought that I was probably surrounded by beautiful architecture crossed my mind. After all, supposedly I was in Olympus at the moment. The beautiful home of the Greek Gods resting upon a mountain.


    Magic may help me find a new way to see. So, I focused on moving my Ki, sighing as I watched it disperse into mana again.


    I did that for a while until the surrounding air began to cool off. The sun seemed to be going down. I didn''t mind though.


    At least until I heard the wolves.


    Conflict, right.

 Dances with Wolves

    "Stupid wolves" I grumbled as I pulled myself up onto the top of a nearby pillar. The physical exertion took less of my stamina that I thought it would, but I attributed that to my Ki control. My body handled energy better, I was a bit more efficient. Of course that didn''t really help me in my current situation.


    I looked down at the wolves as they circled my pillar. Three creatures made of purple energy. What was freaky was that their teeth were visible because the magic lines flowed through them. Just what I needed.


    I''d managed to stuff a couple rocks in my pockets before climbing up, but I wasn''t sure what I was supposed to do with them, throwing them would do nothing more than piss the wolves off. I pulled out a rock and held it in my palm, moving my Ki into it before watching it fade away again "Damn it!" I grunted as I redoubled my efforts.


    I wasn''t entirely sure she''d actually kill me with these wolves. It was possible that they were just here to motivate me...unless she could put me back together...


    Oh shit. I looked at my Ki and realized something. My Ki was the source of my life, it was possible she could safely contain it and just put it into a new body, perfectly the same as the one I already had.


    Yeah, that wasn''t happening. I wasn''t going to let these wolves tear me apart to satisfy my own curiosity. I buckled down and focused more on making my rock float.


    After an hour, especially after a few of the wolves jumped halfway up the pillar, I managed to make it float. Artemis didn''t show up then either.


    "Am I supposed to...kill them?" that was a new thought. I hadn''t really considered that using magic would also mean I would have to kill something. I''d thought that at most I''d learn some magic and use it to amaze people, make some money to fall back on.


    The idea of killing another living creature felt a bit wrong to me. I was the type of person who felt bad for catching a fish.


    While I was thinking of these things, the pillar began to shake violently. Looking down, I could see the wolves were doing something new. New wasn''t good.


    They were ramming themselves against the pillar.


    ''It''s solid right? It won''t break right?!'' I began to panic slightly. These wolves clearly didn''t have the same thoughts as me, they didn''t have any problem with killing me and they were damn well going to achieve it.


    I shivered and held up my rock, focusing the Ki into it. The rock began to float lightly, wobbling a bit as it levitated above my hand. What I could understand about this was that it wasn''t really magic, more like moving something with my Ki.


    ''I wonder if...'' I focused on my Ki inside of the rock as it floated around with the mana. Slowly, I focused on changing the mana with my Ki, to stretch and move the rock. I began to see the sparks of purple appear within the rock.


    POP!


    "Wah!" I almost fell off my pillar when the rock exploded, sending pieces in all directions. I felt a few pieces scratch my face, warm blood beginning to run slightly. They weren''t deep, but they hurt. I was lucky they didn''t go into my eyes. I could have ended up blind!


    I then began to laugh at my own joke, at the absurdness of my current predicament. I was just lucky the rock wasn''t bigger or I would have died instead.


    I pulled another rock out of my pocket and sat perched. I decided to focus on moving the rock first. The rock exploded because the Ki, Mana, and newly created magic all reacted badly. I''d seen the mana and ki violently expand outwards away from the purple colored magic. It was like oil, water, and fire all compressed into a popcorn kernel.


    Maybe there was some kind of conversion rate? Mana turned into Ki when absorbed by the body, but...was there another reaction? Could Ki outside of the body turn Mana into magic?


    ''I should think about this after I am out of danger'' I thought as I felt the pillar shake. The sound of the rock exploding had only temporarily scared the wolves off.


    I watched the rock as I used my Ki to gently spin it. It really was like moving a part of my body. At first it had felt like my hand after I''d leaned on it for too long, fuzzy and slow to respond. But after I got better at using the right amount of Ki, it became as easy as breathing.


    Spinning and twisting, I could even make it revolve around my hand. It made me think of the way Artemis had used it. She''d thrown the rock hard enough to hurt me, my shoulder still hurt when I touched it.


    I began to spin the rock above my palm faster than before. As I spun it, I began to push the rock forward and using my Ki to pull it back at the same time. A feeling of pressure began to build up, like pulling a rubber band taut.


    Suddenly a wolf appeared in front of me. My brain kicked into overdrive and I released the Ki that was pulling the rock back. It shot directly into the open maw of the beast. There was a squelching noise and then a crack as the wolf was blown back. I felt a wet warmth hit my face as it dropped towards the ground.


    I was breathing heavily as adrenaline rushed through my body, my Ki going wild before I began to suppress it''s activity. I slowly calmed down as my Ki did. I''d never known a rock could be so powerful. Looking down, I could see the body of the wolf, the way the magic in it''s body was slowly dissipating into the surrounding mana confirmed that it was dead.


    The wolves howled. In rage, in mourning, I didn''t know, but I did know that they increased their efforts to bring down my pillar.


    I didn''t have time to worry about killing something as I had more pressing concerns. Mainly how the wolf had gotten this high. They''d tried to jump up before, but hadn''t managed to reach me.


    "Oh shit. Ohshitohshit!" I watched as one of the wolves backed off before taking a running start. Then it jumped onto the back of the other one. The second wolf acted as a spring board and sent the first high into the air...towards me.


    I didn''t have enough time to build up the speed and pressure to fire another rock as the wolf struck the upper portion of the pillar, it''s teeth snapping at me. Fortunately for me, their work towards destroying my pillar worked against them.


    The impact caused the pillar to begin tipping. I braced myself as the pillar fell to the ground. Just as it hit, I jumped forwards, rolling across the ground.


    "Ow" I groaned as I stood up. No time to lick my wounds, I could hear the wolf coming after me. A quick glanced revealed that the wolf that had been on the pillar with me was pinned under some rubble.


    I quickly pulled out a rock from my pocket and began to move away from the wolves, even as one was chasing me. I wasn''t going to get far, it was much faster and stronger than me, I just needed the distance to give myself some time to build up the pressure.


    It was a bit harder now that I was on he move, but I was able to get the rock to spin just a few inches away from my palm.


    By the time I had enough pressure, the wolf was on me. When I turned to fire, the wolf''s teeth bit into my arm, causing me to lose control of the rock, sending it flying off into the air.


    "Fuck!" I cursed, both in pain and despair. From a distance, the wolves had looked normal. They were large, like flat screen tv large. I was fortunate that my arm wasn''t instantly severed by the head that was bigger than my chest.


    What made it worse was that the wolf began to swing me around, sending a burst of pain through my body. I couldn''t think straight, all I could do was fight like an animal. My free hand''s fingers dug into it''s face and eyes. My Ki flared up, reacting to my desperation.


    My I placed my hand to the top of it''s head, Ki surging towards my palm and into it''s head. I imagined the rock as it exploded, fought against the magic in the wolf''s body.


    With a deafening crack, I was blown back away from the wolf as it released my arm in it''s own pain. I hit a large rock or pillar, I didn''t know. Looking forwards I could see the headless body of the wolf drop to the ground "Oh" it hadn''t released my arm, I''d blown it''s head up.


    I looked down and blinked "Well...that...isn''t good" I mumbled, seeing that the Ki I''d grown used to seeing only stopped halfway down my arm. My arm hadn''t been released either.


    I could feel my body losing strength. I was sure I was going to pass out, the first thing I did was focus my Ki towards my stump of an arm. I focused the Ki around the area where I was losing blood, stopping the flow. It was part of my body, I could at least keep it from losing blood. Then I was gone.


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


    ''Adapt. Devour. Grow''


    I floated in darkness. That was unusual. I''d gotten so used to seeing blue and yellow that the darkness was actually startling.


    My arm hurt, but when I attempted to move I felt that I couldn''t. Like all of my energy was completely gone.


    ''Consume. Hunt!''


    What was that? It felt like my thoughts but at the same time it felt like it was coming from outside of me.


    ''Protect. Defend. Guard.''


    This voice, first it was all about attacking and killing, now it was about protecting. Then my arm began to burn, an agonizing pain that blocked out anything else.


    ''Live. Live. Live. Live.'' over and over I could just hear that one word. The voice soon stopped sounding as if it was coming from outside of me, booming in my head with it''s repetition. A noise so powerful that it filled my mind, blocking out everything, the pain, my own thoughts.


    Then I was awake, staring at the constant blue of the surrounding Mana. I blinked for a few seconds, trying to figure out exactly when I''d woken up. I didn''t remember.


    Slowly, I sat up and rubbed my head. I''d hit it pretty hard but I couldn''t feel any open wound, just dried blood. How long had I been out? I looked towards where I remembered the wolf being but I couldn''t see anything. Either something else had taken it''s body or the magic in it''s body had vanished completely.


    "Ow!" I pulled my hand back from my head. One of my nails had scratched me. I needed to clip them when I got the chance.


    Wait...


    I looked at my hand. It''d definitely been my right arm that had been ripped off. I definitely remembered that. I gently touched my arm with my other one.


    "Woah...what the hell?" it felt really fuzzy. That wasn''t good.


    I focused my Ki, moving more of it into my arm, gasping in surprise as the outline of my arm appeared once more. However, it was different, the yellow outline showed something weird. It was the same size as my other arm, but there was thick...fur. Further down at my hand revealed sharp claws where my nails should have been.


    "Seriously, what the hell?" I slowly stood up, feeling better than great. I did a few hops and swung my arms around before walking forwards to where I''d last seen the wolf''s body.


    It was still here. I could feel the thick fur and it was the same as the fur on my arm. The only thing different was the fact that it was also missing an arm. What happened? Did someone graft it''s arm onto me? Was it Artemis? All of the wounds I''d received before were fully healed as well.


    I flexed the fingers of my new hand and frowned. It felt exactly the same as my old one, aside from the claws and fur. The wolf''s arm had been twice the size of mine and now that it was mine, it was the same size as mine. There were some obvious changes too. An opposable thumb for starters. The fingers moved much better than I imagined a wolf''s would.


    That voice in my head...what had it been?


    I looked at my Ki wisp and saw that it had nearly doubled in size. That was even more surprising than my new arm. I knew how hard it was to increase the size of my Ki. It was now as big as my thumb.


    A level up? What defeating monsters made me stronger? That didn''t make much sense.


    I noticed something and raised my nose, sniffing the air. I could smell everything. I knew increasing my Ki would also enhance my senses, but this was amazing. I turned and followed the scent. I found what it was, the last remaining wolf. It was still alive, pinned under the pillar it had caused to fall.


    I flexed my wolf hand slightly as I watched it struggle to free itself. Then it noticed me and began to growl.


    Frowning, I pulled out another rock from my pocket as I walked closer to it. Before it could bite me, I grabbed it''s head, pressing it towards the ground. It tried to throw me off but given it''s position and my sudden increase in strength from my Ki increase, I was able to hold it''s head down.


    As I began to spin the rock in my palm, I stretched the Ki in my hand towards the wolf''s head. The second I touched the lines of magic inside of it, I blinked. It was interesting. I understood some things about it. It wasn''t a creature created by magic, it was an actual wolf. The magic I could see was some kind of...controlling energy.


    As I followed the energy to the core of the creature, I found a single wisp of yellow energy surrounded by all of the purple. The second I touched, it, it exploded. Energy burned through me and the purple lines seemed to be burned away by the Ki.


    I was forced to move away, dropping the rock I''d been spinning, but I noticed that a thread of Ki was still attached to the wolf. No matter what I did, I could move the Ki.


    "Master"


    A voice. It flowed through the single line of Ki that connected me to the wolf.


    "Help. Master" It wasn''t entirely articulate. From what I could tell, it could only convey certain words. For a second, I wondered if this was what the Gaian had heard from my mind. Her intelligence was much greater than my own.


    Slowly, I walked towards the wolf. It didn''t growl at me this time, just watched me with surprisingly intelligent eyes. I looked at the pillar resting on it''s body and gripped the edge. Slowly, I focused my Ki into the pillar. It was slow going though. It was much bigger than a rock.


    In combination with my Ki control and my own physical strength, I was capable of barely lifting the pillar allowing the wolf to scramble out.


    I quickly let the pillar drop and moved away from the wolf, watching it warily. These creatures were smart. Their lack of communication skills aside, they were smart enough to knock down my pillar and use each other as ways to jump up to me.


    But it quickly rolled over, presenting it''s stomach to me. A sign of submission. I got this from the mental signals it was sending me. I''d seen dogs do this before as well. A quick look confirmed that it was female.


    I walked over and stood above the wolf, looking into her eyes before she looked away. I gently knelt down and touched her stomach, gently scratching it.


    "Stand" I commanded the wolf and she immediately stood back up. Damn these wolves were huge. Her standing height was just a little less than my full height. Touching her side revealed powerful muscles and a few injuries, mostly from the pillar landing on her. A quick observation revealed that she was already beginning to heal, her Ki was focused around the damaged areas.


    It seemed it was an instinctive thing. I''d done the same when my arm had been removed.


    The wolf sniffed the air "Not. Home" her thoughts surprised me. I''d thought Artemis had changed them, but then it made sense that she''d bring her own world''s creatures here. They were probably easier to control than the animals of Earth, none of which had decent Ki to use.


    She seemed to have completely suppressed their will with her power. Deities. Seemed all of them were messed up, even if they acted polite.


    I watched as the wolf moved around. She found the body of the first wolf I''d killed and sniffed it.


    I sent my feelings of remorse towards her but she disregarded them "Fought well" she said before sending me thoughts of food.


    I was sure there was plenty to hunt. No humans, but animals always found a way to places "Go, hunt" I said to her.


    With a burst of speed, she took off. Considering that she was still injured, it was impressive how fast she was. I didn''t have to worry about losing her. No matter how far she went, the thin thread of Ki showed the direction she was.


    "Cool. I''ll have to ask about this when Artemis comes back" I said softly as I began to collect more rocks for practice. I had a feeling that the wolves weren''t the only creatures I''d be dealing with. If the wolves were the first wave, what was next?


    I stubbed my toe against a piece of stone as I was moving about "Damn it...were is my stick?" with all the excitement, I''d dropped my walking stick somewhere. I was actually surprised that I hadn''t fallen over anything when I''d been running away from the wolves before.


    I decided to not look to closely at my luck and went off in search of my stick, using my Ki to play with the rock in my hand while I did so. Constant practice was necessary. I hoped to be able to move multiple rocks before the next enemies showed up. A cold wind swept past me, causing me to shiver. I''d forgotten that night had been falling when the wolves attacked, I couldn''t keep going all night, the more exhausted I got the faster my Ki was used up. The last thing I needed was to be out of energy when I was attacked again.


    After I found my walking stick, I''d find a place to stay the night. It was Olympus, so there had to be some buildings around.


    In the distance I heard a howl and smiled. It seemed the hunt was a success.

 Fighting is Surviving. Bathing is Living!

    Goblins. Different stories had different descriptions for them. Some made them cute, some made them hideous, and some made them practically human. In my blind opinion, they reminded me of Gremlins. I couldn''t tell what color they were, but I could see that they had big pointy ears and were only waist high on me. They actually had Ki in their bodies and didn''t seem to be controlled by Artemis this time.


    In my observations, I found that they had small versions of weapons. There were four of them, one with a bow, one with a sword and shield, one with a spear, and one with a staff. Though small, something about them made me wary so I kept my distance until I was sure I could handle them.


    I named the wolf Vivian. It seemed...right. In greek mythology there was a woman named Vivian who was the child of Artemis and Hermes. Considering that she came from Artemis'' world, it was only right to give her a name like that.


    With Vivian''s help, I was able to keep a close eye on the Goblins. She knew of their kind, calling them bad tasting. It was better to use them to cover one''s tracks than to consume.


    From the way they moved, they were intelligent, most likely Sapient given that they moved in a group. I watched them for a week, it seemed that they had set up camp in an old pool house on the other side of Olympus. With Vivian''s nose we were able to figure out that they rarely went a great distance from their camp, spending time patrolling instead of exploring.


    I wasn''t an expert on combat, but I was pretty sure they were setting up a base of operations, meaning that they hadn''t just appeared here one day. They''d come from somewhere and others would be following them. Vivian couldn''t find out where they''d come from and I couldn''t see any changes in the mana.


    There was a need to get rid of them before reinforcements could bolster them. As I didn''t know when they''d show up, I had to do it soon. Of course, in the week watching them, I hadn''t been slacking off. I could now spin three rocks around my hand, it had even become a habit to do it while thinking. Ironically, it was a way to relax.


    I''d also found that I could lift rocks at least the size of my fist, though only one at a time. Rocks the size of my thumb were as easy as breathing. I''d even perfected my firing technique, capable of ''loading'' the three rocks around me. I could embed a pillar with a single rock.


    After examining Vivian, I''d found that I''d gotten extremely lucky in killing the other two wolves. Their fur and skin were as hard as stone, a lot of their Ki went into defense. The first wolf had been unlucky enough to get a single rock through it''s mouth, killing it instantly. The second one had just underestimated me and my Ki control. Similar to the rock, I''d caused it''s skull to explode.


    My new arm also had similar defenses...at least when I imbued it with Ki. Something that was natural to the wolves was more difficult to me, especially because I used my Ki for controlling rocks. If I made the defense of my arm increase, I could only lift one single rock. To my knowledge, it would only be useful for close combat. The claws would become sharper as well when imbued with Ki. I could save it as a last resort.


    I did need close quarters combat practice though. My eyes were set on the sword Goblin. The sword it carried was longer than I''d expect for it''s size, but it''s strength must have been higher as it was still capable of holding a shield. That sword alone could cleave me in half.


    My second target was the one with the staff. I could tell that it was a mage by the way the mana twisted around it.


    "Vivian" I said reaching through the line that connected the two of us "It is time to hunt" she sent me an affirmation that she was already in position. She was going to be my ''tank'' as she was tougher and less likely to die in a confrontation. I also needed her to be a distraction.


    I first needed to take out the archer. That was the current danger. I knew what an arrow could do. The mage was a second danger as I wasn''t entire sure what capabilities it had.


    With a burst, Vivian appeared near the bath house sending the Goblin''s into a frenzy of movement. The archer was the lookout and it called the others to battle. I''d been hoping to catch them sleeping as it was currently day, but they seemed battle ready the instant the archer called out.


    I hopped down from my perch and moved forwards. I''d learned the terrain the past week and I knew where every place I could hide was as I got closer. I ''loaded'' the first rock as I got closer. The goblin group had already moved into formation, the spear user behind the sword user, covering it''s blind spots so Vivian couldn''t get a good hit in.


    When she attempted to attack the spear user, the shield user guarded and used his impressive strength to push her off. Given her giant size in comparison to them, it only made me more conscious of preventing the Goblin from touching me. Even I couldn''t easily defend against Vivian.


    The archer Goblin was in the back, though it was in front of the mage. Whenever it began to take aim, I''d give Vivian a quick warning enabling her to defend her eyes.


    I crept up on the two Goblins in the back. The mage was the most curious. As I got closer, I could hear that it was mumbling to itself, though I couldn''t make out the words. What really set me on guard was the staff, it glowed with Ki instead of mana like my own walking stick. This creature had managed to imbue it''s Ki into it''s staff. As I watched it, the Ki spread out from the staff, gripping onto the mana in the air and squeezing it tighter.


    It was compressing the air and at the same time, I could see the mana within he bubble of Ki begin to twist and boil as it slowly began to turn purple. Well, I didn''t know what kind of magic it was using and I was not going to let it finish.


    I pointed the my primed rock towards it''s head and fired. With a solid and fleshy thump, I watched the rock pierce into the mage''s head. It was nice to know they didn''t have much physical defense. Unfortunately, I didn''t know much about magic.


    I knew a bit now though. From my observation, the magic didn''t just vanish into the air. The Ki bubble around the mana didn''t disappear. Of course. Ki was intent, the desire to do something. The mage had already began the process of the attack.


    That was what the mumbling was for. It was an incantation, probably a way of focusing it''s Ki. I''d been told before that most beings couldn''t see Ki and Mana like I could. I could see the cause and effect.


    However, I could see the Ki beginning to break down. Without the mage, it lost the driving force behind it''s power. However, the magic was still in effect. When the Ki vanished, it was going to activate.


    I moved forward and stretched my hand out, my own Ki moving forwards and touching on the Ki bubble. Foreign. It felt off, wrong, not of me. But without the constant influx of new Ki for it, it was like a hot air balloon without fire.


    Information flooded into my head. The Ki''s intent. Compress the mana and ignite the air.


    Of course! Ki interacts with mana, gives the normally inert energy purpose. A purpose unique to the substance it lies within. Compressed air with the purpose of rapidly expanding can create an explosion!


    With a few tweaks however...my Ki quickly overwhelmed the dying Ki and encompassed the mana. With an understanding of the relationship between oxygen and fire, with the mana as fuel...the bubble of mana quickly turned purple and I knew the spell was ready.


    Like pushing a rock, I pushed the bubble forwards as it was compressed to the size of my fist. The unseen bubble rushed between the three remaining Goblins as I ordered Vivian to retreat.


    As I turned to run, the Archer turned to fire at me, now noticing that the mage had been killed. It fired and I flinched as I felt the arrow pierce through my heart, falling to the side just before the arrow struck the ground next to me.


    The hell?! Quickly checking my chest and finding no wound, I got up and continued to run just as an explosion of heat appeared behind me. The shockwave sent me flying forwards. I rolled across the ground and looked back towards the goblins to see various pieces of Goblin Ki around the explosion zone. That had been more devastating than I''d realized. All power and no control. I''d need to practice more.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.


    I suddenly felt my limbs grow cold and looked towards my stomach, seeing that my Ki wisp had shrunken back down to half it''s original size. It''d recover in time, but that single bit of magic had taken a lot out of me.


    Oh shit. The goblin with the sword survived, though his shield didn''t. Damn, these creatures were smarter than I thought. It''d used it''s shield to defend itself at the last moment and now it was pissed. Slowly, I stood up and focused what remaining Ki I had into my right arm, feeling the hair and skin tighten, the claws sharpen.


    As we moved closer to each other, I could tell that the Goblin was wary of me. From what I''d just done, I was a mage, but I was taking the initiative to get closer. It must''ve been very confusing. Vivian was coming to aid me but I held her off for the moment.


    I needed the practice. My mindset was changing in this place. To survive, I had to grow stronger.


    The Goblin moved first, swinging it''s sword at me in a diagonal motion, aiming to cut me across the chest. It seemed sluggish, stunned by the previous explosion and I was able to side step the attack. Then it''s eyes suddenly sharpened, becoming visible to me through Ki and I was cleaved in half from my waist.


    I stumbled back in pain before realizing that the sword had missed me by an inch, cutting into my shirt. What the hell? It was just like the arrow before.


    Now I could see it, just as it dissipated, I could see Ki coming off the edge of the sword''s blade. I hadn''t been paying attention to the sword. I''d been watching the goblin instead. As the fight continued, I paid a bit more attention to the sword. Every swing was accompanied by a small burst of Ki. The Goblin didn''t seem to be aware of this. Every time it attacked, Ki would surge to it''s extremities and eyes. It seemed...instinctive.


    Was this true for all warriors? Did they train their body so much that their Ki just learned where they wanted the it to be? The eyes for noticing enemy movement and the limbs for quick reactions. As the sword is attached to the hand, the Ki is naturally transferred to the weapon as for them, the weapon is an extension of their body.


    Then why was I being hit and then fine the next second? Oh...every swing released Ki. It reminded me of when I''d first started using Ki, it left my body whenever I performed an action.


    This Goblin, probably all of them, didn''t have Ki control. Because my Ki wasn''t seeping from my body, my body was more sensitive to Ki coming at me from the outside. I was able to perceive the attack as the Ki reached me before the attack did.


    Was this Killing Intent? The feeling of wanting to do harm? Maybe...


    After the next attack from the goblin, I threw a single punch with my normal hand, loosening my control and releasing a burst of Ki with the punch.


    The Goblin responded by side stepping the punch, Ki racing through it''s body. It didn''t expect my other fist striking it''s face, sending it backwards.


    Interesting. I was right. Unlike me, who was simply sensitive to outside Ki, the Goblin was a warrior. His body was probably sensitive to Ki that wasn''t his own. A punch expelling Ki was like sending off an alarm to him.


    It had been so focused on my punch that it neglected the one not giving off Ki. Guess there weren''t too many people who used that kind of feint in Artemis'' world. Well, I''m guessing that it was a low ranking creature.


    As the Goblin was struggling to get up, I quickly fired a rock through it''s skull.


    I then sat down right where I was and sighed as the adrenaline began to wear off. Then I cried softly, rubbing my face. I mildly freaked out. What had I been thinking!?


    Not only did I ignore my previous plan when I saw the magic being cast, I even attempted to use it for my own? What the hell was my problem?! Then I actually went into combat with the sword wielding Goblin? I could have died!


    "Damn it!" I growled as I felt the excess Ki receding back to the wisp "That is what it is!" whenever I was in a fight, the Ki surged through my body like a drug. It even reached my brain. It changed me, making me smarter and colder.


    I''d killed the mage without even thinking about it and shifted my attention to it''s magic. Even know, I was beginning to analyze my thoughts. I couldn''t stop it. Had I always been like this, even before becoming blind?


    I''d stayed in my room and read all the time. When my brother and friends came to get me to do things, instead of having fun, I''d figure out the best way to do whatever it was we were doing.


    It scared me though. I was afraid I''d start looking at others and figuring out how to best kill them. I slowly stood up.


    I decided to make a vow to myself. Not to kill others unless they came at me with the intent to kill. Creatures like the Goblins were definitely here to kill me, that was the whole reason I was here, to get beaten and become stronger.


