The Dao of Magic

14 - Ecosystem

In order to properly explain my current predicament I'll have to talk about something I call energy ecosystems. Energy ecosystems describe everything about an entity that is not it's physical molecules. They contain all the mystical crap that comes with magic and qi.

When two cultivator fight, who wins depends on a lot of factors. Crudely described a duel goes like this:

Cultivator A thinks: 'My floating dragon thunderstrike is perfected by my ancestors for hundreds of thousands of years now. It is truly the best way to achieve my Dao. With this extremely rare shock iron sword I can bring all of its power to bear on my opponent!'

Cultivator B thinks: 'Even though my cloud piercing heaven technique is just a couple of tens of thousands years old I have better armour and weapons. Along with my secret thousand blossom storm techniques I'll be sure to win.'

The cultivator with a stronger belief in their own ecosystem usually wins. These single person ecosystems are supported by bigger systems. Everything that can be described as a 'thing' has its own ecosystem, for example rocks, a river, a cultivation manual, a house, a treasure, etcetera. A rocks ecosystems usually doesn't have much impact on the greater picture, but it is a part of a myriad of other energy ecosystems.

The two cultivators are supported by the ecosystems of their equipment, their immediate friends and families but also their clan, their country, their planet and their universe. You can see it like this: the physical form is like a planet, the energy is like the air and water around said planet. They both exist together, influence and affect each other but are completely discrete from each other. You will get mud and sand storms but these are just emulsions, not a true blending of materials. A planet can exist without air, oxygen and hydrogen molecules can float through space without a planet but combined they make a greater whole than the sum of its parts. Any part influences any other part, the only difference is the amount of influence.

So when I say that the energy ecosystem of the girl lying in front of me royally fucked, i hope you understand what that means. Her entire life she hasn't had qi in her system. This is like dumping a moon sized glob of water on a barren planet. It usually ends catastrophic without a professional's help, which in this case would be me. This is also why I worry about releasing qi into this planet's ecosystem. Without a proper manual to guide the energies qi poisoning is a lethal phenomenon.

Cursing at the dumb rabbit that caused all this I grab her by the neck. Glaring into her eyes she just swishes her ears around and twitches her nose. I keep repeating to myself that she is not a week old yet. She is acting suspiciously innocent though...

Dropping Lola to the ground I grab the girl and throw her over my shoulder. She is covered in loose fitting clothes so her lack of weight comes as a surprise. She must be malnourished with how thin she is.

Walking down the stairs I scan the bundle over my shoulders thoroughly. She doesn't have a shred of energy in body left, her superficial fat stores are non existent and her intramuscular fatty tissue is almost all gone. She must have exhausted herself over the course of an entire day to get in this bad a shape. As I shove some more qi in her I fix some of the worst issues I find. She has a lot of stab wounds in non-fatal areas that have barely closed. I don't want to know how she got this good at getting stabbed in places that allow her to survive.

I slide a small ball of qi through her body, trying to find the best place for her to form a core. Qi is lethal to people that don't know how to form a core, if I don't do this now she will die before the end of the week.

I first try her brain. The qi just sits there, not even moving when I release all control. She isn't a mental type I conclude with a bit of disappointment. Her heart starts beating erratically when the qi sphere touches its outer edges, so I slide it downwards to her stomach. Of course it settles in the most boring place possible. I mentally apologize to the girl for what is about to happen to her. I can postpone the true core formation for a few days, so I give the ball of qi a spin. A small rune in the form of a rounded arrow force the qi to keep moving, preventing it from forming an effective core. She shouldn't notice anything wrong with her body except for a slight improvement in her physique. By the time this effect fades I will be back anyway.