White, pink, orange and other beautifully coloured petals drifted through the air in slow spirals carried by a wind that hadn’t existed a second ago. Pretty butterflies fluttered past, their wings catching the light of a vast, deep blue sky.

  It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that Eclipse hadn’t seen the sky this clear in his entire life.

  The scent felt fresh and floral that it made them feel peace.

  For a moment, neither Eclipse nor Chael spoke. They had only been here for a brief moment and yet the duo felt rejuvenated.

  Eclipse’s eyes narrowed slightly. His instincts knew that this wasn’t real - well of course it wasn’t - and yet his senses insisted otherwise. And the only reason he knew that this was real was because Celestia was demonstrating it right now. If he woke up to this scene, he’d genuinely think he had been taken elsewhere.

  Then just as suddenly, the scenery vanished.

  Chael staggered half a step and shook his head hard, blinking rapidly as if trying to force the image out of his mind. His heart was still pounding.

  “Was…” he swallowed, staring at the now-empty air, “…that heaven?”

  He let out a weak, breathless laugh and rubbed his temples.

  “Or have I just gone insane?”

  Eclipse sucked in a breath of cold air, then just as soon as the illusion faded, so did his surprise.

  “Kehehe.” Celestia giggled sheepishly at all the awe she caused in her students. “Isn’t your master just the coolest?”

  “Wow… so cool~” They said simultaneously. Chael's eyes sparkled with utmost praise, while Eclipse's eyes were half-lidded in sarcasm.

  “Kehehe~” Celestia closed her eyes and rubbed her upper lip with her index, clearly feeling all mushy because of the praise, “Of course, many types of Teneluxes exist - but none is as cool as your teacher’s Fabric of Lies. I can create any mirages or illusions on a whim, after all~”

  “Fabric of Lies?” Chael asked, his mesmerisation at an even higher level, “Did you give your Tenelux that name? ”

  “Mhmm.” Celestia grinned, “Its common practise among Phacers to name their Teneluxes. I mean, some people don’t really bother, but its nice to give it a cool name, wouldn’t you agree? After all, there’s just one of your Tenelux in the entire world.”

  Chael beamed, already coming up with a hundred names for his Tenelux despite not even having one yet.

  Eclipse, on the other hand, yawned, “Can you teach us now? I wanna do something like that too.”

  Chael grinned with determination and punched a palm with a fist, “Right!”

  “That’s the kind of motivation my students need,” Celestia returned their enthusiasm, “Alright make yourselves comfortable. I’ll now explain how to manipulate Qi.”

  Eclipse and Chael nodded then steadied their postures without complaining.

  “Now, Qi is unlocked through awareness and repetition,” Celestia said, folding her arms, “In the beginning, you will have to close your eyes to reduce external distractions and focus entirely on breathing and your internal sensation. Once you do, through controlled breathing, you learn to sense the Qi forming in your core and slowly guide it through the body.”

  Eclipse immediately went into a meditative state. Probably a little bit before Celestia had even finished her sentence.

  “Got you.” Chael nodded seriously, and also went into meditation.

  The duo both had their eyes closed and fell into a state of deep focus. The world quietened around them as they searched for the Qi within themselves for the first time in their lives.

  A minute passed.

  Sweat trickled down Eclipse's scrunched up face as if he was having an internal battle. He had already acknowledged the position of his Qi core. He felt a subtle energy from within, and he slowly began to guide it outward from that core.

  Another minute passed. Although he was now in a pool of his own sweat, his face didn’t seem as burdened as it had before. He had finally expanded the hue to a majority of his body - only his head and feet remained. Even though it wasn’t much, with how much he was struggling it was a huge accomplishment for him.

  Coupled with the strain, however, he felt incredible strength coursing through his body where the Qi passed through. When the Qi pathways that were supposed in his arms and legs had Qi be guided through them, they felt immensely stronger.

  Chael was slightly behind.

  A ripple of energy emanated from Eclipse's core, catching Celestia's attention. With a raised eyebrow, she observed as the glow intensified, shifting from colourless to a deep, dangerous, murky colour.

  Suddenly, an oppressive aura surged into the atmosphere and sent a chill down Celestia's spine. Her hand moved as swift as lightning and she instinctively tightened her grip on her sword, her heart skipping a beat.

  Just then, Eclipse's eyes snapped open and he panted heavily.

  "D-did I do well...?" he gasped before taking note of Celestia's alarmed expression and confusion flashed across his face. He then addressed her ghastly look, "Huh? Why do you suddenly look so ugly."

