Chapter 2: On the Nature of Qi
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Despite the disapproving look from her uncle Sana couldn't keep the broad smile off her face. Ever since her Awakening she was feeling incredibly giddy and could barely sit still. She wanted to jump around and laugh out loud but also knew that it would be extremely inappropriate. She was sitting in her uncle's study with him and her parents just minutes after finding out her affinity.

"We need to send a messenger to the Cloudsea Sect immediately. They will want to personally test her," Indrus said to her parents who had remained silent throughout the walk to the study. "And before you do anything else you need to keep the results quiet. Though the chances are slim, since they wouldn't want to offend them , I do not put it past Clan Goran to send assassins. Ever since their own member with a superior affinity joined the sect 30 years ago they have become increasingly unrestrained. They might see Sana's talents as an inconvenience," he said looking directly at Sana.

Andus and Aria shared a worried glance. "Lord Father, should one of us personally carry the message? We would be a lot faster than any of the messengers you can send," Aria proposed.

"No, that would imply that we have something to hide," Indrus replied. "I will send one of my personal servants to inform the sect. We will simply announce that little Sana has an average affinity of fire, earth and metal. They will simply assume that the sect is interested in her fire affinity, after all it is quite rare in these parts." Indrus continued, this time looking at her parents, "You will simply begin training her in Martial Arts since even cultivators need a good foundation and a strong body." He shared a glance with Sana's parents after discretely nodding at her.

"My little flame," Andus started while laying a hand on her shoulder, "It has been a long and exiting day and I think it would be best for you to go to bed early." Sana opened her mouth to protest but her father continued. "Don't worry, we will start your training tomorrow morning. All the more reason to get a good night sleep since I don't think you mother will go easy on either of us," he whispered the last part in her ear while pointedly looking at his wife. Sana giggled and after hugging her mother retreated out of the room towards her own.

Silence filled the study as all three needed some time to get their thoughts together. Andrus scoffed, "I really feel like a hypocrite after our talk this morning but I don't want to let her go. I mean she is still so young and 10 years is far to little time to spend together." After that rant he sighed and slumped in his seat. "But I also know that I can't stay in the way of her achieving greatness. I just... wished things were different."

"I know honey, I know," Aria said, laying a comforting arm around him. "We just need to make the remaining 2 years memorable ones and try to prepare her for the world as much as we can." she continued with a sad smile.

"You have my sympathies," Indrus began in his usual cold tone, "but take comfort in the fact that the clan will support your daughter in all her endeavours. I will personally try to find a way for you to keep in regular contact with her, even in the sect itself."

Aria, surprised by the promise, looked up at him and smiled, "Thank you, Lord Father." She looked at her husband and added, "I think we will also retire for the day and discuss the training of Sana in private. I don't want to take up any more of your time." She stood and after a moment spent looking at each other her husband followed. Both bowed their heads to Indrus and left out the door, closing it behind them.

The leader of clan Tenki sat in silence for a moment before sighing and calling for a servant to fetch his most loyal attendant. He smiled in the privacy of his own study and muttered, "I wish you the best of luck little Sana. Hopefully your path will be a long and fulfilling one."


"You have probably heard a lot of different things about the nature of qi," Aria began, sitting in front of her daughter in their training courtyard, "but I think it would be best to start from the beginning. Wouldn't want you to start your training with wrong information." 

It was the day after Sana's Awakening and she couldn't possibly bear another moment without finally being able to become a Martial Artist. Despite the somewhat serious topic of yesterday's discussion she was extremely excited and could barely sit still to the apparent amusement of her mother and her father, who was sitting at a table in the corner smiling at her.

"Most people assume qi to be the life inherent in all things, that flows through and into us," her mother started, "but how can a stone or a sword be alive or why does death qi exist? I think of qi as the thing that gives objects, people, emotions and even states of being weight. How important they are to everything around it and how much effort it takes to disturb it. This "primal" qi can be static or it can be transformed from one moment to the next, like a surging river flowing into a lake of absolute stillness. Different types of qi are better at certain things because they "weigh in" more. To take qi into yourself and using is, is akin to enforcing your own will on the world around you. 'My sword can split this boulder because I will it' is a common enough example. Of course such leaps in logic are easier the smaller of a "leap" you have to take."

Aria paused to let Sana digest the information. Not that she thought that her daughter would immediately comprehend her words but over the coming months, maybe even years, she would internalize them. "First, why don't you tell my what you felt in your Awakening."

"Well, the... qi, I guess," Sana began hesitantly, slowly gaining confidence, "It spread from my arms through my body and, well concentrated in three points. One in my head, one on my chest and one in my stomach. The ones in my chest and stomach were a lot bigger than the other one," she added, not knowing what was important to mention.

"Very much like you my Dawn all brawn no... well, would you look at that lovely tree. It truly is very peaceful here with no violence to disturb it." Andus quickly changed topics after seeing the dark look on his wife's face.

Aria turned back towards her daughter and said, "Those three points, I heard, are important for cultivation. They show your talent in the three forms of mental, physical and qi cultivation. Unlike cultivators us martial artists have no control over where our qi in our bodies stays. That is one of the downsides of using "primal" qi, though our bodies instinctively know how to store and draw it out again. Additionally Qi in its basic form is poisonous to humans and normal animals and different people have different tolerances, though your tolerance increases with use. With how long you were able to keep the qi inside yourself I would say you have a high natural tolerance," she finished with an encouraging smile to which her daughter blushed and looked down.

