The climb had been long, but finally, Ramba and Chippo stepped onto the summit of Mount Pleasant.
The air shimmered faintly around them, thick with Qi so dense it felt almost alive.
Ramba looked around, hands on his hips. "So… what do we do now?"
Chippo didn't answer. She simply dropped to the ground, crossed her legs, closed her eyes, and let the Qi wash over her.
Ramba blinked. "Oh. So we're just… sitting down… on Pleasant," he muttered slowly, unsure if he was doing it right.
He sat in the same cross-legged position—then cracked one eye open.
Then both.
Then he stood up.
Then—
SHING!
He summoned his spirit sword and started swinging it in wide arcs.
The point of coming here was to train in a Qi-dense environment, right? he thought, slashing the air dramatically.
"Just you wait, curse… I'll slice you to bits!"
He inhaled deeply—
"HAAAAAAA!"
A heavy shadow loomed behind him.
FWAP!
Chippo's axe appeared and smacked him clean on the head.
Ramba stumbled forward. "Ow! What was that for?!"
"Keep it down, why don't you? I'm trying to cultivate," she snapped.
"Cultivate? What even is cultivating?" Ramba asked, rubbing the top of his head.
Chippo turned to him slowly, eyes wide, as if he had just asked the dumbest question in the universe.
"Don't look at me like that!" he said defensively. "I thought cultivating was just… training!"
"Biza…" she groaned, dragging her hand across her face.
Ramba's eye twitched. "Stop calling me that."
She sighed deeply. "Cultivation is when you control, absorb, and refine Qi energy to grow stronger.
Most of our Qi is stored in an area near the solar plexus called the Spirit Core.
It's the foundation of everything."
She pushed him lightly toward a clear spot. "Sit. Cross your legs. Close your eyes."
Ramba obeyed.
"Now, empty your mind. Become void. Try to sense the Qi around you. Control it with your will."
A silence fell over the peak.
Then—
"I can feel it…" Ramba whispered. "The Qi of the world… and yours too…
and even the Qi of a few people far away. It's like a rush—but calm at the same time."
Chippo's eyes snapped open. She looked at him, startled, but quickly tried to hide it.
"Good," she said softly. "Now absorb it. Guide it into your body and circulate it into your core."
The Qi around him stirred, then slowly drew inward, flowing into him like a gentle stream.
Ramba opened his eyes moments later, breathing out slowly.
"How do you feel?" Chippo asked.
He stood, stretching his arms. "It's like I can see the bridge between me and my next breakthrough.
I'm close. Twice as close as before. I think… I'm nearing Spirit Warrior Grade 2."
Chippo stood as well, brushing off her clothes. "Good. It's about time we leave this mountain."