Lowen set Nia up and held his palm on her back, with nearly perfect control he passed her not only ki energy but earth energy as well. Not only could ki heal the body but earth energy could strengthen it too. As long as Lowen remained still he could use both energies at once thereby speeding up the healing process on Nia many times over. Looking at the deep cut on Nia's back Lowen could see it healing at a visible rate. To Lowen, it was weird, when these two energies clashed they would seemingly cancel each other out but when used in conjunction in a healing way, the energies seemed to work perfectly together.

As Nia sat there she could feel warm energy pulsing in her back and spreading like a gentle warm breeze. The healing touch caused her to feel cozy like she was sitting by a warm fire. The pain in her back began to numb and the once tortures aches were now no less than comfortable.

After an hour or so the wound on Nia's back had finally closed, although it wasn't completely healed, she was now no longer in any danger.

*Phew*

Wiping the sweat off of his brow Lowen sat next to Nia, with a small smile she said to him.

"Thank you if it weren't for you I..."

But Lowen cut her off.

"There's no need for thanks. I'm Ben's big bro, of course, I have to help his big sis otherwise he might blame me later."

Ben found those words incorrect and he quickly jumped up.

"No way no way, I could never blame big bro, not for anything."

Nia and Lowen both chuckled a little and Nia said.

"Ok Ben it was just a joke, relax relax."

Lowen enjoyed this type of atmosphere but it was now time to get serious. With a calm but serious tone, he said.

"Ok, It's time."

Nia looked questioningly at Lowen before he explained what he intended to do. With a nod of understanding, Nia looked at Lowen ready to begin. Grabbing Nia's hand Lowen sat crosslegged and suggested for her to do the same with a nod she sat down and crossed her legs as well. Lowen looked at Ben and extended his other hand.

"Ben, take your sister's hand and mine as well, then cross your legs like ours."

Ben nodded his head and took both Nia and Lowen's hand, sitting down he crossed his legs and stared at Lowen in anticipation.

"Do you two remember the breathing technique I taught you?"

With a nod from both of them, Lowen continued.

"Good, first sync your breathing with each other while following the breathing technique."

Nia and Ben began to slow their breathing until they were in synch with one another, then they began Lowen's breathing technique making sure to focus on their breath.

"Now both of you close your eyes and just listen to my voice."

Nia and Ben once more followed suit, shutting their eyes they waited silently for what Lowen was about to say. Lowen while holding their hands was actually monitoring their pulses, in order for the two to use the next step they had to remain calm. If their emotions got out of control then Lowen would pass them a bit of ki quelling their emotions so they could remain focused. However, Lowen's first words would immediately throw their emotions out of whack.

"How did it feel to almost die?"

Hearing this question the two immediately opened their eyes in shock but Lowen just as quickly roared out at them.

"KEEP YOUR EYES SHUT!"

Like frightened mice, the pair of brother and sister slammed their eyes shut in fear. Lowen had mentioned death throwing their mental state to the ground before screaming at them in his loudest voice possible, no wonder why they were scared. Lowen passed the two some ki and as the soothing warm energy spread through them, the two regained their composure and they shut their eyes. Lowen seeing this, acted as though it didn't faze him, returning his voice to a tranquil calm, he once again spoke.

"No matter what I say or do just remain focused on the task at hand, if you can do that then you should both come out of this with plenty of benefits."

As the two resynchronized their breathing, Lowen's words were still harsh.

"When you were beaten and sliced how did it feel? When you were knocked to the ground and when you were strangled how did it feel? was it painful did your back feel cold after it was cut or did it feel like fire? When your neck was squeezed tighter and tighter and the breath inside was leaving your body how much despair did you suffer and when both of your minds began to go fuzzy as you were drifting between life and death what did you feel?"

Nia and Ben both began to tremble when they thought of what had happened earlier. Nia's thoughts were on the deep wound she had received on her back and how at first she didn't even feel the cut but literally just a second later her back felt as though it were on fire. The intense pain left her knees weak and her stomach queasy. Thinking about that moment left her feeling hopeless and fearful. Ben's throat was still raw so as he swallowed he could feel a shredding pain on the inside, as though a small beast had been clawing from within trying its best to get out. Thinking about Greg choking him almost to death, the desperation and anguish he felt then was almost too much to handle.

"Breathe, inhale, exhale, breathe. The moment you were almost gone, the exact moment you thought it was all over, did your life flash before your eyes? When it did what did you feel, can you remember? That feeling, that flash of your life that was your soul. Now, this is what I want you two to do. As you concentrate on that ki breathing technique I want you to feel that moment again while remaining calm. That instantaneous flash of life and death feel it and Breathe. Not just with your mind, once more feel it with your body, feel it with your heart and in the depths of your bones."

Nia and Ben at first were shaking with terror remembering what they just went thru but as Lowen spoke his voice seemed to have a soothing effect and as the two felt Lowen's ki passing thru them their tense nerves settled and their hearts and minds became as tranquil as a frozen lake. They were reexperiencing that nightmare in both body and mind but they were calm and collected. Their concentration grew higher and higher and their focus became sharp to an extreme degree. Lowen could feel this and knew they were almost there, they now needed to do one last thing.

