Chapter 4: Trials of the Mountain
Rhaizen's breath hitched as he pushed his body to its limit. Days bled into weeks on the mountain, and his training had become a brutal cycle of exhaustion and recovery. He sought control over his red Qi, but it remained a volatile force, easily provoked and difficult to tame.
He slammed his fist into a tree, the bark splintering under the impact. A faint red aura flickered around his hand, but it vanished as quickly as it appeared.
"Damn it!" he muttered, pulling back his stinging hand. "Why can't I control this?"
As he caught his breath, Rhaizen noticed something peculiar. The forest around him was vibrant, almost unnaturally so. Flowers bloomed in defiance of the season, and trees towered with impossible vigor. Drawn by curiosity, he ventured deeper, a sense of unease prickling at the back of his neck.
"What's going on here?" he whispered to himself, his hand instinctively reaching for the broken sword tied to his back, even though it was useless.
The air grew warmer, and the ground pulsed with a faint energy. Rhaizen touched the earth, and a surge of power coursed through him, unlike anything he had felt before. It was raw, untamed, yet undeniably potent.
"This is… different," he murmured, his eyes widening. "This place is special."
Suddenly, a guttural roar shattered the silence. A massive Stoneback Boar, its hide thick with armored plates and glowing with earthen energy, burst from the undergrowth. Its tusks, as long as his arm, gleamed wickedly. This was no ordinary beast; it was a guardian, fiercely protective of its domain.
The Boar charged, the ground trembling beneath its weight. Rhaizen barely had time to react, diving out of the way as the beast crashed through the trees. He scrambled to his feet, fear surging through him, but he knew he couldn't run. He had stumbled upon something important, and he wouldn't back down without a fight.
"So, you're guarding this place, huh?" he said, trying to sound braver than he felt. "Well, I'm not going anywhere."
The Boar lowered its head and charged again. Rhaizen focused, trying to channel his Qi, but his emotions warred within him. Fear, adrenaline, and a desperate need to survive threatened to overwhelm him. He barely managed to dodge the first attack, the Boar's tusk grazing his arm, tearing his sleeve and drawing blood.
"Damn it!" he cursed, clutching his arm. "This is going to hurt."
The battle was brutal and one-sided. The Boar's armored hide deflected Rhaizen's blows, while its powerful tusks and earth magic kept him constantly on the defensive. He was thrown against trees, slammed into the ground, and battered by shockwaves of earthen energy. Each hit sent jolts of pain through his body, weakening him further.
"I can't… give up," he gasped, struggling to stand after another impact.
He tasted blood, his vision blurring. His Qi flickered erratically, sometimes amplifying his strength for a brief moment, but more often than not, leaving him vulnerable. The Boar seemed to sense his struggle, pressing its advantage relentlessly.
Just as Rhaizen felt his strength failing, he remembered his master's words: "Steel remembers... When you fight, let it remember your weakness." He knew how it felt like to be betrayed, weakness and despair. He focused on those emotions, allowing them to fuel his Qi.
"That's right… remember… the fire," he growled, his eyes blazing.
He didn't try to control it. He lets it flow. This is what he did and the color around him started changing to red to black.
With a surge of power, Rhaizen lunged forward, channeling his Qi into a desperate strike. He slammed his fist into the Boar's snout, aiming for a gap in its armor. The impact reverberated through his body, bone grinding against bone.
"Take this!" he roared, his fist connecting with a sickening thud.
The Boar staggered back, disoriented but far from defeated.
Rhaizen didn't stop. He attacked again and again, his strikes fueled by anger and desperation. Finally, with a last, desperate blow, he managed to shatter a section of the Boar's armor, exposing the flesh beneath.
"This is for my clan!" he screamed, his fist crashing into the exposed flesh.
The Boar roared in pain and rage. It unleashed a final burst of earthen energy, sending a shockwave that threw Rhaizen backwards. He crashed into a tree, his vision fading.
"No…" he whispered, his body numb. "Not… yet…"
As he lay there, struggling to breathe, the Boar loomed over him, ready to deliver the final blow. Rhaizen closed his eyes, accepting his fate.
But then, something unexpected happened. The Boar hesitated. It looked at Rhaizen, its eyes filled with a strange mix of anger and respect. Then, with a snort, it turned and lumbered away, disappearing into the forest.
Rhaizen lay there for a long time, too weak to move. He was battered, bruised, and bleeding, but he was alive. He had survived.
"I… I did it," he mumbled, his voice barely a whisper.
As the sun began to set, Rhaizen finally managed to crawl to his feet. He stumbled towards the area the Boar had been guarding. There, nestled in the earth, he found the source of the energy: a cluster of Qi-infused crystals, pulsing with raw power.
He reached out and touched one of the crystals. A wave of energy flowed through him, revitalizing his body and soothing his wounds. He realized that these crystals could be the key to controlling his Qi.
"These… these are incredible," he said, his eyes shining with wonder. "I can feel it… power."
Rhaizen spent the next few hours gathering the crystals, his movements slow and deliberate. He treated them with a reverence he hadn't shown anything since the burning of the Silent Veil. He placed them carefully near his camp, arranging them in a circle around the small clearing.
"This is… this is going to work," he muttered to himself. "I can feel it."
Exhaustion tugged at him, but he couldn't ignore the energy that pulsed from the minerals. He knew instinctively that this place could become his sanctuary, a place to learn control and heal his wounds - both physical and emotional.
Before he sat down, he took a moment to clean the dirt from his ripped shirt, and wring the blood out of the sleeves. "Waste nothing," he mumbled to himself, a habit instilled into him since he was a child.
He sat in the middle of the crystal circle, closing his eyes. He remembered the searing pain, the fear of death, and the strange mix of awe and terror when his Qi had flared a mix of both black and red. He focused on the feeling he experienced when he touched the crystals – a soothing warmth that calmed his rage and eased his aching body.
"Okay… focus," he whispered to himself. "Calm… power."
He took a deep breath, then tried to reach out with his own Qi, drawing in the energy from the crystals. It was a slow process, like trying to coax a flame to burn brighter. He pictured the red aura surrounding him and then imagined the crystals and their own earthy energy as a means to smooth his own out.
"Come on… work with me," he urged, sweat beading on his forehead.
As he drew in the energy, he felt it mixing with his own Qi, calming his anger and smoothing the rough edges of his power. For the first time in weeks, he felt something other than pain and the burning thirst for revenge. There was a flicker of hope, a spark of peace.
He sat through the night, feeling the energy flow around him, through him, and becoming a part of him. He couldn't completely quell the rage he felt, but the crystals helped him put it in a box, and close the lid. There would be time for that feeling later. Time for revenge.
"Not now… later," he mumbled, fighting to maintain control. "First… strength."
By the time dawn broke, Rhaizen was still sitting with his eyes closed, the circle of crystals glowing faintly in the morning light. There was a calm to his face that hadn't been there before. The coming days would be a trial, he knew, but for the first time since the burning of the Silent Veil, Rhaizen felt he wasn't just surviving. He was on the path to something more. Something powerful. He was still hurt but has the tools to get better, not only with his wounds, but also with his control.
As he opened his eyes, a small smile flickered across his lips. "Now," he whispered to himself. "Let's see what we can do."
As Rhaizen tried to draw more, he suddenly felt himself getting burned. What is this power he thought. He opened his eyes and he was shocked when he see what happening to him. It wasn't just the black/red Qi that flowing around him. His hands suddenly burst into a red flames.
"What... What's happening to me!?" he gasped, staring at his burning hands in disbelief. "Fire... I can feel the fire."