Chapter 2
Kai would slowly open his eyes to be greeted with a strange view the walls and ceiling paved by cut wood with a small brick fireplace in the corner. He slowly sits up rubbing his head as he can feel a migraine coming around. Kai slowly but surely gets out of the bed the only thing on his mind being
"where am I" he says turning around to find the woman from before speaking his thoughts out loud "that must be what you're thinking right now isn't it child." He looks up at her before noticing the nine tails swaying behind her causing him to stumble back in fear stuck in an unknown house with a person who might be seeking him harm soon.
He franticly looks around to find an exit as the woman suddenly brings him into a close hug "it's okay child I know you're scared but I promise as long as I'm here you will be protected"
A few hours pass allowing for Kai to sit at a table with a cup of tea to calm his body and mind. His mind drifting to the horrific events from a week ago tears forming in his eyes as he thinks about it seeing his father's death replay over and over in his head wiping the tears from his eyes as he looks up at the woman
"Wh-Who are you? What are you" Kai says as the woman chuckles at him "It's quite rude to ask what someone is" She says getting close and patting his head as comfort. "But I understand, my name is Visha and I am the lightning kitsune." Kai can only gasp in surprise remembering the stories his father told him about the nine ancient kitsune goddesses.
Legend told that in the time before the kingdoms formed and before civilization as we know it there lived nine kitsune sisters. Each one representing a form a magic, fire, water, earth, air, lightning, void, light, time and space. Each one a master of their element and combined their powers to turn a wasteland of a world in the prospering wildlife and land we see now.
"You're one of the kitsune goddesses!?" He says struggling to come to terms with the fact the legends are true. "Goddess? Is that what the races of Atriax believe us to be?" she asked in a confused tone "Yes! Our legends say that you and your sisters created our world from the wasteland it used to be." She gives nervous chuckle before speaking again
"I won't tell you everything but I will say that me and my sisters didn't make the world." She says before sitting down at the table with him "More importantly won't you tell me your name child?" He sits back down before shaking his head at the revelation "My name is Kai Sotaro... thank you for saving me Ms. Visha" She waves her hand smiling at him
"No need to thank me I couldn't just leave a child out to die now could I." As she says this his mind is flooded once more with the memory that his town is gone along with everyone there squeezing tightly on his cup as he looks down "I can tell you have been through some traumatic events so I'm happy to lend my house to you for as long as you wish to stay" These words cause Kai to tear up from a mixture of sadness and joy
"Thank you...Visha" "Your welcome Kai, now how about we have some lunch" she says as the both of them look at each other with pleasant smiles to signify a strong relationship has formed.
Two weeks have passed since their first talk and now Kai has decided it's time to ask a question that's been on his mind for a few days now walking out of the wood house he sees Visha sitting in a chair on the porch with her eyes closed resting in peace
"Hey Visha I got a question for you" She slowly opens her eyes "Yes Kai? What is your question" Kai takes a deep breath before speaking "Would you please teach me magic?" She gets up and stretches before turning to Kai "Are you sure? I won't be nice; it will be hard and you'll be brought to the brink of death if you choose to continue." Kai thinks for a moment thinking it over before nodding to her causing to Visha smile
"Good then tomorrow we'll start once I set up a plan for you" She says before sitting back down "If you don't mind me asking Kai what brought on this request for me to teach you?" Kai looks at her before sighing and answering
"I want to get stronger so I can kill the people who burned down my town and killed my father" as he speaks Visha can see his fists clenched tightly and shaking. She gets up and pulls him into another hug "Don't worry I'll help you, and with my help you'll be the strongest mage to walk the lands, just promise me that you won't cause harm to innocent people." She moves away to look at him waiting for his answer, "I promise you Visha, I won't cause harm to innocent people."
The next day Kai can be seen sitting on the ground with his legs crossed sitting in front of Visha who is explaining how he is going to train his mana "Now Kai, do you understand how mana works?" He nods and repeats what he was taught by his father "Mana flows through every living being and is connected to our life force, and if we lost all of our mana for too long, we'll die right?"
She nods at his explanation of mana before continuing "That's right, and the way you people seem to train it now is much safer but less efficient than what you are going to do" Kai looks confused at this "How am I going to train my mana then? I thought there was only one way." She takes a deep breath before speaking "They way you'll train is dangerous and potentially lethal but will yield much faster and higher results."
Kai nods at this and gives a determined look as she continues to explain "You'll focus your mana and gather all of it in your body before expelling it out, then you'll have a three second window to quickly absorb mana from the world and this will force your body to increase its pool of mana, if you simply try to generate it you won't get any results and will die." Kai looks stunned at her explanation understanding just how easily he could die from doing this.
He takes a deep breath and prepares himself "Okay I understand Visha...please wish me luck" Kai says before starting to gather his mana, his signature black aura appearing around his entire body "Good luck Kai" Visha says as she sits down in her chair watching him.
Not even a minute later Kai finishes gathering his body's mana pool taking another deep breath before expelling it all out of his body leaving him gasping in immense pain while feeling like he can't breathe, he remembers what he needs to do and quickly starts to try to absorb mana from the world. Visha simply watches on as he does seeing small orbs of mana flow towards him each one of a different color, green, brown, and even blue from the nearby lake.
All of the mana flows into Kai as he grits his teeth and from the pain of trying to desperately fill his body with mana, he starts to feel the pain flow away as the different sources of mana fill his body, more and more flowing into him as he can feel his pool of mana increasing quickly as it tries to absorb all it can. The mana from the world all mix and gather in his body causing his body's mana strength to increase as well.
He finally finishes absorbing the mana he can putting his hands on the ground and gasping for air feeling like he hasn't breathed in days he looks up to see Visha smiling at him filling him with joy before looking at the sky and noticing it's a little darker "It took you four hours to finish your training Kai but it's good that you completed it. I promise you it gets easier and often gets much faster as you continue to train with the technique, I'm proud of you Kai very few survive doing this but I know it's what you needed and wanted." He smiles at her happy at her praise.
"That's why I want you to do this at least twice a day now no exceptions, additionally I want you to do a program of exercises to make your body itself stronger." He nods as she walks over to him and picks him up before hugging him close "I told you I would make you the strongest mage to walk the lands and I intend to stick by that." He can only rest his head on her shoulder as he speaks "Thank you Visha! I promise I'll follow your training till one day I'm stronger than even you." They both chuckle at his promise as Visha's mind wanders with only one thought traveling around in her head "I can only hope so."