Chapter 113 - The Bird
Re'Kha shuddered in fear the more she thought about it. Her master was basically a being that was capable of pulling out mysterious results that have been unprecedented one after another like it was easy.
The first was the act of fusing two Pranic Hearts. She had inquired about it with Mu'Tua and learned that while the act was possible, it wasn't easy to perform. In such cases, the Pranic Hearts of the two individuals have to be carefully stitched and healed together.
Moreover, since part of it wasn't the owner's, it would cause a permanent resistance to the flow of Elemental Qi in their meridians. It would still function as a Pranic Heart, but their elemental affinity would experience a sharp reduction while even the pumping of the Elemental Qi in their meridians would become slow.
Because of this, the time they took to unleash a Pranic Art would be long. It would mean their strength as a Harmoniser would be reduced. Moreover, if the fused Pranic Heart was a significant portion, there was a chance the Harmoniser's Pranic Avatar would be lost forever.
Mu'Tua had told her about how most of the patients end up losing their Pranic Avatar, a Harmoniser's greatest ally.
But, it was because they had suffered a serious injury to their Pranic Heart in the first place did they undergo surgery. After all, a damaged Pranic Heart meant Elemental Qi wouldn't flow through their meridians.
So, not to mention summoning their Pranic Avatar, they wouldn't even be able to use a Pranic Art or activate their Elemental Qi perception, reducing them to a mortal. It was why they underwent the surgery. And, the source of the Pranic Heart was an elderly Harmoniser from their respective Clan.
At old age, being a Harmoniser wasn't of much use. And, losing their Pranic Heart wouldn't adversely affect them. So, they donated theirs to help their younger generation. Moreover, to prevent the Pranic Avatars from the respective Pranic Hearts clashing and killing each other, only the Pranic Hearts of Harmonisers from the same Clan were used.
As the Pranic Avatars were from the same species, there was a faint chance one of them might remain alive during the fusion process. Moreover, the fusion process was a long surgery that was performed by a team of doctors that worked in numerous sessions. It took anywhere from a couple of days to a month.
But in her case, her master did a swish action, and his Pranic Heart seeped into her and fused into her heart. It was a mystical feat. And, not only did he achieve a flawless fusion, he managed to imbue in her two extra elements, elements unbelonging to her race.
And, she had the option to transform into a Bisheen. Moreover, she now had two Pranic Avatars, an unprecedented existence. Just this alone showed the leaps and bounds of the mysterious abilities her master possessed. And, he did all this when he had a foot in his grave.
So, Re'Kha was unable to even fathom the true extent of her master's power when he was in his prime. And, his enemies were even more unfathomable, for they had reduced such an existence to the state she witnessed.
There was a formless pressure on her as Re'Kha thought about the enemies she had to face. If it was really the machinations of fate like her master had proclaimed, then she was bound to run into them sooner or later.
Moreover, the very first settlement she entered after leaving her master was related to their organisation. So, they were most probably a behemoth that she had no idea of. And, the fact that her master was preparing her step by step meant her enemies were just that overwhelming.
'I should start investigating about them. But the question is, how?' After a moment of thought, she decided on her objective, 'There are those from the settlement, and there are those that had let out the three Sha. I can start from them and move up from there. But, I have to be careful. If they had reduced master to that state, killing me would be simple.'
The bird chirped and flew towards her, moving to her back as it expanded in size. Its claws clamped on her hip as its wings flapped once. The size of its wings had surpassed half her height. And, based on what the Pranic Avatar thought, Re'Kha realised it could grow even bigger if its foundation was improved. It brimmed with Wood Qi.
Once the time was up, her Balou dissolved into specs of blue radiance and disappeared.
After a moment of thought, Re'Kha changed into the element of wind, noticing the bird on her back become lightweight all of a sudden. It didn't even seem like she was carrying anything on her back. The only thing she felt was the sense of touch by the bird's claws on her hips.
Re'Kha patted it using her hand, feeling that the bird now seemed a condensation of air. It still had a coherent form but seemed as if a gentle wind would blow it away and collapse its nature. Appearance-wise, it was the same. But, unless dust covered the air, its form would be invisible to the naked eye.
Finally, Re'Kha returned to her base form, feeling the bird become a being of water. Its body seemed like a sculpture of flowing water now as Re'Kha could feel the flow when she placed her hand on it.
Re'Kha willed it to fly as the bird left its hold on her and took off to the air, facing no difficulties in flying even though it was a mass of water now. Re'Kha noticed how it subtly altered the shape of its wings and body, now able to fly while in the form of water. Moreover, it shrunk in size to the same palm size as before.
Re'Kha switched to the wind element as she noticed the dextrous flying ability of the bird. Unlike the birds she had seen, the one before her was able to flap its wings and hover in a single place. Moreover, the sheer skill it displayed ensured its body didn't even budge an inch from its place. The only motion was the flapping of its wings.