The two walked a bit more in silence; they were about halfway around the tree, or at least he believed so. It was a bit hard to tell, especially considering its size, and he had this feeling that something was off.
"So where are you at right now, and by that, I mean the stage and your progress?"
"I'm at stage one, close to second...or so I think I am?"
He was sure that he was close to the second stage, but there was a seed of doubt that maybe he was convincing himself he was.
"If I may, how long have you been at stage one? As for what I can tell by looking at you, you seem close. I would stop using the Chi of others and focus on using your own. At this point, it's holding you back."
Confused, He tilted his head, and she hit herself on the forehead.
"Right, I forgot about the whole situation with you. With clothes like those, you don't seem new to this. Your demeanor is also good, and you carry yourself well. If they taught you to be like this, you had some pretty good parents."
She looked at him up and down and once more patted his head.
"Too bad you're so short; if you were taller, I'm sure the girls around this school would treat you much more respect. Here is a quick explanation of why you should stop using the Chi of others. The Chi of other beings is similar to a disease; our body treats it like an enemy and tries to get rid of it. At first, it doesn't know how to get rid of it, so it's slow, and it's why we take advantage and use as much of Chi of other creatures as possible. Eventually, though, your body learns how to expel it, which slows down your progress, so using your own Chi to grow your storage is faster, even if you must be more careful."
He nodded along, and what she said made sense. The meat of the sound bear gave him a lot of progress, yet when he used that bunny from before, it felt like he barely made progress. However, if he did this, he would have to fight Fang without Chi. He would end up much more hurt, and he had already bragged about his durability.
"So... I got a strange question. What's the point of the beasts, other than most likely for training? They seem to lose importance after a while, right?"
"They become essential once you reach the final stages; just like how humans ascend, so can they. We cross paths at a certain stage, although you won't learn about that now."
She grinned, and the school was coming into view; they had nearly gone around the whole tree.
"One final thing before we go: I'd like to see how well you can control your Chi. Do you mind?"
He shrugged as he spread his Chi throughout his body, expecting to surprise her with how well he could control it. He hadn't been training himself so hard for him not to show promise. In a few seconds, his entire body was covered in Chi.
"Impressive; the only real thing I can complain about is your lack of balance."
"Balance? What do you mean?"
She points to both his hands, and he looks at them and squints, trying to see if they are somehow unbalanced.
"You can't tell, but the amount spread between both hands is unbalanced. I can tell you're left-hand dominant with the added amount of Chi. When you start working through the second stage, you will be able to see how unbalanced it is. For now, I would recommend you slow down. Also, don't think I didn't notice."
He recalled his Chi and looked at his hands; he couldn't see or feel it. But he had no other option but to trust her; he would work on that later. He looked up at her and seemed a bit lost.
"Notice what?"
"You haven't told me how long you've been at stage one."
He considered lying, but that didn't seem like a good idea. Would she believe he had only been doing this for about a month?
"About...a month."
She flinched and tilted her head as she leaned down to look him in the eye. It almost felt like she was staring into his soul, but that wasn't possible. She wasn't a sage, and one couldn't become one....at least that's what the sage back in his town said.
"I don't think you're lying...I have seen you fight, and it certainly looks like you don't have much experience. But your control, even if it's unbalanced, tells me otherwise, especially considering you are near the end. From what I have also seen, you don't have a small amount of Chi either; how did you do it?"
"It's mostly just luck...I encountered a bear at the second stage, and I managed to scavenge its meat, so I got quite a lot of progress."
She looked surprised before laughing and grinning as she patted his back.
"Don't downgrade your achievement; the amount of progress you have isn't just a matter of luck. It seems I got myself quite the blessed piece of garbage. With my help, I'll ensure you end up at the top."
He frowned and sighed. She seemed hesitant as she scratched the top of her head. She mutters something under her breath as she speaks with a gentler tone.
"Don't misunderstand; I honestly do believe you are pretty blessed, but you are also clearly hardworking. Your efforts are impressive, but don't let others try to diminish them."
He looked at her with surprise before poking her arm and flinching and stepping away.
"What did you do with my teacher, and why haven't you been around since the start."
She rolled her eyes and shook her head. Charlotte laughed as the two walked back into the school. The two walked into the now clean classroom; the two other students were covered in dust. They seemed to be meditating with their eyes closed; they didn't even acknowledge them as they sat down.
"Since I already conducted my lesson, you can work on your storage...I'll be here to make sure you're doing a good job."
She sat at the front of the class as she lay on the floor and reached into her robes to pull out a book. Charlotte sat at the corner of the class and closed his eyes; maybe being the teacher's favorite wasn't so bad.