Chapter 40: Lifeforce.

Roah helped Kalon back up into the carriage, and then she too got back on board. They settled back down as the driver finished giving the horses water and then set off once again.

“But why did they want to attack us? We didn’t do anything to them, did we?” Kalon asked, confused as to why they would antagonise them without warning. But he, too, knew deep down the reason.

“Well, they wanted to eat us both. Even the guards that are stationed at the post aren’t safe. Cannibals will eat anyone who gets too close to them, and they will even eat themselves if they become hungry enough. I’m sorry for bringing you to such a place.

But it is also the closest village for the next two days. There isn’t anywhere else where we can get food. I should have packed some before setting off, but the Major pushed me into leaving as soon as possible.” Roah explained while apologising. She never meant something like that to happen, and she thought she might have traumatised Kalon.

Little did she know that he had seen much worse than that before, and the only thing that bothered him was the thought of humans eating other humans. He felt disgusted at the thought of eating another human. Even monsters avoided eating each other because their stories of people going mad from eating other monsters had been passed down for centuries in the Sylton empire.

But he never imagined that he would encounter such a thing once arriving in the Kingdom of Ysaven. He thought it was a thing of the past, so it awakened his mind to the fact that he couldn’t trust humans even if he was one of them.

‘I need to get stronger. I can’t depend on other peoples strength for the rest of my life, and Roah isn’t always going to be there to save me. If only I could use the same magic power that she does then-’ Kalon thought to himself before remembering that she was going to tell him about once they got back on the road.

“Miss Roah?” Kalon asked, taking her attention off the road outside the window and directing it towards him as she smiled.

“What is it?” Roah asked while looking at him, sitting opposite her and fidgeting as he built up the courage to ask her.

“Well, um. You said that you would tell me about that Qi thing once we got back to the carriage. Could you tell me about that now?” Kalon asked nervously, Thinking that she might say no or change her mind now that they had encountered an attack from the cannibals.

“Wow, You really are interested in learning more, aren’t you? Sure, I can tell you, but what would you say if I decided to teach you? Although I’m not too strong myself, if you can master the basics, you will instantly be able to hold your own against me.” Roah smiled as she explained that she was willing to teach him.

“You will teach me?” Kalon asked in shock before getting down to his knees and bowing his head in respect to her.

“I’m ready to learn, Master,” Kalon said, showing the same amount of respect as he did to Master Ranwald when he decided to teach him swordsmanship.

“Woah, I’m not your master. How could I be your master when I haven’t mastered anything? I am still just a student myself. I can’t be your master!” Roah panicked upon receiving so much respect from Kalon, so she urged him to stand as quickly as possible.

“But you said that you would teach me. Do you not have this tradition here also?” Kalon asked, confused as to whether he was doing something strange again since he wasn’t sure if humans usually bowed down to their teachers.

“No, we do have the same tradition. But that should be reserved for if a master takes you to be his disciple. I am just a disciple myself, so how can I get a disciple?” Roah explained to make it easier for Kalon to understand that it was inappropriate for him to do something like that.

“I see, so I don’t bow to you. I just show you respect by putting my hands together?” Kalon said, gaining a better understanding of what to do from now on. Unlike other children his age. Kalon always saw mistakes as a learning experience since Luna had always preached that he could learn from mistakes every time he was upset by something. But Roah found it a little strange as he smiled after finding out he was in the wrong.

“Then Miss Roah, please teach me,” Kalon said whilst smiling happily as he got back to his feet and then sat down opposite her once again.

“Sure, It’s going to take you a while to understand how to do it, but we also have a long ride ahead of us. So I will start by explaining the theory behind cultivation.” Roah said while thinking back to how her master had first instructed her as Kalon eagerly nodded his head with anticipation to learn the secret strength that he had heard mentioned a lot while being at the mountain pass base.

“Well, I guess I can start by saying that Qi is another word for life force. Every living being in the world has Qi within them. From the grass on the ground to the birds in the sky, Everything that lives has a certain amount of Qi within them. Even the monsters that we are fighting against have Qi running through them.

But the difference between humans and other living beings is that we have the ability to contain Qi within our bodies. All living creatures have something called Acupoints. They are like veins in the sense that they run throughout your whole body, but instead of carrying blood through you, they carry life force, but humans have an extra acupoint called a dantian which is located slightly above your belly button.

The dantian allows us to store Qi within our bodies and use that stored Qi to strengthen ourselves or use it to fight our enemies. So with the increase of life force within our bodies, it is only natural to say that we will live longer also. My master is actually over one hundred years old, and his master is close to two hundred.” Roah said with a smile as Kalon interrupted her again.

“Then how old are you?” Kalon asked again out of instinct. From Roah’s appearance, he guessed that she was about twenty, but after learning that someone could live to two hundred years old using Qi, he began to doubt if she was as young as she looked.

Roah looked at Kalon for a few moments with a disappointed expression on her face as she knew that she had warned him before never to ask a lady her age.

“I’m sorry,” Kalon gulped while preparing to be lectured again.