    Looking around, I spotted something. Walking over, I picked up the mage''s staff, it still glowed with Ki, but I could see the yellow slowly becoming blue once more. I could now feel the Ki reaching into my brain. I was aware of it...but it was useful.


    The Ki in the staff, without it''s controller, was now slowly converting back into pure mana. In games and stories, the heroes always picked up enemy weapons and used them for themselves. Maybe this was how. The Ki enabled it to be only used by the one who the Ki came from. After they were dead, the Ki lost it''s meaning and slowly turned back into mana.


    I could use magic without a weapon, at least from my earlier experience. Maybe it had something to do with their lack of Ki Control. They couldn''t keep the Ki from leaving their bodies naturally, so they developed items and weapons for containing it, or maybe a method of doing so. Just as it held mana without letting it go, the staff could hold Ki as well. In exchange, it became easier to use magic by having the Ki in the weapon interact with the mana.


    It was funny because I''d had a similar thought of using my own walking stick the same way. Originally, I''d thought about filling the stick with Ki, but from what I was observing in the staff, it would be easier to slowly convert the mana into my own Ki instead of replacing it. I felt kind of stupid for not thinking about it sooner.


    If I could do so inside of my body, there was no doubt I could do it outside of it.


    I shook my head and began to collect the weapons. The sword and staff mainly. The bow was surprisingly intact, though the arrows weren''t. It was fine a bit regrettable, the bow was to small for me to use. The sword was shorter than a full sized sword, but longer than a knife.


    Vivian carried the weapons back to our camp, a rather large hall, possibly a dining room for the so called ''Greek Gods''.


    Meanwhile, I explored the bath house. It was much warmer than I realized and didn''t smell as bad as I imagined it would with four Goblins living in it. I could hear the sound of water as well. Moving forwards, I knelt down and felt hot water, not too hot.


    "Of course, a bath house...but why is the water still so hot?" I wondered just as Vivian returned. I looked towards her "Vivian, how does this water smell to you?" I asked through our connection.


    "Clean" she answered and I scowled. Clean, warm water and we''d been drinking from rain water caught in a bowl like rock. Of course.


    As I moved around the edge of the bath, I found it to be quite large, like an open air bath. I also found what felt like a drain. A grin split my face "Vivian, lets take a bath!" I called as I walked over to her. She looked at me in confusion.


    "You are covered in cuts and wounds from the fight. We need to make sure they are clean" I pointed towards the bath "Get in" I made sure to change it into a command so she couldn''t say no.


    With her tail between her legs, she climbed into the bath with a loud splash. I could feel the hot water enter my shoes, which had been growing ragged by the day.


    I slowly got undressed, not at all bashful in front of the massive, intelligent, female wolf. Nope. Didn''t even make her turn around...


    My shirt was practically ruined. The fight with the wolves a week ago had caused me to suffer a few tears and the most recent fight left the back of it mostly burnt, with my back feeling sun burned. In my combat ready state, I hadn''t noticed the few cuts I''d received from the sword before. Now that I was examining them, and pulling the blood soaked shirt from the wounds, it hurt like hell.


    I explored them with my fingers, a rather large one cutting across my chest, before moving on to my pants. They''d fared a bit better, they weren''t as burnt, but they were ripped up in a few places from when I either fell or got blown away.


    Still, they''d be useful in maintaining my dignity while fighting.


    Once in the nude, I jumped into the bath and gave a deep sigh of pleasure. This was awesome! I hadn''t realized just how much I missed taking a hot bath. I''d only been here for a week, but it''d felt like a month. First the wolves and then just the next day the Goblins had shown up. Of course, I was expecting more Goblins in the future, but I could take this time to relax.


    As I sat in the bath, soaking, I focused my Ki around the areas where I was hurting. They healed a bit faster that way. I''d be fine in an hour or two. It amazed me how fast I healed now. While I did so, I also took the time to meditate, slowly regaining my lost Ki.


    Afterwards, I cleaned Vivian. Dirt and blood matted her fur, of which I still didn''t know the color of and she couldn''t tell me. Wolves apparently didn''t assign names to colors, more focused on surviving than the aesthetics of the world.


    Still, I got her clean and her fur nice and smooth afterwards. She was pleased, feeling more comfortable. A good cleaning always raised the spirit.


    I even attempted to teach her how to meditate. She picked up a little, increasing her own Ki recovery rate, though she wasn''t able to completely relax her mind. Wolves lived in a sort of minor alertness. They never truly let their guard down. Doing so would mean the death of the pack.


    After we were both clean and pretty much healing, I cleaned my clothes. Mostly my pants and shoes, but I ripped up my destroyed shirt and cleaned the scraps. In a time of emergency, it''d make a nice set of bandages.


    I was really eager to begin practicing a little magic, more than just moving rocks around. If I could figure out how to create fire with magic, then I could have properly cooked meat. For the past week I''d been eating raw meat like Vivian. My Ki enhanced body could handle anything that would make me sick, but it still wasn''t pleasant. I really wanted salt too but I''d have to make do with just cooking the food.


    Before leaving the area, I made sure to gather the Goblin remains and bury them with Vivian''s help. There was no need in treating the dead poorly, even if they had been my enemies.


    The next day, more Goblins showed up. I wondered if it was set to only let them through when I killed all the previous monsters?


    Boy was I wrong.

 Growth of Olympus

    The next couple of weeks was pretty standard. It was mostly wolves and Goblins at first. The wolves didn''t attack us often, especially with Vivian around. Wolves respected boundaries set by other Wolves, especially when there was an abundance of food. As long as we didn''t enter their territory we''d be left alone.


    Same for them. Those who entered our territory were scared off and those who fought were killed. I got a bit better at using magic. I knew how to compress air and even create a small fire, but I couldn''t figure out how to bend other elements to my will. I needed to experience other types of magic first, meaning that I needed to fight more Goblin mages.


    It didn''t go well a few times. As more goblins began to show up, they began to get stronger. Some fights Vivian and I could easily handle, she''d distract while I took them out from a distance with my rocks. If it got dangerous, I could even explode them with the magic I could use.


    Other fights however almost cost us our lives. Hobgoblins were a thing. They looked similar to Goblins, but they were much taller, about the height of a fully grown man. Even the Hobgoblin mages had strength equivalent to the Goblin warriors. I was fortunate that they didn''t travel in large groups. Most hobgoblins seemed to be leader types.


    But they were strong, they could easily handle Vivian alone and if they were with a group of Goblins, it was nearly impossible to attack them. The first time we did, Vivian had gotten a large slash across her side from a Hobgoblin warrior. At the same time, it ordered the other Goblins to deal with me. Without Vivian acting as a distraction, I could handle that many Goblins.


    The archers would prevent me from using magic and my rocks while the warriors and spear goblins would prevent me from getting close. My side and shoulder were punctured by spear and sword slashes.


    Fortunately we were saved by a pack of Wolves. There was a certain kinship among wolves, even if they fought over territory. I was just lucky to be connected to Vivian or they would have left me to die.


    We spent a few days healing up after that while I revised my strategies for dealing with this new threat.


    In the meantime, we noticed a sudden influx of different types of creatures. Basically fodder, but they were magical in nature. Large bats took up residence in the tomb like buildings I''d discovered with Vivian. We''d decided not to stay there.


    Fox like creatures took up areas near the wolf territories.


    Kobolds also showed up, however they didn''t seem to care about me or the wolves. The large lizard people were nearly twice my height and packed a mean punch when they wanted. They seemed to be busy dealing with the Goblins and Hobgoblins though, some sort of species war was going on between the two groups.


    However, I was able to find a middle ground with them. I''d map out where the Goblin camps were and give it to them and they''d fight me in a duel. There was no fear of death, though the amount of time it took me to get this was ridiculous. Neither of us spoke the same language, so it was a lot of gesturing and what amounted to pictonary.


    After being there for a month, the entirety of Olympus had become a thriving ecosystem of different races. I had gotten quite proficient in combat by training with the Kobolds.


    With a flick of my wrist, I knocked the Kobold''s blade away with my Ki hardened right arm while I brought my left forwards. With a sudden burst of magic, I sent a pulse of condensed air into it''s chest, pushing it back. The duel had been won and I bowed in respect to my opponent.


    The Kobolds wouldn''t share their magic though, so I had to be content with these training sessions. I was thankful for that though. It was good experience for dealing with creatures bigger than myself. I also had to watch out for that tail of theirs. It was crazy fast and hit like a full body slam.


    They even gave Vivian some experience fighting groups of armed individuals. The female wolf was quickly adapting and her Ki wisp was growing steadily as I taught her Ki control. I''d noticed a change in her shortly after she learned to keep her Ki from leaving her body. Her movements became more controlled, more fluid.


    It often made me realize that losing Ki from your body made you use excessive movements in anything, burning even more energy. Over the past month, our food consumption had actually lowered as we learned to conserve the energy we had. I was even growing my hair longer, though my beard was kept trimmed with my sharp nails.


    While I was incapable of using other elements at the moment, my control over air and fire grew. I could turn air into a burst that could deal some minor blunt damage as with my fight with the Kobold warrior. Fire was a bit harder to control. Fire was an element that once given the intent of expanding and consuming, continued to do so, becoming harder to tame the bigger it got.


    After training with the Kobolds, I returned home to Artemis standing in the center of the hall "You''ve certainly been busy" she said looking me up and down.


    Again she amazed me by how she looked. After a month of seeing only lines of Ki, seeing her in her solid glory was stunning "W-Well, I haven''t had much else to do since you left me here" I said softly. Talking to a human, even a Goddess after so long was a bit weird. My shirtless state was also suddenly much more concerning.


    "To be honest, I kind of forgot I left you here. After I sent the wolves after you, I kind of wandered off to do some other stuff" she grinned at me, making me frown.


    "You forgot about me?" I asked as I ran my eyes up and down her form. I suddenly found myself examining her Ki for weaknesses, something I could exploit. But she was a solid statue of Ki. Brute force greater than hers would be required to crack her open.


    "Sorry, things were happening on my world that needed my immediate attention. Some Deities aren''t comfortable with just having their worlds, they have to invade others as well" she sighed as she walked over to me, touching my head "You have definitely gotten stronger"


    My muscles were firmer and my Ki wisp had grown to double its previous size, of course I was stronger, but that mention of her world being invaded by another Deity was a bit worrisome. I was a bit startled when her Ki swept out into the area around us "Interesting. Seems my idea worked after all"


    "What idea?" I asked watching as her Ki reentered her body. The range of her Ki had reached far greater than I''d seen since the Gaian. My own Ki lines could reach a few feet out from my body before vanishing.


    "Well, while my world was going through its problems, I couldn''t very well keep sending you things to kill. Instead, I tied this area to another world. A little sneaky manipulation of magic and I could fool that world''s deity into thinking this was a dungeon as they pop up all the time" she laughed softly "I hadn''t expected it to thrive this quickly in such a little time. If you continue to survive, I may use this area to train my world''s warriors"If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    Vivian chose this time to appear with our next meal. When she saw Artemis, her hackles rose up and she dropped the strange-looking fox creature from her mouth, growling.


    I reached my mind out to hers and calmed her "She is a...friend" I said smiling at her.


    Artemis looked surprised "What did you do to this Moon Wolf?" she asked as she examined Vivian "I thought you''d killed them all if you were alive, but this one seems...different than normal" her Ki dived into the wolf. It took her a moment but she quickly found the connection between the two of us "Oh, I see. In a moment of desperation, she locked onto your Ki to save herself, forming a companion link" she turned to look at me before looking towards my arm.


    "I thought that your arm looked a little too fuzzy, even for a man" she said moving over and examining my arm "This is also Moon Wolf fur" she looked at me "What happened after I left?"


    I quickly explained the contents of my fight with the wolves that first night. How I killed the first wolf accidentally and the second wolf with a hasty explosion, which resulted in the loss of my arm. I also explained about the moment I woke up and found my arm the way it was now.


    "Assimilation" Artemis shook her head "You are kind of a monster aren''t you" she saw my look of confusion and explained "Ki is a living force, filled with your desires. Your desire to live, to deal with the wolves, to heal your missing arm brought forth a great desire, one that resulted in your Ki acting on that desire.


    Your Ki actually left your body and latched onto the nearest source of Ki, the Moon Wolf you''d just killed. Your desire for your arm led it to devour and absorb the wolf''s arm and then recreate it in place of your missing one"


    She laughed "Very few mortals have this happen. It requires a very strong desire to live and one that desires more so than anything else. I''ve seen some mortals fully transplant their soul into another body in a desire to continue on"


    Shaking her head, the Goddess continued to laugh "A Companion link with one of my creatures and an assimilation of one of their body parts" she grabbed my cheek and squeezed "I''d love to make you my champion, the Hero of my world. Unfortunately, I only take one champion at a time and she still hasn''t passed on" she suddenly kissed my forehead "I hope you get strong enough to become a Deity, I''d love to see what you''ll do"


    I could feel a blush build up on my face "U-um..." I shook my head to get my thoughts back into working order "When do I get to go home? I''m sure my parents are worried about me"


    She shook her head "Don''t worry about them, I did a little...reworking of their memories. They believe that you''ve gone off to do what you said, travel to find the Tibetan Monks, the Dali Lama specifically in India. As for when you get to go home...lets give it another month. I''m working on one final surprise for you" she grinned at me and tapped me on the nose "I''m sure you''ll enjoy it.." and then she was gone. I really had to figure out how she just appeared and vanished without bothering the surrounding mana.


    Still...another month. That didn''t sound too hard to do. I''d already survived one month, another would be the norm for me at this point. Besides, Vivian and I still wanted to get revenge on the Hobgoblin that beat us before.


    In the meantime, I walked over to where my walking stick was resting. Over half of the stick was colored in my yellow Ki, the energy flowing like liquid gold. I''d been afraid that it would vanish if I didn''t convert it all at once, but it didn''t change at all. The mana and Ki within the stick just acted like oil and water, never interacting. The moment I took the stick into my hands and injected my Ki into it however, the mana began to be converted into my Ki.


    This process was actually quite exhausting. It was a mental strain to not allow the Ki to go back into my body. The more and more I did it however, the more the stick became ''Mine''. I had the feeling that once it was completely infused with my Ki, I could call it to me at any time, it would be as much mine as my body was.


    After an hour of infusing, I sat down to meditate. Meditation was no longer a pain to begin. The moment I began was the moment I became one with my Ki. I absorbed mana into my body and turned it into new Ki at a quick rate. Replenishing lost Ki was always easier than enlarging the wisp or the pathways for the lines.


    Still, it was relaxing to do so. It was something that I had down to a nearly instinctive thing. With a flick of my wrist, several small rocks shot towards me, slowly revolving around my body, as if they were the planets and I was the sun.


    When I opened my eyes, Vivian was resting next to me, her large side pressed against mine. I hadn''t even realized that I''d included her in my mediation as the rocks circled around the both of us. I quickly brought them to pile up before me.


    I felt the stone underneath me and had a thought. Slowly, I let my Ki seep out of my body, letting it flow deep into the ground forming a solid circle beneath me. I didn''t attempt to do anything, just felt the stone with my Ki, what it was, how it acted, how it felt.


    It was sturdy, unmoving, unyielding. The mana of the stone and ground was much different from air and fire. It''s purpose was to hold still, to never alter itself. I needed to change that purpose with my will. I imbued it with that desire, the desire to bend itself to my while, to flow with the intent of my Ki.


    Grow upwards to pierce the air above you. That was my intent, the will of my Ki. Change the ground did, into an inch long spike, sticking out of the ground before me.


    I grimaced. I''d been expecting a much more impressive change, but I suppose that the stone was more unyielding than I understood. I attempted to reverse the process. The inch long spike was just as unyielding as it had been before, but I managed to get it back to its original form.


    Tapping Vivian''s side, I stood up and left the hall. I had to thin out the Goblin groups and I knew of a few without a Hobgoblin leader. Grabbing her fur, I pulled myself up onto Vivian''s back before urging her forwards. Her speed was as impressive as always as she leaped across the ground with sure footing.


    In short time, we ended up near the edge of Olympus, where the clouds met the land. It was funny to think that this was still Earth and yet my home planet still felt so out of reach at the moment. Despite there being clouds here, there was no way to get passed them. Walking into the clouds simply returned one to the spot they started from.


    I could see that it was magic, but it was a magic far above my expertise. However, studying the wall of clouds was not my intent this time. I''d finally found out where the Goblin''s came from.


    Near the clouds, a small doorway would open up, just enough for four goblins to come through, two at a time. It was a good hunting ground. The newly arrived goblins were unaware of what this place held. I could ambush one group and quickly remove all but the Goblin I wanted to test myself against.


    I originally used this plan to test myself against Goblin mages, perhaps even learn new magic. Alas, the only magic the mages knew was the compressed air explosion that I''d managed to learn and they were open when they started chanting. I did learn that Hobgoblins had better magic but I couldn''t get close enough to examine the magic in use before they noticed me.


    So I''d been testing myself against the others, the warrior, speargob, and archer. The warrior was good for testing my ability to judge attack patterns without using my ability to detect Killing Intent. They weren''t bad at hand to hand combat either when I removed their swords.


    The speargobs, as I affectionately call them, are a little more difficult. Their speed with the spear is impressive and unlike the warriors who attempt to deal as much damage as possible, they aim for weak points such as joints and vital organs. They aren''t above aiming for crotch shots either, assholes.


    The archers are my favorite as it lets me test my reaction time. Arrows are fired at incredible speeds and I have to be able to predict where they are aiming to either dodge or snatch them out of the air. It is good for training my telekinesis. The fast-moving projectiles are a far cry from the stationary rocks I was used to handling. To catch a moving arrow with my Ki took longer than I''d imagined and not every time was a success. Sometimes I ended up with an arrow sticking out of me.


    "Alright Vivian, let''s get the speargob this time" I said grinning as we headed towards the new arrivals. I was still a little upset about the last one''s crotch attack.


    Lets see how that bastard likes it.

 The Songbird and the Trees

    A new enemy appeared and it was probably the most difficult creature I''d faced since coming to Olympus. It was a bird. It was only about the size of my hand but the irritating little thing was faster than even Vivian was. Not only that, it had a razor like beak that would tear through stone like it was butter.


    It was also surprisingly hardy, I struck it with a rock but it didn''t do much more than stun it. What made it worse was that instead of immediately flying away, it instead spun like a top and burrowed into the nearby stone like a mole, making it even harder to get to it. It seemed to be intelligent enough to understand that my earth based magic wasn''t progressing well. Little prick...


    Water magic was progressing better, I could get the water to sway back and forth if I focused, though I could''t get it to leave the container it was in. It was different from fire that sought to expand and consume, I could direct fire to a certain extent. Water however sought to fill it''s container and was an element comfortable where it was.


    All in all, I liked air magic the best. The mana in the air was easy to move, happy to follow the slightest direction. I could make a breeze or an explosion with very little effort. I was confident that if I had enough Ki, I could make a tornado. At the moment, I could barely make a dirt devil though.


    I was beginning to understand how Ki and Mana interacted in respects to the elements. The better my body understood the movements and intents of the world around me, the better I could manipulate them.


    Water desired a container to fill, so I''d give it one. I flowed my Ki into the small pool of water before me and instead of imposing my will on it, I slowly let my Ki follow the natural flow of the water. Slowly, the Ki and Mana changed into the purple color of magic. I slowly moved my hands in a graceful motion, mimicking the flow of the water. In turn, the water began to mimic me. To water, a container wasn''t something it filled, it was something it copied.


    I became it''s container, my movements became it''s movements. With flowing movements I stood, the water standing with me. A gentle twist and the water spun around me gently.


    I smiled wide as I guided the water back into it''s previous container "I''m becoming a regular Avatar" I said with giddiness. That show had used actual martial arts as the basis for the skills. If martial arts had come from other worlds, it made sense that it had some truth to it.


    Unfortunately, I hadn''t paid much attention to the martial arts of the show when I was younger. So I had to learn it the hard way, from the elements themselves.


    I began to practice the opposite of water magic with the earth. Instead of guiding it, I needed to force it. Extending my Ki into the ground, I slowly filled and grasped the Mana with it.


    Then I waited. The earth and stone were unyielding, but it didn''t mean it didn''t change over time. It just took time. I slowed down my Ki, making it move as a snail, creeping, touching, and converting the Mana into magic.


    Years and years would pass before a single stone would change. I just needed to compress that time down into an instant.


    To the ground and to my mind Ki flowed. I remembered how it felt to be connected to the Gaian''s thoughts, to see her memories of time passing.


    I slid my right foot forward and shifted my hand upwards. I felt the ground move before me, growing into a solid wall. It felt...different than simply moving stone with Ki. There was no weight. It was not related to my Ki strength, just how much I had. If I had enough I could shift the entire world.


    The earth moved for me instead of me moving it. I brought my hands together and shoved them forwards before splitting them once more. The wall before me spread to allow me to step through.


    Then it became unresponsive. I frowned before I felt weak and dropped to the ground. Right, turning Mana into Magic also required me to lose Ki.


    Moving the earth was not an easy thing. It was quite possibly the hardest of the four elements to manipulate.


    I moved and rested against the wall I''d created. If I could keep practicing, it would give me some cover in battle against archers and mages. I still felt that I was far from separating the earth and using it as a weapon. It was better to stick to my telekinesis for that.


    After a little bit of time meditating, I headed out to explore. Vivian had noted that a small forest had sprung up in the south. That was unusual, trees didn''t just grow over night. Unfortunately it would just be me this time as Vivian had found something interesting closer to the center of the area. I was going to meet up with her after I checked out the forest.


    With a wave of my hand, my now completely yellow walking stick flew towards me, pulled along by the string of Ki that connected it to me. It was quite similar to Vivian how the Ki line worked, without the sharing of thoughts. It was more like I''d stretched a part of my consciousness to another place.


    I tapped the stick against the ground before walking in a southerly direction. It was still a little hard for me to control freely, but I could call it to me at any time. I hoped that in the future, I could use it to fight hands free. The Ki inside of the stick could be given basic commands such as ''Come'' ''Go'' ''Hit'' but I hoped to be able to lengthen the types of commands, such as defending me against attacks.


    This stick had been with me for a while, I wanted it to remain for much longer. It was a bit sentimental but I liked it.


    Traveling to the forest took a short amount of time. My physical attributes were much higher than before I''d started using Ki, I could run across a city without getting tired. If it weren''t so unfair I''d participate in a marathon when I got back. I was still at the basics as well, I could feel that there was so much more I could do with Ki. Maybe I''d be like Superman and leap tall buildings in a single bound.


    Every boy wanted to be a superhero when they were a kid, I just happened to have the abilities to do so.


    I stopped at the edge of the forest, frowning. These trees had Ki like any other tree on earth, small and common. It was a bit interesting. Everything else that had shown up this past month had been at least basic in Ki usage.


    What was especially interesting about these trees was that even though their Ki was small, they were all connected by a single thread that raced through their trunks and into the ground.


    I took a stroll through the trees, following the single Ki line to it''s source. It was an old, gnarled tree without any leaves.


    It moved.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!


    The bark cracked and the roots snapped as it pulled massive hands out of the ground, it''s legs spreading to hold it''s weight as it rose from the kneeling position it had been in. It''s eyes glowed with yellow Ki and I could feel it''s Killing Intent, even from this distance and it hadn''t even attacked yet.


    It certainly wasn''t friendly.


    I twirled my walking stick in my hands as I readied for battle. There was no other option. While I''d been occupied watching the large Ent as it readied itself, the trees around me had locked together to prevent my exit.


    At it''s full height, I could barely stand at knee height. It was easily the biggest creature I''d fought to date. The thin, spine like fingers swiped at me before I dove under the hand, rolling forwards as I began to spin a couple of rocks above my walking stick/staff.


    With a couple quick swipe of my staff, the rocks shot forwards and slammed into one of it''s legs but the wood was like iron, the little rocks barely dented it.


    "Damn" I spun the staff gently as it took another swipe at me. I jumped back out of it''s range and brought one of my hands forwards, building Ki into my palm and quickly creating a small flame. It suddenly flinched back from the flame and I grinned "Just because you are durable doesn''t mean you aren''t dry wood"


    I spun a few more stones above my hand and focused. More Ki surrounded the stones, interacting with the mana in the air. In an instant I ignited the rocks. I jumped aside as a few roots shot into the air from underneath me before I fired the flaming rocks towards the Ent.


    I was aiming for a spot I saw near it''s chest, a beating heart shaped source of Ki. It was the first time I''d seen Ki not in the shape of a wisp.


    The moment before the rocks hit the Ent, several other trees suddenly lurched forwards, pulling roots from the ground as they intercepted the rocks. It was beautiful to watch as they burst into purple flame, but they burned too quickly for healthy trees.


    Inside of them, their Ki burst forwards, speeding up the process of burning until they were nothing but ash. They''d burned themselves fast enough that the fire couldn''t spread through the rest of the forest.


    The Ent glared at me, though a grin split it''s face.


    "Fine, lets do this the hard way" I rushed forwards. A twist of my staff and I felt a gust of air appear behind me as I channeled a spell, shoving myself upwards. I focused Ki into my right arm, strengthening the wolf claws and hair before I brought it down onto the Ent as I fell on it.


    There was a solid sound as I struck it, knocking it back slightly. It fell to it''s knees just as I ran forward and clawed at it''s chest, trying to open it to get to the yellow heart.


    Several of my claws broke as I pulled a large chunk of the iron like wood before the Ent twisted it''s body and knocked me away, sending me bouncing across the forest floor.


    I coughed slightly, feeling blood leak from my mouth "Yep...definitely broke a rib" I mumbled as I slowly stood up, holding my side. I looked at the piece of wood in my hand, feeling it''s solid texture. I stabbed it into the ground before looking towards the Ent.


    "Yeah buddy, I''m still standing" I grinned as I tossed the staff into the air and slapped my hands together, digging my Ki into the ground. Time slowed down in my mind as I put the earlier practice into effect.


