Chapter 22: Qi Blade
Qi Worlds Research Labs somewhere in China
The door slid open and Head Technician Shi entered the plush office of his director. There were many directors, but his direct report was Dr Buxiu who was in charge of character design and system mechanics.
"Shi, come in, come in. Good progress I see."
The technician bowed. "Yes sir. Several of our subjects have made progress."
The director clapped his hands happily. "Four new abilities, we're ahead of schedule almost ready for launch. The pod team really have their work cut out now. What about this new affinity though? What's wrong?"
"We cannot duplicate it sir. We're getting errors all over the place."
The director scowled. "That damn foreigner again. I'm glad we just gave him a model one body."
Shi raised an eyebrow. The model one was not formed properly but it had high-quality material. The director was correct in thinking it was initially inferior, but it had a higher potential. Subject eleven was making the most of his body including morphing it into a new race.
The director paced. "I'll talk to the other departments and determine when we can open up for the next tier of investors."
"Sir what about the military?"
The director laughed condescendingly. "They have their own Qi World. We just loan their subjects and share data."
Shi's eyes widened. "Oh."
"Your security level doesn't give you access to their data, but I'm seeing it. We're getting abilities from them too, they'll come through in the next update from the UI department."
"Is Researcher 01 with them?"
The director scowled. "No. No one knows where that bastard is. He even disengaged from his pod."
"What? That's impossible."
The director sneered. "Oh. We now know it's not impossible. That bastard did it." He sat behind his desk and began typing. "Get out. I have work to do."
.
Mother placed a pea-sized, shiny blue orb on my tongue, and I lapped it up like a good dog. She repeated the process for the guardians but gave much smaller portions to Sakaala and Ailen.
Ailen frowned at this and Mother's gaze made him buckle at the knees. "Balance young one. Take too much and nothing good will happen."
I slapped him on the back making him choke a little. Can you choke a little? "It's concentrated and it's making your tiny core grow."
Talila and the twins departed to set up the furthest outpost in the north, we'd join them later.
Gisael waited for me at the edge of the glade with a wooden sword in hand. It was made from the willow, like my spear.
I pointed to it. "I hope you appreciate that."
She bared her teeth in response. "We must train. No time for your humour."
"Ah," I said whirling my finger, "But we are more efficient when we're in good humour."
She shook her head and I brought my spear forward. "Engage," I said dramatically.
We sparred. Well she attacked and I defended. She was feisty and it turned me on, so I grappled her. She wriggled and I held her firmly. After I stole a kiss, I let her go.
She wiped it off and scowled at me and swung her sword in a long arc.
I caught it with my hand and said, "What're we trying to achieve here?"
She snarled. "I want qi-blade."
I pushed her blade away. "Then get your bow. I want to watch you shoot."
"That will not help. I must fight until it appears."
I laughed and circled her, then smacked her on the ass. "Go get it. I have an idea."
She peered at me for a moment before she left to retrieve her quiver and bow. When she returned, she stared at me with her exotic, alien eyes.
"Good. Now shoot and I'll watch."
She drew back and then released an arrow over my shoulder. I felt the wind as it passed my face. But what I was interested in was the qi.
"Again, but side on so I can see properly." I grabbed her shoulders and turned her.
As she drew the string back, I saw a tiny amount of qi gather between her fingers and when she released it, it clung to the fletching of the arrow, guiding, and powering its flight.
"Shoot that log. Wait until I'm ready."
Before the arrow pierced the log, I saw the qi move to the tip.
"Again," I said and studied her qi from her core.
Her quiver of twenty was empty and I'd seen enough.
"Okay," I said. She relaxed her bow and her eyes were focused on me. After her initial protest she was taking me very seriously.
"Your qi comes from here," I pointed to her abdomen. "It's a healthy sized core, as large as a hell hound."
Her mouth opened, but she was quiet and closed it again. "It travels along your pathways all the way to your fingers." I pointed to her right hand. "It gathers there as you draw and when you release the arrow it flies with it. It's a tiny amount, you're very efficient."
She nodded and her expression was serious.
