I was finally at a point in my training with my heat aura where I could summon it at will and maintain it for a prolonged period of time. Now the main and final obstacle was being able to maintain it while in combat. After all, if I couldn’t fight while maintaining it, then this whole technique was pretty much worthless.

Thus a fine Tuesday morning found me facing off against Summer. Rainbow and Twilight were on the sidelines, interested in the outcome of the match for different reasons. As a Kirin, Summer was capable of using magic, even if she rarely did so.

“Are you ready Ranma?” Summer asked as she took her usual stance.

“Ready as I’ll ever be,” I answered, falling into my own more relaxed stance. I called up the feelings of love I had for my girls. My aura ignited. I had learned how to control the temperature. Hot enough to block magic, not hot enough to singe the grass at my feet. It was another drain on my focus until I learned to do it subconsciously.

I felt a pressure at the edge of my aura as Summer’s horn glowed, signifying she was already trying to use magic on me. I focused on keeping my chi hot enough to block it when Summer dashed forward aggressively. I had to remember to maintain my chi barrier subconsciously!

I tried to fend off Summer’s attack. My defense was sloppy. I knew it was sloppy, but it was either a sloppy defense, getting hit a couple of times or getting thrown about like a ragdoll by Summer’s magic. I tried to stamp out the frustration as I took hits I hadn’t gotten tagged by since I first started training with Summer.

My movements started becoming sluggish, but not from any tiredness. My chi barrier was breaking down and Summer’s magic was slowing me. It wasn’t long after it completely failed and I was stuck in place.

“Well, it’s a proof of concept if nothing else,” Twilight said as Summer released me.

“Yeah, I just need to get out of my own head long enough to put it all on auto pilot,” I said, taking a deep breath to cleanse my frustration.

“Which has almost always been your problem,” My dear teacher chimed in.

“And so the more things change the more they stay the same,” I sighed.

“It’s still more than what you had a month ago,” Rainbow consoled me, clapping a hand on my back.

“That’s true,” I conceded as Twilight scribbled something down on a notepad.

“That this is possible at all could have massive implications on our understanding of how magic interacts with sapient life,” Twilight said.

“I always enjoy being part of the cutting edge of science,” Twilight must have caught my double meaning, if the flat look she gave me was any indication.

“You’re hysterical Ranma,” She said dryly and went back to scribbling notes, “Are you two going to continue today or..?”

“No, at this point sparring will do Ranma no good,” Summer intervened before I could answer myself, “His practice for now will be maintaining his hot chi while in his daily life until it becomes second nature to have it active.”

“Well, if sensei says so, then I’ve got no choice,” I shrugged.

“Daily life means now Ranma,” Summer barked and I scrambled to reignite my chi, “Good, remember to keep it up. I’ll be watching.”

With those ominous words, Summer walked off.

“Well, I’m still in the mood to do something, so I might as well jog around the lake. Wanna join me RD?” I ask.

“Sure, let’s go!” Rainbow said eagerly.

“I’ll be heading back to my castle. I have paperwork to do,” Twilight said with the kind of glee only she could produce in the face of such a prospect. She flew off, leaving me and Rainbow by ourselves to jog around the lake.

October is over and I feel the first vestiges of the winter blues knocking on my doorstep.

Preparations for the move are in full swing, although the target destination may change from Alabama to Idaho?! Despite how strange it seems, the original reason for moving to Alabama was for my Mom to be closer to her side of the family. However, recent events have caused those relationships to become...strained. So instead we might be moving to a place with snow (which Mom loves) and near the college my siblings attend.