    Rushing forwards, I ordered the staff to hit the Ent. It dropped down just as I shoved my hands forwards, magic sending the ground upwards to grip it''s feet, holding it in place.


    I stepped up onto the make shift prison I''d created and rushed towards it''s heart, reaching my hand out to grab it before a hand reached caught me by the leg. It lifted me upwards so that it could stare at me.


    I knew it was going to kill me. I should have sealed it''s hands as well, but I''d barely had the energy to catch it''s feet.


    A shadow flashed by and the Ent''s eyes flashed with surprise before it looked down towards it''s chest. Following it''s eyes I was surprised to find that the heart was now missing. The energy of the Ent slowly stopped flowing to the rest of it''s body and it lost the light in it''s eyes. I called to my staff and it zipped forwards into my hand before I shoved it into the gaps of the fingers and used it for leverage.


    I dropped to the ground, suppressing a shout as I put stress on my broken rib. Using my staff as a walking stick once more, I stood up and looked around.


    A small bird landed on my stick and cocked its head at me. Held in its mouth was the still beating heart of the Ent. I blinked and held out my hand and it deposited the heart into it.


    "Uh...thanks?" I said confused. Then I remembered, the bird hadn''t really ever attacked me and Vivian, my original desire to attack it had stemmed from it''s song. It sung mostly at night when I was attempting to sleep.


    I was curious. Slowly, I extended the Ki from my staff and had it enter the bird. Its wings fluttered for a bit before I felt the energy within it respond.


    "Master!" the birds high voice entered my mind before it flew around me "Energy good!" I frowned before I realized what it meant. I''d often practiced my meditation when I couldn''t sleep. I would often extend my Ki into the surrounding area to test my control.


    Apparently, the bird had been feeding on the Ki that hadn''t dissipated in the air. From its thoughts that I could pick up, that was the reason it had stuck around.


    Gently, I touched its head before extending a thread of my Ki. It opened its mouth and sucked the Ki in.


    A beast that ate Ki, that was interesting. I looked at the heart before injecting my Ki into it. It was definitely alive, throbbing with Ki, but I couldn''t feel anything from it. It was empty of intent. I turned my attention to the Ent''s body and walked closer. I struck it firmly and watched pieces of it crumble.


    "Oh...was it using the energy of this heart to harden it''s body?" I wondered before walking back to wear I''d stabbed the previous piece I''d ripped off. It was still solid. I picked it up and observed it "The energy drained away from the Ent, but the piece I broke off is still solid" I looked thoughtful as I examined the wood.


    The heart...maybe it reacts with other wood? I gently touched it to my walking stick and watched as it slowly melted, spreading to cover the wooden frame. The golden energy pulsed but didn''t do more than that. Until it interacted with the iron like wood. The wood melted away and was absorbed by the energy. The stick in my hand quickly began to heat up, forcing me to release it.


    Instead of falling over, it continued to stand there. Observing it, I could see small roots digging into the ground, holding it in place.


    The heat continued to grow until it felt like I was standing near a furnace. Then it rapidly cooled before the energy melted off of the stick and into the ground, spreading out to the surrounding trees.


    "A gift, to thank you"


    It was like a whisper, the sound of leaves swaying in the wind filled the air, forming a few short words before the trees slowly shifted to reveal a path out of the forest.


    Tentatively I touched the staff, finding it cool to the touch. When I pulled it up, the roots retreating back into the wood. I squeezed the staff slightly, finding the wood firm and strong, like iron.


    "Ironwood" I said softly as I gently swung the staff, striking the ground an hearing a sturdy thump "Nice and strong" with the staff''s current strength, I was sure it could handle being struck by a sword.


    Looking around at the trees, I gave them a light bow in thanks for their gift before turning and heading along the path out. The Ki from the trees had all returned to normal and was even stronger than before. It seemed the Ent had been stealing the Ki to power the heart and keep itself strong.


    The little bird flitted around me "Master, Master!" it said excitedly before landing on my head. It seemed quite happy to be connected to me. I felt weird for getting another animal to join me, like I was some kind of beast taming mage.


    From the feeling of it''s talons, I could tell that it was much stronger than a bird its size should be. Moving it from my head, I used my hands and Ki to explore it''s body. Its beak was as sharp as I''d thought and the strength in its jaw wasn''t something to laugh at. No wonder it had been capable of tearing the heart out of the Ent.


    The feathers of the bird were pleasant and soft to the touch, the muscles underneath showed how it was able to fly so fast. It could take off like a cheetah on land and maintain that speed for much longer.


    Strong as an individual and probably unstoppable as a group. I shivered. I was glad that the bird seemed to be alone. A flock of these things could rip a creature like Vivian apart in mere seconds. They were like sky piranha in a frenzy.


    "Master. Emergency." Vivian suddenly set me a thought, a feeling of urgency filling my mind. I hurried my pace, ignoring the pain in my side and heading towards the center of Olympus where the yellow line of Ki that connected us lead.


    The bird, who I needed to now name, flew into the air. I felt its joy at flight and its vigilance in looking for danger near me. It was quite astute, again making me wonder if I attracted these types of creatures. Vivian was similar in her attitude.


    I shook my head and moved faster.

 Great Strength is Gained through Great Pains

    In the time it took me to reach Vivian, I was able to focus my Ki into the area around my ribs. Healing a broken bone wasn''t the most pleasant of sensations, a constant burning itch that was hard to ignore. Normally, a bone healed slowly over time but Ki enabled me to accelerate that process. To make sure there were no problems, I held the broken rib in place with my Ki as it healed. It was surprisingly easy, similar the rocks I normally controlled.


    As I stepped up next the large female wolf I rubbed my side, feeling sore but much better "What have you found?" I asked Vivian.


    "Danger." she growled towards a building a little ways away from us. I looked towards it and focused my attention, letting the blue outline of the building take form.


    "That building?" I asked, more to myself than anyone else. We''d found this building some time ago. From what I could tell, it was a throne room, possibly for the Greek Gods that had once lived on Olympus. Last time I''d checked, it had been empty but it Vivian said that there was danger, I was inclined to believe her.


    Besides, it wasn''t as if we hadn''t had new creatures arrive before. The Goblins loved the bath house to the east, requiring us to clean it out every time we wanted to get clean. The Kobolds liked the training grounds to the west as it was a lot flatter than the surrounding areas. The forest to the south was now home to those trees, which I was sure were all Ents at this point, though friendlier than the one I''d fought.


    The northern areas were where Vivian and I stayed, surrounded by the various territories of the wolves that had popped up over time.


    This building was dead center of it all and if a creature had moved in to this place specifically...well, I just had to see it.


    "Danger! Danger!" the little bird flew around my head, its high voice echoing in my mind. I commanded it to be quiet as I stepped closer to the large double doors. I was beginning to feel something, a pressure similar to Killing Intent. However, instead of Ki, it was the very mana of the area pressing against me, a wave steadily holding itself against me.


    A cold feeling went down my spine. I felt afraid. I hadn''t really felt afraid in some time, my Ki pretty much locking it away only leaving caution. If I was properly prepared and strong enough, I could get through anything.


    But now...fear settled in. My body and even my Ki was screaming at me. DANGER!


    I continued on, pushing against the mana. It didn''t resist me, there was no true intent behind it. When I reached the door, the idea of danger had only grown, causing goosebumps to appear on my skin, the hair on my neck rising. I pulled the door open and stepped back as a wave of heat struck me. It felt like the air itself was only a degree from bursting into flames.


    But the heat was the nicest of things I saw. There was a creature sitting on the throne originally meant for Zeus. I could see its outline so clear. A fourth color was introduced into my world. Red. Deep, glowing, blood red. It crisscrossed sinewy muscle, moving through the being''s body like snakes, crawling up its face and into its burning eyes.


    Even sitting, I could tell it was bigger than me, at least eight feet tall and it had six arms. Its face was stone still, its mouth open revealing razor sharp teeth, coursing with the red energy that made up its body.


    It looked at me and my vision was filled with red mist rushing towards me. Killing Intent! I through up my arms to guard, pumping my Ki into my wolf arm for extra defense. When it hit me, I was actually knocked a few feet back, my skin splitting in several locations. The bones in my arms creaked but held firm.


    Falling to my knees, I coughed a bit of blood out. A look! A fucking look! It had sent me to my knees with just its own energy. That wasn''t Killing Intent...a fear greater than before permeated my skin. That was an Aura, that was the only thing I could call it, a bloody and sickening aura. It had torn into my body like numerous small blades.


    It was like it had actually attacked me with its Ki. I could manipulate things with my Ki, but it couldn''t directly damage anything by itself...could it?


    Whatever this Monster was, its Ki was different from everything else I''d seen. I hadn''t felt anything from that Ki, no desires, no will. Just blood, endless blood.


    Standing up, I moved forwards once more and quickly shut the door. For whatever reason, it hadn''t made another movement. But I knew, I felt, that if I stepped into that room, I would die. I wasn''t ready to fight such a creature and it was in my best interest to thank whatever force of Luck that existed that it hadn''t decided to actually attack me.


    Whether it had intended it as such or not, I was going to take it as a warning. I''d been focusing on magic too much recently. While learning new forms of attack was useful, I needed to focus on my own body first. I was injured too easily all the time. My only sure defense was my right arm...I needed my body to be at least as tough as my arm. It had sustained the least amount of damage from the Aura, though it was still serious. I had to figure out some way to shield myself from that kind of attack.


    "Master" Vivian looked to me as I walked back to her. I chuckled and gently rubbed the side of her head, reassuring her that I was fine before I climbed onto her back and urging her home. The first thing I needed to do was properly heal, a quick patch up on the move was fine but to be at full fighting strength I needed proper rest.


    One fight with the Ent, alone, and then I rushed over to find this new thing and it was freakishly strong, all the while doing my best to speed my recovery forwards. My Ki was nearing on empty, a tiny little wisp of its former self, especially since I''d recently gotten it to be half the size of my hand. A little bit more time spend absorbing Mana and I''d double that size.


    Reaching the dining hall we called home, I climbed off of Vivian and headed into the building where I promptly sunk down onto the small pile of furs I''d come to call a bed. Mostly fox furs, but they were soft and quickly took me off to dreamland. I barely registered my two animal companions as they drew close to lay with me.


    My sleep was surprisingly restful, given the events of the day. I dreamed of home, of my parents, my brother, the three girls I called friends. I dreamed of the days before I discovered Ki, Mana, Gods, and Magic.


    It was a happier time. My time as a normal person had been pleasant but uneventful. I''d avoided contact with other people I wasn''t close with. It wasn''t due to some problem with me, I just didn''t like dealing with people and their problems.


    Now...I still didn''t like dealing with people. However, life was different for me, my mind different. I couldn''t just avoid people. My Magic grew the more I was exposed to. Everything I knew was learned from observing the skills of others.


    If I decided to give it all up, go home and never use my magic again...I couldn''t. I''d nearly died so many times and yet...I enjoyed it. I liked struggling to stay alive, growing stronger. I felt like I was a better person this way. I wasn''t special by any means, but I could continue to grow.


    Sitting up in my makeshift bed, I stretched, feeling much better than the day before. A lot of my minor wounds were healed now and only a few serious bruises were left. Strength breeds hardiness I guessed. The stronger I got, the harder I became to keep down.


    Grinning, I stood up and did a few warm up exercises. My blood pumping and my Ki moving excitedly, I began my new training. Magic training was placed on the back burner for the moment as I sat down in a meditative pose.


    I didn''t direct my Ki in any direction, I just let it flow across my skin, my muscles, my bones. I realized something interesting. I hadn''t paid much attention to my body since discovering Ki. I''d noticed the changes as I put on muscle and my reactions grew faster, but I''d never actually observed myself. It had been Ki and Mana for the most part.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.


    Now I noticed more. My muscles hadn''t just grown stronger, they''d become far more limber than before. The amount I could stretch and bend was greater than I''d ever known. The same went for my bones, I could see that they could handle a quite a bit of stress. It''d been smacked around by the Ent and only broke a single rib. Had I been an untrained human, I probably would have been smashed like a mosquito.


    Deeper into my body, into my organs I could tell that they were more efficient. A single breath of air could sustain me for several minutes. My heart was stronger and pumped blood at a quicker rate, bringing oxygen faster and increasing my recovery rate even further.


    My liver was strong enough that I was quite sure I could spend a night drinking and only get buzzed. While I didn''t really drink to begin with, I was sure it''d be useful against being poisoned. Neat.


    The more and more I examined my body, the more I understood.


    Then I got to my brain. With my Ki, I could feel the individual electrical signals as my brain worked. I followed neurons. It moved fast, faster than I ever really understood. The time it took for a signal to leave my brain and reach my fingers and vice versa was ridiculous. I was thinking better and faster, at the same time I noticed that my brain was ignoring specific signals, such as fear.


    It was detrimental to feel excessive emotion. I understood that. I could still feel those emotions, but they would no longer disrupt my ability to think. I could be afraid without being terrified into paralysis. I also understood that that was only under regular stimulus. Something like the monster in the throne room was strong enough and intimidating enough that I couldn''t just ignore the feelings it brought out.


    In a moment of insight, I also realized that this increased thinking speed was the reason time seemed to slow down in fights. Using my Ki, I could temporarily increase the strength of my mind, effectively stretching time with my thoughts. Given enough time and strength, I could probably increase the signal speed to the point that my body could act independently of my body.


    I turned my attention to my eyes. They hadn''t changed much. Unlike my other senses, my eyes had clearly not improved in that direction. If I could see, I''d probably have the same vision as I''d had before I lost my sight.


    I supposed that it wasn''t really necessary. I couldn''t actually see anyway. The eye itself was stronger and would heal faster than before, but the real intrigue was the inside of the eye. Ki was there, but not normal Ki. Unlike the wispy Ki of the rest of my body, the Ki in my eyes was crystalline. The entire inner surface of my eye was covered in little Ki Crystals.


    Even with my improved intellect, I couldn''t understand what these crystals were, nor could I understand what they did. I was sure that I could see Ki and Mana because of them, but there was no signal from my eyes to my brain, nor from the crystals to my Ki. They were just...there.


    I shook my head and let out a breath I hadn''t been aware I was holding. My head was beginning to hurt like hell. I''d been thinking too hard, speeding up my thoughts to the point I was overheating my brain.


    To give it some rest, I turned my Ki towards my right arm, specifically the space where it met the rest of my body. It was kind of cool how it was just grafted on. There was no seam, no line showing where I began and the arm ended. It was as if I''d just suddenly gained a spurt of puberty in just my right arm, growing hair like wild.


    I laughed softly as I looked closer. I notice something new about the skin closest to the arm. It was stronger, as if the skin had adapted to its neighbors. I nodded, quickly understanding. It was an environment thing. Like the skin growing darker the more exposed to sunlight it was. It did so to absorb less radiation and burn less.


    In the same way, the skin was starting to change to the stronger skin to protect itself against more damage. My skin had already grown stronger and yet the wolf arm was still better. At the rate of growth, I could expect my entire body to have changed within a few years.


    I couldn''t wait that long. It''d probably take even longer for the muscles and bones to adapt. Luckily for me, I had Ki. I didn''t have to wait as long. Manipulating my Ki, I pushed it deeper into my skin, urging the cells to replicate and grow faster.


    Starting at my elbow, my skin began to itch as it began to change. It was still rather slow, but it didn''t take up so much of my concentration that I couldn''t do it on the move.


    By my estimation, it would take about a month to completely change my skin. That seemed fairly coincidental, as if my skin was being controlled by someone other than my self. Well, that was just a bit of paranoia. I understood that I could speed it up, but any faster would be bad for my health.


    The process would only get longer the deeper into my body I went. Eventually, I''d have the stone like body of the Moon Wolves, possibly even greater considering my Ki control.


    I slowly stood up, making sure that the Ki didn''t stop interacting with my skin before I headed out. I called to Vivian and the bird who I''d now decided to call Adarna, getting them to follow me. The name came from a mythical bird known for itss beautiful singing and beautiful feathers. While I couldn''t see the feathers, I could appreciate its song, even if it did sing early in the morning. Given that it did sing, I was beginning to suspect that the bird was male, but I wasn''t a bird expert.


    "Adarna, Vivian. It is time for us to train together" I said to them. I''d fought along side Vivian but not Adarna and I''d never really tested myself against the Moon Wolf since we''d met. I also wanted to test my ability to alter my perception of time against Adarna''s speed.


    We found a nice clear and unobstructed space. I began with Adarna. I held out a hand and formed a small wisp of Ki within my palm. With a burst of speed, the bird shot towards my hand. I''d already figured out a few things about him, when flying at his full speed, he was incapable of rapidly changing direction. However, I''d noticed that when he flew, he would use Ki to guide his wings, enabling him to make split second adjustments, such as when I struck him with a rock and he burrowed into the floor.


    I focused my Ki into my mind and the world began to slow down. I''d say it was half the normal rate. Adarna was still a blur as he raced towards me. I continued to slow everything down until my mind had increased three times the original speed. Adarna was still fast, but I could make out his movements easily. It was fortunate as three times was my current limit.


    Moving my hand, I avoided the bird''s attempts to steal the Ki from me. At least, that was my attempt. When put into practice, my hand only moved at a fraction of the speed, allowing Adarna to reach me and get my Ki before I could even finish moving.


    When I returned to normal time, I nearly smacked myself in the face. My mind worked fast, but my body could only respond at a specific speed. A little experimenting proved that I could still move normally while accelerating my mind to one and a half times normal speed. That meant that my body and reaction time was about that fast normally.


    I continued to practice against Adarna for a few more minutes, improving my ability to predict where he would come from instead of trying to move faster than him. That proved to be a bit more productive.


    Six out of nine times I could predict where the bird was going to come from. The other three times, I noticed a shift in his Ki and his movements became too random to predict.


    Then it was combat practice with Vivian. She was strong and fast, a good challenge. Being with me for so long had trained her to my specific mannerisms. She could show me the bad habits I''d developed after all this time.


    The moment the battle started, we both shot forward into each other. I''d limited myself to my physical skills as I called my staff to me. With a quick step, I slammed the staff into her lower jaw and watched as she quickly moved with the blow, using its momentum to flip and use her hind legs to kick towards me.


    The ironwood staff clanged as her sharp claws met it, shoving me backwards before she quickly bounced to her side and circled around me. For a second, I saw two of her, one rushing forwards to strike at me while the other continued to circle to my back.


    "What?" I turned, deciding to focus on the one at my back but when I moved to block it, she passed through me before I felt a slash across my back sending me rolling forwards. Damn...had she been trying to kill me, I wouldn''t have gotten off easily.


    "Master relies on eyes too much" her voice echoed in my mind. I wondered if her ability to speak had increased somewhat before I nodded.


    I knew what she meant. Just because I could see Ki didn''t mean I was unstoppable. Someone who knew how special my eyes were could create an afterimage with their Ki. Unlike Killing Intent, which gave me a quick glance at their intended attack, this would look and feel like the real thing...at least to me. Until I physically made sure, I''d been incapable of telling the two apart.


    Very clever. The attack was useful against those who couldn''t see Ki as well. No one would see the afterimage like I could but they would feel the Killing Intent from the image as it attacked them from behind. A simple trick, but effective.


    Still..."How did you learn to do this?" I asked. Vivian was more of a speed striker type, magic and extending her Ki beyond Killing Intent should have been nearly impossible.


    "Training. While you meditate. I learned control" she stepped up to me and licked my face playfully. I chuckled and scratched under her chin. It seemed she''d learned more than just meditation from me. It certainly fit her species name, Moon Wolf. Afterimages and Illusions. If she could learn more, we could probably learn magic together. She was definitely getting smarter as well. It seemed as her Ki control grew, similar to myself, so would her intelligence.


    "Alright" I clapped my hands as I smiled "Lets go again, we need the practice" we needed to get stronger if we were going to beat that monster in the throne room.

 Blood.

    I found out something interesting about accelerating the growth of my skin. It made me shed like a snake. Skin flaked off like I''d suddenly been sunburned. Two weeks of peeling skin and it wasn''t pleasant. It itched! The only good thing about it all was that each new layer of skin was stronger than the last. The skin wouldn''t break from impacts but bladed weapons could still cut me. In combat, I had to favor my right side as it was much tougher than my left. My enemies made it a point to aim for my left and I knew I''d be thankful once the month was up and all of my skin was as strong as stone. Still, it was kind of gross and annoying.


    I''d been too busy training during this time so I wasn''t entirely sure, but I believed that something was happening with the Kobolds. They''d become far more vigilant to outsiders in a short amount of time. Attempting to find out what exactly was going on was difficult. The most I could gather was that they were gearing up for a fight. I figured it was another Goblin purge, those things apparently reproduced quickly and the amount that came into Olympus wasn''t something to turn my nose at.


    It was strange, normally the weaker Goblins kept away from our territory, but they''d gotten quite brave, moving in small groups. Vivian and Adarna were enough to handle them, but it still worried me.


    While I waited for whatever was building up, I attempted to learn the Aura attack the Monster had used against me. Despite trying often, I couldn''t quite get what it entailed. Imbuing my Ki with the will to do harm didn''t seem to do much, it rushed out of my body and struck what I was trying to hurt, but it didn''t do any damage. More often than not, I began to believe that it might''ve been a racial ability, maybe something about it''s body was different than mine. Similar to the Kobolds, I couldn''t attack with a tail that didn''t exist.


    I glanced at my right hand, feeling the soft fur with my other hand. It wasn''t entirely impossible I supposed, but I had no idea how to even reproduce the assimilation that had happened before. Even if it could, a new limb was not like just getting a replacement. It required so much more than just a quick acclimatization.


    Besides, I didn''t really want a lizard tail. If I had to pick a tail, I''d pick one with more maneuverability. Like a monkey tail or something. I shook my head, I was getting into weird territory again. I was already increasing the strength of my body, I didn''t need to think about adding new limbs to that...well not right now anyway.


    I felt I was missing something in the pursuit of using Aura. It was something I''d have to put at the back of my mind for later study.


    There was a firm knock at the door and I looked up, cocking my head as I saw through the Mana to the Ki beyond the door. The lines and energy informed me that it was one of the Kobold scouts. I moved over to the door and opened it. He handed me a piece of tanned hide with various pictures on it before giving me a bow of respect and heading off.


    I looked at the hide, curious about the pictures on it. I''d been learning a bit of the Kobold language, but nothing workable yet. I didn''t have the right facial structure to pronounce some of their words, a long tongue and less use of the lips to create words. It gave them a lisping, hissing structure.


    It was the same for them when trying to speak in my language, so it was just better for the both of us to just use pictures and body language to communicate. Despite their warrior like attitude, they were surprisingly gifted artists. They used images to represent their history instead of using word to mouth storytelling.


    The images on the Hide were bothersome. From what I understood, the Hobgoblins were gearing up for an all out assault on the Kobolds. That explained their enhanced guard. They''d been getting ready for the fight. As I was an acquaintance, they hadn''t wanted to involve me in their war, but the numbers of the Goblins had proven to be greater than they anticipated. They wouldn''t force me to participate, but they did request my aid.


    I sighed as I ran a hand through my hair before calling to my two companions, informing them to prepare for battle. It wasn''t something I was particularly excited about, but the Kobold people had treated me well since they''d arrived, even helping me out in battle. I couldn''t in good conscience simply let them fight it out alone. It was also an attempt to participate in an actual War. I was acquainted with a Goddess, it wasn''t that hard to believe she''d ask me to help out in her world at some point. She seemed to already have a Hero of her own, but even a Hero needed help sometimes and I wasn''t so naive to believe I wouldn''t get dragged into another world''s war.


    Unless I had the power of a God myself, I wouldn''t be able to just refuse. Artemis hadn''t thrown more than I could handle at me yet, aside from the Monster, so I regarded her a bit better than the only other Deity I''d had contact with. The one that had blinded me certainly didn''t have problems snatching people out of their lives.


    Artemis probably wouldn''t force me, but that didn''t mean other Deities wouldn''t.


    War was a good forge. If I didn''t use it to temper myself, I''d break in the future.


    So the three of us entered into the Kobold/Hobgoblin war. It only lasted a week, but in the time I fought, it felt like a lifetime. I rushed into combat with my companions, along side Kobolds and I used my abilities to the fullest.


    I''d killed a lot of creatures in my own defense, and this war was quite similar. The Hobgoblins wanted to destroy the Kobolds. It made sense, I''d gotten the feeling that the two races weren''t on good terms on their home territory either. Goblins weren''t the nicest of creatures either, I''d seen them eat their own kind. I didn''t need to feel bad for killing them, not after this long.


    But it was still there with every blade of wind that cut them down, with the very sizzle of their flesh as I used fire to roast them. It nagged at me. Humans had warred like this in the past, with cold steel. We still warred, but less with weapons and more with politics. People liked to say that war didn''t change, and for the most part it didn''t, but what changed about war was the way it was waged.


    We abandon our perceptions of our enemies, seeing them as bodies to destroy.


    As I fought, that feeling ate away at me. Anger at myself for joining, anger at the Hobgoblins for starting this, and anger at the Kobolds for dragging me into this. So I slaughtered more, drowned myself in battle, soaked myself in the blood and flesh of my enemies.


    The dying Ki before me was called by my own, to sustain my rampage, to speed the conclusion of this war forwards. I burned my stamina until there was nothing but the thought of blood.


    With a wave of my hand, my Ki tore out of me and into my enemies. Aura burned into their bodies, ripping their blood into the sky, absorbed by my Ki. Feed me...


    ''Blood. Blood. Blood.''


    When I tried to stop, my Ki urged me forwards, drowning out all unnecessary thoughts. Just more...


    ''Blood. Blood. Blood.''


    I didn''t stop for that entire week. I didn''t end the war single handily, just thrived in it. It was over when the Kobold leader held the head of the Hobgoblin leader.