  Celestia looked stiff for a moment but then burst into sheepish laughter and scratched the back of her head. "Kahaha! Sorry, sorry. I didn't expect you to do it so quickly.”

  Meanwhile, Chael began to glow a very faint beige colour, and soon after, he broke his concentration with a triumphant grin.

  Indeed, once Qi can circulate continuously throughout the entire body without interruption, the body becomes saturated with energy. At this stage, Qi naturally begins to leak outward, manifesting as a visible aura.

  "Let’s go! Did you see that?" he exclaimed, turning to Eclipse. "I looked pretty badass, huh, Eclipse?"

  "Impressive I guess, but you were still slower than me."

  "Hah?! You what-" Chael started, but before he could finish, Celestia intervened with a chuckle.

  Stolen story; please report.

  "You both performed admirably! Well done.”

  "Right. Hehehe.”

  "What do we do now?" Eclipse turned to her.

  "Practise until you guys can casually summon your Qi without looking constipated and looking like you’re letting out the biggest shit of your life." Celestia explained. “Early attempts are naturally exhausting and inconsistent. You’ve already achieved your first circulation, so all what you have to do now is to rinse and repeat until you two can maintain full circulation for as long as you have enough Qi. Oh, it’ll take much more effort to manipulate and make effective use of it during battle. That’s the real training, but you brats are no where near that level.”

  The duo's lips twitched.

  "Alright~ Just finding that thing was a whole mission," Chael sigh. “Manipulating it casually will take us quite a while.”

  Celestia laughed, "Kahaha, stop crying! This isn’t any harder than most things you’ve done up until now.

  Chael sighed and got into posture once again. Eclipse followed after him and the duo simultaneously transitioned into a state of deep focus

  As the two fell silent, Celestia's cheerful expression faded into solemnity as she turned her attention to Eclipse and observed him deeply, shadows caused by the sunset masking her face. She quietly bowed down in front of him before grabbing his face with a palm.

  The hours passed by unnoticed as they practised relentlessly and they continued training until the blood moon had risen.

  Chael’s Qi was a faint golden beige, whereas Eclipse’s Qi was a faint violet. Both of their Qi manipulation was very weak and strained, but each repitition caused them to hold the circulation a second longer.

  Breaking their focus , they immediately got back into it while spurred on by each other's presence. With each repetition, their respective energy within their cores grew larger, even if by the smallest amount.

  It was dead into the night. Inside Celestia's house, specifically in the room where the duo slept, Chael's snores echoed as he hugged his pillow. Eclipse was unfazed by this and had his arms crossed behind his head in thought, looking up at the ceiling in contemplation whilst the moonlight basked him in its crimson grace.

  He slowly took his gaze outside before letting out a deep and nostalgic sigh.

  It was a night like this where he was digging a hole in the cliff with his bare hands to bury his old man. He wondered maybe if he arrived at the village a little while earlier then he could’ve completely changed his old man’s fate. But he was also a weak and powerless child back then.

  'Would things be different... if I could go back in time...?' He silently asked himself.

  After a long and hard period of thinking, he let out a sigh as the image of Dragos replayed in his mind. That man had been so powerful yet he wasn't even their leader.

  Eclipse narrowed his eyes before getting out of the mattress and standing upright with an unusual focus and determination in his eyes. If he needed to wipe the Dracoferus Tribe from existence and avenge his old man, he needed to make a hundred percent certainty of destroying them into a hundred and twenty percent, with absolutely no room for failure!

  Eclipse opened the window and silently hopped outside.

  Basking in the cold midnight breeze, Eclipse walked towards the giant tree in front of Celestia's abode and sat down. Just as he got into a lotus position to continue his Qi training, Celestia's voice called out to him. "Couldn't get any sleep?"

  Her figure fell next to him from somewhere inside the branches of the tree. Eclipse simply nodded at her question. Seeing his response, Celestia smiled and sat down next to him, "The sky is beautiful tonight, isn’t it?"

  Eclipse didn't give her a response and just looked the stars which were glittered on the violet black blanket above.

  "Do you like the night sky?" Celestia asked once again.

  Eclipse didn't reply immediately. After a long ten seconds, he finally opened his mouth. "The darkness…"

  Celestia raised an eyebrow at his peculiar response, "Huh?"

  "I like the darkness of the night... and the peace it brings with it."

  Celestia smiled gently, "Good response you brat."

  As they gazed up together, Chael groaned and stepped outside of the house. He asked with a yawn, "What're you guys doing without me?"

  “Kaha, seems like none of us really got much sleep tonight." Celestia chuckled, "Come and join us!"

