"Fascinating!" Mused the old Master of Goods, while walking around Kilian with his arms folded behind his back, examining him from all sides and repeatedly blowing thick clouds of smoke into the boy's face, "Fascinating, you should be dead! Almost half of your channels are scarred or torn, and yet you can not only continue to cultivate, but part of the Qi even flows into your blood! Your body is really tough!”

  "But the speed of my training continues to decrease, the amount of energy I can channel through my channels has shrunk, and I'm always in pain while I train... So I'll probably become an old man before I'm even a high-level Qi-Gatherer!" Retorted the warrior, coughing through the thick smoke after every other word, dejectedly.

  “The physical body of a living being becomes purer and stronger as one reaches a higher level, but the Qi-paths are a bit more complex! They usually remain as they were at birth for their entire lives and can only be influenced by magical items of the highest level!" The old apeman explained to the boy, observing Kilian's reaction closely, "Such resources and the associated knowledge are unfortunately far beyond the capabilities of the Kong Clan or any other living faction native to Terrapin. The only place where you might be able to find a cure to fix your Qi-paths is the old library of the dragonlords! Your path is to find hope where no one can see it! Whether you die in many years as a simple Qi-Gatherer or pursue paths not even the leaders of the Inner Academy dare to dream of is entirely up to you! You have the potential for both!"

  Kilian stared silently into the wise eyes and thought about the words.

  "So it's up to me..." He finally muttered, clenching his fist shortly afterward, "I'll never give up! I'd rather die jumping off a cliff than live a life stuck to the ground!"

  Nodding in satisfaction, the Master of Goods continued, "In four weeks, the rift in the structure will be fully formed and the entrance to the ruins will open! Meanwhile, report to Irwin and Arto! They have work to do for you and will help you prepare. Also, speak to Cayden; he will tell you about his experiences within the ruins ten years ago and has prepared a little training session for you where you can try out your newly acquired powers. It's important that you accurately assess your strengths and weaknesses!"

  The next two weeks were spent alternating between blacksmithing and practicing calligraphy.

  Kilian's abilities developed at a rapid pace, thanks to his increased physical strength from the Qi pumping in his veins.

  His precision in handling the pen and his intelligence continued to increase day by day, but his level as a Qi-Gatherer remained nearly the same.

  Only gradually did he notice how his blood slowly filled with a little bit of Qi, making his body move more and more efficiently.

  So he began to concentrate even further on the Path of the Ape, directing Qi into his blood at any time of day, hoping that it would eventually overflow into his muscles.

  At the end of the second week, he stood before Professor Irwin in triple-folded armor and with a quadruple-folded staff made out of shadowsteel.

  The two feverishly considered which enchantments should be added to the new equipment, and after several hours of hard work, Kilian asked his teacher, "Who is the Master of Goods, really? He knows so much and can decide so many things, but he always says he's just an old man past his prime without a name or status."

  Slowly shaking his head, his master replied, "His secret has to do with the rules and laws of the clan. I can only advise you to trust him! When you are strong enough, you will learn more about him and perhaps even the ancient history of the Kong Clan."

  “He told me that there are ways to rebuild my Qi-paths…Can you tell me more about that?” The young Qi-Gatherer wanted to know after nodding in confirmation.

  “I once heard of an old legend, which was never proven with verifiable facts, but I will still tell you about it, as it embodies the goal of every master of calligraphy!” Professor Irwin began, sitting down carefully on a chair and speaking with a never-before-seen gleam in his eyes, “It is the high art of enchanting the body itself! The legend says that it should be possible, of course, only with extraordinarily rare materials, to implant a functioning network of Qi-paths into a body and thus train him to be a Qi-Master. Of course, this would be a pure waste of rare resources for us, but the powerful, long-lost ancient sects secured the talent of their offspring in this way. At least, so the legend says. Should you come into possession of such a document, or even learn how this technique works, you could shape your channels as you wish! Provided you have the necessary materials to make the ink and a powerful enough quill.”

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  “There are different kinds of strength of a quill?” The boy asked in confusion.

  “Yes!” Affirmed the old professor and continued to explain: “When you want to draw an extremely complex enchantment, you need some help to stabilize the massive energy hidden in it!”

  “Thank you for everything!” Said Kilian with a deep bow, “You not only give me valuable knowledge, but also show me a spark of hope for the future!”

  Satisfied with himself and with a gentle smile beneath his ever-changing beard, the old man finally replied, "Well, off you go to Cayden! You still have much to do."

  “Stand up!” Barked the club-wielding weapons master at the already blue, beaten boy lying on the ground, “Almost half a year! For almost half a year, you have let your staff collect dust! Now I have to beat months of training into you in one week, even though you said you wouldn't neglect the art of the staff!"

