Chapter 180 - Talk(2)

The king noticed the change in nicks expression when he saw those plants and knew he was right to bring him here. "i assume you are aware of what this unusual energy in the air is and by extension what those plants are as well correct?" he asked with a knowing smile. nick sighed knowing that he had made himself a little too obvious , but to be fair he couldn't be blamed for this as seeing even one mutant was difficult enough but seeing six all at once was enough to cause even the firmest of people to react much less nick who besides having a bit of a mean streak was fairly average mentally. "i am aware of what the energy is yes but as for those plants they could have taken any number of evolutionary routes so i am not entirely certain besides what they were before they became like this." nick answered honestly. the king was excited by the first part of nicks statement but confused by the second part. "evolutionary routes?" he asked confused. "well in order to clarify that bit you first need to understand what this energy is." nick said calmly.

The king motioned for nick to continue his attention fully held on nick. "well to start off with this energy in its base form is called qi and it can be found everywhere though in such small quantities that it is almost unnoticeable." nick didn't mention that this only applied to worlds like this one that were early in their development. "qi is unique in that it has the ability to strengthen all things some done actively such as with those plants and some passively like stone and metal. this process can have a multitude of different effects on the thing in question but as for humans it is slightly different due to our in born intelligence." nick explained calmly. the king was amazed at the information he was receiving as there was no record anywhere that held it and he would know since he had gone out of his way to search for it but had no such luck. "how is it different for humans ?" the king asked parched for knowledge. "unlike things without in born intelligence using qi to strengthen ourselves requires the use of a strict technique instead of us simply having to draw it in as is the case with animals and plants."

Hearing this the king was confused "what happens if humans try to strengthen themselves without a technique ?" he asked curious. nick grew serious "there are three main outcomes , the first is that you explode violently , the second is that you cripple your energy channels making it near impossible to use qi ever again and the third is that you are able to successfully strengthen yourself." nick said seriously. the king went pale " one in three can't be that bad right?" the king asked hopefully. nick shook his head "it not a one in three chance of success its an one in a thousand chance as such only those who don't know better or are truly desperate would attempt to do so." nick said seriously.