"To get started you need to be able to feel the unconcentrated qi in the world. Don't worry if it takes a long time just sit in a comfortable position, close your eyes, loose all distractions. Fell inside of yourself, feel the qi in your body, how it moves, how it reacts. And then go outwards and feel the same way around yourself." Aria's voice was getting softer and softer as Sana followed her directions until she couldn't hear anything anymore, only the tingling, electrifying feeling of the qi inside of herself. Almost like having swallowed one of those thunder stones from the southern mountain ranges. Slowly, ever so slowly she could feel it again, that tingling on her skin, only this time on her entire body. She tried to take it into herself like the day before, but didn't know how. The first time it just happened, like the qi couldn't wait but rush inside.

After a while of stubbornly trying to pull she gave up and started opening her eyes only to be surprised as her mother was gone. She didn't even notice her standing up and walking away. she looked around and spotted her parents sitting at the table in the corner, her father laying back in his chair, napping, and her mother reading a book. She tried to stand but her legs collapsed under her and she could just about catch herself before she fell down. She grit her teeth at the sudden cramp and hissed.

"Ah, you're back," her mother exclaimed and continued at her confused look, "you've been meditating for half a day already. Your body isn't strong enough yet to effortless sit through hours of meditation but it will get better in time. I was prepared to wait the entire day if must be and start tomorrow but since you're already finished why don't we just start right now, "she announced, seeing the impatient look in her daughters eyes.

Aria stood up and took two wooden spears, that were leaning against the nearby wall, and threw one to Sana who caught it with both hands and immediately took a stance with her left side forwards, the tip of her spear pointed at her mother. "Before you can build your body up, you need to break it down," Aria said, taking a similar stance and thrusting her spear towards Sana who managed to turn the thrust away with the shaft of her weapon. Aria tried to swing the butt of her spear into her mothers chest but she effortlessly dodged backwards. "With your diet you have already an advantage over others your age. Despite not being able to use it, the qi in the meat of spirit beasts you have eaten has reinforced your body beyond the norm."

They continued their spar for another hour until with a grunt and the butt of her mothers spear in her stomach Sana collapsed in exhaustion. Normally her parents made sure that she doesn't strain herself to hard, which could have bad consequences. Her father, who had woken up sometimes during her training, walked over and kissed his wife on the cheek. "Well, looks like you're finished here. Let me take over for the next bit."

He helped Sana of the floor and into a cross-legged sitting position. "Now, breathe slowly in... and out... in... and out... calm yourself and feel your muscles burn, your bones hurting, your ligaments straining. Now focus on the qi around you, concentrate it in front of your face and breathe it in. Fell the qi flowing from your lungs, through your chest into every aching muscle. Now again, breathe in... and out..."

Like with her mother before her fathers voice was getting quieter with every repeat. But she could still feel the qi in every breath she took gathering and diffusing in every muscle. It was probably the most comfortable feeling she ever felt. Slowly her muscles stopped gathering more qi and the feeling lessoned. Not wanting it to stop, Sana tried gathering the qi herself and pushing it in but a stinging, aching pain immediately broke her out of her meditation. She groaned and massaged her biceps, trying to rid herself of that pain.

She looked up at her parents to see them smiling down at her. "There is a natural limit of how much qi your muscles can absorb in any session. The more you train the more your muscles can take in but trying to forcefully overstep those bounds can seriously hurt you," her father said while helping her stand up of the ground.

Embarrassed, she looked to the ground with burning cheeks until a hand cradled her cheek which made her look up. She saw her mother smiling down at her. "Congratulations on your first step to being a martial artist."

With tears gathering in her eyes Sana jumped and hugged her mother around her neck and with a big smile kissed her on her cheek.


A young woman could be seen hurrying along a corridor, grasping a piece of paper, until she arrived before a large stone gate which opened by itself as soon as she got closer. Inside the room that revealed itself stood only a small wooden table with a gameboard, four mats around said table and a huge painting at the side opposite the entrance. The painting took up almost the entire back wall and consisted of a sea of clouds through which a single mountain peaked. The cloud sea seemed to move, as if the painting were a window to the outside. Considering how deep underground the room was, that was certainly not the case.

Sitting at the table, playing a game, were two men. One old, small, bald and with a face full of wrinkles, though his amber eyes almost seemed to burn anything he looked at. The other was middle-aged with azure hair, a small goatee and a seemingly permanent smile, very different from his companions scowl.

"Sect Master, Elder Ietu, a message came from Indrus Tenki in Cloud City regarding one of his clan members," the woman said after bowing at the waist, her own long azure hair kept in check with a hairpin.

"Hoh, it must be quite the important piece of information for it to interrupt my game," the azure-haired man said with a smile and in good humour, though his companion only scowled deeper. After receiving and reading through the message his smile only got wider and he occasionally glanced at the old man. "Well, well, if the information is true we may have found a new disciple for you. Doesn't that sound great," he said handling the letter to the other man.

The old man read the letter as well but only snorted and threw it back on the table. "We'll see," he said dismissively though he could not hide the tiny curling in the corners of his lips from the other man. After all, thought the sect master of the Cloudsea Sect, if his master didn't love teaching new disciples he would have never been able to reach his own heights.

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