Alex slowly placed two Qi pills in his mouth with his eyes closed. The pills immediately passing through his throat dissolved into particles filling him with intense energy.
Closing his eyes, he started to focus. He started by breathing in through his nose, the energy around him. Alex had become quite good at this since he would do this everytime before beginning practice.
As the energy started to accumulate in his body, he noticed when it entered his body, it went down past his belly button. The energy was starting to gather from deep within.
"Is it working? Will I be able to form my dantian?"
The energy started to grow through Alex's body, and a condensed ball of energy was forming in his stomach, but something strange started to happen.
The energy began moving wildly all over his body. He could feel it reacting with all of his muscles, cells, and organs.
"Sh*t!" He cursed out as he could feel himself losing out to the energy trying to destroy his insides.
Not giving up, he slowly began to control the energy channelling it below his stomach. He could feel the energy gathering and was beginning to form into a core. His body was soaked in sweat as he held onto the little balance keeping the process stable.
Suddenly, he felt a stabbing pain in his chest and couldn't help but cough out blood. "What's going on?" He thought, his mind going haywire.
Cough* Cough* Cough*
Blood continued to spill out from his continuous coughing with his nose starting to bleed.
"What the hell did I do wrong? Damn! Just have to bear the pain till the process is complete."
The energy was going rampant, it felt like he was being hit from the inside. It wasn't just his muscles that were taking a beating from this energy, but even his organs. It felt like they were being twisted and pulled inside him, and he was finding it hard to breathe.
Finally, a solid core had been formed as he collapsed on the ground weak from the process. His eyes began to close as he slowly lost consciousness.
"I did it! I... I formed my dantian!" That was his last thought as his eyes finally closed.
~~~~
The day began to brighten around the city with little drops of water gracing the land. A new day had begun with the city bustling once again.
Coming out from one of the buildings was a huge man dressed in a long dark trench coat with boots to go.
"Master Alfred! Mastet Alfred!"
Passing through the bustling streets he would casually wave back to the people calling out to him.
Walking for some minutes he appeared before the academy which was already filled with students that were heading to their classes for the day.
"Master Alfred!" The soldiers at the gate greeted with smiles. Nodding his head, he walks through the gates finding his way to his office.
Heading to his office he had heard people talking about the mages who were having a little show later in the day. "They are having a little tournament within themselves. I would need to take those guys there to watch and learn a thing or two."
Entering his office, he quickly rounded up the paperwork lying on his desk. With the shrill sound of a bell at the side of the wall , he stood up, keeping the papers aside.
"I guess it's time." He said after a long sigh before walking out of the room.
Walking through the long corridors he came out from an open space which was connected to the main academy used only by high officials. Arriving at the fourth fl00oor, he pushed open the door already crowded with students eager for the day lesson.
"Ughmm," clearing his throat, the noise had died down. Everyone! Form a line of three and follow after me. Without wasting time, they did as he said, following behind him.
Passing through the stairs, they headed up going to highest floor in the academy. Stopping before a very large double doors, Alfred walked forward, placing an emblem on the door. The door slowly opened revealing a mini city within.
It seemed they had entered another dimension divided into different sections.
"This place is so huge!" One said as they walked inside. The place was swirling with abundant energy which felt soothing to them.
Welcome to the Mage section of the academy, an old man walked forward, donning a long white robe with intricate designs.
"Follow me," he said walking further into the bustling place.
"How is it possible?" Zephyr asked looking around in amazement. They followed after walking into a large area filled with students within their age, heading to various sectors in the large room.
"It's space magic," the old man replied as he headed towards one of the sections.
"What's space magic?" Zephyr asked but got no reply.
There were ten seperate sectors with doorway painted in their own unique colour located far away from each other. At the center was the biggest of all, which was surprisingly empty.
"This is where the tournament is going to take place," the old man said.
"Here?" One of them couldn't help but ask looking around.
The man smiled slightly and then stretched forth is hand. A long wooden staff appeared on his hands and then tapping the ground lightly.
The earth shook went through changes, little platforms was formed along with seats for those who were to watch the show. Also a higher platform had been made in a circular form, walking to the center he tapped the ground once more forming a small hole.
He placed a glowing rocket the center which emitted a blinding glow that covered the entire ring.
"This would help in protecting the audience from stray attacks," the old man said within the ring throwing a pebble which bounced back.
Passing through the barrier, he directed them to seat as they waited for the tournament to begin.
"So your lesson for the today is watching how the mages fight." Alfred said settling down at the front seat.
"Mages? What does that mean?"
Sigh*
"Remember during the little assessment that took place while taking you guys in."
"The one where we got tested with a glowing ball?" Borin asked.
"Yeah, those that were able to make the ball glow, they were the ones trained to become mages. They make use of the energy called mana which is slightly different from the energy we cultivate."
"Here they come, just sit back and enjoy the show," he said leaning backwards.
Everyone became silent as they walked in, dressed in a long white robe just like the old man. They were quite high in number with some older figures walking beside them.
One thing they had noticed also was the design of their robes which was quite similar to theirs. Intricate linings of blue which indicate those from the outer zone while those of gold indicating the middle zone.
"Alright," clapping his hands lightly everyone settled down with the mages standing in a straight line. "Let the show begin!" The old man said calling out two of the mages into the ring.