Staring at the living room’s Screen, Zax and Serah had two huge, proud, childish grins. They did tell the truth and now Troel and Jinka have to believe them.
In contrast to the two children, Troel and Jinka completely ignored the notion of their daughter and her friend lying. The two adult listened to every word of the announcer and followed each of the reporters’ questions that were answered or overlooked.
They did not laugh or were excited. By when the announcement broadcast the third time since they began to watch it, Jinka was holding hands with her husband. Both of them were sweating and seemed to contain great pressure inside their every bone.
An expedition to the environment, the world, that over five thousand years ago nearly destroyed humanity… How could they as simple Mist Users, middle class citizens of Kingdom Earth and most of all parents to a nine years old innocent little girl, not imagine with much more clarity the risks to their society rather than the benefits?
“See, dad, isn’t it amazing?” Serah boasted. “Seeing the blue skies, mom, I also want it!”
As a result of the Nightly Cover formation, the morning air was cool and refreshing. Zax returned home and was ready to head out to his big sister’s apartment in hope that he will be able to squeeze couple of training hours before she arrives, but as he entered his room he got startled.
“Zetsa!” He jumped cheerfully on his big sister’s back that laid on his bed, sleeping.
“Little Zi,” Zetsa grabbed Zax’s head and rubbed it forcefully. “You brat! Jumping joyfully on your big sister after giving her so much trouble this past week”. She turned over and pinched his cheeks.
“I’w sowry, I’w sowry”. Zax cried and sounded unintelligible. Whenever he tried to pull her hands and failed she pinched a little harder.
She finally released him. “You know, I got back late at night, wanting to surprise you, but then mom told me you went and slept at some other girl’s home”. Zetsa teased.
“I want to go with you!” Zax said firmly.
“Haha, I knew it. It’s still early so you can play or watch the Screen until we’ll head out”. Zeta laughed. “Take also will be happy to see you after so long”.
“Thank you for having me, Slovet”.
“Zetsa Mor!” The handsome Take called happily and closed the poetry book after he marked the last page he read. “You brought Zax too”. He jumped from the wicker chair and laid his arm on Zax’s neck.
Take referred to Zetsa with the honorific title “Mor” after her first name because she was his Martial teacher and he was her Martial student, which sometimes made the nonconformist Zetsa address him with the apprentice title “Tal” after his first name. But his relationship with Zax was entirely different. To Take, which was an only child, Zax was like a little brother that he would see only when his Mor arrive to teach him.
“Zax, whenever you are here my Take gets to experience the sentiment of an older brother. Please do come more often”. Mrs. Edomachi requested of Zax and then walked over to her husband.
“We won’t disturb you any farther, Miss Zetsa”. Governor Edomachi took his wife’s hand and turned to live as Zetsa nodded toward him and his Mrs. Edomachi and continued with the two boys to the training hall.
The training hall was an extension of the manor. Its floor was made of wooden planks and its ceiling was in the shape of a domed. Some of the weapons hanged on the walls were made from Peral metal but most were made of lesser steel. Generally it did not matter since Take was a long way from any form of combat training.
Standing in front of Take, Zax to the side, Zetsa stared at her Tal and ordered. “Unleash”.
Immediately Take took his stance, legs bent, hands lowering from his head till his arms straightened. Take dispersed deep breaths slowly till gradually a thin energy signature that only he and Zetsa could sense began to appear and an invisible pressure distorted the air around him.
“Hang on to it”. Zetsa instructed even though beads of sweat already formed on Take’s face.
“Amazing!” From the side Zax watched enviously. The type of training he yearned for the most was being performed right in front of his eyes. “Why big sis won’t train me in a Qi awareness and Qi refining technique?” Bitterly he said in his head.
“Come here, Zax, I want to see the results of your meditation”. Zetsa took him to a faraway corner of the hall to not distract Take and the both of them sat down. “You have done just as I told mom to pass you, right? Briefly describe me the process you went through”.
“Yes, I was able to train in the Inner Spirit formation for only one day this week”. Zax answered embarrassedly. “Thereafter mom and dad found out and you know the rest… but I did meditate. After the intense session in the Inner Spirit formation, for the first time, the formation left some sort of fragments, like icy grains, that surrounded, I think, my soul.
“In the first day of meditation, since the icy grains were foreign yet carried the same energy signature as the Inner Spirit formation I decided to tamper with one of them. I wasn’t able to do much apart from dismantling the icy grain, but afterwards it turned into a blue white dust that was absorbed into my soul and felt like it made it a little bit stronger. That’s about all I did in Tuesday and Wednesday. Yesterday, because of the field trip, I had no time to meditate so there are a few tens of icy grains remaining around my soul”.
“Hmm… That’s explaining the glimmer in your eyes”. Zetsa deduced in a small voice. Of course, that “Glimmer” she mentioned was a side effect only an expert Mist User can perceive. “You progressed well in such a short time as eight months”. Zetsa half complimented half said it as a fact.
In accordance to the training schedule that she made for Zax and kept to herself, after last week modification to the Inner Spirit formation, it had to take to him at least a month before he could trap fragments of the formation. Now her little brother claims that after one week, were he trained just once, there are tens of fragment circulating his soul…
“I chose right”. She confirmed to herself.
Knowing that he had done well, a big smile spread across Zax’s face.
“Just this once I’ll allow you to keep that snotty smile”. Zetsa raised a finger as to show that she really mean it. Zax’s has not even made yet his first step on the Martial path. Any type of advancement he may have done is nothing to be proud of at this stage, merely an insight to what might be his future growth. “Enter your meditative state and work on the fragment until your soul will absorb all of them. In the mean time I’ll go instruct Take”.
Zetsa’s strict attitude made her seem like a different person than the one Zax was most familiar with. Unlike when she was angry at him, the way she spoke and the look in her eyes at matters related to Martial instruction gave off a feeling of distant between them. At times like this he saw her not as his beloved sister or the person he looked up to, but his unofficial Mor, and as she ordered, so he did.
The third stage, also known as the Fiery Icy Qi Unification, for most practitioners is the trickiest. Simply put, as its name suggest, in this stage the practitioner must unify the essence of hot and cold with his or her Qi. The third stage is also divided into three phases; in the first phase the practitioner must convey the characteristic of heat to the Qi, in the second phase the practitioner must convey the characteristic of cold to the Qi and in the third phase the practitioner must unify the two opposites within his or he Qi – by doing so, raising the quality of the Qi more than tenfold!