The courtyard felt quiet today. Surprisingly no sound of fist hitting leather, and that was because Jack wasn't training today. Yeah! Even Neyney the old lady was enjoying this quite session she only enjoyed when Jack was out from home. All just because he could train the whole day without break. Which was sometimes really annoying for the old lady.
'Hmm what changed today, it seems he is trying to get used to his new found strength. That's great meditation is the best way for him to heal his broken veins and arteries which was caused by the break through.' Neyney thought as she took a peek at the young lad with concern.
A week had already passed since Jack's fist tore through the training doll and his QI pool cracked open into something that finally felt like rank instead of just pain, and just in another week the kingdom's Academy of knights would send their recruiters to various villages and towns around the continent of Ireland to see who was ready to be called a Knight for real. Jack sat in the same corner of the ruined hall every evening now, because it was quiet and because no one watched him there, and because there was this energy inside of him that had settled under his skin and still didn't feel like his own.
Sitting down with his eyes closed and in full concentration, Jack eyelids twitched every now and then as if he was having trouble with his meditation.
'Huh, I don't get it. What I'm seeing right now and what mom told me doesn't align at all. For all I know mages possess mana cores and knight's also have their Qi pool.' Jack thought with concern.
Knights are like the opposite of mages in this world. They possess Qi pools which acts like a dantian and like a life force. This is where knights draw their power from. Skilled Knights have learned how to draw out the power of their Qi into certain parts of their bodies which improves their physical abilities to inhuman levels. For instance a second stage Knight can draw power from his Qi into his punches to make them more deadlier and stronger like a superhuman. The higher stage Knights have mastered the use of Qi to the degree where they are capable of drawing it into their weapons and making their strikes much stronger and sharper. This also makes it feel like they are using am extended part of their body through their weapons.
Mages on the other end have thier mana cores. This also in a way acts like the Qi pools of knights. They are also able to reach and control this energy once they break through to the first star mage. And there are ten stars in the ranks of mages. The higher your star gets the increase in your control over your mana. And in some cases it has been heard that some of the higher star mages with their insane control and experience over mana are capable of drawing the mana of living things like plants.
And in the history of Ireland it had never been heard of that a Knight or a mage possess a mana core and a Qi pools in the same body.
But here Jack was, reminiscing about how in the continent of Ireland was this possible.
After his break through Jack had been having sleepless nights not just because of exhaustion but he had been having difficulty in adapting to the new energy he could feel under his belly. And so here he was doing what he hated most about training, 'meditation.'
"I thought mom said no human should be capable of having a mana core and a Qi pool in the same body. So why am I seeing two different energy dantian."Jack mumbled to himself with a feeling of amazement and curiosity.
Inside Jack's daintan were two energy balls swarming with strong aura. One was a little bigger than the other. And the bigger one was what was known to be the Qi pool. This energy ball was beaming with a calm energy which made crackled every now and then with intense energy.
Then there was the smaller one which was also known to be the mana core for mages. But this one was the most fascinating, its energy was wild and shaked with such intensity that the ball of energy itself felt like it could consume anything in its way. It have out a dark purple energy which spread out and tries to reach the Qi pool beside it. Trying to devour it whole. The energy itself gave Jack a sinister feeling.
'Why does it look so destructive. It gives me the chill, well this is inside me now and I need to make it synchronise with my flow or else I will have a lot of trouble drawing from my Qi pool. So I guess I need to tap in deeper now.' Jack thought with a sigh.
With that worry in mind Jack pushed his consciousness further towards the spot of the dark mana core, just as his consciousness made contact the energy surrounding the ball calmed with no delay.
Meanwhile just as Jack made contact his consciousness was pulled into a different space all together.
Jack opened his eyes and he was in a different space all together. The space felt like it was infinite, it was dark everywhere and the wind was still. Jack looked around him several times as if trying to see if there was something around.
"Is this how mana cores works or what. This is the main reason why I hate meditation." Jack said out loud with a bit of annoyance on his face.
"Welcome MY LORD!" A voiced boomed from nowhere and Jack had to turn around so many times before locating the source of the voice. And what he saw left him star struck.
Standing to his left was a being who looked to be made of shadows. The only visible thing about him was his glowing eyes and his long sword by his side. This unknown entity stood with so much power coming from him. No he wasn't standing he was on one knee bowing to Jack as if he was his master.
"Huh, who are you?". Jack asked the first question every lost soul would have asked.
The entity rose and looked at Jack with its eyes glowing with intents and then it suddenly said. "My name is Gordlock your guardian and you are my master."