"Call me Samuel the genius, call me broken Samuel, call me—oh wait, don't call me that; I don't want people thinking I have mental issues."
"You do have mental issues. How about I call you mental Samuel?"
"Don't go bad-mouthing me because of jealousy. If I'm crazy, then so are you."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever, just tell me already."
Samuel sat there in silence for some time, then finally said, "It's not as hard as you think. Your imagination is just weak."
"What do you mean my imagination? All I gotta do is push a ball of energy out, what does imagination have to do with anything?"
Samuel controlled one eye to look at Sam in the other eye, looking at him incredulously. Currently, he looked like a crossed-eyed child with disabilities.
"What, don't look at me like that, like I'm stupid or something."
"Then stop acting stupid, you dumbass. How is it that the first goal you set for yourself is being sabotaged by none other than you? If you want to have flexibility with ki, then you've gotta mix imagination with it. You can't just think of the form you want the ki to be, without imagining the shape also. As it stands, you're only doing one half of the steps. Here, take control and re-try again, but using your imagination."
Sam took control and tried again.
This time, instead of just trying to push a ball of ki out of his hand, he imagined the shape of a ball also.
The ki in his body reacted instantly, shifting and forming itself along with the way his mind molded the image.
Not even thirty seconds had passed and he had a ki blast in his palm.
He imagined the ball in his hand to shift and turn into a small blade, but it didn't even budge.
He threw the ball in frustration, blowing up a large rock. "Stupid ki control!!"
He sat back down and began thinking.
His ki reserves were small at the moment; it was best to think before recklessly exerting himself.
I can move the ki at will, and quite easily before pushing it out.
Maybe if I imagine the shape of the ki as I'm circulating it before pushing it out, it would work.
He decided to give it a try. Focusing intensely on his palm, he circulated his ki, as he imagined it transforming as a small ki blade on his hand.
The ki came out immediately, but instead of a blade, it simply coated his hand. He was about to be frustrated again, but upon closer inspection, he realized that the ki was trying to extend beyond his hand.
"Ah, I see."
"See what?"
"Our ki isn't potent or vast enough to perform that level of ki control. I probably need to have a power level of several hundreds, or even thousands, to pull off a ki blade."
"Hmm, I see."
Getting up with a satisfied stretch, Sam smiled.
He started doing some minor stretches, warming his body up for what was to come.
After a few minutes of stretching and jumping jacks, Sam took a boxing stance. Both arms up, before suddenly firing rapid punches in the air. He was shadow boxing, but way faster than any normal human could.
He decided to try and coat his hands in ki as he was still releasing punches.
The ki came decently easy, and the minute it was fully manifested on his hands, his punches became at least twice as fast.
He smiled satisfactorily as he kept firing punches in the air, creating very slight but perceptible air fluctuations. Thirty seconds more passed before he was totally gassed.
With hands on his knees while gasping for breath, he noted to himself, "I definitely gotta start physical training soon."
Wiping his sweat off his forehead, he took a ten-minute breather before deciding to go home.
Upon reaching the familiar tree house, he took his shoes off, and floated up and into the house.
"Goodnight, Lady Avena, and Briar and Iris I assume," Sam said as he encountered the trio around the table.
"Oh, hello Sam, good night to you too," replied Avena. Her kids, on the other hand, were too busy playing rock, paper, scissors, to acknowledge his presence.
He didn't mind. He walked to his room to go get some rest. Thirty seconds later, he walked right back out. "How do you guys shower?"
"Shower?" she asked quizzically.
"Uhm, bathe, you know, wash yourself?"
"We do not wash ourselves. The great Two Suns provide for all our needs." Sam looked at her dumbfoundedly.
"…"
"But if you want, you can use the stream nearby the village park. It's just south of the World Tree. You'll hear it the second you leave the tree's proximity."
"Uhm, thanks." Sam got out of the main room and exited the tree house. Gliding above the tree, he made his way towards the Grand Tree in the center of the world.
Reaching the enormous tree that reflects the light, he stopped abruptly in mid-air.
Focusing his ki internally, he willed a portion to his ear to enhance his hearing. Immediately, he started to hear everything.
From the conversation of the locals to the gentle breeze that caressed the leaves and grass. Strangely enough, he heard no insects, or any other life forms for that matter.
It's like this planet was strictly inhabited by the Verdalians, and by them only. He let all the noise flood his brain, before filtering out the locals completely.
Not long afterward, he heard the calling of a stream nearby. Quickly gathering ki below his feet, he pushed off the air itself and boosted off with great momentum.
Two minutes later, and he's in front of a large flowing river. Without even bothering to look around, he stripped naked and dived right in.
He used his hands to wash himself clean, then washed his clothes also.
Floating around leisurely, he stared at the dimly lit orange "night" sky.
By the Verdalians' standards, this is called night, but by his, it's just evening.
Can't blame them though; it literally doesn't get any darker than this.
Getting out of the river, he stood naked on the bank, letting himself air dry.
His clothes were going to take too long, so he went around stripping trees of vines and leaves.
Twenty minutes later, and he made himself a crude leaf skirt protecting his lower regions. Gathering his clothes, he headed back home.