A month had passed in the blink of an eye and it was the first day of July. Quin had continued his training day after day and also constantly increased its amount and intensity. Although he was quite excited after he previously saw that he could smash a rock with his bare hands, he did not expect the results to be this shocking. The weight he could lift with both arms increased from two hundred fifty kilograms to four hundred fifty kilograms. The strength of his left hand only increased by one hundred kilograms but the biggest surprise was his right hand. Its strength more than doubled and now he was able to lift one hundred seventy-five kilograms with it. Though there still was a clearly visible gap between his two arms, it did seem to have started to balance out. Besides, the fact he was even happier about was that he had no missing fingers on his right hand, as both his pinky and ring finger had completely grown back. It was a strange feeling and something that he had to spend some time on to get accustomed to, nevertheless, he felt he was euphoric.

Quin’s stamina also improved by leaps and bounds and although he did not spend more time running than before, he did increase his overall tempo. The time which he previously spent on jogging was now utilized for running at a decent tempo and the speed of his sprint was also a lot faster due to his stronger leg muscles.

He also spent a significant amount of time by meditating which greatly helped him keep his mind stable and focused. Quin had started to observe the wild energy that the lake emitted as well. At first it was only for ten or maybe fifteen minutes each day, but it gradually increased until the minutes became hours. Obviously this was not without reason, as he started to discover new things regarding this energy of which he -- and probably other people -- was not aware of previously. The more thought he put into his observation as well as the more deeply he was focused on it, the more clearly he could see things and the more he could understand them.

This wild energy was strange, weird and mysterious. As his whole body was constantly filled with it if he concentrated hard enough, he was able to sense its movements. The first thing he noticed was that it was not just a constant flow he had previously imagined: it was a pulsation. Sometimes the amount of energy that entered his body was more, while at other times it became less. Quin had tried to search for a pattern in it, but even after months of observation it was to no avail. However, he found out that another property of this wild energy was that it was spinning.

Quin was rather happy and excited about his discoveries but he did not know any way to make use of them. It did not make him discouraged though, and he continued to observe the energy, hoping to eventually find out something useful.

He was quite content with how things had turned out with the girl, Xia, and Zhai. His initial assumption seemed to be right and Xia and Zhai meant what they had said. Although he saw that on the first few days Zhai had some trouble, the only thing Quin had seen in his eyes was love. It’s a strange thing, he thought. Even when he had known her for only a day it was the same. I would’ve never thought that a single day could be enough for this. Of course at first he found it a bit strange how someone would be able to honestly love a child in basically no amount of time, but no matter how hard he tried to find it, he could not discover any fakeness coming from Zhai. Maybe I’m just not a good judge of character and someone who’s easy to trick? Well, I’d rather think that it’s simply because of their desire to have a kid was really strong. He let out a sigh. Quin had regularly mused on whether his decision to give the girl’s custody to them was the right thing to do and whether it would be the best thing for her as well.

Time passed quickly and another four months had passed. Last year’s winter was quite cold, however, that did not seem to be the case this year, as even though it was November already, the weather was the same as it had been in summer.

This was the first year since Quin had started school that he was not actually attending it. He would have been in the twelfth grade now, but he did not even finish the eleventh one. This would also be the year that the children would get their surnames, but not Quin. People in the Duchy of Ade Lai only got their surnames after the first anniversary of their Coming of Age Ceremony, and only if that was successful. They would be named after their element and/or their characteristics and achievements. It had been something he had looked forward to even just a year ago, and though it still filled him with a bit of sadness, he did not care that much about it anymore.

Quin no longer thought that his days were numbered and he assumed that due to this wild healing energy he would have no issues regarding his longevity, as long as he was nearby the lake. He also knew that one day he would be going back to Crows’ Road, however, anytime he thought of the city he felt that he did not belong to that place, and that it was not his home anymore. Naturally before this could come to be, he would first have to find a way to be able to leave Hounxi. Quin was fully aware that he was dependent on this lake, and although he had not tried to leave Hounxi yet, he knew that if he did so his body would be filled with another type of wild energy fairly soon. Despite the fact that his body improved by quite a bit and was now stronger than ever, he was not foolish enough to think that the wild energy would not slowly kill him. Its corrosiveness was beyond what a human could bear, and even though it probably would take decades, it would still eventually kill him. He had no idea on how to solve this issue yet, but he was hopeful. Just as he had found a solution to his previous problems, somehow or another he would be able to overcome this one as well.

It was not too long ago that he finally decided to let Xia and Zhai take care of the girl -- whom they gave the name Faiyi. She still ate a lot and was about as tall as a twelve years old kid. It was not even a week ago that she spoke her first word -- unsurprisingly it was food -- but now you were already able to communicate with her, even if just barely. She seemed to be quite friendly and fortunately, now she did not need to bite someone to show that she was hungry but only to say food.

Quin felt a bit sad as he was not going spend that much time together with Faiyi but he was convinced that having a proper family was the best for the girl. Of course, Xia and Zhai promised him that they would take good care of her and that he could visit them anytime.

Quin knew that Zhai had some kind of business but he was not sure how well they would do on the money front, especially taking Faiyi’s appetite into the calculation. She ate for at least five adults and with three meals per day it was not something that any average family could afford. Thus, he asked Zhai if they needed financial support as he had basically unlimited money and he would gladly help them. However, he was rejected and after thanking him, Zhai told him not to worry as their business was going quite well.

Though Quin was afraid that Zhai only said it because of his pride but after asking around -- he did not even know why it was only now that he did this -- he only heard good things about them and the same thing Zhai told him: they had a rather well going business. In the end, he became calmer regarding the whole situation and felt that he had indeed made a good choice.