Chapter 9: Next Steps

Once she has the strength to do so, Ki Jung sits up and begins to wipe herself off. She is covered in a mixture of dead cells, rancid smelling oils and blood. Without any shame, she slowly strips out of her soiled undergarments, takes them into her ring, and crawls to the shower. Sitting on the floor, Ki Jung takes a long hot shower where she washes her hair and body with care. Blood streams off of her and down the drain. She can feel some of the changes to her body. There is no doubt she has changed physically. Her breasts feel firmer but still, bounce naturally. Movements are more difficult because of the increased strength and speed of her muscles. By the end of the shower, Ki Jung makes a significant gain in gross motor control over her body. She still has a long way to go before her fine motor control returns.

Shutting off the water, she exits the shower and dries off. With great care, she makes her way to the full-length mirror where examines her body. She is trembling from a combination of the energies that are now suffusing her and the limited control she currently has over her body. She is a toddler learning to crawl while trying to run at this point.

Eventually, she makes her way to the bench and sits down. Pulling clean clothes from her ring, she carefully gets dressed. Thankfully everything still fits.

Dressed and having achieved a modicum of control over her newly empowered body, she returns to the room where her transformation took place. Master Tom has been hard at work cleaning it up. Where the mat had been, there is a small table sitting on the floor with a hot meal waiting for her. Everything can be eaten with fingers. A fork or other utensil would be a bad experience right now. She still needs to regain her fine motor skills before using utensils will be safe. That will take practice.

Upon finishing the meal, she lays down on her personal mat and sleeping bag, pulled from her ring, and covers herself with the blanket provided by Tom. Fatigue weighs her down, and soon, sleep claims her. Tom removes the tray and dirty dishes and heads to his office, where he makes himself comfortable on his cot where he dozes off, ever alert.

Though there is no notice, such as she receive in The Realm, Ki Jung has achieved Body like Copper and opened her second Qi-locks for all her Blessed Qi arts.