Chapter 80

Lykan

Qi Saturated

There had to be more Qi in the training room. There was a euphoric feel to the almost alien power source. The more Lykan took in the foreign power, this strange Qi, the more he felt it strengthening his body. Focusing first on his muscles, allowing the different fibers of his being to absorb part of the energy residing in each mote of energy. The vast majority inevitably went to his core. When he lost focus for a moment on rotating his Qi, the energy he had gathered would go to his core. Every time his Qi went to his core, his instructor would somehow notice and force Lykan to start over.

It was a long process, but still oddly enough Lykan never felt the pangs of thirst nor hunger. In a way he wondered if this was due to the ambient energy of Qi being able to somehow fuel his body. He also wondered if at some point the energy required to keep this training session going would eventually dissipate. He knew the training module that the high wood elves had would eventually run out, though this one seemed to drain off energy from Lykan slowly over time.

Every time Lykan moved his feet contacted the floor, each contact was a potential moment when energy could be pulled from his body to fuel the training session. At first the amount of energy taken was easily noticed, as it would cause pangs of hunger to surge through his body. At first Lykan was barely able to keep ahead of the constant pangs of hunger that his body had. But now things had changed. Since he advanced his core the amount and quality of Qi, he was able to gather with each breath continued.

There were of course a few errant thoughts about why Lykan needed to supply the energy for the training session, why couldn’t the platform just take the energy from the air. Lykan figured this came from one of two points, one that he was somehow refining the ambient Qi of the room into a state that was better suited for the simulations to continue. Or secondly and probably far more likely, the whole room was somehow built like scale to only be active when weight was on the floor. The mechanics of such an operation caused his mind to wander, especially as many of the tasks being asked became second nature to his body.

Now rather than forcing Qi in, each breath drew in the particles. Rather than forcing Qi to circulate clockwise it flowed naturally. On impulse one time when he had to start over, he tried circulating Qi counterclockwise in his body, only for the process to cause undue strain on his core and body. Feeling the strain Lykan realized it was a good thing. The pain was like learning a new exercise, one that pushed muscles a little further than they were previously used to.

When thinking about the cause his core would experience from shifting the directional flow of Qi throughout his body made Lykan focus even more on the changes that were happening to him. For the Qi flowing counterclockwise causing phantom pains, that was like a stream wearing away a stone to a smooth sheen over time. Take that same rock and flip it over and the other side would still be rough and callous, but the side that had been exposed to the current would be worn smooth. This effect must be something like what he was now experiencing. Before he got too far with only working his newfound muscles one way, Lykan decided to switch. Focusing on letting his Qi flow counterclockwise. The idea was to smooth out any potential stress points on his core now, before they became a problem later.

Lykan didn’t know why, but this core that he was creating felt to be like the source he once had access to, that allowed him to generate mana. Thinking about the fact that he was forever cut off from a part of his body made him angry, angry at the gods. Angry that he needed the gods to step in at all to save his life. He still didn’t know why the gods did such things, offering cursed blessings to save people. The whole act seemed cruel. While he was happy to be alive, he wondered once again about their true intentions for the world. Such thoughts were minor as they were the abstract dream of someone wishing to push their body further by distracting the mind.

Finally, after circulating his Qi counterclockwise a thousand times, there was a shattering sound that sounded of glass breaking. Then pain set in as the Qi that had been circulating in his body began to be sucked into his core. Lykan was now accustomed to such events and fought against the pain that had previously managed to debilitate him. He focused through, circulating more and more Qi. Drawing in more Qi with long deep breaths. The shattering sounds continued as this time the cracks cascaded down throughout his entire core before crumbling inward. As it cracked and sank in upon itself, he imagined the core getting smoother. Then with a force of will and sheer madness a thought gripped his mind.

Just when he was about to let the Qi flow counterclockwise into his now shattered core Lykan forced the direction to change. Not wanting to waste this moment. This was a breakthrough, innately he knew that if he stopped right here and now, he would likely be able to push his core to the next level of progression. But that was not what he wanted. Or rather it was what he wanted, but not the easy path. It was too easy to circle the Qi to the right, then to circle the Qi to the left. No, Lykan wanted the challenge, he wanted to see what lay beyond. For this moment he was in control, he could feel the power of both his core that was shattered now trying to leak out. He could also feel the relentless pressure of the spiraling Qi within his body keeping the energy from his core at bay. It would be far too simple to let the spiraling Qi collapse inward and keep the energy from his core from escaping, but there was something else. There was an idea of balance that Lykan envisioned in his Mind’s eye. A vision where he spiraled his Qi in alternating paths, directions, and intensities. One where he had not just a core, but a perfect core. A condensed core that could handle the strains that he would soon need in the future.