    I had no taste for celebration, without battle my Ki raged inside of me urging me to turn on the Kobolds, on Vivian, on Adarna, on the Ents and Wolves, and on the Monster.


    But I forced it down, clamping on it with my will as hard as I could and went home, Vivian and Adarna in tow. When we got there, the two of them fell into an exhausted slumber. I wanted to sleep too, but first I took a good look at my Ki and what I saw filled me with Sorrow and Fear, as if my very soul felt anguish at what it was.A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    "Blood" my Ki was laced with it. A blood red energy that struggled to rip its way out of my control. It raged and twisted. It was easily the same size of my Ki, explaining why I''d had so much trouble controlling it.


    The battle, every kill seemed to have fed it, growing it. Even now it whispered into my ears, promising strength for blood. Any blood, the stronger the better. It devoured Ki and thrived on blood.


    Now I knew what that Monster was. It was someone or something that had given into this desire, this Blood Ki. I also found out something else, it rejected Mana, wouldn''t even interact with it. That was why the Mana around the throne room had been so pressurized. The energy the Monster gave off rejected Mana...


    But that meant that it couldn''t grow stronger like other living beings, it couldn''t turn mana into new Ki...so it killed and devoured their blood and Ki, converting it into its own energy.


    Why hadn''t it killed me then? Why hadn''t it devoured my blood...unless. Just as every action depletes normal Ki by a small amount, it does the same with Blood Ki, but because it can''t regenerate, the creature has to carefully decide when to fight. If it expends more energy than it can get back, it would eventually die. As long as it''s body didn''t move, it didn''t lose energy.


    ''Blood!''


    For a moment I lost control of my Ki as the Blood Ki surged against it but I quickly contained it once more. I was too weak so it could only use it''s Aura to scare me off. Fighting me would only deplete its strength even further.


    Aura...it wasn''t an ability. It was the very act of wanting to slaughter, to devour the opponent. Perhaps only those with Blood Ki could use it. Only after immersing myself in battle and blood could I use it.


    But I couldn''t keep it. I couldn''t control it, it didn''t obey will like normal Ki, all it wanted was constant blood. It promised power if I just let it devour my own Ki, to let it become my sole source of power. I could feel that my Ki was close to something. Once it was big enough, something would change.


    However, I didn''t give in. I didn''t like what it had done to me, what it''d made me do. I''d enjoyed slaughtering those Goblins and Hobgoblins and when they''d all been killed, I was ready to turn on my allies.


    A soft clink appeared next to me and I turned, seeing a swirling golden bottle. It was imbued with Deity Ki. I blinked before smiling. I pulled the stopper from the bottle and began to force the Blood Ki out of my body. It didn''t want to leave and I could only get it to travel up my throat. Lurching forwards, I began to puke the glowing red energy into the bottle, making sure not to miss. I wasn''t entirely sure it''d just vanish, it could possibly infect another living being.


    Once I''d emptied my body of the Blood Ki, I quickly slapped the stopper onto the bottle, sealing the red Ki into the bottle. It struggled but couldn''t even move the bottle.


    "...Thanks Artemis" I said softly.


    "Don''t thank me" the Goddess said from behind me "I would have immediately destroyed you had you given in. You were lucky that it was so weak. If it''d been like that beast in the throne room, even I wouldn''t have been able to help you.


    "Is it as strong as a Deity?" I asked. It had felt great power from it, but not that much power.


    "No. I found that bastard on the fringes of my world" I could hear her grind her teeth slightly "I was going to destroy it but I then remembered that you hadn''t met them yet. Hadn''t experienced them. It won''t move until someone strong enough appears. That should give you time to increase your strength and defeat it." she sighed softly "If not, it will devour you, then I''ll destroy it"


    "Well thanks for that" I shook my head and looked at her.


    She shook her head, her face looking sad "Life is full of danger and you won''t always have the aid of a Deity on your side. You need to know the danger of these things before you leave this place. Should they appear on Earth, your world would be doomed. I''d hate to see that happen." she smiled a little at me.


    I slowly stood up "I always liked the Moon, it was soft and beautiful" I chuckled lightly "Who knew that she could be so relentless" I sighed and nodded at her "I get the point. Strength and more strength right?"


    She nodded "Always someone stronger, if you want to step into this world, you have to be ready for all of its dangers. Some deities give their Hero''s a sense of superiority, I break them down and build them up again."


    "I''m not a Hero though. I''m just his brother" I grinned as I touched felt my body before making a face "I need to get clean"


    "Let me help" she said and pointed towards the end of the hall. I watched as the ground easily formed into a half dome shape and began to fill with water. I rolled my eyes. I''d need several hours to do the exact same thing. It looked like she''d even heated it.


    I walked towards the water before looking back to her "Going to watch me bathe?" I asked grinning.


    It was time for her to roll her eyes as she knelt down to pick up the bottle "As much as I am sure that you''d enjoy that, I have to go study this. It isn''t everyday that a Deity gets such a weak specimen" and with that, she was gone.


    With a final chuckle, I stripped out of my blood soaked pants and climbed into the water. I let out a deep sigh as the hot water soaked into my muscles. Without the constant energizing effect of my deeply exhausted Ki, my entire body was in pain, aches, cuts, bruises, piercings, gashes. I had a numerous amount of wounds, barely healed enough to stop me from bleeding out.


    Blood Ki. It was certainly a slaughterer''s Ki. Even while I''d been constantly wounded, it had kept me just enough alive to keep fighting. I washed enough blood from my body to tint the water red, but after about an hour, I was finally clean.


    However, my last remaining clothing was ruined. Not that I was in much shape to care, I barely reached my sleeping area before I passed out.


    Fortunately, when I awoke, I was lucky enough to find that the Kobold''s had given me a few gifts. According to Vivian, I''d been asleep for days, but I''d fought well so I deserved a reward. The first was what I immediately needed, a Kobold loin cloth, altered to fit my size. It was easy to move in and quite breezy as well. Fortunately, they hadn''t added a tail hole, that would have been embarrassing to deal with.


    The next gift I found was my staff. It looked like it had been painstakingly engraved in various symbols and shapes. I''d seen other Kobolds with similar designs and only barely understood that they were a sort of honor for distinguished warriors. Unlike human warriors who could tattoo their skin, their hard scales wouldn''t work that way. So they decorated their most used weapons.


    The final gift was a book of pictures.The images on the book had been engraved with Ki, an impressive feat and also beneficial since that meant I could see them. The book was something I''d wanted from the Kobold people for a while now. It was their Magic. I''d only seen their Mages use magic from a distance so this was a great boon. The pictures were detailed enough for me to get an understanding on how they understood magic. There were words in the Kobold language which I assumed were the magic chants or words. Given my understanding, I didn''t really need the words, just the right image.


    I clapped my hands in glee. This was awesome. In addition to attack magic, the Kobolds also used various Blessing Magic to temporarily boost their warriors strength and agility. If I could understand the basics behind the magic, I might be able to do the same with my own body. I could double my abilities in an instant.


    Of course, first I needed to meditate and regain all the lost Ki I''d lost during the war. An entire week of constant fighting had drained me to a little more than a grape sized Ki wisp, and that was after sleeping for a couple of days.


    After constant battling, I decided to take a little rest and relaxation time. I spent the next week simply studying the Kobold magic and strengthening my body. My head was the hardest, my nose kept getting stuffed with skin and my hair was filled with flakes. I just kept my eyes closed, I didn''t need them anyway. Eventually though, my entire body''s skin was as hard as stone.


    I was about to begin figureing out how to strengthen my muscles next when I felt a change in the air. The mana twisted slightly and surged forwards, towards the North. Stepping out of the hall, I could see in the distance, a beam of purple magic. That was new...


    Vivian however seemed to know what this was "Adventurers" she growled into my mind.


    "Adventurers?" I wondered before snapping my fingers. I''d remembered that Artemis had tied Olympus to another world, that was why it had such a diverse grouping of creatures, they''d come from that other world and populated this area. It was obvious that a world with monsters would also have people who fought them on a regular basis.


    I stood up and stretched, calling my staff to me "Lets go greet them then" I was a little excited. People from another world, how fun. Maybe there would be an Elf? Or a Dwarf? Ah...I also had to make sure that they didn''t start up any trouble. With the Goblins currently gone, I only had allies around. Given that the Kobolds had been here way earlier, it was safe to assume that they were treated as common enemies in their world.


    Well, I wouldn''t let these adventurers harm my allies. Yet I kept a stern watch on my own emotions. I''d formed Blood Ki once before, it was possible that I could lose control and form it again.


    Still. Adventurers! "Maybe I could learn a bit about their world." I was still excited at the prospect of meeting them.


    ''Or not...'' I thought when I reached where the Adventurers had appeared and their archer immediately fired an arrow in our direction.


    Oh...right. It was safe to assume they thought I was a monster too. I was here after all.


    Bummer. Gonna have to kick their asses first.

 The Patchwork Heroes.

    Adventurers, people who fight against monsters for the good of the people. I was a bit skeptical on that. Generally, the idea of a monster was determined by the people. The Monster was a proper monster. Its sole desire was to kill and nothing else. Even bad people had other desires, none of them pleasant, but at least they had them.


    After the war, I wouldn''t even call the Goblins monsters. I''d seen enough of their blood and fear that I''d rather find another way to deal with them. I certainly wouldn''t want to spend time around them though.


    These adventurers, I didn''t know much about them, but they certainly had money and practice. The person who''d fired an arrow at me was clearly a woman, but she wasn''t an archer. She seemed to be a rogue of some sort, one that wore tight leather armor. I didn''t even have to focus on her too much as her Ki flowed in thin lines across her body and even into her armor, mixing with the steady purple lines already there. That was interesting to know, I hadn''t even thought about enchantments. The Ki from the person could fuel the magic of the armor...interesting. She wore a large mask covering her face and by the energy coming from it, it was used to block out air dispersed poisons.


    There was a mage, it was obvious by the large staff they held, though I couldn''t tell their gender by the large robe they wore. More enchantments as well, on both the robe and staff. Possibly to help focus their intent into the magic, or possibly add a bit more kick to the magic itself. Their Ki was well trained also, not a bit slipping out of their body, though looked strange as it neared their extremities.


    The next person was another woman and she was probably wearing the least amount of enchanted clothing. From the way the leather armor was designed, I could tell that they moved into leggings, but the real danger I could feel was from her fists where she wore a couple of gauntlets. I could tell in an instant that any blow from those fists would do some real damage, even with my durable skin. Maybe she was a brawler. All speed and strength, focusing on getting in close and getting away fast.


    The fourth person was another one who''s gender I couldn''t tell. They were decked out in head to to plate armor, a shield on their left arm and a long sword in their right. It was probably the nicest sword I''d ever seen, the purple energy that covered it practically caused it to shine.


    Then there was me. Shaggy long hair, trimmed beard, tanned skin and a loincloth. My weapon was a staff that looked less like a magical weapon and more like a physical weapon. I did use it that way, but it was meant to help me focus my magic. My right arm probably looked freakish too, sharp claws and fur. I looked like a wild man, more beast than human.


    So fancy. I was jealous. I bet their clothes self repaired, or maybe they had people to fix them. I wasn''t even wearing shoes anymore! They''d fallen apart a while ago, though my feet were now strong enough that I could walk across glass without a problem.


    I really wanted to dent that armor though. I bet it was shiny. That was an affront to my blindness.


    They seemed to be talking to each other, but I couldn''t hear what was being said. It was like any sound that left their mouths was muffled by the time it reached me. A quick look around and I saw the mage''s staff was glowing with purple energy. A silencing spell? Wonder if it was controlling the sound or the air? Without getting closer, I couldn''t use my Ki to observe their Magic.


    The rouge bent slightly and I watched a cloud of Magic appeared around her as she moved into the surrounding area, moving around to get behind me. I sent Adarna and Vivian away, having them do a similar action. No need for them to know about all three of us. Besides, I was still kind of confused as to why the rogue chick was moving so slowly, the cloud of magic flowing around her.


    Oh..wait..was she using some sort of shadow magic? Maybe invisibility? Right...I was so used to my own blindness that I often forgot that other people didn''t know about me. Well...might as well see where she is going with this.


    I walked towards them, spinning my staff around. They fired at me first and didn''t even attempt to make conversation. They even hid their words from me, I doubted we spoke the same language, but maybe people from that world all could understand each other.


    If the mage was good enough then I couldn''t use magic willy nilly. The Kobold mages could detect magic the moment it was created by feeling for the changes in the surrounding mana. I could feel it as well, a fluttering feeling that my Ki responded to. It was really vague though, I didn''t know what magic was being cast or where it was coming from until it had already been cast. It was much better being able to see it.


    I tapped my staff on the ground in a challenge towards them and grinned as the brawler moved forwards. The person in the armor worried me, especially that sword, but the brawler was a bit of my bane. I could handle the mage easily and the armored person seemed bulky so my speed could handle them.


    The rogue would probably be challenging if I couldn''t see her, but alas...


    The brawler stepped forwards and suddenly vanished as she activated some sort of speed boost with her Ki. The interaction was strange, but I saw the Ki surge through her legs before she moved. A quick spin of my staff as I turned towards the left and used it to block her first punch. A solid ringing sound entered my ears as she made a surprised gasp.


    ''Not normal wood'' I thought chuckling. The appearance of my staff was misleading. It was even stronger than my own skin, she wasn''t breaking it easily. I dropped, using the momentum of her strike to bring her forwards as I kicked towards her feet. She yelled as I tossed her through the air.


    However, I didn''t wait for her to hit the ground as I used a burst of air magic to shoot backwards, pointing my staff towards her stomach as she dropped. She quickly moved her hand and caught my staff before it struck her. The rogue, who I''d been keeping an I on, rushed up towards me while she assumed I must''ve been distracted.


    I quickly let go of the staff, letting the brawler drop to the ground as I stepped forward, bringing my hands forward and slamming them into the rogue, a burst of Ki shooting through my arm as I blew her away. For a moment, I paused as I flexed my fingers. Squishy...oops! I quickly dodged a kick by the brawler as I rolled forwards.


    She attempted to snap my staff on her knee before shouting out in pain. I chuckled before she just tossed it towards her two other companions. The mage picked it up. Good.


    Lets test some small scale magic. I avoided getting hit by the brawler and as her fist went past my face, I used my knuckles to strike at her arm. Around my knuckles, I focused my Ki interacting with the air, mana curled and twisted around my Ki. It''d taken me a long time to get this spell right.


    Small amounts of water were controlled by my Ki, which I then froze into small ice crystals, these ice crystals were quickly rubbed together creating a charge, and then...


    Boom! Electricity shot from my knuckles into her arms. Its bark was greater than its bite though, it wasn''t fatal. I watched as her body locked up as the energy passed through her body, disrupting her Ki causing her to drop to the ground.


    I turned and gave a mental command. In an instant, my staff shot towards me, dragging a surprised mage with it. They hadn''t been expecting the staff to move without magic. But it was tied to me. As soon as I grabbed the staff, I dropped the mage with a solid punch to the stomach.


    Mages had low defense. I didn''t but I expected I was a bit peculiar. I didn''t have to spend all my time learning incantations, I had time to improve my body through Ki and physical exorcise.


    Oh, the mage was surprisingly soft stomached.


    Oh well, looks like I pissed of the armored person. They were moving towards me with a determined air. I grinned and moved towards them. When we reached within striking distance, they swung at me. A clearly masculine voice came out as they did so.


    A guy? Someone''s lucky. I shifted to the side, avoiding the sword before a shield came rushing towards me. Ki shot through my foot and into the ground before a small pillar shot upwards, knocking the shield upwards before my staff pierced through the ground into his side. There was a solid clang and I frowned. That armor was pretty good actually. I quickly moved away as a sword passed through the space I''d just been.


    That was odd. I''d noticed it against the brawler. Their attacks seemed oddly mechanical. Powerful, but without any substance. Very weird. Still, this guy was faster than I figured he''d be, it was like the armor had no detriment to his speed. There was no true skill to his swings, but what he lacked in skill he made up in power. The me of a month ago would have had no chance against these people.


    I was suddenly pierced through the side, the knife cutting into me before stopping before it reached anything important. Thank you stone skin.


    No time to be a gentleman, I turned and promptly slammed my fist into the rogue''s face. I definitely heard a crack as she went tumbling back.


    Magic! The armored guy jumped back just as a box of magic surrounded me. I tapped at it with my Ki and cocked my head. It was some sort of barrier. I turned and saw the mage sitting up, pointing her staff at me. Instant cast? Cool. I didn''t know that other mages could omit the incantation. Hmm...maybe it wasn''t an instant cast, maybe it was a premade spell. Those enchantments were more and more interesting.


    I was close enough so I stretched my Ki through the barrier and touched her staff. Oh! There were symbols drawn in Ki, very thin amounts of Ki, but they were there. The symbols weren''t much more than flair, but the Ki had a wisp of intent. Another person could fill the staff with their Ki and then the intent would naturally activate the skill. What the hell? I had to do it the hard way and someone could just throw together a spell for someone else to use? It wasn''t very malleable but it was effective.


    "The barrier will only hold him for a few minutes" the mage said, revealing her to also be a woman. That armored bastard...wait.


    "Got it" the guy said as he moved into a stance. I could see the purple energy of the sword flair up as he pushed his Ki into it. Seems like he was gearing up for a big attack...wait.


    Hold on.


    "Bastard broke by nobe" the rogue was up and moving again. How durable were these people? I mean I hadn''t hit them with my full strength, but I''d been sure I hit them hard enough to knock them out...those voices...


    I kept getting distracted by own thoughts, but I was even more surprised that I could understand them. They had been blocked by the mage''s spell before and they hadn''t talked much during the fight, though their team work was pretty good.


    "Hey! This guy isn''t a fighter, he''s a mage!" and now the brawler was back up. Their recovery was nuts!


    "No way, his strength is ridiculous, there is no way he''s able to use magic and throw those kinds of punches!" the mage stood up watching me. I was too busy thinking to worry about whether or not they understood how I fought. The armored guy''s attack was still building up. It''d be completely useless without the barrier.


    Well, the barrier was useless against me anyway. I''d already explored the magic with my Ki and it wasn''t that well put together. The basic intent was to block off an enemy. I could have come up with something better.


    I raised my hand and placed it against the barrier and began to push.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.


    "I bink he''s trying to break it" the rogue said as she held her nose.


    The mage shook her head "That is a mid tier level barrier spell, not even a Kobold Leader could break it"


    Really? Wow, that was pretty good actually. I''d practiced against the Leader once while I was resting. His strength wasn''t something to laugh at. It was a light spar, but had we''d been serious, I was sure he could have stood up against the Ent I fought.


    It was fine, I wasn''t using my strength to break it. I pushed my hand against the barrier harder before there was a sudden glass smashing sound and the barrier broke away.


    Everyone but the guy seemed surprised. His attack was ready, but I''d already examined the sword a lot since we started fighting. A single press of my Ki into the right place and I was able to completely cut off his Ki flow. But he didn''t even seem to notice which confirmed that he didn''t have Ki control, despite it staying inside of his body. It was like he was acting on instinct.


    "Take this!" he swung the sword towards me. The magic still kind of activated from the remaining Ki left in the sword, a beam of solid plasma shot towards me.


    Ooh, that actually looked damaging. But it was in a straight line. Ki shot into the ground and I activated my Magic, a single burst of stone sending me into the air just as the beam hit the stone, vaporizing it. I was glad that it hadn''t hit me. I landed lightly behind them and watched in amusement as they turned around, looking at me warily.


    "Hey" I said "You are Max right?"


    "Wait...Alex?!" the guy pulled off his helmet and I cocked my head observing the lines of Ki that covered his face. Ki lines weren''t that good at distinguishing human faces apparently. Still, I''d seen those lines enough in my own body. We were twins, right down to the lines.


    "Alice, Mary...Rein ah...sorry about your nose" I said rubbing the back of my head. I''d really given her a good one.


    "Umm...sorry about the knibe" I looked at my side and shook my head "It is fine, you didn''t hit anything important I said pulling the knife out of my side and focusing my Ki into my side. The wound was easy enough to heal.


    "Ah! Stop stop..." I rolled my eyes "Stop!" I commanded in my head just as Vivian came rushing towards Alice from the back. She quickly halted to a stop a moment before she crushed the young woman who jumped away in fright.


    Vivian had been waiting for my signal in the off chance that I couldn''t handle them. Had they been better skilled, I probably would have needed the help. The smell of my blood when I pulled the knife out had brought her. I walked up to her and gently scratched behind her ear, assuring her I was safe.


    "What kind of wolf is that!?" Mary''s eyes flashed with intrigue as she removed her hood and stepped closer, stopping when Vivian growled at her.


    "She''s Vivian" I said smiling. I was pretty damn happy to see my brother and friends again.


    Mary nodded before Rein nudged her and she looked sheepish as she held out her staff and began to heal the girl''s nose.


    When it was finally healed, by the posture of her body, she was glaring at me "You ass. If you knew it was us, why didn''t you tell us? Could have saved us all this trouble"


    I blinked before nodding "Well...I didn''t know it was you until I heard your voices. Someone used magic to block off sounds earlier"


    Mary turned her head away from me in embarrassment.


    "Well, Max has the helmet, Mary the hood, and I have my mask, but why didn''t you recognize Alice? Her face is completely unblocked" Rein pointed towards the brawler.


    "Oh..well" I sighed softly as I looked at Alice. I did miss seeing her pretty face, all of theirs "I''m blind"


    "Bullshit!" Max walked up to me and moved my hair out of my eyes as he looked into them. I rolled my eyes.


    "You aren''t going to tell by looking at them, they are still the same as before. But the insides are messed up, something about the retinas" I looked at Mary "You should have some observation magic or maybe healing magic that lets you look at internal injuries" she''d been able to heal Rein''s nose easily.


    The bookworm nodded and moved forwards, pressing her staff against my forehead. I unconsciously used my Ki to observe the Magic that flowed into my body and into my eyes. It was exactly what I imagined it was. The intent behind the magic was to scan and understand the injury, to then decide what level of healing magic to use.


    "He''s right...and my magic doesn''t know how to fix it" that was understandable, not even a Goddess could figure out how to heal them without destroying me first.


    I blinked, feeling a strange energy coming from above and looked up. I saw an Eye. A single golden eye and it did not give off the same feeling I got from Artemis. I felt something like...like...Rejection.


    I frowned "Alright guys, lets head to my place and we can get caught up" I said turning and heading forwards, my staff returning to it''s normal use a walking stick.


    Alice moved up to my left side and took my arm "I''ll help you" she said.


    I laughed "Did you forget that I just kicked your butt? I can move around just fine" I looked at her "But I appreciate the sentiment, nice to see that you haven''t changed much...Rein could have changed a bit though" I laughed when Rein ran up and punched me in the shoulder.


    She flinched slightly "Damn Alex, what are you made of?" she asked.


    "Stone" I said "Took me a long time to get my skin this way" I looked up as Adarna flew in and landed on the tip of my staff. I smiled and rubbed the bird''s chin.


    "Seems like you have become quite friendly with these animals" Mary said softly as she looked warily at Adarna''s beak.


    I nodded before shrugging "They like me for some reason" Vivian walked passed me and Adarna flitted to her head "And each other, they seem to have gotten much closer" I wondered if that was because of my Ki, both were tied to me and by extension each other.


    "You seem very...confident." Alice said softly "What exactly happened after we vanished?"


    "Oh man, you have no idea. First of all, your stupid summoning circle is what blinded me" I looked up at the eye when I said that and I could swear it became even more menacing "Then I met this creature called a Gaian and it introduced me to a...mage who sent me here. I spent a lot of time trying to learn magic and I just got stronger as a result" I chose to omit a few things, mostly because whatever Deity was watching me was clearly trying to figure out who was responsible for this place being connected to their world. I wasn''t going to sell out Artemis and I wasn''t going to give it much information about myself. Besides, I couldn''t tell them I''d personally met a Deity when they''d just been sent to another world.


    It didn''t just rip open my mind so it must have been wary about the Deity behind all of this. That was good, let this bastard think I was some other Deity''s hero being trained.


    Mary shook her head "We had no idea that had happened. One minute we are talking to you and the next we are standing in a big cathedral like church" as we walked, they began to tell me of their adventures these past two months. Fortunately time seemed to flow the same between the two universes. I''d been afraid of meeting a sixty year old Max if he ever came back.


    After they''d been given the whole ''You are our hero'' spiel, they''d been asked to help fight off the monster hoards around the world. The monster population had grown rapidly as most of the creatures reproduced much faster than the five big races.


    Of course, the four of them had fun adventuring. One day, they''d been called to speak to the head priest who''d claimed to have gotten a mission straight from their God. Max and the girls were to go scout out a new dungeon that had appeared near the capital. Thus, they came here.


    So this was what Artemis meant by a surprise. This was certainly awesome. Meeting my friends and brother made all of my struggling to survive even more worth it.


    We eventually reached the hall that had been my home these past two months "Sorry if it isn''t something you are used to, oh great Heroes"


    Rein rolled shook her head and went into the building "Please, I was roughing it when we were kids remember? This is as good as any hotel" she said.


    Max nodded "You know how she is" he chuckled "Even when we had inns and nice places to stay, she preferred to stay outside" he pointed towards Mary "She on the other hand needed the fluffiest bed possible" he shook his head.


    "Princess and the Pea right?" I grinned at my brother making him laugh. Mary was a book worm, but she always loved being comfortable above everything else.


    Alice nudged us both as she passed us. Alice had always been a weird one, she didn''t care where she slept as long as she could be well rested and up before everyone else.


    Max began to take off his armor, which looked complicated but he seemed to pull it off easily. It looked like he''d done it a lot. I walked over and tapped his stomach "Hey, nice muscle build bro" I laughed "I thought you were lugging the armor around a little to easily"


    "Not like you are any worse" Max said chuckling "You''ve gone Tarzan here"


    "Yeah, well, I don''t have fancy Hero money to buy nice armor here" I laughed "So, tell me about your fighting style, it was like you were a robot or something"


    Max looked at me, clearly confused "What do you mean? We are easily the strongest group in the entire Kingdom. It is you that is weird, you moved like a snake or something. Let me see your stats"


    I cocked my head to the side. Now I was the one confused "Stats? What do you mean?"


