A vast open plain covered in dry, golden grass. In the background, there is a range of snow-capped mountains bathed in soft, pinkish light—likely from the rising or setting sun. The sky above is calm, with streaks of pastel-coloured clouds in shades of pink, purple, and blue, adding to the tranquil and picturesque atmosphere. The overall scene conveys a peaceful, early-morning.
BAM!
Gil's fists hit the man's palms with such force that the echo could be heard throughout the entire plain.
"Try doing it again." The man was as excited as Gil breathed in still panting, sweat dripping down his cheeks. He gritted his teeth and clenched his fists, then tried producing his chi.
We all know that chi plus fragments produce fragment energy. "Back home the first thing we learn is chi control and how to produce it before mixing it with fragments that are naturally in the body. Because a stronger chi means a stronger body."
WHOOOSH!
The man could feel the air pressure Gil generated, he then proceeded to cover his eyes with fragment energy, "You can't see chi using this method, as it is not a physical thing. You can only feel its presence."
The man could still see a bit of fragment energy, although a lot less this time. "That's good, but we're still not there yet." He took the stance again.
"Come at me again, we won't rest until you get it right!"
"YESSIR!" Gil took his stance again, this time preparing to launch another fist.
"Cute!"
There were small creatures that borrowed inside holes that they made by digging. Catherine did not know what to call them, they were cute and that's all that mattered to her in her opinion anyway.
She tried catching one, but it quickly ran back into its little burrow. She wasn't planning on catching and eating it, but rather keeping it as a pet.
"I'll name you Gon, like Gil, so you two can be best friends." She then reached her hand into the hole, but it was somehow really narrow and her hand couldn't fit all the way inside. She pulled it out and took a peep into the hole.
"It's dark in there, aren't you scared?" She asked reaching in again, "If you come with me, I'll make sure you're never scared or in the dark by yourself."
But it would appear as though her please fell on deaf ears. The creature wouldn't come out. Even though she was trying to be as gentle as possible.
"Why won't you come out?" She asked again, "Is it because… you're scared of me?"
She asked, although it felt as though she was asking herself more than her asking the creature. She removed her hands for a moment. "You shouldn't be scared… of me. I won't hurt you, never again."
She sighed before realizing she was on her knees, "What am I even doing?" Her quirky smile returned, "You must think I'm weird for spouting all that nonsense."
She reached into her bag and pulled out an apple, "Here, thanks for listening."
She placed it near the hole before getting up and beginning her walk.
BOOM!
She froze stiff and slowly turned her neck. Her eyes then widened as she saw, standing proud in her traditional Maasai attire, the girl is adorned with intricate beadwork that speaks of her heritage and courage. Her garments are bold—stripes of red and blue fabric draped across her shoulders like the banner of a battle-hardened champion. Beads hang around her neck and forehead, clinking softly with every movement, echoing the rhythm of centuries of tradition.
Her eyes are steady, her stance unshaken. Though young, her expression carries the weight of wisdom and determination beyond her years. In her hand, she holds a spear with a glowing tip.
FWIP! FWIP!
Catherine got the feeling that she wasn't supposed to be there at that specific moment in time, and whoever that girl was it appeared as though she was up to something important. Her eyes danced around the girl, not seeing anything.
'Who is she?' Catherine wondered, 'But her clothes look super cute though.'
She took a second to look in her purse for an offering, "Maybe she's friendly."
SWOOSH!
In an instant Catherine felt something pocking the lower part of her neck. She reached her hand out, but it was quickly grabbed by the same girl who was just in front of her.
"Oh, how did you…" Before she could finish, the girl began twisting her arm, "Ouch! Ouch! Sorry!"
But the girl didn't seem to hear what Catherine said as she just kept going, but then suddenly stopped after sizing her up for a moment.
Catherine fell forward but managed to catch herself, she then swiftly turned back. "Hey what's your problem!?" She exclaimed at the girl who just kept looking at her.
"You can't just go around trying to beat people." Catherine explained, "Especially me, since I'm the leader."
"?"
"But I suppose…" Catherine crossed her arms together, she then stared at the girl from head to toe. Her skin was beautiful and dark just like Catherine's, her eyes were brown just like Catherine's. Her heart then leapt with such joy, that it was as though it would break out of her ribcage.
"Yay!" She shouted running towards the girl. "let's be friends!"
SLAP!
She received a slap that sent her flying sideways. "OUCH!!!"
"Why did you slap me?" She whined.
But the girl couldn't appear to careless, as she turned and began walking away slowly.
"Hey!" Catherine was a bit angry, yes, she was, "Get yer ass back here!"
But the girl showed no signs of stopping.
"Hey! I'm talking to you."
She got back up on her feet and made a run towards the girl with her fists curled.
The girl blocked it in an instant, then landed a punch to gut. Her spear floated beside the girl. She didn't touch it, apparently, she didn't need to to deal with the likes of Catherine.
Catherine gritted her teeth before raising her head and trying to knock the girl. But the girl grabbed her fist again this time squeezing them.
"AAAH!"
CRACK!
Her index and middle fingers snapped.
***
GRAAAAH!
"Incredible!"
In less than four tries, Gil had begun to separate his chi from fragments.
Does that sound like an easy task? It would be, if he hadn't just began naturally mixing the two. The reason why this task was hard in the first place is simply because he couldn't tell them apart.
"That's great." The man in white proclaimed.
"Yeah, but is there more I can do?" Gil asked, "If there is I won't be satisfied until I do it."
After understanding that he could feel the energy circulating his body, all he had to do was figure out which one was originally there and which one wasn't.
'This is crazy.' The man thought, 'At the rate at which he's growing, by the end of today I might not have anything new to teach him (His bag of abilities isn't that deep). Akame-San, this boy… he is a genius in all regards. Even without basic techniques, he can rival someone like me.'
"Now I just feel depressed." The man said.
"?"
"Never mind that." He said, "Its time we try something interesting. Have you ever heard of a flame test?"
"A flame test?"
"Yes." From his pocket he took out a lighter and lit it, "In alchemy flame tests are used to discover the positive ions in a chemical compound."
"?"
"There are a myriad of different ions both positive and negative depending. However, flame tests are only used to discover positive ions. But that's not important, what is important, however, is the change in color associated with different positive ions."
"Different colors… I think I see what you're getting at. The reason we were training in chi is…"
"Yeah, we can replicate the same with life energy, for whatever reason. Watch and see."
He lifted his finger and produced chi (It was invisible, unlike fragment energy which you can see.) But what you can see is the flame changing color. The once sooty yellow flame turned colorless.
"I can't see anything." Gil observed.
"Well obviously, we're outside in the sun. I tried using a luminous flame like that of a lighter that way you could see any observable color change."
Gil stared for a while, "So colorless means?"
"Oh, it means I'm a hunter… like I said before." He then held the lighter out for Gil, "So… wanna see what you are?"
TO BE CONTINUED!