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The sky was clear today, and the sun was shining brightly as well, the beautiful grass below our boots was waving by the gentle breeze of the morning.
The three kids were all sitting cross-legged in the floor in front of me.
Chris, the black-haired boy, is rather stubborn and playful, and a bit childish at times, but he is very strong-willed as well. His talent is Flame Wizard, and his Spirit is the interesting Nine-Tailed Fire Fox. He has a talent over flames that easily surpasses all of us. My Tier 1 Fire Attribute Magic Spells cannot compare to the flames he can naturally conjure by merely thinking about them.
Eric, the blonde boy, he is actually rather chicken-hearted, and always worried about every little thing, but I can say that he’s simply concerned about us because he cares about his friends. He has the Talent of Druid, and his Spirit is the Crimson-Blood Rose Vine. He has an ability over manipulating Nature, and also Life Magic, which can be used for healing. However, Druids also seem to be able to offer buffs to their allies.
And lastly, Erika, the pink-haired girl, she has quite the long backstory, and is actually a doll without a living body, and could be considered something closer to an Undead. She is a gentle-hearted and lovely girl; she is always trying to make her friends happy and forgave Chris and Eric despite how badly they treated her before.
Her Talent is the mysterious Princess Talent, while her Spirit is an even more mysterious one named Royal Doll House. We are still developing her abilities, but she had learned basic martial arts such as kicking and giving strong punches, while also being able to evade blows and predict enemy movements.
Despite not having Qi, she can use her Aether and Mana to enhance her unliving body and give stronger blows, I believe there could be ways to use Nature Magic to enhance her wooden doll body, or even make it “alive” once more, but that would be left for later, when I can get the resources and the magic I need. Of course, this would be a temporary enhancement, as the real end goal is giving her a true flesh body once more.
“For now you three have been growing rather strong, I can tell that you’ve learned a few techniques, especially Erika, who started training with me way back. You two will have a hard time catching up with her, but you can use the Qi energy I’ve unlocked from your body some time ago.” I said.
“Qi… Blake, do you think it can go together with my fire?” asked Chris.
“Yes, there is the iteration of Fire Qi, which can enhance your fire-attribute magic and even your techniques… Hm, I think you should already be able to use it, come here, Chris. I will help you refine Fire Qi, as you’re a natural Flame Wizard, you can use your own fire to refine the Qi.” I said.
Chris was a hardy boy; I know he can take a bit of pain and exhaustion that refining Qi for the first time causes to the body and mind. His father was a muscular man that got hit hard in a leg, so he’s in a similar situation like my father. I suspect that Chris might one day grow as big as his father, which means that he would have a great body for martial arts.
Concentrating in pure magic even if he has the Talent of a Flame Wizard would be a complete waste of potential. Fusing Martial Arts with Magic and the Spirits of this world can cause great enhancements to the fighting potential of everyone after all, I am the living proof of that.
“You’re for real?” asked Chris
“Yeah, yeah, I was planning on also helping Eric refine Nature or Life Qi, either of the two should have high affinity with his Talent and Spirit.” I said.
“Ooh! I wonder if I could heal better with that…” said Eric.
“You would certainly be able to enhance your own vitality and regeneration, Qi is often used for your own body than to create external phenomena, that’s where Mana comes into place, but by fusing both, well, greater things can be achieved.” I said.
“Wow… I wish I could have Qi…” sighed Erika.
“Don’t worry, you got an insane amount of Aether, your soul is very strong, Erika, we can work with that, and you might even be able to use an Aura soon, something way more advanced than the boys can do.” I said.
“Ooooh! Hehehe, I am going to surpass you two even more now!” said Erika rather adorably.
The two boys felt a bit dispirited by having her surpass them even more now than before, but they also smiled at her. They seemed happy to see her as energetic and cute as she had always been.
Chris quickly stood at my side as he summoned a beautiful and small nine-tailed white fox with many orange and red markings over its body, which was able to float around.
“Foo!” it said.
“Now, gather your Qi as I’ve taught you in the palm of your hands, all while asking your spirit to conjure fire-attribute mana and make it flow into your hand as well, both Qi and Mana will meet, and the refinement process will begin automatically…” I said.
“Okay…” said Chris.
He closed his eyes as the wondrously golden energy known as Qi began to flow across his body at a rapid pace, while his spirit began to generate fire-attribute mana, which also flowed rapidly across his body.
The two energies quickly met with one another, suddenly generating a bright orange-red light.
FLASH!
“Ugh…! I-It burns! Uagh!”
Chris began to groan in pain, it really is quite painful at the beginning.
“Now, to refine it, use your Intent and force both energies to maintain a combination with one another, the pain is clear, but you have to bear it. There is no path to power where you won’t shed tears, blood, and sweat, Chris, remember this.” I said.
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