Symbiote 0270: Going for the Source

The morning soon came along, and Alex still hadn't caught the dragon.

If this overgrown snake doesn't stop now … He thought to himself as the time for Xialing's energy infusion came along. Sadly, the dragon didn't seem even a little fazed when Xialing received her supposed Qi infusion. It didn't even stop for a moment it provided Xialing with the Qi.

Fuck it. He was done playing along after spending an entire day embroiled in a meaningless chase with the dragon.

Instantly, Alex consumed a huge amount of the biomass in his ‹Inventory› to increase the size of his body. However, instead of becoming a larger singular mass, he started spreading particles of himself through the lake. As his body swam through the water, he left a trail of himself that would soon cover the entire lake. His actions were quickly noticed by the dragon, who magically manipulated the water around itself to avoid contamination.

The dragon continued resisting for an entire hour as Alex kept spreading through the water like an unavoidable plague. Something to note was that Xialing still received her necessary Qi infusion every ten minutes like usual, and it didn't seem like an involuntary automated process either. The dragon was consciously and consistently infusing its Qi into Xialing and all of the residents of Ta Lo who were training despite the chase that it was embroiled in.

[Got you!] Alex transmitted his thoughts the moment he made contact with the dragon, establishing a rudimentary telepathic link.

[You cheated. You couldn't have caught me otherwise!] The majestic dragon's voice sounded suspiciously close to a young girl who barely seemed a little older than Xialing.

Alex was momentarily taken aback at the response, [I didn't cheat. I used my innate abilities. Just as you used your water manipulation to move through the water.]

The dragon transmitted a thoughtful hum, [You must be a being of the Klyntar race, no? With the abilities that you've shown.]

Alex was again a little surprised, [I am. You know of them?]

[I do. I have the legend of the Necrosword in my memories.]

[What do I refer to you as? Should I just call you Great Protector?]

[That is my name. The residents of the village must have told you of this, no?]

[I just wanted to confirm. It's a bit of a mouthful.]

[What's your name? I only know that you are the newcomer whom Nan doesn't trust very much.]

[I'm Apex. A pleasure to meet your acquaintance.] Alex materialized in front of the dragon. Or dragoness, as it seemed.

[From what I know of your race, you require a symbiotic host whom you are connected to. Am I correct in assuming that it's that woman who came with you?]

[That's correct. She's Natasha. One of my beloved women and hosts.]

[Hosts? As in plural? I was under the impression that the Klyntar are only able to bond with a singular being at a time.]

[They are. I am something of an oddball among them.]

[Then I request you not to attempt to form a symbiotic relationship with me. I will purge you from my system, including this wisp that you are using to communicate with me.]

While the transmitted thought was polite in tone, the dragon's demeanor was just as majestic and dangerous as one would expect. Even though he knew that she wouldn't be able to last long if he truly decided to kill her. He had no plans to kill such a valuable creature. Especially considering that she seemed to still be very young, going by the nature of her consciousness.

[You don't have to worry about that. My aim in forming a telepathic link with you is to understand Qi.]

[Hm? Why is that? Don't your people work with Bioenergy? It is a much superior form of life energy as compared to Qi. At least as far as I know. I've never actually dealt with Bioenergy.] Alex raised his brow at this new term that he had just heard.

[Let's just say I'm curious about the differences between both energies. Plus, Bioenergy isn't very well suited for combat. From what I've seen, Qi allows one to enhance themselves in combat. Bioenergy is more passive in the enhancements it provides.]

[That's true. How would you like to learn to harness Qi? The same way as the others, or should I directly infuse some Qi into you right now to allow you to understand its make and model?]

[I'm not very sure. Whenever I come into contact with Qi, it defaults to being converted to Bioenergy. Whether it is a Qi-based attack that I intercept or if it's the subtle trace of Qi that you provide Xialing. Whenever I try to manipulate it, the energy is directly absorbed into me in the form of Bioenergy.]

[As I said, Bioenergy is a much superior form of life energy. Your race's natural attunement toward it allows you to passively extract Bioenergy from Qi. I believe that the problem is that you are attempting to handle Qi directly. If your host is the one harnessing Qi, you should be able to analyze its structure and perhaps find out similarities between Bioenergy and Qi.]