    "You know, your screen, the little blue screen that pops up and lets you see your stats" Max was acting like this was normal. He waved his hand and Ki streamed down from the ceiling and appeared in front of him. I could see various things such as his name and class, as well as several status numbers.


    Looking up and see the eye near the ceiling looking smug, I realized something. Of course, this Deity had pulled regular humans from a very unmagical world. There as no way untrained people would be better than soldiers or veteran adventurers, especially not in just two months, this Deity had done something to them.


    That was why their skills were so mechanical. This screen Max was showing me was shown by the Deity.


    "Show me a skill" I said, observing him as he waved the screen away. He still looked confused but picked up his sword. I watched as Ki he stepped back and swung his sword. Ki ran from his body into the sword, releasing a small flash of energy before a blade of wind appeared, striking the far wall.


    "How do you use them?" I asked, trying to understand how it worked. He clearly did something with his Ki, but I wasn''t completely getting it.


    "Well, when we first showed up, we had to actually say the skills before we used them but after we practiced for a bit, we learned that we could just think the skills name and it''d activate, it is pretty cool"


    Oh bull! That was it. Their intent was tied to what they imagined the skill was. When they intended to use a particular skill, their Ki reacted and led them to perform the skill perfectly. But, because they didn''t actually practice the skill, it was very stiff and unmoving.


    I shook my head "How do you learn these skills?" this was getting worse and worse.


    Mary was the one who responded, standing up from where she''d been sitting and walking over to us "It is actually very interesting. We had different people show us their skills and then asked if we could be taught them. It took a few tries and experimentation, but then the screen popped up, telling us we''d acquired the skill. Energy passed through us and we just knew how to activate it"


    Sighing, it was my time to glare at the eye. The stupid Deity was coddling them. They didn''t understand their abilities, it just gave them whatever they were trying to learn. The only reason they probably had classes was because it was hard to just alter Ki too much.


    I continued to probe before I had the whole picture. Leveling up in the screen was the same as when I meditated and grew my Ki. As they fought monsters, a small piece of the Ki that vanished would be redirected by the Diety to their bodies, growing their Ki by a fraction. They''d reach a certain point and be given ''Points'' to place in their chosen attribute. My brother chose strength and agility as his main skills. Each time they picked those skills, the Deity would alter their Ki to focus on those attributes.


    My way was much better. I had more freedom because my Ki was my own. I changed Mana into my own Ki and then distributed it across my body. My strength, speed, reaction times, all of it was enhanced.


    Their Ki was a patchwork of different Ki sewn onto their original Ki. It was disgusting. They were imbalanced. It was why their personalities hadn''t changed much when mine had. Their brains were less affected by their Ki than mine was.


    Intelligence and Wisdom on their screen was just an altering on how much Ki they used when activating skills like magic. It wasn''t even that efficient, I could fling fireballs by the dozen with the amount of Ki they wasted on three.


    Sure, after a few years of ''Leveling Up'' they''d be ridiculously strong, but anyone like myself who''d practiced on their own and reached that same amount of strength could defeat them. It was like having an entire maze to explore, with treasure and other amazing things at dead ends. Except they were being lead through the maze along the best route, missing everything else.


    Later that night, after everyone was sleeping, I stepped out into the night air and looked up at the eye "Come down" I said "My Deity isn''t around right now"


    A flowing river of golden Ki came flowing down from the eye, forming into a rather masculine and handsome man. Long flowing hair and chiseled cheeks. Geez, it was like this guy had altered his own body to some ideal image.


    I shook my head "What are you doing to my brother and friends? That...game system...of yours is screwing them all up, they have no understanding of their skills"


    "My methods are not for a mortal to understand. Especially not a Reject. Why you were chosen as another''s Hero is beyond me"


    The big booming voice of a Deity. Artemis had only used it once before, every other interaction with her had been with a normal voice. It was a show of force, an intimidation. It basically didn''t have any care for what he was doing.


    "I guess I should thank you. If you hadn''t blinded me, I wouldn''t be here right now. I was chosen because of my lack of sight. It improved me in other places" I glared at him "If they meet another Hero like myself, they might be killed"


    "Should they die, I''ll just pick another, from a better world"


    I grit my teeth at that. This stupid Deity didn''t care about those he picked, he just wanted some tools "This is my Deity''s area, a training zone for her Heroes, you have no right to be here and impose your will on those within. Until they leave, they are just as bound by her rules as I am. No outside help"


    I didn''t know much about Deities and their conflicts, but I was sure they wouldn''t want a grand fight. It''d be devastating to their worlds. I was betting on this Deity being too much of a coward. He didn''t know who my ''Deity'' was and most likely wouldn''t risk getting in a fight with someone stronger.


    "A month. They will be allowed to spend one month here. Then they will be recalled" and then he was gone. Properly gone too, no eye. I was right in my guess. Unfortunately, that meant no status screens either. If I wanted them to survive long enough to get home, I''d have to do what Artemis did to her Heroes.


    Break them down and build them up.

 Now a soft kiss - Aye, by that kiss, I vow an endless bliss.

    I was sitting outside, meditating as the cold air flowed into my lungs invigorating me. I had no idea how to teach my brother and the girls how to access their Ki. I''d only figured it out because I could see it, trying to get them to move something they couldn''t see. My way of utilizing Ki was completely different from the way they''d become accustomed to.


    With a frown, I stretched out to the fist sized rocks around me and began to revolve them around my body. Mediation required me to empty my thoughts, I''d gotten to the point that I could easily do so, but doing so didn''t solve my problem. A little telekinesis practice was a good way to focus my mind.


    "Alex?" a voice came from nearby and I turned my head to see the Ki outline of Mary. She nodded towards me "I couldn''t stay asleep"


    "Not fluffy enough?" I asked grinning as I raised the rocks around me, allowing her to step closer and sit before me.


    She shook her head "No, it was fine, I just couldn''t sleep. Too much thinking going on"


    I chuckled. Mary and I were very alike, though unlike me, she enjoyed being around people though her passions were sometimes hard to understand at times. She was an intellectual, one who had to analyze and examine everything around her. People often found it hard to deal with her when she became like that, obsessed with something other people didn''t care about.


    It was how we''d met. She''d been interested in twins and the fact that Max and I were so different intrigued her. Max naturally drew people in and I honestly believed that he deserved the roll of a Hero. People looked up to him. I did as well.


    In the beginning, it''d been him talking to Mary, answering her questions. I actually avoided her whenever she wanted to talk to me, she was so in my face about stuff that my antisocial personality shunned her. Now though, I was glad she had that personality. She''d become a close friend as she constantly arrived to talk to me. She often talked to me about her problems as well. Max was fun to be around, but I understood her when she complained about people not wanting to be around her.


    People assumed that I was like my brother and when they found out I wasn''t, they tended to avoid me as I avoided them.


    "Seems we are still on the same wavelength, I''ve been thinking as well" I said "What is on your mind"


    "Your staff. Your...companions? You. This!" she swung her hand around at the rocks that floated around us "I''ve gotten pretty good and knowing when someone is using magic, but this...there is no magic being used. It is so interesting. Are you hiding your magic? Or is there some other thing I am not getting?" she began to talk a mile a minute as she went over our battle, specifically about my use of magic and ability to do things without magic.


    To stop her, I reached forwards and flicked her forehead "One thing at a time" I said "We''ll start with the basics. You are smarter than the others so you might actually understand" I chuckled "I guess I''ll tell you about Ki"


    "Ki?" she asked "That martial arts stuff?" it was easy for her to pick up on alright. She''d gone through a phase of trying to understand the physical body and how exorcise and martial arts effected the reflexes.


    "Kind of, that stuff came from somewhere else. Ki is the body''s energy" I tapped at the base of my stomach "It rests right here, in most people it is about the size of the edge of a fingernail but with some practice you can grow it"


    "How do you grow it?" even without seeing her face, I knew that she was making small notes in her mind about everything I said.


    "Mana" I grinned as I spoke and answered her next question before she could ask it "Mana is the energy of the universe, everything that isn''t alive is made up of Mana, the air we breath, the land we are sitting on, the stars in the sky, everything. Our bodies naturally absorb small amounts of this Mana and over time change it into Ki.


    However, most living beings can''t control their Ki and lose a large portion of it daily, though normal physical actions. This offsets the growth they achieve through absorbing Mana. With practice, a person can learn to contain their Ki inside of their body, preventing that loss"


    Or it could be stopped from flowing out of them. Whatever the Deity had done to them, it prevented their Ki from leaving their body. I couldn''t completely understand it, but it did seem to be another thing I''d have to fix.


    "What about the staff? and these rocks? How are you doing it for so long?" she asked and I could imagine her eyes as they sparkled.


    "Once you know how, Ki becomes easier and easier to move around, even to the point of having it leave your body. I can use my Ki to move these rocks around, but my staff is special. I spent a while filling it with my Ki, replacing the Mana inside of it until it was connected to me. Your staff is the same way actually, but..." I shook my head. She wasn''t aware of how to use her Ki so her staff was as inert as if it''d been filled with Mana.


    "I''ll get to that stuff later. First, we have to get you to understand your Ki" I held out my hand to her.


    "What?" she asked, clearly not getting my intention.


    "Hold my hand. With contact, it is easy to connect my Ki to yours" she flinched slightly at that.


    "I-isn''t that a little intimate?" she asked "If what you are saying is true, my Ki is me, everything I am...if we connect our Ki, that is like connecting our souls" even without my sight, I could tell she was blushing.


    Rolling my eyes, I reached forwards and grabbed her hand "Of course it is intimate, but it isn''t like it means anything big. It is just two friends sharing something special" I actually couldn''t think of a better way to say it. It was damn intimate and the only other being I''d shared my Ki with was the Gaian. It was kind of hard to feel anything special for a boulder. I wasn''t really sure about Artemis, she hadn''t actually connected her Ki to mine, just used hers to examine my body. I shook that thought out of my head.


    "W-well...will it let you read my thoughts?" I blinked at that. It was an obvious thought, connecting Ki was like connecting your mind and soul to another''s so of course you''d share thoughts.


    "Well...yes...but only if I actually attempt to and I''d have to use my Ki to examine your brain. I''m not going to be doing that, just examining your Ki source" I had to admit that I was a little curious. I wondered what she was hiding...


    But of course I wasn''t going to go looking. Not even the much stronger Gaian had been able to hide the fact that it was going through my mind so I definitely couldn''t do it secretly. Besides, she was my friend and that would be wrong. Unless she was in danger, I wouldn''t do something like that.A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    She nodded before taking a breath "Ok, lets do this. What do I do?"


    "Nothing, just close your eyes and relax" as she did so, I focused my Ki through my palm and into hers. No resistance what so ever. That was bad. Anyone who trained their Ki would at least automatically probe the invading Ki. It was like an immune system, if the invading Ki held malevolent intent, it would do it''s best to force it out. Her Ki was like a quiet stream. If I wanted to, I felt sure I could completely destroy her from the inside out.


    Gently, I connected my Ki to hers. Flashes of thought raced across the connection for a moment as she suddenly became aware of my Ki inside of her. That was good. It was the same as my time with the Gaian. Before experiencing another being''s Ki, I hadn''t been able to feel my own. Afterwards, it was as easy as breathing.


    "Now you can feel it right?" I asked her gently.


    She nodded "It feels weird though...like feeling two bodies at the same time"


    I chuckled and nodded "Yeah, it takes some getting used to. Now, do your best to follow my Ki, I''ll show you where the source is" I began to move my Ki through her body, up her arm and towards her spine. It was weird, I''d never been on the giving side of this action, guiding the less developed party.


    Eventually we came upon her Ki wisp. I was looking at her stomach as I did this, watching as my Ki gently circled the wisp. It was so...wrong. Once I was actually capable of examining it, I could feel her actual wisp within the other connected ones. They were just fragments, obeying the main wisp.


    "Why does it feel...wrong?" she asked me and I felt her Ki become agitated slightly.


    "The monsters you''ve killed, the times you''ve ''leveled up'', have added new Ki to your body like a quilt of Ki. The problem is that it isn''t your Ki, not completely. That is why it feels wrong"


    "What!" I felt her only become more agitated as she swung her other hand in an attempt to access her status screen. After she attempted to do so several more times, she looked at me, obviously worried "Why doesn''t it work?"


    "Because the one giving you those screens isn''t here right now" I said bluntly. It was better I told her now.


    "What do you mean?" she asked "Isn''t it a Hero thing. One of the great skills given to all Heroes?"


    "No..." I sighed, making a face at that. It was so...unintelligent of her "There exist actual Gods and most of the time they only care about their own worlds. Often times, they''ll summon a Hero, or Heroes, to protect their world"


    She began to calm down and nodded at my words "Yeah...sorry. That makes sense. The priest we met when we were summoned told us that their God had accepted us as their saviors, but the screen?"


    "That God''s work. Since you are the only four it needs to focus on, it could easily create an adaptive system to quickly grow your strength. However, it was limited, borrowing the energy from other beings to help you ''level up'' after a battle. That is why your Ki is so messed up"


    She sighed and nodded "Those bursts of energy when we leveled up and when we picked our attributes"


    "The God was moving your Ki to benefit those areas"


    She nodded before looking at me quickly "Wait...that God was watching us all the time...but I.." a romantic feeling shot through our connection.


    I blushed slightly before shaking my head "Don''t worry, from the way that God acted, it didn''t seem that concerned with human affairs" I shifted my attention away from her face and continued to examine her Ki "Now, I think I can break away the other Ki from your original one but...that would basically make you a normal human again and with the way things are going, doing so won''t fix the problem. Once you go back, you''ll just be under the God''s influence again"


    So I began to think. How could I help them keep getting stronger, despite the extra Ki that was being tacked on....


    Blood Ki! Well, not that Ki exactly, but the way it reacted to other Ki. It devoured it and changed it to its own form. But that couldn''t just be a Blood Ki aspect. All Ki responded to one''s desire, if I used my Ki to trap and consume an invading Ki, I could probably add someone else''s strength to my own.


    "Ok, we are going to try something" I said searching the patchwork of her Ki before finding a relatively weak Ki. It must''ve belonged to a weak monster or something "Feel the Ki I am touching?"


    She nodded and I felt her original Ki respond, moving slowly to where mine was "It is difficult to move it" she said softly. I was still impressed, moving Ki wasn''t easy to begin with.


    "Focus on the other Ki, focus on the desire of making it your own, of consuming it and making it your strength" I spoke softly, using my voice to lull her into a kind of meditation. Hypnotism was surprisingly easy when I was connected to another person''s Ki. As she listened to my voice, I continued to nudge her Ki in the right direction, gently imbuing the intent into hers.


    It worked, slowly, but it excited me to watch as her Ki slowly began to devour the first patch of Ki. One of the good thing about this system the Deity had set up was that their body was used to a large amount of Ki so they''d grow quickly as they absorbed the Ki into their own.


    The more the Ki became theirs, the more likely that they''d be able to begin fixing the problems that plagued them. The skills that had been shoved into them would truly become theirs as they understood more and more about themselves. I needed to focus even more so I gently set the rocks down.


    An hour passed but I didn''t let Mary rest, using my own Ki to sustain her body as she focused on making the Ki her own. Since it was the smallest, it was easily absorbed until there was nothing left of that small Ki. Her original Ki had doubled to the size of a finger nail in the process. I guessed that having the Ki already be refined allowed it to be absorbed quickly.


    Given the fact that the original user of the Ki was long dead, there was almost no fighting back. Heroes seemed to be very lucky. Even with a Deity like Artemis, they still had the backing of a God, one that would protect them while allowing them to grow in strength. They were chosen by beings with great power, to protect worlds.


    I was only a little jealous. I didn''t want to be in the spot light, but the benefits were certainly something to be envious of. Enchanted weapons, powerful armor, the backing of that world''s strongest groups. Even if those groups wanted to use someone, they''d at least slather on the praise and benefits.


    Despite being so screwed up by the Deity of that world, my brother and friends had a wide open path to grow stronger. The Deity had done most of the hard work for them. They had skills and strong bodies, all they had to do was learn to control their Ki and their strength would triple.


    Though I understood that their Ki would always be limited by their experiences. It took me longer to grow strong, but it took them longer to understand how a skill worked.


    I felt a shift in Mary''s Ki, causing me to look at her face. Her Ki was flowing with excitement as she looked over my shoulder towards my home. I realized something. The romantic feelings of love that I''d been flowing from her Ki to mine hadn''t been because of me, she''d just been embarrassed I''d find out about her real interest. Well, it wasn''t hard to guess, Max looked just like me so of course she''d feel some things when talking to me.


    I turned my head, looked behind me and froze. Wow, had I ever been more wrong.


    "What is up guys?" Alice smiled as she bounced up to us, looking down as she stood before us "You seemed to be busy so I didn''t want to bother you, but it seems like you are done now" she looked towards our clasped hands.


    Mary quickly pulled her hand away as I pulled my Ki back into my own body. I caught a single image before doing so, the image was so powerful it had flooded her Ki and by extension mine as well.


    Two girls kissing under a moonlit sky. Alice and Mary...wow. I really hadn''t expected that. The intent behind the image was so great that even I felt affected by her love for the blond brawler. I was happy for them of course, but in all the time I''d known them, I''d never even considered the idea.


    "Ah..." it seemed Mary had also realized what had just gone through her Ki. Being aware of her Ki made her more aware of what went through it too "Alex...don''t...say anything to Max and Rein....we haven''t told them yet"


    "Mary!" Alice squeaked in embarrassment "How could you tell Alex!?"


    "I''ll...let you explain it to her. Don''t try to attempt what I did, you could do serious damage to her" I warned Mary before standing up. I left, leaving the two lovers to their conversation. I needed to prepare breakfast anyway.


    Damn...I only just now realized how much I''d missed being in a relationship with someone...those two made me more envious than I''d been of their Hero benefits.

 Breaking Down.

    I sighed as I walked around watching Mary attempt to teach the others how to meditate. Getting them to feel their Ki had been easy enough, but they couldn''t seem to pick up how to focus on it. It was only even more clear just how much of a genius Mary was. She''d figured it out so quickly I was sure she was even faster than I''d been.


    From my observations, Max was the one who was the slowest. He seemed to be far too used to using the system the Deity had set up. After a little bit of meditation, he attempted to look around for a notification, earning him a swift strike from my staff. That was my role. Once Mary had properly figured it out, I''d been happy to let her take control. It was much easier to provide the punishments.


    Despite my current role, I was learning a lot too. Watching another human manipulate their Ki was an experience I needed. It seemed that Ki manipulation was slightly related to personalities. Mary''s Ki, while spread out more evenly now, focused primarily in her mind, increasing her intelligence at a surprising rate.


    Her abilities with magic were increasing too, though her own Ki manipulation suffered for it. It seemed that if I was an experimenter, learning from my own experiences and the ideas that popped into my head, she was the type to take a single magic to its extreme.


    The magic she knew was limited, but what she did know she excelled at. It was harder for her to do things when she couldn''t see the reaction from the Ki and Mana. She''d often ask me to describe what it looked like.


    In turn, I asked her to show me her magic. Buff magic specifically. Since there was no support mage on their team, it fell to her to provide it. She could increase various attributes of another person, from their physical defense to their offense. Magic overlapped Ki in the body, like a knight wearing armor. Less Ki was used up to provide the same boost as using it. It was useful when you had other things to focus on. It was similar to the Blessing Magic the Kobold race used.


    However, it was just a temporary measure. It was still better to develop and strengthen the body over time.


    It was why training was so effective. The more a body part was used, the more often Ki went to that area to both heal and strengthen the damage area.


    Which led to our next form of training after meditation. Combat training. It was more or less just me beating them up one at a time, pointing out the obvious problems and being more specific about the ones only I could see.


    A single crack of my staff across Alice''s backside echoed through the air "You are focusing too much on using your Ki. The Ki needs to move without your input or you''ll lag behind in combat" I said hopping back from her half hearted punch. I sighed softly as I watched her Ki struggle to move through her fists, even as it attempted to focus on the pain in her back.


    Ki moved at its own pace when untrained. It would go where the body needed it most. I''d explained this over and over, but they still struggled to take command of their energy. Since Ki considered any damage a priority one issue, a person could easily lose control when caused any form of harm.


    I flicked my wrist, sending several stones towards her "Ki is yours, you shouldn''t have to struggle when it comes to sending it where you need it"


    She quickly moved dodging the projectiles. I noticed that she moved much faster when she had to do some split second thinking. She tried too hard to control her Ki instead of teaching it what she needed it to do in the moment.


    It didn''t help that the lack of aid from a Deity had caused their combat abilities to drop. Their Ki was improperly trained. They tried to mimic the actions but without the nudge from the Deity, the Ki was slow to respond.


    All the strength and none of the skill.


    I shook my head as Alice began to whine "It is pretty much just constant practice. You guys are lucky enough that you have the defense and strength to deal with Goblins. If you fought a Kobold at your current strength, they''d decimate you"


    Stepping forwards, I flicked her forehead.


    "Ow...Alex, you''ve become a lot stricter" Alice said softly before heading over to her bruised allies.


    I rolled my eyes "Sorry about that. I have to be honestly. I''d already once thought you''d all died, I don''t want that to one day be true" I supposed I had been a bit harder on them than I''d meant to. They hadn''t seen the destruction their transportation had caused and even when I told them, they didn''t seem to have the same understanding as I did.


    It hadn''t been long, but for a short time I''d really believed that they''d died. They didn''t understand that thought. The relief I''d felt at actually knowing they were alive had been incredible, but seeing them again had brought back the feelings the relief had pushed away.


    Since they weren''t dead, that meant that they could one day be dead. I needed to do my best to prevent that from happening.


    I shook my head and chuckled "Well, just be glad that it is mean training you, I could have Vivian train you...but her life was far more savage than ours" I looked at the large wolf as she watched us train and so did they, turning white at the idea of being smacked around by her large paws.


    Vivian...she was a bit of a problem. She was doing her best to hide it but I was aware that she wasn''t that happy about them being here. At first I''d been confused about it but after a bit of thinking, I was able to figure out that it was because of the way I''d just accepted them into our group.


    She''d only accepted those who could provide something to her ''Pack'' as I learned she considered us. I was the leader of the group, the one who led us. She considered herself as the protector and though she accepted my choices, she was always wary of potential danger.


    She''d only accepted Adarna because the bird had saved my life against the Ent. He, and I was sure he was a he after asking, wasn''t a detriment to the pack. He could easily take care of himself and those around him.


    Max and the girls...I was sure that they could handle most back on the Deity''s world and even against sufficiently strong enemies, they had powerful magic to fall back on. Most creatures couldn''t point out the weaknesses in a magical barrier and definitely not as fast as I had.


    But without it, they were more of a liability.


    I shook my head of those thoughts and called for Vivian "I''m going to do some recon while you four heal up. Mediation helps. You need to get better control of your Ki or it''ll never learn what you want it to do in an emergency"


    Jumping onto the female wolf, we took off towards the throne room. I was still wary of facing off against it, but that didn''t stop me from trying to figure out the Monster''s weaknesses. While it responded to me attempting to enter the building, it barely noticed my Ki. To it, my Ki was a little more than an annoying mosquito it was too lazy to get up and kill. If I didn''t get too close, it wouldn''t respond.The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.


    It was interesting. I''d thought that it used Aura only to attack, but this Aura was filling the throne room constantly in a sort of inactive state. It seemed to take less energy to have it constantly being used than to stop and restart it whenever there was a need.


    Blood Ki. From my experiences with it, I''d thought it a mindless force and perhaps it was, but it was highly efficient. It conserved energy until it was absolutely needed.


    But the being it was inside was a little more than a puppet. From my own experiences with normal Ki, I could theoretically sustain my body indefinitely with Ki, as long as I did absolutely nothing. Blood Ki was obviously stronger in various regards, keeping its user alive was one of them.


    It didn''t need to eat or sleep, like a robot in low power mode. The Aura was a defense mechanism, to prevent excessive use of its energy until a suitable enemy was found.


    In the times I was able to get my Ki close enough to attempt an invasion of the Monster''s skin, I was quickly blocked by the Blood Ki. It even attempted to consume my Ki to strengthen itself. The Ki was far better than my own at improving the strength of its user''s body.


    Blood Ki was...similar to a virus. It consumed and grew and destroyed. Normal Ki was like regular cells, growing at a steady pace and could easily be manipulated into growing in a particular direction.


    Blood Ki couldn''t be controlled, only suppressed. Eventually, the user would be controlled and used to sustain the Blood Ki.


    My first victory over this creature would be after I figured out how to beat its Aura. If I could prevent it from harming me, I could then get close enough to begin dealing damage myself. That wasn''t a pleasant thought. If I could hit it, then it could hit me and even without its Aura it was sure to be powerful. My own experience at using Aura was hazy at best though and those memories were covered in a blood mist.


    I needed a way to match its strength. To reach its level would take years, I needed a shorter path, at least temporarily. Artemis wanted me to kill this thing and wanted the same thing. It was dangerous. If it found a way to spread to the rest of Earth, at best it''d just ignore humans and at worst it would slaughter all humans.


    Buff Magic and Blessing Magic would be a way to boost my strength and I was already forming an idea to handle the Aura. If it could use its Ki to attack, then maybe I could use my Ki to defend against similar attacks.


    A Ki shield would be kind of cool. It wouldn''t be very effective against physical attacks, but with proper application I''d be able to stop any kind of Ki based attack.


    However, this was much harder than it sounded. Moving my Ki around my body in a thin bubble wasn''t that hard, but I had no idea how to block attacks with it. I needed someone to attack me so that I could practice it and there was only one being in the area who could do so.


