I put my hands up to show Monk I'm ready, but I see an assortment of rings on my fingers, and the ends of my red robe limit the movement of my arms. Even my armor feels heavy on my chest. Without the magic buffs these items give me, they're very movement-limiting.
For a split second, I re-consider the fact that none of my skills are activated at all. That includes my concealment skill changing my face, but Monk didn't say a word about it... My eyes track over to the wooden table at the back of the room, and Monk gives me a nod to remove my gear. I come back with just my boots, black pants, and a T-shirt on.
My body still feels cold, but the light walk has warmed me up and I can feel energy coming out of the floor and walls. It slowly flows through me, and warms me up, replicating the process Monk did on me. It's far slower, like the hint of a warm breeze, and the absorption process feels more like condensation from a water bottle.
Particles that float around the room come to me and stick to my skin, slowly soaking through and warming my body up.
I can't manipulate the energy here, I can only wait for it to come to me.
Monk speaks as I come back to him.
"Ready? I'll start slow and we'll train until one of us can't go any further."
I lock eyes with him and imitate his bow, then our mock matchup begins.
There were no rules outlined, and he hasn't given me any tips or techniques, so my guess is the best way to learn is to just spar...
Monk runs forward, so I do the same.
As he does, I can faintly sense the buildup of pressure in his body, and as he pushes a fist forward at me, a wave of hot white energy rushes up his arm and into his hand.
The movement isn't fast. A normal fighter without a leveling system could easily dodge it. However, I'm not quite sure getting hit with a punch like this would be as simple to brush off.
I spin my body out of harm's way, and Monk instantly shifts his feet and lunges in with a spinning kick. I duck and dodge this slow-moving attack too.
Even when my eyes momentarily leave the target, I can still sense the same wave of white energy flowing from the middle of his body down his leg and into his foot.
To the naked eye, it doesn't look out of the ordinary at all... but I'm sure he's using Qi to bolster these attacks.
Monk stares at me with a straight face and motions for me to attack now.
I take deep breaths and slowly step forward with both my palms raised. My eyes are staring straight forward, but my mind is entirely focused on the hot invisible core of energy inside me.
My first thought is to try and move it around like Mana Manipulation or Demonic Energy but the feeling I get from latching onto every individual particle when wielding those energies never comes.
With every step closer to Monk I take, the more frustrating it gets.
The core of warm watery energy doesn't budge. I can feel it as clear as day in my lower stomach, but it won't move like I want it to.
I'm frozen in place, clenching my fists.
"Too slow."
Monk comes running at me with another attack with quite a bit more speed, The white energy pulses in his heels before every step, and I can sense the growing power in his fist is much more concentrated than before.
I jump backward, and the fighter's fist flies by my face mere millimeters away.
There's another source of energy forming behind me and flowing upward like a gust of wind before I can even react.
I try to dodge again and jump out of the way, but a white hot kick hits me in the gut and I'm sent flying backward almost 5 meters.
On impact, I feel a wave crashing into my side. Most of it feels like a wall that forces me away, but a small amount of it sticks to my body just like the ambient Qi that comes off the walls and ceiling.
As I hit the floor and stand back up to my feet, I feel the slow slosh of my own energy settling after the hit.
Monk yells out as I put my hands up.
"Don't think, just fight."
I run forward taking his advice, and actually throw a punch this time. However, there's no Qi in my attack at all, it's just a normal fist.
With quick footsteps and precise blows, I get my punch blocked with ease and another foot to the side of my ribs sending me flying back.
It feels the same like a wave of hot ocean water hits me across the body with no warning at all.
Still, I get up and fight again to get thrown into the same situation over and over.
Monk doesn't make it harder for me, he just stays at this same strength and speed difficulty. After I fall to the ground for a fourth time, he speaks as I get up.
"Guide the flow of energy. You don't have to be in control, you only have to lead it to the path of least resistance."
I nod, but scrunch my eyebrows inwardly, trying to figure out what his phrase means.
Then I'm hit with his kick again.
Every time I think I have his movements figured out and am ready to dodge, he always switches things up last minute and I'm hit point-blank with the same crashing wave of energy.
However, each time I'm hit, I feel my own core of energy ripple and slosh.
After two more falls, I mumble to myself while running forward at Monk.
"Guide the energy... don't force it..."
I sway my body back and forth synchronizing with the light ripple and shifts of energy that settle in my stomach and for the first time as I throw a fist, I feel warmth flow up into my shoulder and down my arm.
It's not much, but I can feel trickles of warm energy reach my fingertips.
As Monk's forearm collides with mine for his usual block, instead of his energy bouncing my arm away it feels as if two ocean waves collide and a shimmering invisible essence of energy fills the air as both sides of the watery flow fall back.
Almost instantly, all of the Qi in my arm flows back into my core and I feel another roundhouse kick to the side, but I see Monk grinning with pride as he does so.
"Not bad, you're a quick learner. Let's do it again."
I stand to my feet with a smile of my own. I'm not quite sure how I did it, but I know exactly how it felt. It's one thing just seeing it happen, and another actually experiencing it. I'm much more confident I can replicate and improve this movement.
With both hands guarding my face, I run forward again.
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Author's Note:
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