32 Beautiful Qi Part 10

Lying there on the mossy grass, I breathed heavily as I tried to catch my breath and tears began flowing down my cheeks. This was the new world I had found myself in. For the first time in my life, I experienced the pain and the fear of the possibility of losing my friends and comrades to an enemy. Despite that I had only just met them, both Aria and Brenna were my friends and the soldiers my comrades.

I didn't know how long I stayed there in that fetal position, my mind numb and tears continuously flowing down my cheeks. When I finally gained my senses and looked up, the sky had a tinge of gray to it. Suddenly, I heard the cries of night creatures, not unlike the first night I had arrived here in this realm.

I wiped tears from my eyes and stood, scanning about my surroundings.

Is this night time? But it was still bright. Then I remembered that I had the military lenses on, which meant I could see in the dark as clearly as in daylight.

Somewhere in the distance, I heard a wolf howling, and I shivered in fright in response.

I had to get out of here, I thought. I had to get back to camp and get help. Aria and everyone else depended on me to contact Felix and his soldiers now.

Clutching Aria's magic bag to my chest, I hiked as I tried to find the path we took when we first came to the field. After about an hour, I had the sinking feeling that I was lost, and I started to panic.

I came to a stop and decided that I needed to think clearly. First thing to do if you're lost in the woods is to stay calm. Panic was your worst enemy in this case.

Hence, I took a few slow, deep breaths to calm myself down. Once I was more relaxed, I started using my gray cells.

It was night, so I needed a safe place to stay until morning came. I would also need to conserve my energy for tomorrow's hike back to camp, so it was best if I rested. Also, I decided that I'd try using the WIFI system to connect with the team since I knew that I had some qi in me after all. If I were to give it a go, I might be able to get through. Of course, Leona would be worried sick that none of us had returned by now. And what about Felix and Caleb? Would they be searching for us now?

I tramped for another fifteen minutes through some very thick bushes until I found a massive tree, similar to a redwood in America, that had a hollow trunk.

Relief swept through me because I knew I was now protected from the cold and wind, as well as other wild creatures that were roaming the woods in the night.

I hastily ventured inside the hollow trunk and found that it was quite spacious. I could very easily lie across it, with room to spare.

After I'd made myself comfortable sitting cross-legged, I settled Aria's magic bag on the ground and started taking things out. Of course, there were lots of herbs that we had gathered, and I put those to the side, piling them high against the wall of the tree trunk. Then I took out the leftover lunch and juice, the picnic blanket, the tablet, a compass, and lastly, a crystal ball. These were the items in Aria's magic bag. I stared long and hard at the crystal ball, wondering what Aria would need it for on a trip like this.

After I'd put the herbs back into the bag, I wrapped the picnic blanket around me for warmth and started trying to connect with the team back at camp. I thought the best way to do that was to meditate, and so I closed my eyes and calmed myself down, trying to relax. But of course, it was hard considering what I had just been through; the traumatizing event that had transpired only a couple of hours before. Obviously, I was still shaking from the shock of it all.

The sight of Aria, Brenna, Michael, Peter, Travis, and Allan being hunted down and captured by the enemy kept playing within my mind's eye, and I couldn't help but start panicking again, wondering what their fates were. Would the enemy kill them immediately? Would they be tortured?

I shook my head and told myself to stop thinking negative thoughts, to be stronger, and to keep my mind clear. After all, I had to contact Felix and Caleb as soon as possible so they could start a rescue mission.

This time, I was determined to clear my mind. Hence, I began to meditate. After counting down from sixty-four, a method Grandfather Kenjiro had taught me, I found myself finally able to relax, and my mind became clear. I was in that alpha state where my mind could now connect to the universe, as Grandfather Kenjiro usually said.

Back at home, whenever I did this—which was quite regularly—it had been nice and relaxing. Though, I must admit that I never felt like I connected with the universe as Grandfather implied. But here, suddenly, I felt different. Here, I felt this burst of energy all around me and flowing through me. Without even opening my eyes, I could sense dust particles in the air, all in different shades of the rainbow, floating and dancing and glittering.

I opened my eyes. Before me was the glowing of dust particles everywhere. The sight was breathtakingly beautiful.

I was awed.

Amongst the bursts of energy around me, I sensed some very powerful ones. If I could guess correctly, there were about eight or nine of them close by. Their colors were all different, and their strengths, though all strong, were not at the same levels. Some were obviously on higher tiers than others.

Was this the WIFI network that Aria and Brenna had told me about?

Pleased that I could tap into this realm's qi, I closed my eyes again and tried to search for one that was close and familiar. I guessed that as long as I could log into one, I could ask whoever was on the other side for help, kind of like cold-calling a random number.

I concentrated on picking the right qi. Suddenly, this one popped up as if it were also hunting for me. The magic around it felt familiar. It was as if I had a taste of this qi before. But how? When?

"Alfie!"

The deep, reverberating voice calling my name made me jolt in my spot. My heart skipped a beat as joy suddenly overwhelmed me. Tears started brewing in my eyes as I opened my mouth and asked, "Felix? Is that you?"

I heard a big sigh, as if in relief. Then came the voice again. "Yes, it's Felix. Where are you, Alfie? What happened?"