    So here I was. Standing in front of the door feeling apprehensive. I wasn''t against a bit of pain if it benefited me but willingly aggravating such a strong opponent to do so was a bit...


    I sighed and moved closer to the door. Vivian was mainly there to get me away if something went wrong. My skin was stronger than before so I wouldn''t be in such a state after getting hit, but I still wouldn''t come out unscathed.


    Slowly, I covered my body in Ki and pushed open the door. It was different...immediately different and uncomfortable. I now knew its power and it knew it as well.


    ''Blood''


    I could hear it in the air, like a constant mantra. It was like a lure that drew in those with weaker minds. The Blood Ki fed on other Ki. I''d wondered how it sustained its host even with its high efficiency. This energy called weak willed beings like animals and sucked them dry and the Aura destroyed the corpses to prevent a creature from becoming wary too early.


    The second I stepped into the room, the Monster''s eyes turned towards me and the Aura became active and surged towards me. I moved my arms upwards and braced myself. My first attempt at blocking the Aura ended in failure as I was immediately knocked out of the room, cuts appearing across my skin, though not as deeply as before.


    With a groan, I slowly sat up, stretching my fingers as my Ki quickly knitted itself back together "Damn" I mumbled.


    My Ki had been torn through like a wet paper towel. But I could feel it, my Ki learned from this experience. The Aura wasn''t uniform, not a wall of energy. It wasn''t any better though. The Aura was more like a wave of blades, slashing out at random in a specific direction. Unlike blades made from wind magic, Aura only harmed its intended target and unless they had a strong body like I did, they wouldn''t survive a single hit.


    It was such a specific function of an otherwise random attack. Instead of an all around shield, I needed to be able to quickly change the strength and hardness of my Ki at an equal rate to the approaching Aura. Rain fell in a random pattern but fast enough that it was hard to dodge it.


    I groaned softly "That means I''ll have to do this a lot more often" I mumbled to myself. I moved a little ways away from the throne room to sit and meditate. I''d need to heal first, then it was back to getting slashed apart.


    When I returned home that evening, I was covered in quite a few scars, though they were already beginning to heal. Scar tissue didn''t heal as fast as an open wound, but the scars eventually disappeared like everything else.


    "No, I am serious. There are other kinds of Gods and Goddesses." I said as we sat down to eat. They hadn''t believed me when I said that there was a Deity for nearly every world.


    "Like this place. This is Olympus, home of the Greek Gods" I grinned at them "From what I''ve figured out they left a long time ago but the one I know, Artemis, is using this place as a training ground for me" I gently scratched Vivian''s side as I laid against her "Vivian is actually from her world. She and two other wolves were my first opponents" I raised my right arm "Also where I got this arm"


    Rein shook her head "Damn. That sounds pretty rough" she said and I took it seriously. Rein was the outdoors woman of the group. She pretty much thrived on living in the wild.


    "We spent a lot of our time in cushioned well designed rooms in the castle" Mary said "All the while, you were doing...this?"


    I nodded chuckling "You four got lucky. Even now you are doing better than I was at the start. There were almost no animals to begin with. I had grass and wild vegetables" I''d learned a lot from Vivian about hunting and stalking a prey. I grinned as I looked towards Rein "I could probably out survive you at this point"


    "Please!" Rein huffed at me "I''ve been doing this since I was five and the time in the other world has only increased my survival ability"


    "Yeah, but you can go back to civilization when you are ready to call it quits. I''m pretty much stuck here" it sounded like we were fighting, but we were both smiling. We''d had similar arguments, ironically about my inability to survive out in the wild. I''d been more of an inside person before all of this and she''d always wanted me to get out and live.


    Max bit into a piece of meat "What about the bird?" he asked me "Where''d he come from?"


    I nodded my head, remembering that my brother had been interested in Ornithology "I''m not even sure about that actually. I thought he''d come from the world you guys came from"


    My brother shook his head "Not from what I''ve seen. We''ve had dangerous birds before, fought quite a few" he chuckled "But nothing like him"


    The bird in question landed on my shoulder, a piece of meat quickly disappearing into its mouth "That bird has some crazy strength for such a small creature"


    I nodded. Adarna wasn''t a push over just because he was small. I''d never even seen him get really serious, most creatures would die from a quick slash of his razor like beak.


    "Enough about him" Alice interrupted "I''ve been wondering about your skin, whenever I''ve managed to land a hit on you, I''ve always felt that it was much harder than ours"


    "Oh..well, I used Ki to increase my defense" I waved my right arm "This arm started off much stronger than the rest of me. Vivian''s fur and skin are just as strong, probably even stronger. I''m sure the defense is bone deep. I adapted my Ki to the same strength as the arm over time" I grinned "Now I am like a stone"


    "Awesome" Rein said grinning "Can we learn to do the same?" Alice nodded along with her.


    "Probably. It is hard to do though so you have to figure out how to control your Ki properly first" I grinned "Besides, don''t be so eager. It was like torture getting used to the shedding and itching skin"


    "Shedding?" Mary asked frowning.


    "I''m surprised you didn''t notice. I was like a snake for the longest time as my skin grew and died fast enough to create a thin layer of dead skin"


    Alice made a face "Sounds gross"


    "It was awful" I said laughing. We''d started doing this often before we went to sleep. We just talked about random things. Our abilities, life on Earth, life on their new world Alfis. Daily stuff such as any breakthroughs in training.


    It was pleasant, something I hadn''t realized I was missing. It''d be a shame when they had to leave. Still, that idea just meant that I had to get strong enough to cross worlds.

 The Ki, The Shadow, and the Void.

    Image training. Why hadn''t I thought it before. I quickly moved, dodging a strike from a staff and quickly flicking my staff forwards in response to several stones flying towards me. I was practicing my Ki control and my combat skills at the same time. Using my Ki, I could project a copy of myself to send false readings of attacks towards me. It was surprisingly effective training. I''d even managed to lose against myself often enough. This was only a temporary measure though. Rein had been letting me observe her shadow magic when it was in use.


    It was a difficult concept to understand, making the intangible physical. Shadows were just places where light was not projected. If light hit an object, the light was reflected away, leaving a shadow in the place the light didn''t touch. So how could it be moved?


    I dodged another hit as I thought this. If I could understand the concept of moving shadows, I was confident that I could create a more tangible training partner. Vivian was strong enough to give me a run for my money and Adarna was good for reaction training, but I needed a partner around my size. The other four were too weak at the moment, though growing stronger and the Kobolds were too big. Besides, I personally believed that I''d exhausted how much sparring could benefit me. It was a good way to practice the moves but...


    I flinched as a wind blade passed through me, causing me to lose this new round of combat with my projection.


    In movies and books, there are the characters who got stronger through life and death battles and I was beginning to understand why. Sparring with allies or image training only helped further the understanding of existing skills. It was only through nearly dying could a person improve themselves.


    It was why I was trying to learn shadow magic. If I could create a shadow copy of myself, I could have it try to kill me and push my beyond my limits. I needed that push.


    With a frown, I headed out towards a rather empty area. I spread my fingers out and stretched my Ki. I hadn''t gotten good enough to use wide area magic yet, but my telekinesis had reached a new level recently. Stones of varying sizes began to float above me, rising higher and higher into the sky.


    Once they''d gotten as high as I could raise them, I let them drop, using small bursts of Ki to increase their speed. This was another form of training I''d designed, to simulate a deadly situation. I focused Ki into my arms and legs. I quickly dodged the first stone as it struck the ground nearest me.


    Then it began to rain stones. My body moved like the wind, weaving through the rocks as they slammed into the ground with surprising force. I flicked my staff and slammed it into a hand sized stone when I realized that I couldn''t avoid two stones. One had to be destroyed.


    The second the stone was impacted, energy flowed into the rock and caused it to explode upwards away from me. I''d learned from past mistakes when causing the mana of things to detonate. Instead of just randomly outwards, I focused the energy away from me. It''d make a nice shotguns style blast if I ever needed it.


    I tried to catch my breath as the dust began to settle around me "Damn..." I sighed softly as I sat down. Every time I got stronger, I''d increase the amount of stones that fell on me. It was really tiring. The speed at which I moved took my entire concentration, my Ki constantly pumping.


    I slowly took a deep breath and began to meditate. I found that meditation was far more effective when I''d exhausted nearly all my Ki. The time it took to recover the lost Ki had gotten smaller and smaller. An hour at most and I''d be ready to fight again.


    Energy flowed through the air and into me with every breath. Once I felt that my energy had reached its peak strength, I slowly began to stand up before I stumbled forwards. A pain lanced through my stomach, traveling up my spine and into my head. I twitched and looked down at my stomach. The pain was coming from my Ki Wisp. It was about the size of my fist at this point. It had grown a lot since I''d first discovered it.


    But now I was in pain and this wasn''t a normal pain either. It was like someone had shoved a hot wire into my but and up my spine. Not only that, but the Ki in my limbs was beginning to recede, flowing towards my stomach. I quickly moved myself into a proper meditating position just as I began to lose feeling in my hands and feet, the numbing sensation quickly traveling up my arms and legs.


    Even my head began to grow numb but I didn''t lose any sense of thought, just a sense touch. For the first time since I''d woken up, I suddenly found myself blind, truly blind. I couldn''t see the surrounding mana or my own Ki. But I could feel it, slowly draining into my stomach, into my navel and into my Ki Wisp.


    Pain continued to grow and grow, forcing me to want to scream out but I couldn''t. Then I felt more and more energy flowing into my body, mana surging into my stomach directly. It quickly converted into Ki. I felt my Ki Wisp begin to grow smaller, twisting and squeezing as it quickly reached half its original size.


    A cracking sound filled my thoughts before the sound of glass shattered and I opened my eyes. The bright blue glow of mana entered my vision once more. I opened my hands, stretching the fingers.


    "What the hell?" I stood up and felt my bones popping as I began to stretch. Despite feeling a bit stiff, I felt great. I did a few test punches and kicks before looking towards my Ki wisp once more. I blinked at the shining golden ball that was there instead. It was only about the size of my palm, but I felt a tremendous energy flowing through my body from that ball.


    The lines of Ki that flowed through my body were smaller as well, but stronger, like little powerful rivers of Ki. The movement of Ki felt better as well. In an instant, the ground rumbled underneath me and I slid forwards as I used Earth magic to move myself forwards before I met a cushion of air.


    A flick of my staff sent a burst of fire forwards.


    Everything felt so smooth. I barely had to think to use some of my basic magic. Ki pulsed in my hand and lightning danced across my fingers and shot into the ground before I flicked my wrist and sent the bolt into a nearby boulder. At this point, using magic was as easy as breathing.


    I rolled my shoulders as I stretched my Ki outwards "Lets see..." a quick stomp and several stone pillars shot up into the air before I used air magic to lighten myself as I jumped through the pillars. I reached out and felt the water of a nearby pond and pulled it towards me, twisting as I turned the water into a thin blade that cut through the pillars.


    As they fell, I called forth fire magic and earth magic. Fire magic to burn and consume and earth magic to steady the flame. The stone pillars quickly became molten. I suddenly had a new idea as Ki pulsed into my mind, revving it up like an engine.


    I borrowed the intent from water. The essence of its existence. To move and flow, to fill its container. Then I imbued that intent into the magic around the molten stone. Fire and Earth flowed like water as I twisted the Lava around me, keeping it a small distance away.


    Then I built a pillar of lava before slowly extracting the heat of Fire, watching as the lava quickly cooled into rock.


    I laughed softly. I had never thought about taking the intent of one element and imbuing it into another. It explained a few things. I''d thought of making lava with fire and earth, but controlling two elements at the same time wasn''t something easy...at least before. But this made thing easier. Water was a liquid. The intent to flow and fill wasn''t just water, but all liquids. To move earth and fire, I had to change its intent into that of a liquid instead of two elements.


    A liquid into a solid and a solid into a gas. Imbuing the intent of various elements into each other could not just allow me to move lava, but I could theoretically turn earth into a gas. With enough practice, I could even turn earth into a liquid without super heating it first.


    I flexed my Ki slightly but I couldn''t just force one state of matter to become another without a reaction. I shook my head and sighed. I felt fine. I''d been slinging around different types of magic so easily and my Ki didn''t even feel weakened.


    Even my movements felt faster. I normally needed to enhance my body with Ki to do what I could do now naturally. Whatever this change was to my Ki, it was extremely beneficial.


    This Ki...Core. It was a denser form of Ki, smaller than my previous Ki wisp, but containing so much more Ki. Even more interesting, above that was a second Ki wisp about the size of my first wisp when I first discovered Ki.


    I shook my head. It hadn''t even occurred to me that there would be levels of Ki. It was now obvious to me. There were seven Chakra points along the body in the books I''d listened to. What was strange was that my Ki started in my navel instead lower which was supposed to be the root of all energy.


    Maybe different races had different starting points. Humans were highly sexual creatures and so their energy was focused mainly in the sexual region of their chakra. It would also explain why humans were so creative. I shook my head. I would have liked to find the person who started this whole system, this was a little too on the nose for me.


    Now...it seemed that my next focus was in my solar plexus. It was the center of achievement in the human body. That also made sense, right after this next area had been unlocked, I''d suddenly felt sure of myself and my abilities. I''d been able to do things that I hadn''t been before.


    It was kind of amazing. I felt not only smarter but in tune with my body and my emotions. Despite this new strength, I was still aware that I was not strong enough. However, I was now able to consider having my brother and friends fight along side me. With them, as well as Vivian and Adarna, I would have a higher chance of defeating the Monster.The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.


    Still I only had a month, even less at this point, before they had to leave. Before then, I''d have to train them even harder. But...maybe I could take a page from the Deity handbook. Instead of forcing the Ki into a specific pattern, perhaps it would be easier to guide it. If the others had a better understanding of how Ki moved, it should be easier for them to use it.


    Another thought arrived in my mind "What if I can imbue an intent into a shadow?" to make the ethereal physical...I could theoretically combine the concepts of sturdiness and fluid to a shadow to bring it into the physical realm.


    Realms...


    I could feel the sun at my back which meant that there was a shadow directly ahead of me. I stretched my Ki forwards and ran it across the ground, feeling for my shadow. But I couldn''t find anything, just the ground before me. A shadow gave off no energy. It was a purely visual concept.


    Not like light. It was so much easier to find. It was a constant force that was around me. I wasn''t much of a science person but I understood that light was a electromagnetic force. The more I observed the particles as they moved around me, the more I began to understand.


    I didn''t need anything special to feel the wavelengths, my Ki could theoretically manipulate atoms, though I hadn''t attempted to do so. I wasn''t entirely sure what would happen if I attempted to play with them.


    But wavelengths were different. I could feel them as they bounced around, like a steady vibration. However, the major problem was that there weren''t just one. There were tons of them all stacked up, packed so tightly that I couldn''t actually pick out what made visible light different from other types of light.


    Still...at least I could feel it. I needed some science books or something. There were some things I could figure out and some things I needed a reference for. Though this wavelength stuff gave me more ideas. Radio waves were quite similar. If I could figure out how to manipulate the various waves, I could probably turn myself into a veritable walkie talkie.


    That thought made me laugh. I could imagine sending messages with my Ki using magic. Definitely could mess with people that way.


    Unfortunately, without more information, light manipulation was a bit more of a dream than anything else. Even if I observed magic being used, I wouldn''t be able to understand what it was doing to cause that effect.


    I suddenly had a thought and turned my attention back to my Ki. Maybe I was wrong about shadows. My Ki gave off light but it was only visible to me. Maybe if...


    Slowly, I pooled my Ki into a small ball of energy in my hand and pushed it out in front of me. I''d been thinking of manipulating shadows in the same vein as manipulating light. Most of my experimentation had been scientific nature, attempting to feel it so I could understand it. But not everything was understandable, at least by normal science.


    I shook my head. I figured magic wasn''t always going to be easy to understand. Elements were kind of easy as they followed a basic principle, but the ethereal had to be connected to something else.


    The ball of energy floated away from me. Then I forced it to explode, showering me with my own Ki like a small sun exploding. The light struck me but didn''t pass through me. It was a weird feeling. Ki normally held a partially intangible form. It could pass through things if I wanted it to and observe physical things as well.


    Then I felt it. The small explosion of Ki had forced the mana in the air behind me away. It was a blank spot in my senses, like a point of darkness in a bright room. It was effectively a shadow. Just as a normal shadow was an absence of light, this shadow was an absence of energy. Ki and Mana...there was nothing.


    The strangest thing was that the Mana in the surrounding air didn''t immediately dive back into the empty space. Suddenly, my staff yanked my hand forwards, pulling me away from the...emptiness.


    I turned my head just to see a thick claw swipe through the air. It wasn''t visible, but the Mana in the air moved as something touched it, forming into the shape of a claw.


    The Ki in my staff responded to the sudden danger, activating the basic retreat command I''d instilled into the Ki. I hadn''t had much time to test it but I was glad that it was working. The Mana moved, but I wasn''t sure what would have happened had that claw touched me. I''d never seen anything like it.


    "Oh...interesting. You avoided it." a voice entered my ears, lilting and thick. The emptiness shifted and twisted until it formed the shape of a person. This was new, very new. Even after seeing this, I could see no Ki or Mana being used.


    "I''ve never been called like this before. In fact...I''ve never been called at all. Usually it is I who is doing the calling. Very interesting. What did you do?" the figure waved its arms as its head turned towards me.


    "Ki light. I used the energy from it expanding to push away the Mana in the air, the resulting spot created a shadow." it felt easy to talk to...whatever this was. Like my mind was being set free, then my eyes tightened and my Ki raged as it searched. Then I found it, a very thin line of emptiness attached to my forehead. So small that I couldn''t even see it. The connection broke easily when I swiped my Ki through it.


    "Fast to react as well. A human from Earth. I have some vague recollection of your world. Primitives with no understanding of their energy. You do however. Why?"


    I frowned, feeling no compulsion to just spout out my secrets "I have my ways" I said watching the space "You''ve been asking questions. My turn. What are you? You have no Ki, no Mana is being manipulated, I can''t feel anything from you"


    "I? I am a Deity. Well...a type anyway" the being chuckled at some unknown joke "They''d have you believe that the only way to become a Deity is to flood yourself with all of your Ki, to every cell. They are right for the most part. But there are a few ways. Most require stepping into other Dimensions"


    "Other Realms" I said. I''d had this thought earlier. It was possible that just as there are other world, there were other Dimensions.


    "Exactly. How smart you are. Yes, I am from the...hmm. I''m not sure you have a word for it in your language. Darkness is apt, but there is so much more to it. More like a Void. A substance with no substance. Fill yourself with it, become it. Unfortunately not everybody can do it. Most simply perish."


    The Void. An absence of everything. It was a terrifying concept. It didn''t feel evil, just very foreign. Even my Ki was rejecting the concept, like it was terrified "Why? What does it entail?" I asked. It sounded interesting. A new concept of a God basically. It was different from the shining, golden forms I''d come to know.


    "Abandoning your Ki and your dimension. It is not a light decision. You gain much power but lose certain benefits. Without a medium for which to express my power, I have very little substance in your dimension. Little more than a shadow, a poor copy of the true Void, but more than one would expect from such a hybrid dimension"


    So...it couldn''t actually do a lot. I kind of got what it was saying. I was sure that in the Void, this being was a supreme being. Probably greater than any Deity of this dimension. Here though...it was as weak as my own shadow. That claw though...it had been dangerous, I had felt that clearly enough.


    "So...from what I understand, you should be omnipotent in your dimension, why do you need a medium here?" I got the feeling that some things were the same in any dimension.


    "All of us have the same amount of power but nothing to do with it. After the first few million years of fighting, it grows boring. So we play games, who can gather the most amount of Faith. The living beings of this Dimension are the most....faith filled beings. All of them find something to believe in, heroes, gods, tall tales, whatever suits them" it chuckled once more "It is why the Deities of your dimension are so intent on protecting their worlds. Their belief is what makes them strong. Without that, they are the most basic of Deities. Stronger than mortal beings but weaker than other Deities.


    I myself am fond of those who have a strong belief in their strengths. Depends on their specialties. But you...you believe in your intelligence and creative qualities, very strongly as well. I could feel it when you called me."


    It wasn''t wrong. I''d come to rely greatly on my own ingenuity to survive. Still, I didn''t know that even that generated this...Faith energy that Deities apparently gathered. A strong belief went a long way I suppose.


    "So, my belief called you here? Had I had a different kind of Faith, would that have called someone else?" I needed to be more careful in the future. I''d gotten lucky with this being. It didn''t seem capable of harming me...at least not after the first attack. A great amount of energy was needed to cross dimensions. Perhaps that initial claw had been nothing more than this being appearing?


    "Essentially. Considering what you were doing specifically, you would have always gotten someone from the Void. Why were you experimenting in that particular way? Perhaps...a study of the Void?"


    "I wasn''t trying to go there if that is what you mean. I personally like my Dimension too much to leave. I was trying to learn how to control shadow magic." the being began to laugh softly at that.


    "Mmm, there were many like you in the past. Some came to our side, some left for others. Shadow magic hmm. I may be able to help with that. Magic dealing with the Void came from it after all. A clever faith gathering technique. The more people that use your branch of magic, the more faith you gather..." I couldn''t see a face, but I was sure it was grinning "Say I give you a bit of my energy in exchange of your Faith...would you be willing to then teach your shadow magic to others on your world?"


    It seemed a harmless offer, but what it was really asking was if I would become a pawn in its games against others of its kind. It was a bit annoying. Still, from what I understood, all shadow magic came from some Void Deity. It made me wonder about Elemental dimensions. Perhaps that was where Holy Elemental magic came from? If it existed...


    This Void Deity said something about my dimension being a hybrid one. It was possible that our dimension had a little bit of others attached to it, maybe some early Deities attempting to gain more power changed the way this dimension worked, bringing aspects of others into it...


    "Alright" I said. If I had to use shadow magic, let it at least be on terms I''m willing to accept. Better to receive it straight from the source. I was now understanding why I hadn''t been able to grasp the concept earlier. The shadow magic relied on a belief that it would work, as designed by whatever Void Deity designed it. I didn''t contain their belief system. Had I been a bit more simple minded it might have worked, but I had to analyze the magic and understand how it worked.


    With a nod, the being flicked a finger towards me and I watched as a small ball of emptiness landed before me. Thin threads of nothingness slowly changed and shifted until I was viewing a shadow of myself along the ground.


    Of course. It couldn''t attach to me because I still had Ki, but my own shadow held no special quality. It was like a blank slate. Imbued with the power of the Void, it now had a minor substance. I touched it with my Ki and the nothingness flared up with energy and I knew. I knew how to control it. It was as malleable as my Ki. It flowed and twisted and I watched as my Shadow moved independently of my body along the ground.


    When I focused on the Void energy, I could feel the minor presences of other Void energies. Other shadows dotted all around me. I could stretch my own Shadow and touch that Void energy, but it rejected my energy, causing it to rebound back towards me.


    "This magic is dependent on your style of learning. My understanding of you is that you study and then improve your understanding of something. It''ll take time to learn to use your new magic. A little hint, the Void energy reacts very similarly to Mana as Ki does. Mana is a substance, add a shadow to it and it becomes a physical shadow" the being waved to me "I''ll be observing your progress. As much faith as you give me, you aren''t better than an entire world." and then it was gone. I could tell because the mana quickly began to fill the space it had been occupying.


    I shook my head and began to tinker with my new energy. It was as free moving as my own Ki but its strength was variable. It seemed to be tied to my belief. The less I believed in myself the weaker the Void energy became. Well, luckily for me, I did belief a lot in my ability to figure this out.


    I could only move my own shadow at the moment, and only in an intangible state, but in the future I expect to be capable of turning the shadows around me into weapons.


    The Void energy surged in response to my belief. One more tool to add to my arsenal.

 The Things We Could Do

    But now it made more sense. If it happened to be the wind or a random trick of the light, it was easier to check it out alone than be treated like a fool for jumping at shadows. It was very beneficial to me if I didn''t want to move as part of a group. The ability to distract an enemy before they found me was amazing.


    As I grew better at manipulating the shadows, I found it easier to imbue the darkness with the same intent of the earth. A solid block of shadow was a strange thing to feel. Smooth and squishy like jello, but with proper application, I could shove a spike of shadow through stone.


    Unfortunately there were limitations to using a shadow. It was obviously more effective at night as I could freely manipulate the darkness around me. During the day, I was actually limited to the shadows that already existed. It was possible to go beyond their limitations but the farther I reached without touching another shadow, the more Ki it took to maintain the shadow''s shape.


    At night, it was an effective camouflage. It was...unusual. When the sun fell, I didn''t have to control the shadows, they naturally clung to me like spider webs. I''d actually scared the others when I''d remained too still for too long and the shadows had crept over my body like a cloak. It was comfortable and that was disconcerting. Like a warm blanket on a winter morning, I didn''t want to leave the shadows once they''d surrounded me. After that, I made it a point to keep the Void energy away from me at night. It wasn''t aggressive like Blood Ki but it was still a consuming energy.


    I found it easier to create small things out of shadows and began to incorporate that concept into my combat style. A quick tap of my staff into my shadow and I could form small blades of shadow on the tip of it. I could increase the range of my staff and even create whip like extensions. It required less focus to just create a stable form for the shadow than actually commanding it to do something.


    Still, in an emergency, it would make a nice hidden weapon. It was quite versatile too, in my practices found that the blade didn''t have to be just on the tip. It could come out of the side if I flattened the shadow. An unobservant eye would miss the thin covering of darkness until it was too late. A confident dodge would be met with a scythe like blade being formed. It was surprisingly vicious.


    I shivered at that thought as I stood up from my meditation pose and stretched. Shadow magic was fun to practice but it led to some dark thoughts. I''d once caught myself wondering if I could use the natural darkness inside of someone to cause them to explode. It wasn''t as if the Void was naturally evil, but everything seemed far more sinister without the revealing gaze of light.