"Nia, Ben, this is the last thing I want you to do."

Lowen paused for a moment, making sure they were at their most focused he spoke in a serious tone.

"Let it all go... Breathe... Inhale, exhale. Your pain is no more, your fear, sadness, hopelessness, is all no more. The wind, allow it to fade from thought, the ground beneath you is no more. You can no longer see, touch, smell or taste all you can do is hear."

As the two were meditating they both began to experience everything Lowen spoke of but at the same time were completely unaware even as their senses left them the only thing that remained was Lowen's voice but even that was beginning to fade.

"The sky... is nothing... The world... is nothing, you are in a void of nothingness.......The Universe is nothing."

*ba...bump.......ba..bump...BA..BUMP BA BUMP BA BUMP*

* BOOOOOOM!*

Lowen could immediately sense the change within Nia and Ben. Like a small explosion going off a tiny wisp of ki began to form in the center of the twos cores and after a few minutes their mind, body, and soul finally completely connected and a small seed of ki took shape. Nia and Ben had become Ki manipulators. With a nod of satisfaction Lowen couldn't help but have a smile upon his face, as he was a stranger to this world they to were a stranger to his but with this new connection between the three, a powerful bond now formed between them. Before the two opened their eyes Lowen spoke with giddiness.

"Ok, hard parts over, now you two have ki energy but have no clue how to control or move it so just relax and concentrate on what I'm doing."

Lowen then proceded to pass them more ki but now that they had their own ki seeds within them he could give them as much as he wanted and there would no longer be any adverse side effects. Controlling his ki he circulated it thru their bodies following a certain path, in this way, he could speed up their growth and show them how to control it. After a while, Lowen finally stopped.

"As long as you follow what I said, then with plenty of practice, you will be able to move your ki with thought alone."

Nia and Ben were staring at Lowen in amazement. They could feel the power of ki coursing thru their bodies improving themselves after each full circulation. They now had a better understanding of just how incredible Lowen truly was. As Nia sat there she felt bittersweet, if only she could have attained this power long ago, then maybe she could have helped her father. Ben, on the other hand, was simply excited beyond belief, he stared at his hands and gripped them multiple times with a thought he could feel his ki moving towards his arms before it came to a stop due to a lack of it. He looked at Lowen in slight frustration.

"Big bro how come when I try moving my ki to my arms it runs out, am I doing something wrong?"

Lowen was intrigued and motioned for Ben to show him again Ben repeated what he did, in doing so he surprised Lowen.

(This boy has a bit of talent, it's only been 15 or so minutes and he can already control his ki pretty well.)

Lowen looked at Nia, curious of her control but Ben was already pulling on Lowen's clothes.

"Big bro please tell me, pretty pretty please."

Lowen chuckled a bit and said.

"Ben, you're not doing anything wrong, you simply don't have enough ki. Once you have more, your ki will easily get to your limbs as well as everywhere else."

Ben looked at Lowen with sad eyes, how could he get more when he just became a ki manipulator. Lowen shook his head.

"Ok ok, no reason for the sad puppy eyes. All you have to do to get more power is to grow your ki seed and in order to do that, you have to circulate your ki through your body completing a cycle. Just by doing that your ki seed grows by a small margin each time. As long as you continue to practice it will grow and with my support, I can help circulate your ki faster."

Ben began to jump up and down at this news but Lowen quickly dumped cold water on his joy.

"That doesn't mean I'll help all the time or even a lot for that matter. In order to help you, that takes some of my own time away that I could be using for practicing. So only if I'm not busy and that's only if I see that you're practicing diligently otherwise don't even bother asking."

Ben took Lowen's words to heart and nodded repeatedly before sitting down and trying to circulate his ki but seeing the way Ben's face would scrunch up from time to time in frustration, showed just how impatient he was. Nia as well began to circulate her ki she seemed to be even more talented than her brother but even she was getting frustrated at the repeated stop and go of circulating ki just to have it run out then reabsorb ki and do it all over again. Lowen was just about to practice as well when someone spoke nervously from outside.

"Lowen are you there?"

Lowen recognized the worried voice and answered back.

"Come in."

Pulling the door flap aside a worried Luna walked in carrying a small pot. As soon as she entered though she almost dropped it in fright, her voice trembling as she spoke.

"What happened here who destroyed this place?"

Looking around, it was only now that Lowen, Nia, and Ben saw that their home was even more wrecked then usual. They had been so focused on healing Nia as well as becoming ki manipulators that none of them had noticed the damage. A thought came to all of their minds.

(Greg.)

Lowen looked at the worried Luna and shook his head.

"It must have been Greg but since he's already dead it no longer matters. Everything here is replaceable and everyone is safe."

Luna though wasn't convinced she began to shout with worry.

"Safe, how is anyone safe? Nia's wound is terrible and Ben's hurt, we have to travel to the town of Jizhen and get a healer otherwise she won't.."

Luna stared at Nia and couldn't finish her words. She could see with her own eyes Nia was perfectly fine and even sitting up, this left Luna completely shocked causing her to scream out.

"HOW?"