Al gasped in surprise.
It hurt, the searing flames of the sun burned Al's hand. Yet, his hand was fine. It was there, yet it wasn't. Al sensed his Mind Qi in the blazing sun.
"Amazing! it usually takes weeks to control Qi," Dorian said.
"What is this? Is this my Qi?"
"Yes, Mind Qi forms the mind's images. This time it formed an illusion representing your desire for freedom."
Al closed his eyes and thought back to when he made his wish. He had felt something. He felt a sort of connection to himself. He thought, if he wished again it might reappear.
Al thought of his desire for freedom. There it was again! The same feeling of connectedness. It was much fainter, but it was there. Al concentrated on it and felt his Qi stirring. The Qi flowed into his palm where a weight pressed down. Al's eyes opened to see a faint multicolored light.
"Awesome!"
"You're talented, Al. It took me two months to control my Qi."
"Well, I had help."
"Still, it's impressive. Now, I need to teach you martial arts. What a bother." Al's captain scratched his rough brown hair, showing an annoyed expression. Although, a little joy could be discerned in his eyes.
"What's martial arts?"
"Martial arts are Qi techniques that everyone can use, no matter the attribute. Although their power differs," Dorian said while grimacing. Al guessed he was imagining the effort it'll take to teach.
"Well, thank you for your teachings, captain." Al said with a little schadenfreude.
Dorian smiled devilishly. "Of course, anything for you. But for spells, which are techniques specific to attributes, you're going to have to ask your mother. Having married your father she probably knows a Mind-type spell or two."
Al's heart fell. His mother hated the idea of him adventuring. She only did the bare minimum to help him. There was no way she was going to teach him spells.
"Cap, you know how she is."
"You are just going to have to beg, won't you?"
"Six Spirits be damned..."
"Hahaha."
Under the night sky, Al continued to chat with Dorian. Their laughter resounded from the rampart until Dorian's conscience forced him to stop keeping Al up. Al grumbled a bit, but was also tired from an eventful day, and went home.
His mom goes to bed early. So, Al snuck in through his window to avoid waking her. As he entered his room, he noticed it had been cleaned. The stink was all gone, and his bed had been renewed with sheets, a new blanket, and pillows.
Al smiled, thankful to his mom, and went to bed.
The next morning, Al decided to skip training at the guard outpost. Dorian wouldn't mind. It just meant he had to work less.
Instead, he ran into the village. Taking his usual rooftop road he headed for the village square. It didn't take long for Al to land on the cobbled floor.
Upon arrival, he looked around the square and found Ganji's stall on the other side of the fountain in the middle of the square.
Walking over he waved at the middle-aged man. Al noticed his short-cut blond hair gained a few grey strands since the last time he saw him. He hadn't visited his house since training began. 'Hopefully, he didn't miss me,' Al thought.
Upon seeing him Ganji rolled his eyes, answering Al's question.
"Hello, Sir."
"Whadya want, brat? Going to break into my house again?"
"Four eggs and a small piece of butter, please," Al said putting twelve copper coins onto the table.
Ganji showed a little surprise at Al being a productive member of society. "Do you need a bag?"
"No, I have one." Al took out a little red cloth bag.
Ganji picked four of his eggs out of his basket laid them on the table and took six of the copper coins. "It's a copper for an egg, and two for butter. I don't need the rest."
Al put the eggs into the bag and walked off after saying, "The rest is for watching the video in your house."
After running back, and being careful not to break the eggs along the way, Al lit the Fire crystals in the stovetop, put some butter into the pan, and fried the eggs with a mixture of spices. Mom liked her eggs cooked completely, so he did two cooked through and two with the loose yolk.
Right in time, he heard a noise from her room. He took two small baguettes and put one on each of their plates. He laid them down on the dining room table, along with forks and knives.
Al then went to knock on her door.
"Mom, breakfast is ready."
Al heard a groan through the door, she was not a morning person. Not wanting to push it, Al said, "I'll wait for you at the table."
Al left his mom and sat down at the dinner table. He feared the food would get cold, but luckily mom came down before then.
She looked at her plate and then gave Al a suspicious look.
"Good morning, mom!"
"Morning." She said, rubbing her eye.
"I made you eggs."
"What are you up to, Al?"
"Nothing, can't I just be nice?"
"No."
His mom knew Al too well. She saw through Al's attempt to suck up to her until she gave him spells.
"I can control QI now. Can you teach me some spells?"
"Ah, so that's it." She sat down and began eating her eggs. "These are delicious."
"So, will you, please~?"
"I do not know any spells," she said, her eyes avoiding his.
Liar. His mom was great at many things, but she couldn't lie. Every time she did, her eyes would look at everything but the person she was lying to. Al originally didn't want to do this, but he had to be frank now.
"Mom, I know you don't want me to be an adventurer, but I have decided. I love you, but I will leave to pursue my dream. It's what I want to do in life, and I am going to at least try pursuing it."
"Well, it's a stupid dream. You have no idea how cruel and dangerous the world is. I don't want you to die. I already lost William." Her eyes began to tear up.
"I know, mom. But I won't die, not if you help me get stronger. I know you believe if you stunt my progress I may reconsider, but I won't, I'll just be more likely to die."
Tears rolled down her eyes now, and Al's cheeks were getting wet too.
"But I don't want you to leave…," she said through her tears.
"I know, I know."
Al hugged his mom, both of them letting their tears flow together for a long time. The food got cold.
"Ok, Al. I'll teach you," she said as she relented.
Afterward, Al's path was set, and so time flowed by in a jiffy. Al grew stronger along with his fellow guards and under his mother's tutelage as the season's changed.
Six times snow froze Nientel, and six times flowers bloomed again. During the sixth bloom, Al's bed was for the fourth time filled with repulsive impurities. Al had reached the peak stage of the Purification Realm, sullying his bed for the last time.