    I called for my staff and decided to focus on something more fun. I''d been having this thought a lot recently. My staff could hold more weight than I gave it credit for. It could pull me out of danger and even pulled Mary to me the first time we''d fought. I grinned as I stood outside and raised my staff above my head.


    "Up!" with a strong yank I was sudden pulled straight up into the sky. I found that there was a barrier of sorts above Olympus as well, though it wasn''t as strange as the cloud barrier around the area. I just couldn''t keep going up.


    I laughed as I quickly pulled myself up onto the staff and sat on it with my legs dangling off one side. I found sitting on it with it between my legs to be an uncomfortable idea.


    I was flying! Well, floating at the moment, but I could order the staff in any direction. Moving was a bit risky. A staff didn''t need to worry about being steady so the second I got it to move, it began to tip slightly one way or the other, requiring me to adjust my weight.


    Once again, I missed my sight. It must have looked amazing from high in the sky. All I could see was a blue sea of mana as it stretched out before me.


    It was nice flying out here, but unless I could figure out how to disrupt radar it was going to be hard to fly around at home. I could imagine being shot down by jets, though my maneuverability was probably far greater than a man made vehicle.


    Pushing forwards, I began to gently soar through the air. I needed the practice and not just for having fun. It was guaranteed I''d be fighting enemies in the air at some point in the future, a bit of practice was necessary.


    Unfortunately, I needed my hands on the staff when I was flying, it wouldn''t stay steady otherwise. If I couldn''t do it on the fly, I couldn''t fight up close if an enemy got passed my long distance magic.


    I quickly twisted and rolled, dodging a fireball I created in the air. At least my leg strength wasn''t going to be giving out anytime soon. Hanging upside down, I spread my fingers out as several more fireballs appeared in the air around me.


    Split second decisions in mid air. That was good training. A large smile appeared on my face as I quickly began avoiding the blazing balls of fire. To make it even more challenging, I began to cause some of them to explode while the others turned into piercing arrows.


    I was actually underestimating my ability to adapt to new situations. A roll through the air and I released the staff, grabbing it with my hand and quickly striking down a few errant fireballs knocked aside by other explosions before reseating myself.


    My increase in Ki hadn''t only affected the wisps inside of me, it had even enhanced most of my abilities. When I was dodging fireballs, it kind of felt like I was actually having multiple thoughts at the same time. I was paying attention to my position on the staff as well as the projectiles coming towards me.


    Then I felt the staff shudder slightly before I began to fall quickly. Looking down, I noticed that the Ki within the staff had thinned down to a shadow of its former vibrant self. Time seemed to slow down and I had a short moment to remember that the staff normally absorbed ambient mana and changed it into Ki, similar to myself. But it was like a battery, the more it was used the more Ki it used up. I''d been flying around practicing for some time now and hadn''t given it more time to replenish itself.


    Now I was falling out of the sky at a height that would kill me even with my enhanced defenses. If it didn''t rupture my skin, my untempered bones and organs would certainly break and explode from the impact. I was still a long ways away from being able to shrug off hitting the ground at high speeds. The day that was possible I could tattoo ''117'' on my shoulder.


    But I wasn''t entirely without aid. I could feel below me. A source of water. Stretching my Ki forwards, I called on the water, manipulated it. The color of magic flooded the area below me as I pulled the water up. I pointed my legs downwards just as a large tentacle of water reached towards me.


    I hit it with a surprising amount of force as the water exploded outwards quickly pulling back at my command and reducing my speed by a great amount. It was still enough to make my bones creak but nothing was seriously damaged.


    The water slowly receded back into the small lake I''d called it from. I was left floating on the surface as I relaxed "Holy shit that was crazy" I mumbled as I took a moment to just soak in what had just happened. The second the danger was gone, I was able to appreciate just how useful my ability to push away distracting emotions was.


    "You can say that again" I turned and saw the familiar Ki of my brother "I''ve been watching you fly through the air for about an hour now" he chuckled "We''d been wondering where you''d gone and suddenly we began to hear explosions going off above us"


    With a push of my Ki, I used magic to have the water move me to the lakes bank before I grinned at him "Well, it was an experiment I''d been wanting to try for some time now" I climbed out of the water and looked at my staff as it began to slowly recover its Ki "I didn''t expect my staff to run out of juice while I was still so high though" I said sitting in the grass.


    "I''d call you crazy, but I think all of us are" Max sat next to me and hit my shoulder "Mary just got more obssessed after magic came into the picture and this new Ki revelation isn''t any better for her. Good thing Alice is there for her"


    I paused "You knew?"


    He shook his head "Why wouldn''t I? They''re my best friends and honestly," he laughed softly "they aren''t the best at hiding it"


    "Well they hid it from me. I didn''t even know they were interested in women." I shook my head. It wasn''t like there had been any kind of identifier for that sort of thing.


    "I don''t think they knew until after we got sent to Alfis. I was trying to be the protector, get strong quickly. Little did I expect that each of the girls could easily handle themselves" he sighed as he laid back "Rein...she got a little weird for the longest time. I don''t think she really accepted being in another world at first. She went total wild girl on us for a while"


    "That meant Alice and Mary spent a lot of time alone together" he shrugged "I guess they learned more about themselves than they expected to. Naturally, they tried to hide it, like Rein and I would be upset or something. I was happy about it when I found out. My two best friends ending up together? Totally awesome"


    I agreed with him but I also understood where they''d come from. It was a big change in not only their friendship, but in the way they saw each other. They''d probably been afraid of the reactions. Just because it was a happy occasion for them didn''t mean that it would be one for everyone else.


    Of course, they obviously underestimated how much we loved them "I wish we were back home so we could throw a party. I could do some crazy stuff with magic" I grinned at him.


    "That''d be something to explain to the neighbors. ''No, I didn''t have a flamethrower, it was me casting fireballs''" he laughed before sighing "What about home anyway? After fighting monsters and meeting gods, using magic, flying!" he waved his hands in the air "How do you just go back to a normal life?"


    I cocked my head at him "Normal life? Who said anything about a normal life? The stuff we could do with our abilities..." I laughed "Besides, I''m not going to stop at just flinging fireballs or moving water around. I''m going to see how far my magic will take me. If a Deity can do it, then it is possible to go to other worlds even without their power. I could like...create a Justice League of worlds!" I was exaggerating, but not by much. I could theoretically handle all of the worlds problems to a certain degree.


    I was a normal guy and my intelligence was already incredible after my Ki changed the way I thought. If a person who was already a genius did the same thing as me? They''d solve everything. Doctors with the ability to actually explore their patients body and cure any illness? Everyday people with increased immunity to everything that could make them sick?


    There would always be problems, such as war and bigotry, but problems such as starvation and sickness could easily be handled with. If I understood how to do it, I could probably create food and other things from thin air. I could literally generate electricity from my finger tips.


    Max looked at me, a little surprised "I hadn''t imagined that you''d thought it through like this. I was imagining it like going to war and then living in peace. I thought I''d miss the fighting or something. I wasn''t even thinking about using my abilities to help change the world"


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    "Well, people with great strength will always be needed and it isn''t like fighting is just going to stop on Earth. Hell, after people begin learning about magic and stuff, I wouldn''t be surprised if Deities started showing up and staking their claim" with magic came faith and with faith came Deities.


    "That is why we need to be strong enough. Earth is our home. We have to make sure no one can just play around with it for their amusement"


    Max nodded before standing up "Get up" he said and I obeyed, leaving my staff sitting there and recovering its Ki.


    He slid into a fighting stance and I did the same "Just because the girls are strong enough to take care of themselves doesn''t mean that we can''t still be their protectors" I said softly as we began to spar. Since arriving here, they''d all improved, but my brother was surprisingly good despite not adjusting to Ki as much as the others.


    He wasn''t much of a magic user, his skill was in fighting, plain and simple. I could do a little bit of everything, but he was pure fighter. I''d probably never match up to him in pure physical skill or Mary in pure magical skill, just as I couldn''t beat Rein in survivability or Alice in adaptability. They all had specialties.


    A burst of wind pushed Max''s next strike off balance allowing me to hit him in the now open space. He quickly adjusted and blocked my strike with his leg as he raised it


    But I had my own style. I fought with magic and martial arts, with my mind and body. I was a bit of a Jack of All Trades in that regard. I liked it. Against someone like my brother, I could take it easy and use a few of my skills in a proper spar.


    Against someone trying to kill me, I had multiple ways to save my life while doing as much damage to my opponent.


    Of course, Max wasn''t a push over. I watched as his Ki flared up and he stepped up the pace. Our bodies began to blur as we twisted and struck each other. He shifted into grappling techniques, trying to pin down my movements, restricting my ability to deal damage.


    In battle, my brother had two roles. One was to act as the finisher. Alice would wear the opponent down with her raw strength and he''d finish them off. The other role was the Tank. He took damage using his armor in normal battles. Of course here, I''d been making them fight without their gear, focusing on their physical improvement instead of the enchantments they had.


    Strangely enough, Max''s skin was becoming stronger after repetitive beatings. With a sudden movement he twisted and placed his fist against my chest. A pulse of Ki sent me flying back, slamming me against the ground.


    Ki Impact. Ki itself would do no damage, but by focusing a strong pulse of energy through his arm, he could send a close range shockwave to deal damage. I''d seen him practicing it and he''d even tried to use it against me in previous spars. This was a sign that his mind had improved. He''d waited until he''d locked me down before using it.


    I rubbed my chest and coughed a bit as I stood back up. The shockwave passed through my body and into the parts of me I hadn''t strengthened yet. I could probably figure out how to properly do it given time, I could add it to my growing repertoire.


    He showed his reaction speed well enough as I flexed my wrist, moving my body to the side as a giant fist made of stone exploded out of the ground headed towards him. He quickly lifted his leg and with the aid of his arm, blocked most of the damage.


    I was already moving as I reached the spot he was sent flying towards and raised my foot above my head. Just as he reached me, I brought my foot down onto his head.


    A hand caught it as Max used his momentum to turn and through me into the air. I grinned as I looked down at him and brought my left hand back, placing the back of my right hand against it "Galick!" I shouted as I gathered my Ki into my hand.


    I saw him start at the sudden shout as he moved into a familiar position, hands at his hip "Ka...Me..Ha..Me!" he shouted in return.


    "Gun!" I thrust my hands forwards and fired off a compressed burst of air magic towards him just as he lifted his hands towards me.


    "Ha!" compressed Ki pulsed through his arms and sent a shockwave towards my magic.


    When the two met, the air popped as the compressed air from both of us exploded outwards. I used air magic to land safely a small distance from him, both of us still holding combat stances before we broke out laughing.


    He walked to me and we bumped fists "If only huh?" he asked.


    I nodded, as kids we''d often play out in the yard having mock battles as we reenacted our favorite scenes from that anime "Give me time, I''ll figure out a magic to create those attacks. They are just condensed plasma after all" I already had electricity down and I knew that plasma was created from ionizing gas. I just needed more knowledge on the subject.


    "Oh damn dude!" he chuckled "Gotta have some bad ass energy attacks to go with your style"


    "It would be pretty cool" as we were talking, both our stomachs decided to growl at that exact moment. We had been sparing pretty hard though we had plenty of energy to spare. Still, it was hungry work.


    "Come on, lets go eat" I said and we began to walk back to the place we were calling home "Hey, how did you extend the reach of your shockwave?"


    "Well, normally I have it expand as quickly as possible to deal as much damage to a person''s insides right?" I nodded, rubbing my chest a bit "I had this idea about focusing it even more, like a beam, it won''t do much damage but it is useful for knocking away attacks like your magic. All of it is really close together so it is easy to smash apart"


    I generally compressed my magic tightly under the intent of doing a lot of damage. Normally my fire attacks exploded on contact so using a long distance burst of energy was actually pretty smart. My air magic from before was a primarily piercing attack as well. I''d have to think up ways to counter act it. Maybe a dispersing magic. If it is struck head on, it blows apart and rains down on the enemy.


    "You''ve got that look again" he said laughing.


    "What look?" I asked.


    "That look where you have an idea on how to improve yourself. Like you are already back fighting again. You always look at your stomach too, where your Ki is" he nudged my shoulder "Constantly ready to use it to fight"


    He wasn''t wrong. The first thing I''d ever seen after the accident was my Ki, afterwards I just kept observing it as it grew and changed. I guess it''d become a habit to keep observing it while I thought. I hadn''t even realized it.


    I shook my head "Just a lot to think about. Ever since I began learning about magic, I''ve constantly gotten ideas upon ideas on how to make myself better. Spinning stones, using Avatar techniques to manipulate elements, flying. It just keeps coming to me. It is fun. Like I''m learning more and more about myself and the universe around me at the same time."


    "No, I totally get it. Learning how to fight has become even easier after you started teaching us how to use our Ki. I get ideas for new ways to counter attacks all the time. It is like you pulled the plug on a stopped up drain and all of it just flows right into us" he shook his head as we walked "Then I look back at the me before and I think..."


    "That you were weak and stupid?" I finished for him. I struggled with things that were simpler than ever for me now. The simple act of stopping my Ki from leaving my body had stumped me for the longest time. Now, it wasn''t even second nature. The Ki stopped itself from leaving me.


    "Yeah. Like, I can see the skills I used before and I know how stupidly rigid they were. I want to go back and kick my ass for getting so compliant on the system"


    I laughed "Well, it was useful for a few things. Using it, you don''t have to gather Ki like I do. You just have to fight and it is given to you. Now that you know how to fix it, you can grow strongerin half thetime it takes me"


    He nodded and sighed "Still, it is weird knowing that some other being was messing around in my body"


    "Well, that is how some Deities are. That one doesn''t see you as people, just tools to be used until the job is done. Not all are like that, but I wouldn''t be surprised if a lot of them act that way" I shrugged as we entered the building.


    Alice waved at us "Good to see you two are still alive. We heard the fighting all the way over here, we got dinner ready!"


    "Nice to see the womenfolk doing something around here" I said grinning before dodging a lighting bolt that flew from Mary''s fingers "Just joking. Thanks for getting this prepared"


    She smiled at me and went back to examining her staff. Ever since she''d learned to manipulate her Ki she''d been studying the enchantments on their weapons, trying to understand how they worked exactly. I already understood it as the creator imbuing the magic''s intent onto the tool and then all the user had to do was supply the energy. However, I didn''t know how the creator separated their own intent from the tool when it was enchanted.


    All understanding pointed to that being difficult to do. Magic was held together by the intent of a person, once the intent was stopped the magic usually fell apart.


    Rein grinned "I hunted with Vivian today, seems she is already warming up to me" she said and I turned my head to the female wolf sitting in the corner with Adarna resting on her back.


    "Thanks for trying to get along with them" I said to her.


    She looked at me "They aren''t all bad" she said softly, surprising me. The more I spoke with her, the more I became amazed at her intelligence. She''d completely shot through Sentience and into Sapience.


    "I can see why you like them. The girl, Rein, is quite the huntress. She''d make a fine addition to the pack" she still thought of us as a pack though and I didn''t see that changing anytime soon.


    "Master! Welcome home!" whether it was due to the surrounding environment or even Vivian''s advancement, Adarna had developed a bit more too. He flew over to me and landed on my shoulder "Fought many bats today! Grew stronger!" the bird was still always excited but it was good to know that he was getting stronger and smarter.


    I gently patted his head before he flew off to land on Alice''s shoulders as she continued to cook. I could see her slipping him meat every once in a while. I rolled my eyes as I gathered myself a helping and sat down.


    Everyone else talked around me but I let myself sink into my thoughts. It was getting close for them to leave. Two weeks were left and I''d certainly gotten a bit stronger since before and my Aura defense shield was growing complete.


    Max, Rein, Alice, Mary, Vivian, and Adarna. They were my companions and I''d already talked to them about the Monster to assure that the first four wouldn''t go exploring around that area. But Max''s strength today showed that they might be ready to help me defeat the thing. That way, they''d go back to Alfis and I''d go back home around the same time.


    I didn''t want to involve them in it but I had to. With all of us together it was possible to defeat it. Vivian and Adarna weren''t enough to help me beat it alone. But the six of us together would have a decent chance, especially at our current strength.


    They were up for helping me, I already knew that...


    I''d give them a week..a week to make any final adjustments to their strength, a week for me to finish my shield.


    Then we''d fight the Monster.


    We''d either succeed...or die.

 The Monster and the Blood

    The plan was as follows. I alone would enter through the front door, drawing the Monster''s focus. The others would enter through the open air windows along the sides of the building and strike while it was distracted. It was familiar with me at this point from my previous tests. Half the time, I''d be bombarded by an Aura attack the second I opened the door. Everyone got tired of the mosquito picking at them eventually.


    Fortunately, my recent increase of Ki had also increased my ability to multitask. When the doors were opened, I could feel the moment the Aura surged towards me. Sharp blades of Ki, innumerable as they rushed towards me. It was still impossible for me to get out of this unscathed. A quick manipulation of my Ki had it form small shields around in front of my hands.


    Sharpening my focus, I rushed forwards. I focused on the areas around my chest and head, protecting my vital organs from being destroyed by the Aura. My shields flicked forwards, deflecting the energy around my body as I performed small intricate steps to avoid the bigger bursts of energy. My mind was strained to the breaking point just on these movements alone, small scratches appearing on the parts of my body I wasn''t defending.


    I''d cleaved a path. With a twist of my body, my staff shot past me, aiming for the Monster''s head. I saw it move for the first time since I''d seen this creature. There was no sign of movement. One moment its hand was resting on the arm of the throne and the next it was in reaching out of the staff as it flew towards it.


    With a pulse of my energy, a thin blade of shadow appeared at the tip of the staff, piercing into the hand as they met. The blade that could pierce through stone as if it was water was only able to go in half way. It reached forwards with its other hand to grab the staff but I quickly called it back to me.


    I underestimated this thing. A drop of blood was left on the tip of the shadow blade quickly jumped towards me. Before it could reach me, I pulled the mana from behind me, forming a ball of fire that quickly consumed the blood just as my Ki destroyed the Blood Ki within that drop. If something devoured then it could be devoured.


    The energy required to destroy that single drop of Blood Ki was ridiculous. At least four times as much normal Ki. A shook my staff, dispelling the shadow blade as I took in a soft breath. Mana was continually flooding the room, refilling the empty space as the Monster drew its Aura back into its body. It seemed I''d peaked its interest in me after destroying the Blood Ki. Tapping the staff against the ground, several stones shot up to be caught by my Ki, slowly beginning to spin.


    With a loud crack, the throne was suddenly destroyed.


    "Shit!" I quickly dodged the large fist that appeared in front of me, rolling away before I could be caught up in a six armed attack. I was glad for my enhanced reflexes, I hadn''t even had time to realize that it had moved. It was still maintaining efficiency, using short bursts of power to overwhelm an opponent.


    I twisted my fingers and the stones left where I''d been standing quickly surrounded the Monster, sharp blades of shadow forming on their tips as they shot forwards, stabbing into its flesh and quickly exploded with a thought, causing dust to float through the air.


    "Now!" I sent a sharp command towards my two animal companions. Adarna shot through a window, surging towards the Monster and using its shadow tipped claws to slash across the creature''s neck before flying away. Given the danger of its blood, I got rid of the shadows I''d placed on his claws and recreated them as he landed on my shoulder.


    Rein and Vivian came through another window. Unlike Adarna, I didn''t need to coat Vivian''s claws in shadow, she''d taken to the magic like a fish to water, using it like she''d always been able to. On her back, Rein was holding a bow we''d received from the Kobolds, made from the strong bark of the Ents. Everyone wanted to help out, knowing the danger of this creature.


    Arrows tipped with shadow magic rained down onto the Monster, preventing it from moving for a short moment as Alice and Mary came in. Mary stayed in the rear and swung her staff, spears of Ice shooting through the air as Alice rushed underneath them, her fists blurring in a shotgun of punches as she circled around the Monster, sending it into the spears.


    Directly above the Monster, the ceiling suddenly collapsed as Max used his concussive Ki to drop a load of stones onto the creatures head before coming down even harder with his own fists. The stones quickly exploded outwards, sending everyone skittering backwards as the Monster rose back up, bloody yet seemingly unfazed by the series of attacks that it had just suffered.


    Frowning, I shook the magic wall of air away from my body, knocking away the errant stones that had nearly struck me. I''d noticed it before the stones had been sent out. It wasn''t a random strike but a series of calculated impacts that were aimed towards us as its enemies.


    Just because it was a puppet to the Blood Ki didn''t meant that it wasn''t smart. I readied myself for another round of battle before the Monster rushed towards Mary. She focused more on her magic than body refinement so she was currently the weakest of the rest of us physically.


    I rushed forwards, but not to protect her. She had her own ways of doing that. The mana of the ground bubbled and responded to her Ki as I watched. The stone exploded outwards underneath the spot directly in front of her just as the Monster stepped onto it, sending it flying through the air.


    A burst of air magic sent me into the air after it. I grinned when I was met by Alice and Max. I formed blades of Shadow along my staff as I quickly struck the Monster across the back, knocking towards Alice who quickly used a Ki empowered kick to send it upwards to my brother.


    He pulled the large sword from his side and struck down at the monster, cutting a large gash across the Monster''s chest as he slammed it back towards the ground where Vivian quickly formed several spikes of shadow a second before it hit them, spearing it through several points across its chest.


    Rein took the initiative to leap onto the Monster and use her knives to slash at its eyes, avoiding the blood as it grabbed at her before returning to Vivian''s back.


    It was terrifying to watch as the Monster began to slowly remove itself from the spikes of shadow, a gruesome squelching sound filling the air as it stood up. It had no concern for its own body or its life, just a desire to kill us and consume us. It turned its body towards Rein and Vivian, ready to attack them next before I landed on its back, a fireball primed as I shoved it through one of the gaping holes and jumping away just as it exploded.


    It blew the Monster apart with the force, blood and viscera everywhere. To my disgust, that wasn''t the end. How could I think it would be. The Blood Ki wasn''t destroyed. I watched as pieces of flesh, arms and legs, even a head quickly move towards one another, sewing themselves together using Blood Ki until I was staring at the Monster once more.


    Then it vanished with even more speed before, sending Alice and Max careening into a wall before it vanished and my other companions were tossed aside like dolls. It was burning more energy to give itself more strength. This was a true Blood Ki user, not a single ounce of regular Ki inside of it. It wouldn''t die unless the entire body was destroyed and even then, the Blood Ki would still remain to possess another person.


    I created fireballs, as the others got back up before the Monster rushed me, several strikes hitting my sides before I even had a chance to block, sending me careening along the ground like a rock skipped over water. I quickly scrambled up as it appeared before me once again, large foot kicking me in the stomach. That single kick was enough to send me slamming into the ceiling. From my position, it looked like it was about to jump at me before Alex body checked the Monster as I pulled myself from the ceiling, using air magic to catch me as I fell to the ground.


    By the time I reached the ground, it had already thrown off Alex and was in battle with Alice. She stayed light on her feet though, avoiding the attacks just barely. It learned her movements though and slammed its foot into the ground, cracking it and destabilizing her footwork. It was going to kill her with a powerful fist. But I was faster.


    I rushed forwards, surrounding myself in earth and shadow as I crashed into the monster, sending us both into a nearby wall. I could feel, had been feeling it ever since I stepped into the room. The desire for power and the promise the Blood Ki offered. Still, I ignored it and pushed further until the Monster was in the wall.


    A crumbling, cracking sound fill the air as six pairs of arms quickly enclosed me, breaking through my earth defense. It was aiming to crush me and I couldn''t reach any Mana as its Aura quickly expanded to push away the nearby Mana. Fucking smart bastard!


    So I focused on our shadows, willing my intent into the darkness quickly growing and shoving as much Ki as I could get into it. A blade shot upwards, slicing the Monster clean in half with as much force as I could possibly use. I was incapable of stopping it as blood poured all over me, squirming and drilling into my skin as if it was paper.


    I screamed as it touched my own Ki, quickly burning into it. My eyes saw the energy of my allies and I knew that it would do the same to them, it would devour them. I wouldn''t let it.


    So I called to it. Called to the Blood Ki as it entered my body. I called it all. It couldn''t fix the Monster''s body if I was holding it up. Without a Host, it was just a devouring force, unable to realize my plans. All it knew was that I was accepting its gift. It was not a pleasant gift. It was painful, different from creating it myself, I was aware of it forming, aware of what it was doing to my own Ki. It burned, twisted, pulled, cut, and stabbed.


    Destroying my Ki was its first goal.


    "Burn the body!" I shouted as I quickly sunk down to meditate, completely pulling my Ki from every extremity, cutting off all senses to focus on suppressing the Blood Ki. It was much older than the Blood Ki from before. Despite falling for my trick, it was no slouch. It attacked in multiple directions, making it hard for me to focus my own Ki to contain it.The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    Then I was standing in a field, green grass, little different colored flowers dotting the ground around me. I looked around and blinked, rubbing my eyes before gasping at the sight of my hands. They were darker than I remembered, the fur on my right arm a deep blue. It was really pretty. Was this what Vivian''s fur looked like.


    I shook my head and regained my focus. I could see, fine, I''d accept that. But where was I? I''d just been fighting the Blood Ki for control of my body. Now I was in a nice comfortable field?


    An illusion? It was directly attacking my Ki, it was possible that it could make me experience things in an attempt to distract me, to make me lose my focus. Then I could feel it, at the back of my mind, the constant struggle between my Ki and the Blood Ki. It was different from before, I wasn''t directly fighting it but I could also tell that my Ki had it in a stalemate.


    "That is because I am helping" a soft voice floated through the air and I turned, seeing a large tree in the distance, though it hadn''t been there before. What was ominous about it was that every single leaf on the tree was blood red. I walked towards it as there was nothing else to do in this field.


