The Sorceress: Blossoming Power

"Nianshi, put me on that stone bed." Xinyi said.

When she was on it, her essence slowly recovered. This was relieving. "No doubt, Ming's essence is the same." She smiled while smoothing the stone surface. The stone reflected the cascading colors technique in the first Sorceress' book, and it saved Ming.

They saw her smile and her skin got its pinkness back again, relieving them too. 

"What happened, Xinyi?" Tyriece asked again.

She happily complied and told them what happened. Lofey asked in between. Xinyi didn't spare a detail to clarify Lofey's confusions about the Chief Guardian, essences, Kore and more. It was a long explanation and satisfied Lofey and Tyriece. 

They were happy to learn these and also saw that she treated them as part of them. No longer as outsiders. Her silence before and from keeping her and her people's identity made them feel left out. Now, they feel they belonged.

Xinyi didn't mind the time spent explaining while the stone bed slowly replenished her lost essence. 

"I think the same thing happened to the Sacred River and the forest. They might have tried to get power from the Kore but lost their essence instead."

"So, the Kore absorbed their powers?" Lofey was like a child hungry for knowledge.

"No, the Kore is not capable of that, but it's the power chain. It automatically absorbs any power it made contact with in its depleting state." 

[Please read this story in /book/the-sorceress-blossoming-power_14314881306034205]

She shared to them where she went when they got separated and about what the late Sorceress told her. Telling them eased her mind from exposing Alva and the other two spirit guardians in her artifacts or when she disappeared to enter her domain. After they went through, Xinyi fully trusted them now.

The Godingans' amazement had no end to hear such places existed. Their explorations and wars brought them to unbelievable magical places like ancient tombs and the like, but what she revealed was a level higher.

"So, there is such a ritual to power-up the chain, but I think it's more than that. It might strengthen our powers too." Lofey added, thinking of his experience before where draining his power strengthened him.

"I agree. But we need to heal this river first. And honestly, I don't know how to do it. I need something to replenish my power while healing it."

"We can transfer our powers to you."

"But the river is too much for our powers. We will end up depleting all of your essence. I need something like this stone bed." She turned at the chameleon. "Is it possible to move this outside?"

"I'm not sure. This has been here even before I came." 

That revelation puzzled them on why it existed in such a place. But set the thought aside because they needed it now.

"I'll move it outside and we can stand on it."

"Hmm, I think so. Let me check Ming's essence first." As she thought, the stone replenished Ming's essence, but his condition didn't change. Then an idea came to mind.

"Wait, let me try it first." She climbed on the stone and tried to heal Ming while the stone strengthened her. To her disappointment, her essence only moved the poison down a half-foot long, but that was all. It wouldn't budge further.

She let go and sat back to replenish her own essence. "My healing essence is not enough."

"How about we support you, so we can check if we can do it to heal the river before moving this stone?"

Thinking along this line, all of them looked at the stone bed with uncertainty. The stone's surface was only three feet wide and six feet long while the tall Ming already occupied most of the space. There was only half a foot or less left at his sides to place their feet on. 

Lofey voiced out his apprehension first. "The bed is too small for all of us. I'm not even sure if my big feet will fit in." 

His foot was as it indicated, a foot, twelve inches. And if he sat on the side, that would mean only half of his bottom could sit. He scratched his nape, unsure if he would do as they planned or not.

Suddenly, Tyriece moved Ming's body with his head almost touching the top edge of the bed to give room for Lofey at Ming's feet.

"Well, I guess this will do. You stay at brother Ming's feet while the rest of us will be at his sides."

No one objected to the idea. Instead, they climbed on the stone bed and huddled their bodies around Ming while holding hands together. The last to hold Xinyi were Tyriece and Nianshi. They passed their essence to the person beside them until it reached Xinyi.

Xinyi sat near Ming's head and transmitted her healing essence to Ming's forehead while receiving from the others. 

A minute later, their face lit up to see the blackness on Ming's skin moved inch by inch down his belly and arms. Wishing to cleanse it once and for all, their faces and clothes were wet with perspiration as they concentrated all of their powers to Xinyi but that was it. 

They only cleared up to just above his elbows and knees. The blackness wouldn't budge more.

They fell on the ground, exhausted. Xinyi lay beside Ming to replenish her strength.

"It's still not enough. What more if we did it to the river? We might die." Tyriece said, feeling tired to the point of yawning.

Xinyi went back to her reading to find the solution to their problem.

Suddenly they heard a groan. They all looked up to the stone bed. It was Ming. Xinyi sat up. 

"Ming? Are you awake?" 

Ming groaned again, but slept again. They were anxious. They thought he had woken up but to their dismay their efforts weren't enough.

"Let's rest for a while and I'll move the stone bed outside." Tyriece declared, understanding that as the chameleon said, there was no other way than healing the river first.

Unknown to them, while Ming lay on that bed, Ming's soul went to a faraway land. One that would change his life forever.