A week had passed since we set out to explore for our vacation. The land was blanketed in a thick layer of pure white, the sound of crunching snow accompanying every step we took.
Footprints formed beneath our feet as the biting frost made us shiver like twigs in the wind. The clattering of our teeth was louder than the howling breeze.
Cid and I trudged through the harsh, unforgiving landscape, enduring the unfavorable conditions. We weren't wearing shirts, simply treading aimlessly through the snow. My eyes drifted down to my nose — it was starting to turn red. The same could be said for my partner-in-arms.
Grabbing the clothes draped over his shoulders, Cid began pulling them on. "I think this is enough for today."
I followed suit, slipping my shirt over my head. As I circulated Qi through my body, a familiar warmth surged, pushing away the cold.
"I second that. That's enough grinding." My skin began to regain its color — from pale to rosy within minutes.
I was once again in awe of Qi's resourcefulness. Pinching my skin, I noticed it was still a bit stiff. A tingling sensation followed the continued flow of energy.
"When it comes to stuff like this, you're a bona fide genius, my friend. We lasted three hours this time," Cid exclaimed with a smile.
"We'll last even longer the more we train. Care to enlighten me some more, dear brother?" I shifted my right leg back, placing my left side forward and lowering my guard. Keeping it up wouldn't let me charge, so I needed to ease into it.
"Not a problem at all. It's only right I teach you something in return," Cid replied casually, not bothering with a stance. He merely lowered his center of gravity before kicking off the ground.
I focused Qi into my rear leg and charged forward at a speed even elite athletes could only dream of. We closed the distance in seconds.
I threw the first punch, aiming straight for his face. Tilting his head slightly, he responded with a jab of his own. I parried, then targeted his exposed chest, but he sidestepped, twisting his body at a sharp angle. His clenched fist whipped toward my face—I dodged.
Our spar continued in that rhythm. I took a solid kick to the side, which I managed to block before countering with a barrage of punches aimed at his torso's vital points. He dodged some, redirected others. Then, his hand gripped my arm and pulled me into an uppercut.
With no other choice, I leaned back and jumped, aiming a kick toward his chin. He narrowly avoided it.
"Warm-up complete..." he muttered, sprinting toward me as I did the same.
I leapt, my leg stretched outward. "Dynamic Entry!" I shouted with gusto, just as Cid sidestepped.
Seizing the moment, I followed up with a series of well-timed attacks. As I dodged an incoming strike, I heard a faint shift in the wind. I pulled my fist back; so did he. Our fists collided with a thud, sending a numbing jolt through my arm.
For a moment, Cid's stoic expression cracked, just slightly. The force of our clash sent us sliding across the icy plain.
I crouched down, reinforcing my calves and forearms, then lunged forward. The ground cracked beneath the force. Our attacks clashed again. We used the recoil to backflip simultaneously. Cid landed a second earlier and lunged at me with a loaded punch. I evaded, but he followed with a devastating kick. I caught his leg and threw him down.
Spinning mid-air like an acrobat, he landed with grace. As my feet touched the ground, I vanished in a blur — still visible to the trained eye.
We clashed again, exchanging blow after blow. Spinning heel kicks connected as we twisted through the air. My body was overheating — I could no longer feel the snow.
I cartwheeled away, putting distance between us. My arms were numb, barely responsive. Then Cid suddenly sprinted in a random direction.
I gave chase, scooping up snow and infusing it with Qi. The snowballs I launched shot forward with terrifying speed. He dodged and fired back with a few of his own. We both slid to a halt, then focused everything into one final punch.
As we met again, I planted my left foot, the soft crunch of snow marking the moment. I shifted my weight and aimed for his face — Cid did the same.
"Take it!" we both shouted, our fists flying forward.
Snow turned red with every drop that followed. For a moment, we didn't move. My lips twitched into a sneer, and Cid let out a breathless chuckle.
We both collapsed onto our backs, laughter slipping out intermittently. The sky above was shrouded with clouds. I circulated Qi once more to push away the fatigue.
"That... was legendary. I've always wanted to fight like that," I murmured. I'd never learned martial arts before, and this was one of the few things I was truly attentive to.
"I'm still buzzing from it. Your fighting style's wild. You fight like a cornered animal with surgical precision," Cid evaluated, struggling to raise his arm. Still, he managed to clench his fist and offer it to me.
My eyes opened slightly. I reinforced my arm and slowly bumped my fist against his. We shared another hearty laugh.
As the adrenaline faded, I turned my head toward him. "We should temper our bones after we're done with our skin."
Cid's face froze, becoming unreadable. A bead of sweat slid down his cheek. "Can... anything in the human body be tempered with Qi?"
I pondered for a moment. "Technically... yeah."
"So I can temper my balls, right? What about my Excalibur?" he asked, a faint glint of curiosity in his eyes.
I blinked, caught off guard. A dry laugh escaped me. "Where do we even begin? That's one part I'm not sure of."
"Well, what if we walked around in the snow without pants on?"
I froze, utterly speechless. Somewhere deep in my subconscious, a voice whispered, 'Shin.exe has crashed.'
The well of energy in my chest burst. "Cid! You're a genius!"
"Sure," he replied with pride swelling in his chest. "But what are we gonna do about the size?"
I frowned. That... was a centrillion-dollar question. "Good point."
And so, we fell into a long, half-hour silence — both of us locked in deep, existential thought. The dilemma was... indeed troublesome.