Alex was a little confused by the readiness of the dragon to help him, but he chalked it up to it—her wanting something from him. Deciding to probe a little, he transmitted a risky thought.

[Exactly. If I can understand how Qi works, maybe we can work together to create a mixture of energy between Qi and Bioenergy that will possess the benefits of both energies.]

[Can you give me some Bioenergy? I wish to analyze it and attempt to manipulate it in the same way as you.]

Alex realized that the dragoness was after his EP, or Bioenergy as she called it. It — she most likely wished to find some way to be able to harness Bioenergy with his help.

It's good that she isn't as quirky as most dragons — just a little naive. Then again, it's very likely that she's the sheltered child equivalent of a dragon.

[Sure. You can infuse some Qi into my host, and I will give you some EP with the link that I have formed with you.]

[Don't attempt to deepen the link. I can sense your presence on me.] She warned, leaving Alex with a wry yet amused smile.

[I'll make sure of that.] He assured the dragon before sending a tenth of a point of EP toward it. Going by the quantities of Qi that the dragon was working with, he decided that a small quantity would be sufficient. At the same time as he did that, Natasha received the same Qi infusion as Xialing, just that it was a little more in quantity, presumably equivalent to the other adults.

Alex was already analyzing the effects that the infused Qi was having on Natasha's body while making sure that he didn't accidentally absorb all of it. It traveled across her body as she followed Ying Nan's Tai Chi movements, moving in a certain pattern through her entire body. As the set of movements was completed, the energy moved slightly below her navel before forming a faint pearl-like structure.

Fuck me! Is this going to turn into a martial cultivation arc? Now they're going to start talking about the Dantian and all that … Alex laughed inwardly at the view.

As Natasha started the next set of movements, the Qi pearl naturally grew fainter, some of it moving across her body as it was slowly absorbed into it. As he was analyzing what was happening to his host, the dragoness was excited to have received access to his EP.

[Yes! This is exactly what my memories told me about Bioenergy. It is the true lifeblood of all living forms. Not only is it more efficient at providing a comprehensive physical enhancement, but its effects even extend to the mind and soul. How miraculous …] She was doing the dragon equivalent of wagging her tail as she continued excitedly examining the energy that Alex gave her.

[I want to pet her head …] Alex transmitted the thought, disguising it as a mistaken thought transmission, he froze in place. The dragoness reacted as he expected it to, restoring her majestic presence as she looked at him menacingly.

[You may, at best, be allowed to clean my scales. While I magically keep myself pristine at all times, I will humor you by allowing you such courtesy.] The words made him feel that this dragoness was more like a cat than a snake, with a tsundere-esque outward prideful demeanor and an inward caring nature. After all, she had spent thousands of years guarding this village. The Great Protector reminded Alex of a fierce cat at the moment.

[How cute.] Alex laughed, approaching the dragoness as she kept her gaze locked on him. [How about you tell me how your Qi system works? These people in Ta Lo clearly don't have any idea about it, and even if they do, they won't tell me about it.]

[It's nothing special. The reason I give them my Qi is because it is very impossible to actively stimulate the body's Qi to work on its own. The martial arts movements definitely help, but without someone infusing Qi into you, it is impossible to awaken your own Qi.]

[So that means that you are merely stimulating the natural potential of the body. Once the person naturally awakens their Qi, your interference is not needed anymore?] Alex said with a hint of excitement. The situation with Qi seemed to be much more promising than he had initially imagined it to be.

[Yes. I believe that you should be able to sense the Qi that I infuse every ten minutes. I do it only for the people who haven't awakened their Qi, which is most of the people in this village. Only a select few have the aptitude to awaken it in their lifetimes. The Yang sisters are the outliers in that both of them showed remarkable aptitude in Qi.]

[I see … ] Alex was deep in thought as he decided to analyze how Qi worked with Natasha. If it worked in the way he imagined, this trip to Ta Lo would have been extremely successful, even if he didn't get to take away this dragoness and devour the Dweller-in-Darkness for his soul-sucking powers.

***

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