I carried Rachel to our suite, awkwardly swiping the card to open the door from my hand supporting her legs. Somehow Eris had returned before I did with wet hair and a bathrobe thrown over anything that she may or may not be wearing underneath.

“Place her over here.” Eris patted on the couch she was standing next to.

“Sorry about messing up your hot spring retreat.” Her lack of emotion caused more worry on my part than if she acted annoyed from the onset.

“Don’t worry about it.” Eris placed a hand on the twisted ankle. “Just don’t let it happen again within the next hour or two.” She stated the time required to enjoy a warm bath and relaxing massage.

I turned my attention to the broken ankle and foot that was only hanging on by the muscles and skin. It was beginning to swell up into a purplish ball of mass by the time we reached the suite.

It occurred in an instant like time reversed on that section of her leg. Spinning her foot semi-clockwise until its joints set back into place. The audible pops caused me to internally flinch and the immediate effects were showing themselves with Rachel regaining consciousness.

“Thanks, Eris.” I said as she removed her hand, making her way to the door where her guide was told to wait outside.

“Three hours.” Eris nodded as she left, extending the amount of time she wished to not be disturbed.

I opted from replying and saw Rachel attempting to get up. “Easy there, no need to rush.”

“What happened?” Rachel slowed down though adjusted herself up into a sitting position on the couch. “I thought I’d have a lump in my step for the rest of my life.” She lifted her thigh and leaned forward, resting her ankle on top of her other leg’s knee. Taking her time to thoroughly stretch in every direction to test for any issues.

“Seems you’re fine if you can joke like that. At least it’s better than your blood-curdling screams from earlier.” My comment captured her eye contact along with silence and an extended arm asking for help up.

“You can thank Eris, the next time you see her.” I helped her up from the couch. “Maybe even get her some nice sweets of the chocolatey variety.” I knew Eris had a sweet tooth for chocolate and her receiving them as a gift would most likely be a good thing for me too.

“Will do and noted.” Rachel was obviously still shocked at being able to stand up without any trouble, constantly fidgeting her foot in disbelief. “You’re lucky to have such a great healer with you. I’ve never seen one as gifted before.”

“...So, are you going to explain why you became so serious during the sparring match?” I already knew that about Eris and wanted to shift her focus.

“I wanted to help with your stress.” Rachel continued. “I’m sorry things turned out the way they did.” Her apologizing prevented me from sending a barrage of complaints against her logic.

“You’re the one that got hurt…, there’s no need to say sorry.” I huffed a breath of air to let it go.

“Why is that exactly?” Rachel grumbled. “My fists would have normally blown up any small beast on impact, but you only acted like an ant was pinching you.” I sighed again the moment she admitted to using lethal force.

“I’m glad that’s how it looked to you… There’s a bruise for each punch, especially the gut punch!” I lifted my shirt to show her the pitch-black circular mark.

“Does this feel better?” Her hand was already caressing the spot on my abs as a warm sensation ebbed from her touch. I stayed still since the soreness started to disappear and watched as her eyes shimmered blue.

“Much, but what did you do?” I waited until the feeling completely went away together with her soft fingers.

“Dissolved the magic that I injected into your body.” She described something pretty similar to the next step that I was trying to achieve with my ki. Being able to extend and manipulate ki externally was something I had trouble with trying to figure out. I even asked Eris for help since she surpassed my own training not too long ago. Her recommendation was to act on a feeling and to just do it, all while demonstrating it in front of me like it was some kind of child's play.

“Mind if you can teach me how you do that? Affecting outside targets with your magic that is.” I corrected myself to say magic instead of ki and hoped she didn’t find it strange that I lacked the ability to do so already.

“Sure, I don’t mind...” Rachel paused, giving a look around the living space. “Here, place your hand on this apple and think about pushing it.” She picked up an apple out of a decorative fruit bowl, setting it on the coffee table next to us. I responded by placing my open palm onto the side of the apple to grip it.

“Now, gather up your magic like you normally do, and act like you’re trying to shoot it out of your hand.” I closed my eyes to her words, circulating my ki throughout my entire body. This part was easy since it became a habit from everyday training. It was the shooting part that sounded similar to Eris’s teaching method.

I felt constipated trying my best to exert any kind of force onto the apple. I thought I was doing it for a second, only to be surprised by her hand touching the top of mine.

“Relax a bit, you’re too tense.” Rachel whispered into my ear, close enough to produce a shiver. “Keep your eyes closed and visualize a spark setting off at the tip of your fingertips.” Her words stopped me from backing off as I visualized the image she came up with.

I thought I heard the sound of my knuckles cracking from condensing all of my ki into my fingertips. The noise must have been in my head if she showed no signs of reacting to it. I felt the same warm sensation from when she touched my bruise, beginning to swell up within my palm. I figured it was her attempt to aid in the feeling, by supplying some of her own mana into mine.

“I’m flattered my hand is causing enough distraction for you, but you’re going to need to focu--” The explosion of fruit guts splattering in every direction cut her off. I opened my eyes immediately from the loud burst and was in awe of the devastation a single apple caused on our surroundings. I was about to yell out in excitement until I glanced at Rachel.

Some of the apple juice ended up spraying us in the face with her receiving the shorter end of the stick. Her entire face happened to be the splash zone. I was drawn to the way she seemed to seductively lick her lips clean of the mess, followed by wiping her eyes with a hand.

“But how? There was no magic concentrated in your hand...” Rachel tilted her head in genuine confusion.