  Spitting some blood, Kilian pulled himself back up, clinging to his staff, and assumed the defensive position again.

  He parried several powerful blows, but the force of them numbed his already swollen fingers, and his weapon fell from his hand.

  Even before the staff hit the ground, the teachers club hit Kilian's right temple and sent him back to the ground with stars clouding his eyes.

  "Not that bad!" He heard Cayden's now somewhat calmer voice muffled. "But you have to develop your own style! The textbook techniques won't get you anywhere now. As soon as you can stand again, assume a starting position that feels most natural to you. Just feel your body and think about everything you have already learned. Mold it into your own style!”

  With his head still spinning, the young warrior had an almost ludicrous idea that he would never have implemented if he were in his right mind.

  From his small rusty ring emerged an old, broken tip of a quill, which he attached to his right index finger like an extension of his nail.

  Now he took out a small metal bottle, dipped the makeshift pen into a brownish, shimmering ink, and stood up.

  With the staff in his left hand and his right index finger extended, he took a stance and for the first time felt truly in harmony with his surroundings and his fighting pose.

  Every small movement of his body and every breath made him merge further with his environment.

  “Interesting…” Muttered his opponent, rushing at him again with his weapon raised.

  The boy dodged the first attack and parried the second with a flick of the one-handed wielded staff, while his right finger wrote a word in the Qi swirling around him.

  “Cymru!” He shouted, and a hard shield of earth grew out of the ground to block the weapons master’s next attack.

  The staff shifted from one hand to the other while Kilian danced around his distracted opponent and struck him with a powerful blow to the left shoulder.

  But instead of giving in, the mighty Qi-Master laughed loudly, made a gesture with his hand, and a wind blade destroyed Kilian's rocky defense.

  Moments later, the club hit him in the middle of his face, and he woke up a few minutes afterward with the taste of blood in his mouth and shattered teeth.

  "Well done!" Cayden, now sitting on the ground next to him, patted him on the shoulder, "You've found your own style... I've never heard of anyone who can use the Qi around them without a parchment for enchantments! Hahaha! You'll be able to surprise some of your opponents with this, and Irwin will be amazed! A brilliant idea! Now we just need to come up with a system for efficiently applying the ink to your quill during combat. Hahaha! Master Arto always has some creative ideas for things like this, so ask him for help!"

  In the completely sooty forge, Kilian sat with Master Arto in front of a long piece of leather and five small vessels made of shadow steel.

  "We'll build you a sash! Simple, but ingenious!" Grumbled the bearded dwarf, taking a deep sip from his flask, "We'll drill a small hole in the lower third of the container, which we'll then seal with an elastic lip made from tree resin. Inserting the tip of your quill creates a small opening, the ink is applied, and after removing it, everything automatically closes again. Ingenious! I'll order the resin immediately and forge a mold for curing the lip."

  Completely captivated by the new idea, the blacksmith began his work, ignoring his apprentice, who, with a gentle smile on his lips, grabbed a bucket to do some much-needed cleaning after a long time.

  “Thank you, Master!” Murmured the boy as he wiped the soot from an anvil, “You do so much for me, even though I hardly have time to help you these days.”

  Unseen, a small tear flew from the dwarf's eyes onto the glowing steel, hissed briefly, and a second later was embedded in the metal with a firm, skillful blow.

  A worker from the Outer Academy garden brought a thick mass, which Arto carefully poured into the prepared molds.

  Several hours later, after the resin had completely hardened, Kilian attached the elastic lips to the drilled ink vessels on a now spotlessly clean table.

  After completing his work, he began to oil and polish the metal.

  The piece of leather was cut and sewn into a sash that the young Qi-Gatherer could hang over his right shoulder.

  “Now comes the practical test!” Said the dwarf, filling the newly crafted vessels with water to test if they leaked, “Perfect! Not a single drop comes out. Try using them.”

  Kilian's extended fingernail slid through the elastic opening with a gentle push, and soon he felt a cold wetness on his finger.

  With a jerk, he removed the quill from the container and examined the now-wet tip.

  “A few drops go astray, but the system works!” He cheered contentedly, emptying the water and filling the metal bottles with different inks.

  About half an hour later, he stood in front of a small pile of wood with a leather strap over his elegant robe, moistened his finger with one of the five stored liquids, and wrote a word in the air.

  “Aed!” Kilian shouted enthusiastically, and a few moments later, a cozy campfire crackled in front of him.

  Master Arto patted the boy on the shoulder with satisfaction and grumbled, "It works! Now it's time for you to meet the other members of the expedition! The heart of the clan awaits your arrival!"