Experimenting with Qi

"What are you talking about? I'm not a wizard!"

"I saw it!" Anna insisted. "When you tried to heal my mom for the first time, and the machines went off like crazy. I saw your fingers emitting golden light. It was you who healed mom's lungs!"

Michael swallowed as he took a step back. Being a cultivator was his greatest secret. He trusted Anna, but he also couldn't completely trust anybody but himself. That way, nothing could be used against him, and he would have no weaknesses to exploit.

How many times did great heroes give up to save their family members or love interests? Evil never had high morals and loved taking weak bystanders hostage. Telling Anna the full truth meant he was creating a weakness for himself and putting her in danger.

And if her mind was read? There had to be telepaths or something similar. On the other hand, Michael's Mental Power was through the roof, and he couldn't blame anybody but himself if he failed to protect his secrets.

"I'm not a wizard," he began after some consideration, "I got my powers from the Chaos comet, same as you. It contained genetic materials. People are evolving."

"H-how do you know that?" the girl paled. There was a great difference between fantasy-like magical powers and unknown changes to her body.

Michael dragged her by the arm and they sat on the bed.

"I've had half a year to figure it out. Trust me on this, people are evolving. Those hallucinations you had? You've developed a new sense. Just like smell or touch, but for the energy inside you. Those were side effects."

Anna lifted her hands and stared at them. Her friend was right, the fullness she felt diminished every time she made a plant grow. She had about 70% left at the moment, enough to raise a few more.

"I know this because I also have a similar feeling." Michael wasn't lying. He might not have had a dantian, but he had experienced the emptiness resulting from glory points being drained.

"Is it dangerous? Am I going to get wounds like you did the day of the comet?"

"No. That was different. It won't happen to anyone else. You could say… it's why I had powers earlier than you." Again, not a lie. LZD1 was the reason Michael tried to jump for the second time and met Splendid Glory which made him a cultivator weeks before the comet.

"Well, what can I do? What can you do?" the frightened girl cheered up a bit.

"We'll have to figure out your abilities slowly," grinned Michael. "As for me…"

He closed his mouth, deep in thought. His initial story that he was simply strong wouldn't fly with Anna. She had seen him trying to heal her mother, so he had to come up with something else.

"I'm not a healer like you think. Instead, my body is stronger and more agile than others'. But I'm good at Tai Chi. Have you heard about internal energy?"

Anna nodded, listening intently.

"After I became stronger, I got to feel this energy better. I can even send it outside of my body. It is very mystical and can both hurt and heal. So, it's not actually my power, but my proficiency in martial arts."

The girl's face fell, "Does that mean you can't wake up my mom?"

"I can! Our powers are evolving! I'm sure I'll be able to help her in a few more months. Or maybe you could, too."

"Me?!" Anna jumped in surprise.

"We need to find out what else you are capable of! Is it just plants, or can you make anything grow? Do plants grow in size or in age? If we rely on fantasy literature and role-playing games, nature-based powers are often associated with healing, so maybe you can do that as well!"

Michael ran to the kitchen and came back with a knife. Ignoring Anna's plea not to do anything stupid, he made a small cut on the back of his hand. With a maxed out Pain Tolerance, the knife tickled.

"Be careful! What if I can't heal?" the girl panicked. Michael gave her a wounded look, as if asking why she thought so little of him.

"If you won't be able to, I'll do it myself."

Anna reached for his hand but hesitated. Even though they were friends, they never held hands or did anything romantic. She had already changed clothes behind his back that morning, so the feelings for the young man clouded her mind.

"Touch it, it'll be easier that way."

Anna took his hand in hers and touched the cut. He didn't hesitate to hurt himself for her, just like he stepped in when her stepfather insulted and threatened her. If only he liked her back…

"Anna?"

"Right!" the girl turned crimson and concentrated on the cut. She recalled the energy inside her body and pushed on it, directing it at the wound. She opened her eyes but was disappointed when the cut remained the same.

"I feel something," encouraged her Michael. He could see the green light working on the wound, rejuvenating dead cells and repairing the damaged ones.

"Ah, does it hurt?"

"No. I mean, I feel it closing up."

Before Anna's eyes, the cut disappeared slowly. Soon, a pink patch of skin was the only reminder that Michael tested her powers.

"I did it," she whispered. Then it hit her, superpowers were real!

Coldness was Anna's natural defense mechanism. When her stepfather hit her, when her mother fell into a coma, when Michael almost died – she always remained detached and aloof. It was the same this time. She had turned cold from shock, but now, looking in her best friend's eyes… no, the eyes of the boy she liked, a warm sensation spread through her body and melted the coldness.

"Thank you," she said, sobbing, "for being here for me."

"Sure. I'll be there when we heal your mom, too," he said and immediately regretted it. He meant it, of course, but he didn't want to toy with Anna's feelings. There was no need to string her along.

Anna threw herself at him and grasped his chest in a hug. Stunned, Michael clapped and rubbed her back a few times to calm her down.

"Sorry."

He wanted to say it was all right, but the moment was too emotional. Michael knew how she felt about him but couldn't return the feelings. She was 15, and he was 35, and it was wrong.

'Maybe when she is… Ah, I will be closer to 40 then.'

Michael's taste in women was that of an adult man, but it wrote checks his body couldn't cash. What woman would engage in a relationship with a young boy? Never mind, he would have to grow up first. As long as he put an effort into cultivation, he would live a long life, enough for a hundred trysts. The question was, did evolvers live longer too?

"Plants and healing," Anna broke Michael out of his funk.

"Yes. Maybe animals too?"

"What do you mean?"

"What if you can also make animals grow? Wait, we need to test you more. Try to make me grow."

"But what if you actually…"

"Don't worry, I'm very sensitive towards changes in my body. I'll stop you if something happens."

The girl's weak control over her power couldn't threaten him in any way.

Anna agreed after some persuading and sent more of her Qi through physical contact. This time, her energy scoured about for a minute aimlessly and then dispersed.

"No, it's only effective on plants. Maybe animals."

"From a biological standpoint, humans are animals, so it makes no sense that there would be a difference," Anna lectured.

"Then tell me, o great one, what is the connection between plants' accelerated growth and healing humans?" The girl prepared to list the similarities as he continued, "Don't try to analyze it like you would something normal. This is abnormal. We can't measure superpowers by the same yardstick as ordinary things. In fact, science ends where supernatural begins. This is our new reality."

"Mm. Now what?"

"I think we need to find an animal for you to try your power on."

"We have some harmless ones at school, but there's always supervision. I heard one boy tortured a bird, so the keeper doesn't allow people in willy-nilly."

"Not a problem. Let's go to a pet shop," Michael stood up.

"We aren't allowed to keep pets!"

"We don't have to buy it, just test your powers and leave. It's easier than looking for a stray dog."

Anna nodded, "Let me get dressed."

"Can I watch this time, or do I have to turn around?"

"You can go to your apartment and leave me alone!" she rolled her eyes and pushed the insufferable boy out the door. Now, to wear something nice. It didn't sound like a date, but she could turn it into one!

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