According to the book, the first step is to feel a strand of Ki and try moving it around. It mentioned that the best place to do that would be in an area near the stomach, preferably the areas closer to lungs.

I heaved a deep breath before focusing near my stomach, attempting to feel a strand of Ki.

From what it states, people describe the sensation as a current which feels both warm as well as slightly chilly, giving a refreshing feeling. So I should focus on something like that first.

I waited patiently while paying full attention, tuning out all the sounds from outside. I didn’t feel the sweat dripping down my forehead anymore. My ears began buzzing with my heartbeat, while my chest contracted and expanded rhythmically.

Although I counted the heartbeats initially, I soon lost the count. All my focus shifted to only one thing — finding the strands of Ki.

Time flew by like dust in the wind, sometimes perceivable, other times not.

And eventually, I felt it.

A warm current, which also felt refreshingly chilly, spanned between the bottom of my left lung to a little above my stomach.

Is this Ki?

The corner of my lip curled up as joy filled my heart.

Nervously, I thought, T-the next step. Next step… Ugh, what was it… Yeah! To try to move it. It said that all I needed to do was something along the lines of thinking a little hard about moving it while wanting it to move, something about using my will to move it.

I collected my thoughts as I kept shouting internally, Move. Move. Move for me. Come on little Ki strand, just move okay. Soldier Ki Strand! Attention! Five steps forward! Please move, alright? I’ll give you all my candy after that…

I tried everything that came to my mind in an attempt to move it. However, all of a sudden, as if it grew tired, the Ki Strand disappeared.

My eye snapped open, filled with dejection.

That didn’t work… But I tried all— No! This much is not enough. I need to try more if I want to…

Thinking till there, resolve flickered in my eye as I shut it tight before repeating the process once again.

Either due to the prior experience or me being a lot more focused than earlier, the process seemed quicker than before. In a short while, I found another strand circling around the upper-right of my stomach.

Like before, I tried to think of it to move as instructed, doing all I could to make it move, only to have it disappear in the middle.

It’s only the second time. I can’t give up here. If I do then… no. Pull yourself together, me.

I heaved a long breath before continuing again.

Without any surprise, I failed once more. A squeaky voice escaped my gritted teeth, “Again!”

“Once more!”

“Again!”

“Keep going, me! Again!”I kept failing over and over and trying again and again.

*Knock Knock*

Huh? Who?

My eye opened a crack as I looked around. My gaze inevitably passed over the window, lingering there for a moment. Before I realised it, it was already the time for the sun to set.

It’s about time, I guess Samuel would be here.

Getting up, my hand reached for my forehead to find a thick layer of perspiration. While using my hand to wipe, I walked towards the door.

To my surprise, the one standing outside was not Samuel.

Instead, it was a young lady looking to be around sixteen, yet having a poised air around her. Her long arctic hair came down to her waist, while her eyes expressed a mild fatigue.

“Aunt!” I greeted before gesturing to her to come in.

A recollection of my conversation with Samuel earlier today flashed past my mind as I asked, “Did Samuel ask you to come?”

Aunt nodded before asking, “He mentioned you had some problems learning how to fight and needed guidance. So you asked for me. So, what’s the problem you think you’re facing?”

I fell into a deep thought for a bit before explaining, “I am not a match for Samuel. He is way out of my league. So I need to do something to catch up, but I don’t know how. One idea I got was to practise Ki and gain a boost in stamina and other aspects from it. But… that doesn’t seem to be working. Besides that, Samuel advised me to do exercises to raise my stamina and reaction time. So, the biggest problem I am facing right now should be a lack of knowledge on how to proceed.”

Aunt put up another question, “How important is it to defeat Samuel?”

I was silent for a moment before replying, “Very.”

Aunt nodded before saying, “As Samuel said, you do need to get your stamina up. Although… that thing fixed your body, that was it, from what I know. It didn’t help you out with stamina or other things. So that should be your top concern. As for Ki, although it’s not a necessary thing, you can make use of it. However, it mostly depends on luck. So if I was in your shoes, I wouldn’t count on it.”

As for other things, you can work on coordination of your body, senses other than sight and so on. Of those, the biggest one I can think of would be to work on your ability to gauge distance.”

My brow furrowed as I asked, “Gauge distance?”

“Mhmm.” Aunt nodded before continuing, “Having only one eye can make gauging distance difficult. Besides that, focusing on things can also get hard at times. Sigh…”

I gave Aunt a deep look as I opened my mouth to ask.

As if reading my expression, she answered before I could even ask, “I once got injured and had only one eye to rely on for a while. It was… not a good experience, per se. Though it got alright after a while. However, in your case…” Her voice dimmed, “It is a lot more severe. I don’t know if there’s any treatment for that.”

Aunt had a weak smile which seemed to hide a tinge of sadness as well as helplessness.

Anyway, I only have one piece of advice for you, “Focus on your advantages. You don’t win a war in a day. Especially when you’re up against someone stronger. All you can do is to accumulate your advantages until they’re enough to switch the situation around. And in this case, I’d say you can get a lot of those. Rather easily as well.”

But, as for how, that’s something you’ll have to figure out. Not every path is blocked you see. Still, I can’t help you out with the specifics. It’s something for you to figure out. All I can do is wish you good luck.”

I felt like her words were opening a new door for me, showing me something I hadn’t realised. However, it was just shy of the mark. I tried to think over it, but it was still a vague feeling, nothing more.

Heaving a deep breath, Aunt gave the window a glance before saying, “Alright, Zack. I’ll leave for now. It’s getting late and Amelia needs me to look after her. I’m sorry I couldn’t be here longer.”

My brows creased as I asked, “Why? What happened?”

“She got a fever and has been out cold for three days now. Don’t worry though, she’s alright. She’s just sleeping.”

“Okay. I hope she gets well.”

“She will, don’t worry. I’ll be leaving then. Take care of yourself as well.”

I nodded in understanding as I said, “It’s okay Aunt, you should hurry.”

Aunt nodded before taking her leave.

I opened the basket, taking out food before starting to eat.

While eating, I thought over the conversation just now.

I have a vague idea of what I can do. But… there’s no time for ‘but’. It’s either a hit or a miss. And I can’t hope to get a miss now. But one thing is for sure, I need to double down on what I’m doing right now, or maybe even more, if I want to beat Samuel. Otherwise… if I lose at the first step itself, how will I kill that man?

Thinking till here, I chuckled to myself, sorrow seeping through my bones. Swallowing the food in my mouth, I continued to eat while pondering over my next actions.