By circulating the Ki through the internal organs and the skin. And by circulating it throughout the entire body, inside and out, qigong is able to greatly strengthen the body. Thereby greatly increasing the strength of one’s muscles, and endurance against shock. And with the effects of the Ki instilled in the body, not even blade or arrow can penetrate it. Moreover, it does not require an incantation, so with enough practice, it’s faster than magic.
I heard that using qigong is exhausting, but since the body is strengthened by using it, it becomes easier to move, and it also becomes harder to become tired. When I used it, it felt like the stamina consumption just got cancelled off by the ease of movement qigong provides. But what’s more is that with enough mastery over qigong, the body will become less susceptible to disease and will heal faster, making qigong more convenient for fighters that prefer to get up close and personal than magic.
As for the cons, you could say that there’s a downside of having to go through harsh training for a long time before being able to use it… Putting it bluntly, if you can use qigong, then there’s no point in using strengthening magic. But in my case, I’m more interested in magic so I’ve been using it more, but… Well, whatever. There’s nothing wrong with being able to use both anyway. In any case I should get moving now.
I’ve been using the space magic ‘Warp’ to move in this trip, but I figured I should leave some magic power just in case, so I strengthened my body and started running. By allowing my magic power to recover as I run, I’m able to proceed at a pace that normal people can’t imitate.
I’ve also considered going slowly and hunting some magical beasts, but the magical beasts here are so weak I don’t’ even need to use my qigong and magic. This is something I’ve come to understand in these two of months of going back and forth my house to the store, going on my errands, and going as far as I can while doing so.
It does seem like a slightly stronger magical beast has been appearing near the Town of Renafu though, so if I go quickly, then I might get the chance to fight with it. It would be nice if I could get to it before it gets hunted by someone else.
Also, since I’m going anyway, I’ve been entrusted by the guild master of the merchant guild with a parcel for Pioro-san. I took it since I’m going to pay him a visit anyway, but I should still make sure I finish this job quickly. And so because of that, I decided to hurry to the Town of Renafu.
I proceeded quickly using my magic power and my stamina. As I left the forest, I crossed the meadows, and then I passed through the small towns. It has only started to get the dark by the time I reached the fourth town, but I guess I’ll stop here for the day…
I went off the road a bit, and used my ‘Dimension Home’. I opened the ‘Item Box’ inside and I took out a cup and various meals for travelling that I bought before leaving. There were all sort of delicious stuff back in my world, so I can’t help but wonder how the food here are…
First is a square-shaped, thin sheet that looks like a biscuit.
“… It’s crispy, but it’s mostly flour… not delicious.” [Ryouma]
I poured some water in my cup with water magic, and drank it. Next is this tawny, dice-shaped lump.
“Hmm… it’s hard… but I can still bite through it… Tastes like cracker. It’s probably this hard because it’s so thick.” [Ryouma]
Next is the jerky.
“Salty… yep, that’s pretty much it, salty. A little bite and salt erupts… There’s no umami either, just salt. Yeah, I should stop eating this now. It’s not good for the body.” [Ryouma]
Last is this green bread.
“This also seems to be hard… I can tell just by touching it.” [Ryouma]
After psyching myself, I took a chomp.
“Ouch!? It’s hard… what is this? It’s way too hard.” [Ryouma]
My teeth literally couldn’t bite it. Sigh… There’s no helping it, so I reinforced my jaw with qigong. I took another chomp, but this time I was able to bite it. “Hmm… this doesn’t seem to have a taste…” or so I thought as I munched, when…
“Ek… glurgh! This tastes horrible!!!” [Ryouma]
I disconcertedly drank water, but it wasn’t enough, so I poured another, and drank more.
“Ahhh… Alright, I’ve calmed down… but still, what the hell is this!!?” [Ryouma]
What was that? Grass? Medicinal plants? There were all sorts mixed together so I can’t tell, but… It blended with my saliva just as hard as I bit it! And some sort of grassy odor invaded me followed by the budding taste of something astringent, bitter, and harsh! It tastes horrible!! I’ll never buy these kind of travel foods out of curiosity again! Actually, I don’t care much about the other food, but I will absolutely, never, ever, buy that green thing again!!
After I carved that decision into my mind, I took a fruit out of my ‘Item Box’ to wash away the taste, and sunk my teeth into it.
After supper ended, I entered the ‘Dimension Home’ and went to sleep. Normally, it’d be necessary to pay attention to one’s surrounding when going out, but with the ‘Dimension Home’ that’s not the case. Really, what a convenient spell.