    "And who are you?" I asked before stopping as a hand appeared from behind the tree, followed by the most beautiful woman that I''d ever seen. I''d hate to sound like an shallow guy, but she had curves in all the right places. No model on Earth could compare to this woman. Her eyes like rubies and her hair an equally deep shade of red. It wasn''t sickening like Blood Ki, but like a rose caught in a sunset.


    "Eliza, the owner of the body you''ve been so maliciously beating around" she said smiling at me. I think Cupid would have a hard time not falling for this woman.


    I shook my head, ignoring her beauty "That was not your body, that body was...masculine" I said. I could clearly see it through the red lines of Blood Ki through its body. No femininity at all, also this woman clearly only had two arms as opposed to the six the other had.


    She rolled her eyes and gave a soft scoff "Blood Ki, it doesn''t just devour, it reshapes to a more suitable form. No need for the soft bits of a woman''s body. Just raw strength and defense, anything else is excess" she shook her head "No elegance or finesse, just brute force"


    I made a face, it was hard not to. Just by a quick observation, I could tell that this woman was strong in her own right, most likely stronger than the Blood Ki form she was now. Even without pure sight, I''d learned to judge another''s strength. She probably lacked the raw strength her new body possessed but she certainly had the skill to overwhelm anyone.


    "How did you get consumed by the Blood Ki? In fact, why are you even here?" I wondered. If I was right and Blood Ki was all consuming, there should be nothing left of the Ki of the previous person.


    "Similar to you and your staff, I imbued my Ki into an object and then hid that object within a small pocket of space, connected to my original body." she sighed softly "I''ve basically been attached to my body for a long time, watching as it slaughtered and fed its Blood Ki." she shook her head "As for how...it was a moment when I was at my weakest the Blood Ki found me and consumed me"


    She perked back up and smiled at me "Now you are here, attempting to defeat it. You were going to lose so I connected my Ki to you. I''m not going to let it keep going if we have the chance to stop it"


    She waved her hand and an image appeared, lights flowing from the tree to form a window. The first thing I noticed was that I could now see my body. Well toned and well tanned, I was a little surprised at how I looked. Long hair and a partially well trimmed beard. I made a face, figuring I needed to get a proper haircut when I got home.


    Then I saw Max. Looking just like me except he was clean cut. He''d definitely lived a more comfortable life before meeting me. The others looked a little different. Alice had cut her hair a bit shorter than I remembered and Mary was actually wearing a mages robe, her brown hair tucked into her hat.


    Rein''s short black hair had actually grown out a bit, her huntress, rogue armor looked pretty good.


    Vivian was a beautiful wolf, deep blue fur and bright yellow eyes. She had a little moon crescent between her eyes and her form was filled with power.


    Adarna was actually a silvery blue color, with bright green eyes. It was interesting to know. Though that beak looked just as terrifying as I imagined it to be.


    A flash of movement caught me off gaurd as everyone quickly moved as a flurry of punches struck the ground where they''d gathered. The Monster was still alive!? It didn''t look much more different than I''d seen. It''s skin was deep red and its body bulged with powerful muscles. Despite its large size, it moved with a strange grace I hadn''t noticed before.


    "Why is it still alive?!" I growled.


    "Instinct. My body is well trained and despite its current appearance, it still holds a lot of power." Eliza said softly "I trained until I could respond to the slightest danger, whether I was asleep or not. The Blood Ki managed to repair the damage before you called it into you, so now my body is fighting purely in self defense"


    "Don''t worry though" she smiled at me "Your friends are doing well and my body can''t keep going forever, especially since the Blood Ki is no longer inside of it" she pointed behind me "Besides, we have more important things to handle at the moment.


    I turned around and saw blood beginning to drip from the sky, pooling into various enemies I''d fought since I''d arrived in Olympus. I stretched a bit and grinned "So, this is the Blood Ki I take it?"


    She nodded as she pulled a couple of sickle like swords from behind her back "As it consumes your Ki, it begins using your own experiences to wear you down. You''ve been quite busy, but this is a pale comparison to what I faced in the past. You are just going to fight more and more as you step into this world"


    I waved my hand and a staff appeared. The wood was beautiful and I could really appreciate the carvings that the Kobolds had made for me. It was a deeper gray than I imagined, probably since it had been changed to ironwood.


    We rushed into battle, my staff flashing in arcs, sending splashes of blood through the air. The monsters were weaker than I''d imagined. It wasn''t as if they were all impossible to defeat, but there seemed to be an infinite amount of them, constantly being created just as quickly as we defeated them.


    Eliza was no pushover either. Her graceful movements caught my attention as she flipped through the air, her blades slashing through heads. Whereas I could take a few beatings, she never gave them the chance to hit her. Like water, she swirled through the groups of monsters, blades flashing in the light as she took the monsters two at a time. The finesse she moved with was at least two levels higher than anything I''d experienced before and I was thankful that she wasn''t my enemy, and that her actual body had been altered to such a degree that it couldn''t use its full strength.


    This fight was never ending though. I didn''t really feel tired, but my body was becoming sluggish, not responding to my orders as fast as I would have liked. It seemed that fighting in this illusionary world was still using up my Ki. Fortunately, the monsters I was facing thinned out as they got stronger.


    Until they became my brother and friends, even Vivian and Adarna were there. Of course, I''d fought against them too. When they came at me, I found myself in a defensive stance, avoiding actually attacking them in fear that I would kill them.


    I could kill a lot of things, goblins, Ents, even a Kobold if I needed to, but I couldn''t kill the ones I cared about. In a lot of stories, this was where the hero would man up and kill the illusions of their loved ones, realizing that the real ones were the ones that they needed to see again.


    But I felt that was bullshit. To coldly kill those you loved, even if they were illusions, was the dumbest thing in the world. That meant that you were willing to abandon those feelings when it was a problem.


    I''d still care about them, even if they were monsters. Unfortunately, I couldn''t beat the Blood Ki without killing them.


    However, I wasn''t alone as Eliza cut through them without a care in the world. It was terrifying to watch but beautiful in its own way. I needed to find another way to beat the Blood Ki without fighting and killing my loved ones. I wasn''t always going to have Eliza around to handle it.


    I sighed as I sat on the ground "Please tell me that it is over" I rubbed my face gently. I wasn''t physically exhausted, but my mind was fully strained.


    Eliza looked around before nodding "You''ll have to do the cleanup yourself, but the worst of it has passed" she said waving her hand and recreating the screen from before "It seems your allies have defeated my body as well" she said nodding.


    She was right. From what I could see, the body basically ran out of juice, slowing down and losing strength. Still, it hadn''t been an easy fight. All of them were pretty seriously harmed. Max looked like he was holding a broken arm and Alice was walking funny. I frowned before sighing. It was nice to see that they could handle themselves without me.


    Then I was opening my eyes and looking around, back to the soft blue like light Mana gave off constantly.


    "Alex!" Mary was the first to notice that I''d awoken as she moved over to me. I was still focusing on my Ki, eliminating any remaining Blood Ki I could find. It had dwindled down to a pathetic few drops but I knew that if left alone, it would devour my Ki and grow back to its full strength in due time.


    "What happened?" Alice said as she and Max walked over to me, followed by Rein, Vivian, and Adarna.


    "The Blood Ki entered me and I had to fight it off, sorry I couldn''t help you all against that thing" I nodded towards the burning body of the Monster.


    Max shook his head "No worries, it was much weaker after you began meditating" he winced as he moved his arm slightly "Still probably the most difficult thing we''ve faced"


    I nodded "Tell me about it. When you get back to the other world, you need to make sure nothing like this exists there" the Deity of that world probably kept a close eye on things like that but it didn''t hurt to keep them on their feet.


    Alice nodded "We''ll crush them before they get too powerful" she said firmly and I chuckled.


    "You''ll also have to make sure you don''t fall prey to it" I said "It feeds on your desire for more power and will attack you at your weakest moments" I remembered Eliza. I was more and more aware of how lucky I''d been.


    Slowly, I stood up "Lets get home, I don''t want to stay here" the others nodded and we headed out before I stopped "Keep going, I''ll just make sure the body actually completely burns away" I said watching them leave.


    I stood before the body and sighed as I watched it burn "Sorry" I said softly. I was apologizing for a few things, first was destroying the body and second for her being consumed by it.


    "You''re sweet. Be careful, or some girl is going to eat you up" a soft voice entered my ears as a soft cloth fell across my shoulders "A gift, from me to you, for stopping the Blood Ki...I''m not going to remain without my body around..."


    I felt a soft pair of lips on my cheek "Take care Alexander...you have a lot ahead of you" then I felt her vanish.


    I removed the cloth from my shoulders and felt it. It was soft but tough. Examining it revealed it to be a cloak. It must''ve been the object she''d imbued her Ki into to survive. I swung it back onto my shoulders and fastened it before pulling up the hood. I felt it shroud my face in darkness, observing as the Void energy swirled up under the cloak, close to my body.


    Then I felt the fibers of the cloak move, digging into my skin, from my head to my feet it held me close and reached in until it touched my Ki and began drinking it in. I dropped to my knees as I felt completely weak and unable to fight back.


    After a few moments, the cloak was completely filled with my Ki. I frowned before I understood what had happened. It had been imbued with Eliza''s Ki for so long that when it finally ran out, it was like a man in the desert, drinking up the closest source of Ki. It completely became mine as it took my Ki to sustain it.


    Then I found the real use of the cloak. It wasn''t just for hiding my appearance, it added to my defense, the outside like smooth steel. It was also as maneuverable as my staff and moved according to my will, flipping the hood off and on.


    The material it was made of was malleable as well. This meant that it could shape shift into various types of defensive gear, more importantly, I actually had clothes now. No shoes though. I changed it into a simple shirt and a pair of pants before stretching.


    I was both happy and sad now. We were all leaving tomorrow, me back to Earth (hopefully) and them back to Alfis.


    I suddenly had an idea. Despite our injuries...we needed to have a party!

 Goodbyes and Going Home

    A party was not a good idea. I groaned as I sat up rubbing my head. I would have thought that it was impossible to get hungover due to how strong my body was, even without being tempered, my liver and kidneys were still stronger than normal. Then again, we had borrowed some Kobold wine and they were all warrior like. Stronger stuff for stronger people...


    That gave me an idea though. With magic, I could possibly make my own drinks. Even if I couldn''t manipulate time at the moment, I could still create drinks with specific flavors if I knew how they were made. I continued to rub my head as a headache flashed through me.


    Ugh, I should still cut back next time. Party or not, I could end up ambushed while drunk and that wouldn''t end well. Even worse, I could end up slinging spells with drunken abandon. Maybe. The ability to use magic was largely dependent on my ability to focus, small less complicated spells were almost automatic but the more complex it became, the more I needed to focus on the spell''s structure.


    With another groan, I moved myself into a meditative position and began to focus on my Ki. The faster I rotated my Ki through my body, the faster my headache vanished. The more I was able to manipulate my Ki, the more I became aware of how to control by body. If I wanted to, I could probably stop my heart, making my organs work a bit harder to cleanse the alcohol from my body didn''t take much strength.


    One of the negatives was that it pushed my organs beyond their limits. It was a temporary measure for getting rid of poisons quickly, doing so for longer than a minute or two could cause some serious damage.


    Once I was feeling better, I stood up and waved my hand. I felt the soft fabric of my new cloak settle around my shoulders. The shape-shifting abilities of the cloak were useful but it did use up the Ki inside of the cloak. It''d be useful as a suit of armor instead of as a pair of pants. It would make a good spare though. The time I spent here was a good reminder to always carry more clothes...or find more resilient ones.


    I stretched a bit and noticed that a few places on my body hadn''t fully healed yet. That Monster really did a number on my body, I could only imagine how the others would be feeling when they woke up. I called my staff to me and headed outside. I couldn''t feel the distinctive energy of a Deity and unlike Artemis, I was sure that the Deity from Alfis wouldn''t bother hiding himself for fun.


    It seemed that we had some time before that particular guy showed up. I really wasn''t looking forwards to dealing with him again.


    As I began to move my staff in a simple exercise as I began to think of the future. I was going back home but I didn''t know what I wanted to do there. With my abilities I could do a lot but unless I wanted to be hunted down like in movies, it was best not to go showing off what I could do.


    I pulled the hood of my cloak over my head and knelt down slightly "I am the Night" I growled in a deep voice before laughing softly. Being a super hero sounded fun but it also sounded like a lot of work, a lot of politics as well.


    I''d have to get a young ward and possibly a love interest that would either end up hurt or end up a villain. I made a face at that thought. Not only would the interpersonal relationships of such a venture would be complicated. I felt that it wasn''t possible to change the world by beating the daylights out of thugs.


    I''d either have to deal with prison overcrowding even more than normal or start killing off the more dangerous criminals which would then just give rise to a new generation of criminals.


    That was only the obvious criminals as well. There were many criminals that used the law to do their dirty work. Politicians who abused a lifetime salary or their power to suppress those beneath them. I shook my head as I drew a circle around me using my staff.


    "It takes more than one person to make a change" I mumbled. I could fight all the criminals I wanted, both legally and illegally, and I''d barely make a difference. I wasn''t going to give up trying to change the world, but I needed to get others to change it with me.


    I stepped back and shook those thoughts from my head as I began to draw thin lines within the circle I''d made. It was time to focus on something I could enjoy. Enchanting.


    Well not just enchanting. That was the easiest word to use to explain the magic. Enchanting added a magical effect to something that could be used by anyone, even those who haven''t learned to use their Ki.


    Enchanting was also semi-permanent. An object could have a specific intent engraved onto it and the application of new Ki would simply activate the effect. After examining Max and the others stuff, I''ve come to conclude that the actual inscriptions or runes didn''t matter, similar to chanting for a spell, they were just what the enchanter used to focus the intent.


    I finished drawing on the ground and smiled as I slowly filled the grooves with my Ki, imbuing my understanding of the earth and the way to move it into the lines I''d made. It flowed and filled the lines with surprising ease, like filling up a cup.


    Once I finished the process, I stepped back and observed it. The second I stopped doing so though, the ki within the lines immediately began to dissipate into the surrounding mana and I frowned, scratching my head as I attempted to figure out what I''d done wrong.


    This enchanting business was far more complicated than I''d first assumed. I figured that I could just fill a design up with my ki and the intent I wanted and it''d just...click.


    "Maybe..." I called for my staff and focused on the lines and inscriptions the Kobolds had made in it, my fingers running over the grooves. I focused on the feeling I felt as I did so. The feelings of sadness and anger at myself for giving into the Blood Ki and slaughtering wantonly and then my feelings of happiness and contentment when the I was gifted the staff with the inscriptions. I had helped my allies defend themselves and they''d deeply appreciated it.


    My ki slowly moved, filling the inscriptions with those thoughts as I continued to pull more memories to the surface. The first spell I''d ever figured out was the air explosion spell. It had been the most simple and easily understood of all the magic I''d ever learned, and I''d learned it by copying a goblin. The giddiness I''d felt at finally learning some real magic was imprinted onto the staff as well.


    Magic was more than just a simple combination of Ki and Mana, it held a lot of meaning. It held the potential to both destroy and grow a civilization depending on how it was used.


    It was my goal to make sure that my civilization was not destroyed. Instead, I would help the human race reach new heights eventually. This determination flooded into the lines of my staff and they suddenly flashed with a purple light before the staff began to glow with a soft purple energy.


    I could still see the Ki within the staff, but the inscriptions were now filled with magic. It seemed...simpler now. It wasn''t just simple intent and Ki, it was the emotional connection between me and the inscriptions. It meant something to me and that meaning allowed the magic to suddenly take hold.


    With a gentle wave of the staff, I sent a small pulse of my Ki into the inscriptions and watched as the magic went to work. It gathered the air and focused it into the tip of the staff before forming a ball of air. It quickly followed the motion and shot the ball of air forwards before it rapidly exploded.


    My understanding of the magic had been imbued into the staff and I knew that I could just as easily wipe it clean of the magic to add a new one. If I was right, I could even pass the staff over to someone else and they''d be able to cause the spell to activate as well.


    "Cool" I grinned to myself as I waved cleaned the spell from the staff by using my Ki to pull the magic away. I understood what made it so it was easy to pull it away. To do the same thing with another person''s enchantment would require me to understand their feelings when they made it.


    "What the hell Alex!" Rein came out of the building and took a swipe at my head before I ducked out of the way "That was loud as all hell, I thought we were being attacked..ow" she rubbed her head slightly. I''d been able to push away my hangover but I wasn''t so sure that she could do the same.


    "Sorry, I was testing out some new stuff" I said smiling.


    "Can''t you take a break? We defeated the big bad guy here so we don''t have to keep practicing right?" Rein said this but I could tell from the way her voice was that she already knew the answer to that question. There was always someone stronger and a new height to reach. But I could understand the weariness of fighting.Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.


    "We took a break last night. We partied until we passed out drunk" I said laughing as I walked up to her and patted her on the shoulder before I saw the others begin to leave the building.


    The jovial attitude I was creating was immediately destroyed when a voice came from behind me "It is time to leave" I sighed when I heard the voice, knowing the voice of the deity of Alfis. It was pompous and it gave me the impression that he was a bit of a douche.


    "Who''s this douche?" I almost laughed when my brother said exactly what I was thinking before I walked over to him and sighed.


    "This is the God that brought you to Alfis" I said looking at the golden figure "Try to be nice, I know he can be difficult to deal with"


    "Looks like he stepped right out of a magazine" Mary said softly "Blond and chiseled"


    Oh, so that was what color hair he had. Interesting.


    "They''ll be ready in a moment. Just have to get their gear" I said looking at my friends. They nodded and headed into the building.


    "You didn''t waste much time" I said to the Deity.


    "You have done sufficiently well for a lower being" the Deity said calmly "The four of them have drastically increased their strength and it seems you have defeated the Blood Demon as well. Impressive"


    I blinked for a second, trying to understand that this guy just complimented me before shaking my head "No, anyone could have achieved that level of strength. They had the power, just not the ability to use it properly. You can''t just shove understanding into someone, they have to reach that level on their own"


    More to my surprise, the Deity nodded "Yes, they will achieve more in a shorter amount of time this way. I will...suspend my manipulations of their Ki, to allow them to learn their techniques on their own"


    "Oh, seems you have broken through his hard head Alex" a feminine voice came from beside me as Artemis appeared "I thought it would take much longer, but I suppose results are results"


    "Artemis. So you were his Deity. I''ve never known you to choose a Male for a Champion" the Deity was back to being condescending again. A sneer appeared on his face but he didn''t make any sudden moves. It seemed that Artemis was a strong threat to keep him in line.


    The Goddess shrugged "He''s a special case" I raised my eyebrow at that and she waved her hand at me "I pick women mainly for more practical reasons. They learn and adjust faster than men of many races"


    I nodded and shrugged "No worries from me. I never got the opinion that you were prejudiced towards the opposite sex"


    "Holy Hell" Max''s voice came from the building as he stepped out and saw Artemis. I chuckled as the others came out and gaped at her. From what I could see, Artemis was quite beautiful.


    "Sorry Mary" I heard Alice say.


    "No, I totally get it, she is...wow" the mage girl laughed slightly.


    Rein walked over to me. It looked like they were back in their battle gear if the purple color of enchanted gear was anything to go by. That stuff was much more resilient than my own clothes had been.


    "Alex, this woman is...just wow. I might even switch sides" I rolled my eyes but before I could answer, the woman in question spoke first.


    "Well, I can''t say I wouldn''t be interested, but I''ve already got someone I''m aiming for" Artemis said smiling at us. I blinked in surprise before she rolled her eyes "Not you, sorry but the one I''m waiting for is at a much higher level" she shooed at me "Now go on. When you are done saying your goodbyes, come see me here"


    I sighed and nodded to the others as the male deity vanished. We started walking towards the location they''d first come from all that time ago. When we reached our destination, I took a look at the swirling gateway that had appeared. I hadn''t actually ever seen where they''d come from. It was a golden vortex, at least to me, made out of the same Deity Ki that Artemis was made up of.


    I reached forwards with my own Ki and poked at it but it didn''t give me any information.


    "So..." Max said softly as we stood there "Guess this is where we part ways" he chuckled "Better than last time at least"


    I waved my hand in front of my face "Well, in some ways" I said grinning "At least I won''t wake up in the hospital this way"


    Mary stepped up and gave me a hug. I smiled and returned the favor "What is this for?"


    "Just thanking you for all you''ve done for us. You didn''t have to teach us to control our Ki" she said softly as she stepped back.


    "Like you wouldn''t have done the same thing" I said grinning before Rein stepped up and gave me a solid punch in the shoulder "Ow"


    "That is for waking us up so rudely" she said before hugging me "Like Mary said, thanks"


    Alice was next. She was surprisingly the softest of us all as she lifted me up in her hug. The girl was stronger than she looked that was for sure. I laughed "Come on, this is a bit unfair"


    "Please, you used to do this to us all the time" she said as she sat me down. It was true of course, whenever we left, I''d hug and lift them up. I did it with everyone, though I''d stopped after everything happened.


    I nodded "Yeah, I did" I said as Vivian stepped up. I hadn''t even noticed her appear. She''d gotten better at her stealth.


    She touched her nose to Rein''s forehead and sent me a message to relay "She says that she was wrong about all of you. You would have made an excellent addition to our pack"


    Rein smiled and gave the large wolf a hug. The two of them had certainly bonded. They were both wild girls I suppose.


    Adarna didn''t have any particular favorite as he came from the sky to land on each of their heads and peck them lightly as a sign of affection. I laughed softly as Max stepped up to me again and we hugged.


    His armor hurt a bit but I didn''t mind "See you around bro" I said after we finished.


    "Back at you bro" he said grinning before the four of them headed towards the gateway. I touched my Ki to each of them and they let me in. I felt their emotions and they felt mine. A gentle warmth fell down my cheeks and I realized that this was the first time I''d cried since arriving in Olympus. The time with the Goblins didn''t count as that had been fear crying, not sadness. I knew I''d be seeing them eventually but I''d still miss them.


    It was that feeling you get at seeing a relative leave at the end of the holidays. You''d see them again but the sadness at watching them leave was real.


    Then they were gone. For a moment, my Ki followed them through the portal. I got my first glimpse at travel to another world. It was not simple at all, my mind couldn''t even follow it perfectly. For a single moment, my Ki brushed up against millions of worlds and I felt their vast differences before the connection was broken as the gateway vanished.


    I wiped my cheeks and looked at Vivian and Adarna "Lets go" I said as we headed back to Artemis.


    "You are a sweetheart, I thought I was going to cry" the goddess said as I arrived before her.


    I rolled my eyes "Don''t make fun of me" I said smiling.


    "I''m not, that was really touching. I don''t have any siblings so I wouldn''t know how it feels" she said patting me on the shoulder "With their strength, they''ll be fine so you don''t have to worry...at least about them"


    "What does that mean?" I asked, feeling a sense of...concern flare up in my stomach.


    "Well, some Deity is not as closed with their lips as I am and information about Earth spread to other Deities. More about how humans are starting to move up. A competition is about to start. Deities are going to be sending their Champions to Earth to see what is going on"


    "So it is my fault then? Information about my strength spread to other Deities and now they think that all humans are going to be like that. They want to get a claim before anyone else does" I sighed at that thought. Humans weren''t ready to deal with visitors from other worlds.


    She nodded "Unfortunately so. Basically, you are a representative of the potential of Earth. The other Champions are going to want to test you. Fortunately for you, I am sending my own Champion to Earth" Artemis touched my cloak as she spoke, examining its energy "Though she is a bit rough around the edges, I think you two will get along well"


    "Your Champion?" I asked. Rough around the edges didn''t sound that great. Either she was a muscle head or she was kind of bitchy. I wasn''t really into the tsundere characters either. Nothing worse than a girl who was violent for no reason...well maybe the guy who just took it without saying anything was worse.


    She nodded "Yep. Took her on a little while before I met you. She has a lot of potential like you do, but I am hoping that she learns to mellow out a bit by being on Earth. So much passion but no where to direct that energy. It isn''t good for her"


    I shook my head "So when does this competition between Champions begin?" I asked "Will I be fighting against a bunch of Champions?"


    "It starts in about a month, and no you won''t. The Champions want to test your strength, but they still work for their Deities. They''ll fight each other as well, even pick zones on the planet that they''ll control. Don''t worry though, they won''t suddenly introduce the world to magic. There are rules to this sort of thing, especially since you are already aware of magic, that gives you the "Right of Way" as it were"


    I understood what she meant. It was my home world, the others basically had to wait until I introduced the rest of the world to the greater Multiverse before they could really start getting to work. It was a lot of responsibility she just dropped on my shoulders. It was fortunate that the Deities would keep each other in check.


    "Where can I meet your Champion?" I asked her. If I was going to be working with someone, I''d like to get to know them first.


    "There is a city near your home, Seattle if I am correct, I''ll instruct her to go there. The Space Needle will be a good vantage point and both of you should have ways of getting up there without standing in line" she grinned at me. The Space Needle was a big attraction in Seattle. I''d never actually been there despite living nearby in my early years.


    I nodded "What about Vivian and Adarna?" I asked.


    "They''ll be fine. Vivian has gotten quite good at her stealth if you haven''t noticed and Adarna is faster than most other creatures on your planet"


    Vivian gave me a nudge "We will stay hidden Master, until you call for us" she said softly into my mind before I nodded. Adarna flitted over and landed on my head, sending his affirmation of Vivian''s words.


    "Guess it is time to return home" I said looking at the goddess. She nodded and suddenly the world shifted around me. Then we were standing in a forest, though the Ki of the trees was the smallest I''d seen.


    "I''ll see you in a month" Artemis said softly before she vanished. It was a bit sudden and her voice sounded like she had something on her mind. Other Deities perhaps?


    I shook my head of the thoughts and stretched, taking in the air of my homeland once more "Oh this is wonderful!" I shouted. Despite the new information, I felt as though a great weight had been lifted off my chest. It was good to be home!