Chapter 119

Brenna

Power Infusion

Days went by in a blur to Brenna. She found that she would often pass out due to sheer exhaustion. Each time she awoke, she found Lykan waiting for her with a fresh meal.

“You are pushing yourself pretty hard. Do you wish to stop, or continue?” Lykan would ask.

Each time Brenna could feel the judgment in those words. The words offering her the chance to quit. If she quit, nothing would happen. She knew that Lykan would not hold anything against her, but that their relationship would part, of that she was certain. This was a test. A chance given by the chosen of the Gods to see if she was worthy of the attention that was being handed to her. This was why each time she answered without fail, “I wish to continue.”

Hearing that Lykan would always nod, and while he might not mean to a slight smile played out on his lips. The smile would soon fade away, as he would feed her, giver her water, and make her drink some concoction that he had created. Each time she ate and drank she felt not only satiated, but extremely alert and aware. She didn’t know what was in the concoctions she was given, probably a secret nectar of the gods, but they always made her feel more than prepared to take care of the day. Then she would repeat as long as possible before she would once again succumb to her exhaustion.

She always like this time in particular, the time right after awakening. The reason she appreciated this time was rather simple, she appreciated the fact that Lykan would focus on her intently. At first the process unnerved her, as he had particularly sharp eyes that seemed to capture everything. Even the fact that she was getting unnerved by the constant staring.

“Why do you stare at me so intently?” Brenna finally asked.

Hearing the question a faint smile crested Lykan’s lips as if he had been pressing her to ask just such a question.

“I want to make sure you are doing well with the mixture I give you. I change it each day, based on how much I think you have grown from the previous day.” Lykan admitted.

After hearing that, Brenna felt both embarrassed and relieved. Embarrassed that she could ever think he would have evil plans for her, and relieved that he was taking her health seriously. This lack of knowledge also led credence to the fact that the person before her was human, or at least mortal, as only the Gods would be infallible.

“What is in the mixture anyways? It is really good.” Brenna asked.

With that question Lykan looked a bit embarrassed, the tips of his ears turned red and he actually broke eye contact. Seeing his reaction, she wondered if he was feeding her some type of poison. Before her mind could go too far down that line of thinking, he answered.

“This is a special qi-infusion supplement I am creating. The idea is that with this you should be able to increase you qi absorption rate far faster than I did.”

“Qi-infusion?”

“Yes. You know the energy you have been breathing in is called qi. Well qi-infusion is where you take a highly concentrated dose of qi and mix it with your food, water, and a specialty mixture that I create and modify daily for you. With this, you should be able to create your cores quickly, or at least faster than I was capable of when I first started.” Lykan answered.

“Is it working?” Brenna asked. She had to admit she always felt more energetic after eating, and more able to focus, but that was just the mornings. No wait, I was always terrible at mornings before. I would be tired and groggy for about an hour before I fully awoke, before. Now I am able to wake up and jump right back into my training. Brenna mused to herself as she thought about how much she had changed since her journey began.

“It is, I can see the way the meal, drink, and solution all mix in your body. They are denser qualities of qi, but not by more than what your body can handle.” Lykan answered.

With that explanation a whole slew of questions were asked, mainly about qi densities, qi quality, and of course qi absorption. All of which Lykan seemed to have a detailed answer for each. To show the different densities he pulled three different sized rocks from his pouch and lay them before him. One was large one the size of a closed fist that was a light brown. The second was medium sized, and looked like a red egg. While the third was the smallest, barely the size of a thumbnail, and dark like midnight. That is when he asked the question that truly began her path as a cultivator.

“Looking at these three cores before you. Which would you think is the most powerful core that came from the most powerful of creatures?” Lykan asked.

Looking at the three Brenna could see no real distinction between the three. So she wanted to pick the best answer, but the way Lykan posed the question made her realize this was a trap. Not wanting to seem wrong or dim-witted before her master she went against her mind and went with her gut. She pointed at the small black thumbnail sized rock.