He was still learning, still trying to understand the full extent of what his core was for, but if it was anything like the soul or whatever ethereal organ was used to generate mana for spells then he would need his core to be as robust as possible. He also knew that having a poor foundation made for poor building material and ultimately unstable buildings. With that he focused here and now trying to get his core to be as tight and condensed as possible. In a second, he forced his body to stop circulating Qi counterclockwise and circulating it clockwise. For comparison this was like sprinting forward at full speed, only to stop instantly and begin sprinting backwards as quickly as possible. His body ached from the sudden shift and change.

The pain that he felt was almost too much to bear. Fortunately, the shattering of his soul sword was worse. Then the attack from Nayali that caused his very meridians to burn away his connection from his source. Compared to those two events this, this was nothing. This was just a new exercise getting a different muscle group that he was unaccustomed to working out. He focused on the pain, and when the pain seemed to dissipate enough that it was only mildly annoying, he switched Qi flow directions again. Then again. Then again.

Each breath took in more Qi to add to the already intense storm cloud building within his body. In a moment of madness, he wondered if he could do both. If he could somehow split his body into two hemispheres, the top and bottom and have the currents flow in opposite directions.

He remembered old world charts that suggested such currents existed in the world. That the northern hemisphere that he was in had currents that flowed from west to east, but in the southern hemisphere the currents flowed in the opposite direction. This was of course old knowledge that came from the time well before the fall. From the time when science was dominant, and the world was apparently smaller.

In these states, Lykan almost felt like he could see the past. Or at least experience echoes of the past, experience universal truths that were at once simple and too complex to properly explain. The idea of splitting his body into two hemispheres however was beyond him. Or maybe not beyond him, but beyond his current capabilities. So instead, he focused on what he knew would work and be effective. He circled clockwise, then counterclockwise. Until finally the pains in his core began to become too much. The energy within his core threatened to escape, to cause him to balloon up and explode like an over-ripe blimp. He had seen one blimp do just that, over fill until it burst with a fiery explosion. Shaking the disastrous image away, Lykan focused on his own body and decided to end his personal experiment.

He focused on condensing the flows of energy tighter and tighter while maintaining their relentless speed. Then finally he felt the particles get too close. They were like magnets after a point if he got them going too quickly and too close the crashed into one another with jarring force. Each impact felt like a mini explosion within his body. Then finally the energy collapsed in on itself all at once. Boom.

There was an intense burning pain that caused Lykan to collapse to his knees as he felt his insides erupt with residual power. The impact of so many charged particles colliding in on themselves caused Lykan’s organs to feel like they were on fire. He gasped for air, only for more Qi to be drawn in and added to the already burning pile that was his core.

Finally, after a few moments of gasps, where more and more Qi was drawn in and allowed to settle on the already smooth core. This felt wrong somehow, like letting pieces of saw dust settled onto a perfectly crafted wooden sculpture. Unfortunately, at this moment Lykan was unable to do anything about the imperfections, other than focus on them and hope he could remove them when he began circulating Qi again.

It took a moment, but finally Lykan was able to withstand the burning sensations that were filling his body. As he stood up, he felt that his core was somehow smaller than it had previously been. Smaller, but at the same time more compact, denser.

Before Lykan knew where his core was not due to it having an particular weight, it was just air after all. Or at least that was what Lykan had assumed at the time. But now, now it felt like it had weight, like it had its own gravity to it. Rather than having to push Qi to it as had been the case at first, now he would have to fight to keep the Qi he absorbed from going straight to it. Realizing he needed to act before his hard work would soon be covered up by errant Qi particles that had no care for the work, he had just put into refining his core, Lykan began to circulate his Qi.

Once he gathered the few fallen particles that lay haphazardly over his core up in a quick spiral, Lykan let his mind wonder to the message he just received from the gods about his progress.

Blessing Bestowed: Basic Spherical Core.

Basic Spherical Core. You have managed to shape your core into one of the primary shapes necessary for true advancement. With a spherical core many balanced abilities will be possible to you, at the cost of losing some chaotic abilities. The energy stored here is permanently in use to improve your body. This core can be improved upon to receive greater results. Results: +2 Strength, +2 Mobility, +2 Power.

This time just like all the others two Attributes increased by one. Also, this core seemed to imply that the sphere was the shape of balance, while there were some chaotic builds as well. Lykan didn’t quite know what to think about that, but he was happy with the progress he had made. So far what he was doing seemed to be easy and almost like he was remembering a lost part of himself the further down the path of Qi manipulation that he delved.

He knew this was going to be a long road, but he was happy with his progress thus far all the same. Just when he managed to regain full control over his body and mind, he was hit with an all too familiar message from his Titan Instructor.

Assume the meditation pose.

Sighing slightly, Lykan dropped down and began going through the highly repetitive process. Still, he couldn’t help but feel that everything he was doing was working, even if the gains were at a snail’s pace.