  Without saying much, Chael walked up to the two and sat beside them. He looked unusually calm. “Eclipse, you came out to train didn’t you? I'll join in, I guess.”

  “You were snoring away.” Eclipse said with a deadpan expression.

  As the trio gazed up at the milky track on glitter up above, Celestia asked, "So, what’re the both of your obsessions with getting stronger?"

  "Revenge." The two said simultaneously.

  Celestia looked unsurprised, only her eyes slightly squinted, "Of course... seems like the three of us are cut out from the same cloth."

  "Really...? Who do you…" Chael began asking but his voice trailed off when he realised that might not be an appropriate question to ask right now.

  "I won’t stop you from exacting vengeance but don't become so enraged that you fall too deep into that cold darkness inside of you..." Celestia said, smiling.

  “Granny, why do you sound all-”

  When Eclipse took his gaze to her, his eyes grew wide. Chael had the same reaction. In that moment, she appeared vulnerable as a single tear clung to her eye. Her usually stern countenance, illuminated by the crimson moonlight and the sparkling of thousands of stars, was now one of haunting beauty. She was no longer their strict and formidable teacher but a sorrowful maiden, reminiscent of a tragic past.

  “That darkness... is not a good place for my precious students.” Despite her apparent vulnerability, Celestia continued speaking, unashamed to show her weakness to her students. "Everyone goes through suffering whether they’re weak or strong. Some face harder struggles and get through it fine whilst others face smaller struggles and go crazy not being able to deal with it. Everyone’s different in how and what they go through and whether they can handle it."

  Seeing his teacher like this for the very first time, something stirred up inside Chael. A feeling he had not felt in a long, long time. His eyes watered ever so slightly, but he quickly blinked and it vanished. He attempted to hide the dwelling emotions from within him with a small, fragile smile. Usually he would be the one to add something, but right now he had nothing to say.

  "Sigh..." Celestia sighed as a gust of cold breeze washed over them, sending her black hair scattering backwards, "My poor students, I can’t even imagine what you two have been through. If only your teacher had met the two of you sooner. If only your teacher had met you two sooner then maybe the two of you wouldn't have faced the darkness that's haunting you."

  Before long a teardrop, glistening like jewels under the starry sky, fell down her cheeks into the grass underneath her. She looked truly dreamy right now. They couldn't believe that their powerful master who made anything seem possible - who had been the strongest and most dependant person they've met, was shedding tears for nobodies like them.

  Completely overwhelmed with emotion, a droplet turned into two, and Chael started wiping his tears frantically while trying to maintain a laidback facade, "Ah… why am I… ahaha…"

  “Kahaha…" Celestia chuckled warmly before pulling Eclipse and Chael into her chest, "I'm so sorry, my precious students..."

  Chael's tears soaked Celestia's clothes, flowing like a burst dam, while Eclipse remained expressionless. He was unaccustomed to such situations and was unsure of how to respond. Though he didn’t show it, his mind churned with emotions.

  Eclipse wanted to say something, but the words got stuck in his throat and nothing came out. For the first time since his old man’s passing, his deathly cold eyes welled with tears and a single crystalline drop traced down his ashen cheeks.

  'There's no need to apologise, Master...' The same foreign warm whisper Eclipse hadn't felt in a very long time resounded at the back of his mind. He attempted to say, but in the end, it remained a thought.

  Their tears shimmered in the distant starlight.

  When Celestia opened her eyes once more, the night sky had given way to the soft glow of a new morning. Dawn light bathed her face which prompted her to shield her eyes with her hand. As her vision adjusted, she noticed Eclipse and Chael sleeping soundly in her embrace.

  A warm smile arced across her lips as she felt a surge of affection and tenderly, she reached out to pat their heads before rising to her feet, careful not to disturb their peaceful slumber.

  In the following months, time seemed to slip away like sand through unclenched fingers as Eclipse and Chael devoted themselves tirelessly to their training. Each day, they trained relentlessly with unwavering determination and fervour.

  Gradually, they mastered the control of their Qi within their core, and several weeks after that, they managed to maintain full circulation for as long as long as they ha enough Qi. But of course, they never neglected the physical aspects of their training which had a tremendous spike of improvement as their bodies were now equipped with Qi and Anima.

  If one looked over this mountain range from a bird’s eye view, they’d often see two swordsmen clash against one another. The larger, more destructive figure basking in potent golden beige Qi, and the smaller but definitely more deadly one coated in violet Qi.

  Before long, the ability to sustain their Qi release for extended periods with unprecedented focus. They had finally reached a point where they could harness their energy with precision and do it for as long as they desired.