"Now. When I use my spear its qi-strike, not qi-arrow. But really, they are just names. It's all the same stuff. At first qi gathered on my first and refused to go up the spear. I practised and practised – willing it to move. I made slow progress. But when we fought the troll, I had no choice. It had to work, or we'd lose, and I don't want to think what would've happened, if we lost."
I took the bow out of her hand and put her spatha sized sword in it. Then I brought her hand up.
"If you want to do qi-blade, it's the same as qi-arrow and what I do with my spear. You need the qi to leave your hand and go up the blade. Then it turns from a simple wooden weapon into a sharp beast of death."
She stared at me for a long time. "The same as arrow?"
I nodded.
She nodded and her expression was determined. "I will do this." She swung her blade a few times before turning back to me. A tiny amount of water glistened in her eyes. "Thank you."
I sat down. "It's easier for me if I just watch you anyway," I said with a chuckle.
She grinned at me and practised as I watched and critiqued. I watched for an hour and she made no progress. My mind wandered; she really did have spectacular buttocks. I sighed.
She stopped. "Hmm, sorry. I am not making progress."
"Nothing good comes easy." That was hell week in a nutshell. To qualify for special forces, you had to go through what was called hell week. And it weeded out the men from the boys. Those who were mentally strong from those that were just super fit.
She continued and I said, "Imagine the troll is here and if you don't do it, it will get to mother and the willow."
She gritted her teeth and snarled. Apparently, she was excellent at visualisation because I could feel her ferocity from my comfy seat on the grass. She began to curse with words I hadn't heard. I could tell they were curse words because she spat them with such ferocity.
And then, bang, I saw the spark. I cheered.
"What did you see?"
"It's working, but it's only the beginning. You need it to fly up the blade like a chainsaw." She gawked at me. "I mean like water running down a stick."
If I ever wondered who was a player and who was a native, all I had to do was ask them a trick question.
When she regressed, I said, "Oh that troll is gonna rip that willow from the ground."
It worked a treat; it wasn't long before the qi was licking the blade. I noticed her core was extremely low. It was like a ball that was mostly white instead of blue.
"Stop."
She halted, turned to face me, and sucked down deep breaths.
"You're almost empty."
She nodded. "You can see?"
I pushed myself up off the grass and approached her taking the blade from her hand. She placed her hand on my shoulder.
I ran my finger up the blade. "Your qi made it to here. You're halfway there. But you'll need to work on using less qi. You're like me. Wasteful."
She pulled me close with both hands and planted a passionate kiss on my lips. When she released me, she said, "I am grateful."
"Well if I knew payment was in kisses, we would've started your lessons earlier."
She pushed me playfully. "I will work hard and not be wasteful." Her gaze met mine and her eyes sparkled. "But I dreamed of this day for many years and I am full of joy."
She pulled me close again and whispered, "Will you be mine."
I shook my head and covered her ass with both my hands. "No, you'll be mine."
A small chirp left her mouth. It was the cutest giggle I ever heard. Almost bird like.
"We must be quick," she said.
I laughed and looked over my shoulder to ensure Mother wasn't watching. Hell, even if she was in the tree, she could probably sense everything.
I lifted her up, threw her over my shoulder and carried her into the forest. I found a small patch of comfy foliage and threw her down. She spread her legs and beckoned me. I needed no encouragement and slid down then up her.
I covered her mouth with mine, but she was so wet it wasn't necessary. As I slid inside her, her eyes widened, and I released her mouth so she could breath.
My dragon was angry, and she was so tight she could feel every rib along his body. With each slow thrust she moaned and when we quickened, she began to chirp as I rammed her.
Her hand rested on my shoulder and our eyes were locked. My dragon loved the magic between her legs. I was big and she was small. It was a match made in heaven.
The curve of her cute butt cheeks raised off the forest floor as she enjoyed each assault by the dragon. When the dragon was ready to breathe, I stopped deep inside her as it throbbed, and she squeezed it with her magic cave.
He throbbed and filled her with his breathe and I lay on top of her for a moment before we kissed.
When I pulled out, she did the darndest thing. She took him in her mouth and cleaned him with her tongue. He was tender and extremely sensitive after a release. Her soft tongue and lips sent me to heaven.
She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and smiled at me. "Time to scout."
"Uh. Okay."