“Very good. Now can you tell me why you chose this one?” Lykan asked, a look of curiosity on his face.

Hearing the praise Brenna instantly beamed, before her enthusiasm waned by having to explain herself. “I figured it had to be a trick of some kind. So I went with the least obvious answer.”

Lykan chuckled at the answer. It was a sound that brought joy to Brenna’s face, as it was the first time she had seen her savior truly smile. Honestly she almost thought he was only capable of the minor creases of his lips, but seeing the smile and the way his face lit up with mirth, made her come to a plan. She would do everything in her power to make him smile as often as possible, as her savior he deserved nothing less than to be happy.

“Well that is one way.” Lykan finally answered after he regained his composure to teach the lesson. “Hopefully you will soon be able to see and even feel the differences in power that each of these cores have. The way qi works is the more potent it is, the more densely packed the energy gets. So this one,” he said while pointing to the fist size rock, “is actually the weakest. Both in terms of power and potency. With these others, the bodies of the creatures who used them were advanced enough to create miniature gravity pockets that forced the qi to condense into tighter and tighter cores. Thus the color variations… At least that is my working theory on these. Unfortunately I am mainly making this up as I go, since there is no one else I can bounce my findings off of.” Lykan said, then looked somewhat regretfully at Brenna.

Realizing that he had likely said too much and now felt awkward, Brenna struck on the part of his statement that seemed to resonate in her ears and send her mind buzzing with excitement. “Wait, you mean that you want me to help you as an assistant?”

With the question posed Lykan deflated slightly at the statement. “Not quite an assistant, I was hoping maybe a colleague, eventually.”

“A colleague? That’s even better. I would love to go with you and learn about qi cores with you. Exploring dungeons, killing monsters, winning the praises of the gods. This is so amazing!” Brenna gushed, only afterward did she realize she had risen to her feet and was nearly shouting at Lykan.

Looking down at the still sitting Lykan, who was only looking at her with shock. Seeing the look on his face, she meekly collected herself and once again regained the meditation position. “Sorry, I hope that wasn’t too much.” She offered.

Hearing that Lykan chuckled once again for the second time that day. “No, this is great. I need someone like you. Someone that still has the spark of excitement.” Lykan answered.

At this point that Brenna realized one very important thing about Lykan. He was lonely. Not just lonely, but soul crushingly alone. When she thought about the situation it made sense. Here he was, someone who had been blessed by the Gods and tasked with rooting out and killing the ancient enemy of the Gods. He was given the task of completing the mission that even the Gods themselves couldn’t accomplish. Worse up until her, he had been doing the task all alone. She had felt that, as a wave of mental energy.

Brenna paused as she let the mental understanding pass over her. For a second it felt like she was able to read the mind of Lykan, as if she was able to see the true hardship that he had endured for so long, alone. Whether this was an unrecorded blessing from the Gods, her food causing her mind to change wavelengths for a bit, or the workings of her own over active imagination she was not sure. But she was certain that for that one moment she could see and feel his emotions. For that one moment she felt like she truly understood what the messenger of the gods that was before her was feeling. And for a moment, she felt her heartache at the pain she felt on his behalf. Then before it got to be too much, before she would feel herself cry the connection was removed.

Gasp.

Brenna breathed in deeply. She wanted to say something to him, anything to let him know that she understood his plight. But the words didn’t come, he had gone through so much. He had been tasked with so much, and was still doing so much. She even saw what he meant by the spark. There was room in his mind for a bonfire of energy, but what she saw were just a few dull embers. He’s just going through the motion, Brenna realized.

He went to Dungeons to clear them because it was what he had always done, not because he wanted to anymore. Realizing this, she made a note to be that spark for him. The connection also reaffirmed one thing. Lykan had been chosen by the Gods, and was doing their work upon the world.

