"I will train you for exactly one year. How strong you become depends on how much you are willing to work for it."
The tone Thalos used sent shivers down his spine. He had just realized that the man in front of him was a god, and not just any god, but a powerful one. Amon's instincts screamed at him to run away from this overwhelmingly mighty being.
"But you are free to decline my offer. However, be aware that if you decline, I don't care what happens to you the moment you say it," Thalos finally said, expressing everything he needed to say. Thalos was now interested in Amon's answer, but he already had an idea of what it would be.
"I accept," Amon said.
The moment Amon spoke those words, the god arose from the mountain of corpses he had been sitting on since the beginning and walked toward Amon. When Thalos stopped, he was just an arm's length away from Amon. Amon realized how foolish he had been for not noticing the god's appearance earlier. He could now clearly see the god's well-tanned skin color. However, that wasn't what surprised him the most. What surprised him the most was realizing just how tall the man in front of him was. He stood at a towering 200 cm.
Thalos placed his hand on Amon's head and whispered something. Amon couldn't hear the man's words, but he wasn't concerned about it and closed his eyes. When he opened them again, he found himself in a huge cave.
The cave was divided into two areas: one was a typical rocky cave, while the other was filled with ice crystals, occupying a third of the cave. Amon wasn't sure if what he was seeing was a natural phenomenon or if Thalos was responsible for it. But it didn't matter to him; all he knew was that it was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.
Amon quickly snapped out of his stupor when he noticed Thalos pointing at the ceiling. It seemed like the god was gathering something on his finger, but Amon couldn't see what it was.
Thalos then pointed his finger at Amon. Amon didn't know what would happen next and decided to close his eyes. When he opened his eyes again, he saw that his right arm had fully recovered, and not only that, his skin, which had been dirty his entire life, was now clean. For the first time, Amon could see his own pale white skin, as white as that of a vampire. Even the clothes he had been wearing had changed. Amon approached one of the ice crystals, where his reflection was visible, and looked at himself. He saw a 15-year-old boy with white hair as pure as snow, a handsome face, yellow eyes, and pale skin. He wore white pants with a simple dark blue shirt. Amon looked at himself as if he were someone else.
"Did you make me more handsome or something like that? I can't remember being this good-looking," Amon said, surprised by his appearance, considering he was used to his previous dirty look.
"No, I did nothing," Thalos replied with a dry voice.
"You were handsome from the beginning. But despite having a handsome face, your body looked more like a skeleton than a human."
Amon looked at his arm and realized that what Thalos said was true. His arm was indeed skinny, so thin that he thought it could break into several pieces if touched.
"But now, let's begin with my teaching," Thalos said.
Upon hearing Thalos' words, Amon immediately turned around and walked toward Thalos. Thalos pointed ata spot on the floor that was completely even.
"You are going to sit there. In order to use Qi, you have to meditate every day and let it flow through you," Thalos instructed.
Amon sat on the floor and closed his eyes. Thalos explained that he would pour some of his Qi into Amon's body. After saying that, Thalos touched Amon's back with his open hand, and Amon felt a flow of energy entering his body.
"Try to control the energy and let it reach every single part of your body," Thalos advised.
Amon followed Thalos' guidance, allowing the energy to flow through his entire body. Starting from his head, he directed it to his neck, arms, chest, stomach, dick, legs, feet, and even his teeth. He repeated this process several times, doing it hundreds of times. Thalos was surprised that Amon was able to do it on his first attempt, but it didn't bother him. It actually made him excited.
...
Two months later...
After discovering Amon's potential and talents, Thalos put him through training that was tougher than traversing the seven layers of Hell. However, Amon didn't hate it. Yes, Thalos was severe and ruthless in his training, but he was fair. When Amon did something right, he was rewarded with delicious food and tasty drinks. Moreover, Thalos was teaching him things that were not useless or impossible for him to achieve. The goals Thalos set for Amon were challenging but not impossible.
Amon was currently sitting on the floor, meditating just as his master had instructed him. He had now developed the ability to gather Qi inside his body on his own, and he could even see it. The fact that he could see it had initially shocked Thalos. Thalos had expected that to happen after six months of training, but Amon managed to do it in just two weeks.
Amon mentally reviewed all the lessons his master had taught him during their training.
First, he remembered what his master had taught him about his body. The body of a magician and a Qi user were similar yet different. The major difference was that Amon had no "Mana Lake" or "Mana Core." For a magician to use magic, they had to let the mana stored in their mana lake, in its pure raw form, flow into the mana core. There, the raw mana would be converted into magic, and the magician could shape it or use its effects. Using a blessing followed a similar process.
On the other hand, a so-called 'Qibender' needed to follow a slightly different process to use a 'Skill'. First, they had to gather the Qi flowing in the air, similar to how a magician gathered mana into their body. However, here was the difference: if a Qibender wanted to use a fire skill, for example, they were only allowed to collect Qi particles in their body that carried the properties of fire. After that, they didn't need to transform it in a mana core; they simply shaped it by letting it flow through their 'Qi Points' and then used the skill.