Frostfire Legacy

The next day, Aster was finally back in shape. It was a fast recovery, partly thanks to his high stats and CON level. But more than that, his desire to reunite with Cassy and the others pushed him into action.

'I also need to figure out where Pyra and Crysta went... I have so many things to do...'
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*THUNK!*

Right then, a wooden stick struck his head, making a loud sound. Just hearing it made it easy to imagine how painful the strike was. Aster lurched forward, clutching his head while releasing a low groan of pain.

"You're distracted again. At this rate, you might take over a year to complete this section of the training!"

The person behind him, the one overseeing his "training"—Kurenai—scowled. "You need to focus, or this plank will hit your head again!"

"..."

Aster felt dissatisfied. He had been distracted for just a moment, but Kurenai punished him instantly. More frustratingly, the hit from that little wooden plank hurt more than when he was thrashed by those kidnappers before!

Although he wanted to complain, he knew he didn't have much time. Kurenai had revealed that he could only stay with them for two weeks at most—the time her master was buying for them.

Within those two weeks, he needed to finish Kurenai's training.

'But even if you tell me to feel the Qi in the air, I'm not sure how to do it...' he grumbled inwardly.

The prerequisite for the training was for Aster to sense the natural energies present in the world—commonly labeled as Qi by practitioners like Kurenai. Aster was familiar with the term from long ago, but Qi in the era after the world entered the Mana Age? That was a different story.

Once again, he closed his eyes and followed the peculiar breathing pattern Kurenai had taught him. He carefully counted each second for every breath—inhale, hold, and exhale—and tried to feel the energy within himself at the same time.

"..."

However, no matter how long he tried, all he could feel was the powerful flow of mana inside him. Even without Kurenai's input, he knew he was doing something wrong.

'Deeper...' Aster thought. 'I must delve deeper into my inner world.'

His concentration spiked, making Kurenai, who was watching over him, flinch in surprise. Although Aster hadn't been formally taught, he already reached a state most trainees required years of effort to approach—the state of selflessness, mindless concentration—the state of Zen.

'Aster-sama has amazing talent in cultivation...' she mused. 'But why can't he detect his own Qi when it's already overflowing this much?'

To Kurenai's eyes, Aster should have passed this stage hours ago. Qi was flowing freely in and out of his body as if it were second nature to him. In her assessment, his level of mastery already surpassed her own.

But Aster was completely clueless about it. He didn't even know what Qi felt like, let alone how to control it.

"..."

After diving deep inside himself, cutting off every other stream of information from his senses, he finally found a clue.

'This is... mana,' he muttered, feeling the powerful flow of energy inside him. 'But... that's not all.'

Slowly, he noticed the movement of another power flowing alongside his mana. If mana was a cold, rushing river, this other energy felt like a quiet leaf floating gently on the surface.

'Is this Qi?' He mused, trying to grasp its nature. 'If it is, then how do I separate it from my mana?' Another puzzle added to his growing predicament.

Aster tried everything he could and quickly thought of a solution—his skill, Mana Control. Using it, he manipulated the mana within his body and halted its circulation entirely.

"Urk...!"

The pain of having his mana circulation interrupted was insane, but the sacrifice was worth it. The sudden stop in mana movement made the flow of Qi evident—and to his surprise, it was another stream just as vast as his mana flow.

Aster opened his eyes, marveling as his body appeared to be covered in a faint white aura. He raised both palms, staring in wonder.

"Congratulations, Aster-sama. You've completed the first stage of the training!" Kurenai, seeing how Aster instinctively moved his Qi, was amazed once again. "Well then, let's move to the next lesson—how to harness your Qi as a source of power—"

But before she could continue, she froze in shock.

Aster, without a single hint from Kurenai, moved his Qi to cover his entire body. It was the most basic application of Qi—body strengthening! And he had discovered it on his own.

"I see..." Aster sighed, amused. "So this is Qi..."

After familiarizing himself with it, he deactivated Mana Control, allowing Mana to recirculate through his body. The two energies seemed as if they would clash, but mysteriously, they flowed in unison, as if they had been one and the same from the beginning.

Curious, Aster gathered mana in his right hand, forming a sphere of raw energy. In his left hand, he released Qi, creating another sphere. Manipulating both energies simultaneously felt as difficult as writing with both hands at once—but he succeeded.

He observed the two energies and found their properties were as different as heaven and earth, yet as similar as identical twins.

"T-This is...!"

Kurenai, who had been observing silently, couldn't suppress her groan—a mix of shock and anticipation. Qi release was an advanced technique in the village's training manual, yet Aster performed it as effortlessly as breathing.

'If he just started learning the techniques now, won't he surpass me soon enough?!' she marveled.

A grin flickered across her face as she wondered how far Aster could go—but the next stunt he pulled left her utterly speechless.

"Hmmm... This feels odd."

Aster muttered as he clad his body in both mana and Qi. The combined energy surged through him, making him estimate that his strength had risen at least fivefold.

Kurenai watched in stunned disbelief as his body radiated a golden glow—a glow unique to those who had mastered control of both mana and Qi simultaneously. With trepidation, her lips parted, uttering words she could barely believe.

"This is... Body and Soul Fusion stage...!"