[The Heroic Queen congratulates you on what you have just received, but she also advises you not to be too proud because there are still many strong things out there]
"I know…" Ruminas replied.
[The Heroic Queen would like to talk about that kind of power you just obtained. For the convenience of communication, the Heroic Queen would like to connect with you directly.]
"Direct connection? Okay," Ruminas agreed immediately.
Immediately after that a beam of light appeared in front of her and covered everything. When she opened her eyes again, she found herself in a white space with nothing at all.
But then suddenly in front of her appeared a woman with magnificent armor and a long spear but she could not see that person's face.
"You are… the Brave Queen?" Ruminas asked softly.
The woman didn't reply, just nodded slightly, then she turned and left, signaling for Ruminas to follow before leaving.
The two moved at a slow pace, the person in front did not say anything, making Ruminas not dare to ask carelessly. After all, this person had great power and she was just a newcomer.
The scene then gradually changed, it was no longer pure white but a magnificent and vast palace appeared, it was even larger than the one she had seen before in the dungeon below.
Ruminas saw that there were still people working busily in the palace hall, they looked like normal people but they couldn't see her. When those people saw the Heroic Queen approaching, they immediately dropped their work and bowed their heads in salute, while she was just a ghost following behind.
"Is this where he lives…?" Ruminas wondered.
The two of them walked through the crowded and bustling hall to enter another room that was somewhat smaller but no less luxurious.
Ruminas looked around and secretly judged that this was the private room of the Heroic Queen. Everything looked quite normal, meeting the standards of a single person's bedroom.
In the middle of the room was a set of colorfully patterned tables and chairs. The Heroic Queen walked over and sat down, gesturing for Ruminas to sit as well.
Ruminas obediently sat down across from the Heroic Queen. The atmosphere was still quiet, but not exactly uncomfortable, more like a deliberate silence, as if the other party was observing her carefully.
Finally, the Heroic Queen spoke, her voice loud but authoritative.
"What do you think about your power?"
Ruminas was a little taken aback by the unexpected question. She thought for a moment and then replied, "It's powerful, but it's not perfect yet. I can only use it at its basic level and can't transform it yet."
The Heroic Queen nodded, seemingly satisfied with this answer.
"Good. Do you realize the true source of the power you just awakened?"
Ruminas frowned. In fact, she only knew that it suddenly arose during the fight with Answosa, but its true nature was still unclear.
"This power is called "Qi", it is the concept of freely manipulating the "qi" in the body, which is also life energy. Everyone has life energy in their body, but most of them do not know about it, causing it to be lost over time. However, once it is awakened, it can unleash one's special abilities."
"Usually, there are two ways to awaken the "qi", the first is to ask another person who has awakened the "qi" to transmit their qi into the person to clear the meridians. The second is to experience the feeling of life and death, the closer death gets, the more the body's potential will be revealed and the "qi" will appear"
"So… mine is the second method?"
The Heroic Queen nodded and then shook her head.
"Life and death here must be a long process, slowly leading to death so that the body has time to adapt and explode, but your deaths came too quickly and decisively, so it was impossible to awaken the "qi" immediately. Luckily, because you died too much, the power gradually accumulated and was released."
Ruminas was silent.
She herself did not want to die 99 times to awaken this power.
"So how am I doing now?" she asked.
"You awaken "qi" through death and also gradually master it through death, this is a good thing because such strong experiences will leave a deep impression on you but "qi" represents balance, there must be gentleness when there is force"
"So what should I do?"
"The most common way to practice "qi" is to meditate, feel the flow of life within yourself, grasp it, and apply it to basic tasks."
The Heroic Queen said and raised a finger, from her hand appeared a stream of air and used it to pick up the teacup, then she suddenly dropped it but the stream of air reacted lightning fast to catch it.
"First you have to regulate your qi, train it to be flexible and responsive. Then use it to do more things like defense or attack, "qi" can also replace other senses."
Ruminas nodded.
"This is not difficult"
"Once you have mastered it, you will be able to move on to the next stage, transforming the nature of your "qi". "Qi" is initially just like a blank sheet of paper, but you can transform it to create something special for yourself, but that is a story for later, for now, just focus on the matter at hand."
"I see, thank you for your guidance."
"Keep trying"
The Heroic Queen said and then the space started to change and the next second Ruminas found herself back in her own world.
"It's like a dream…"
Ruminas now knew how to train her power, so she would spend a little more time practicing with it before heading to the first gathering point.
"It's only been three months…" Ruminas said to himself.
[Reminder: It's been seven months since the end of the month]
"What?! How did it become seven months already?"
Ruminas clearly remembered that he had only been in the dungeon for a month, but how did it turn into four months?
[Explanation: When participating in events, you may enter a special space and the time inside may be different from the outside]
"Fuck…"
Ruminas thought she had only been fighting the king for a few days, but it turned out to be four months?
"It's getting late, we should hurry to the meeting point."
But, just as Ruminas decided, another message appeared.
[The Heroic Queen suggests that you focus on cultivating your 'qi' first, it's already late anyway so a little more time won't hurt. The important thing is that cultivating this kind of power can give you great strength]
"Oh, is that so…"
But Ruminas still felt quite worried.
"Never mind, if they say it's okay then it's okay. Let's practice!"
Ruminas followed the method that the Heroic Queen had said, meditated, and began to sit down.
She focused her mind inside her body, trying to feel the flow of 'qi' and it wasn't too difficult for Ruminas as she gradually started to feel it.
In her body, besides the blood circulating, Ruminas could also see a white stream of air flowing throughout her body, it created vitality for her body, acting as a link.
"The next step is to try to control it"
Ruminas recalled the feeling from the previous battle. She tried to control the flow of "qi" with her mind, focusing on her palm. At first, nothing happened. But as she adjusted her breathing more slowly, keeping her mind relaxed, a thin stream of energy began to converge at her fingertips.
"I did it…" Ruminas muttered.
But just a second later, the "air" stream suddenly dispersed, like a string that had just been broken.
"Hmm... harder than I thought"
Ruminas recalled the words of the Heroic Queen. "Energy is balance, there must be gentleness in order to be strong."
She tried again, this time not trying to force the "qi" but simply guiding it gently, like a wild animal trainer. And this time, it obeyed. A faint glow surrounded her palm, flickering like a small flame in the wind.
"Okay, now try to control it..."
Ruminas gently moved her hands, trying to change the shape of the "qi" flow. She realized that when she relaxed, the "qi" flowed easily, but if she strained too much, it would quickly disperse.
After a few tries, she was able to keep a steady flow of "air" in her hand for several minutes.
"Good progress"
She tried to do what the Heroic Queen did, using her "qi" to lift a small stone on the ground.
But instead of flying up smoothly, the stone just shook slightly and fell back down.
"Need more practice time"
In the following days, Ruminas did nothing but meditate and focus on controlling her 'chi'. She no longer tried to use it to control objects, but focused on maintaining it throughout her body.
Even though she had used it skillfully before when fighting, that was only in a 'violent' state, thanks to the tension that triggered the body's potential, now Ruminas had to get used to it in this 'gentle' state.
"This direction isn't dangerous, but it's really difficult because the body has almost no impact…" Ruminas sighed.
[The Heroic Queen reminds you: If you have to rely on external force to activate 'qi', it cannot be considered as mastering its use]
"I see, just kidding…" Ruminas smiled wryly and continued meditating.
Not sure how long this state will last but for now this is what she has to do until she succeeds.