***

Ever since the day of the mind-merging, at least that was what Brenna called it mentally, she drove herself harder into her training. At this point Lykan would take time to leave. At first Brenna never seemed to notice when he left, only realizing well after he was gone and nearly returning that he had in fact left.

This made no difference for Brenna as she was deep into her training, she was now at the part where she would do circuit training drills while breathing in qi with each breath.

To her surprise Lykan always seemed to appear right after she had missed a breath and forced herself to restart. As soon as she sat down he would re-enter and offer a meal. At first, she thought his presence had somehow caused her to lose focus. It wasn’t until later that she realized he would often stay by the doors when he left, and would only come in when she failed and resumed the meditation position. At first she was paranoid that he was only there to watch her and make sure she was honest with herself. One time she purposefully failed a breath and continue to see if he would make a comment. But he didn’t, he only stood until the guilt of actually missing her breath got her and she forced herself to sit down and restart.

That time when Lykan entered, he made not comment on the fact that she purposefully continued. Instead he just offered her, her now customary meal. After the meal, like always, she felt instantly invigorated and ready to take on her training more seriously.

“Were meals a big part of your training?” Brenna asked.

Lykan grimaced at the question, and Brenna almost instantly wished she never asked. “No, when I did this, there were no signs of the doors. All I had was an alien instructor telling me to restart, and burn me with a beam of energy when I tried to eat. I nearly starved to death. At least it felt that way, though I think that was meant to be encouragement to continue absorbing qi. I never liked the idea, so with you, my first disciple I wanted to change that. I want to see if my idea of qi infused meals will help, which they seem to be helping, right?” Lykan asked.

Brenna who had just taken a deep bite of the most deliciously spiced meat gulped, as she realized he wanted an answer. Gulping awkwardly she rasped out “yes.” Before she took a drink that was much larger than usual.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean you had to answer immediately.” Lykan said, a slight smile filling his face. Then he began with a slightly more serious tone. “Next meal, I will have you help me prepare our meal.”

Hearing this Brenna beamed with excitement. She truly wanted to help and was more than eager to accept. “Yes, thank you master.”

“Don’t call me master. I don’t like that. I do not, nor will I ever own you.”

Brenna instantly flushed with the comment, but soon recovered. “Can I call you teacher instead?”

“Teacher is fine, though Lykan is preferred.” Lykan answered.

A pang went through Brenna, there was no way she could be so formal with her savior, at least not right now. But wishing to comply she bowed her head and responded truthfully. “I will endeavor to do as you wish, honored teacher.” Brenna said with a bow.

“None of that now.” Lykan said, as he quickly grabbed the bowl and water skin that had been used for the meal. “I believe you have a lesson to practice, and I have to work on getting the ingredients for our next meal.”

With that Lykan stood up, and walked out of the room. The odd door sliding shut behind him. Brenna was alone, but felt somehow comfortable in the vast open room. The room that was far too large for just one student to be in it alone. Soon her mind drifted off, as she ran through the motions of breathing in qi that were quickly becoming part of her unconscious thought process. She no longer had to think about breathing in qi, but her body would tell her when she forgot or otherwise faltered with the process. There would be a dry course breath that caused her lungs to grind together like sand paper. That is how she knew she failed the exercise and needed to start over.

She had finally made it through the complete course of circuit training exercises and short sprints, when she failed to breath in qi. She was exhausted, but rather than get angry she dropped down to the ground and assumed the meditation position.

Almost as if on cue, Lykan chose that moment to enter. Followed by one of the largest monsters she had ever seen. The creature was the cross between a crocodile and a dragon, and caused a shiver of fear to course down her spine. Looking at the monster she felt fear and apprehension, especially as Lykan seemed to be dragging the monster by its tail. Worse, it wasn’t dead, an act that was evident by the way its large head that sat at the end of a long flexible neck began to move, twist and strike towards Lykan.

“Watch out!” Was all Brenna had time to say, before the beast reared back its massive head and plunged it towards Lykan, who seemed to be unaware that the beast had awoken.

CHOMP!