After completing their first quest, Sowdiebop and Jake had to make their way home on foot. Given the little Kobolds injuries, Jake thought it only right to carry the talkative little creature back to town himself, the route they had taken to get to the heart of the swamp only slightly less dangerous from their earlier passage. Once the little Kobold was safely home, Jake remained for a drink of Sowdiebops much beloved invention, sowdie, and some polit econversation, before returning home to resume his training. Once he finally arrived, the journey fortunately less arduous than his earlier quest, he found the promised payment for his job sitting just inside of his home, the next manual in the set for training his martial arts. The next stage of training of the 'Iron Body Technique' involved forging ones body in extreme heat, tempering it to become similar to forged iron and becoming a living suit of armour, as well as granting a moderate increase to the practitioners physical strength. Setting up the appropriate training area for the technique was a time consuming task, requiring him to haul lumber to build a pyre and gather water enough to fill a massive cauldron. The training manual gave instruction that the heat should be gradually increased as the practitioner adapted, and gave a set of breathing exercises to do while the body was forged to properly complete the technique, though it would take him many months to hone it to perfection. Once he was ready, Jake climbed into the cauldron and set the pyre alight, having only added a small amount of wood so far, and waited for his body to be forged. But something odd happened, an energy buzzing just beneath his skin since the completion of his quest, one he had mistaken for an adrenaline high and disregarded, seemed to react to the process, cycling through his body in a pattern that the training manual had said would take months to achieve. Jake leapt from the cauldron, stacking more wood into the flames before leaping back in, having to repeat this process several times to keep pace with how rapidly his training progressed, and within a mere 3 days he emerged no longer a normal man, but a true martial artist, with a body like iron and Qi circulating within his veins.

When Jake was returned home, the next manual was waiting for him, a guide on the techniques of the Iron Breaking Fist, which would place his bare hands on equal standing with any blade. The technique would, of course, take months to train, but similarly to how his training in the Iron Body had been greatly accelerated, the Iron Breaking Fist came to him within a single week. Jake was fairly certain he was not so talented as to so vastly outstrip whoever the intended recipients of the technique were in their training, so there was only one conclusion to make. Something had happened to his body, something outside of hos control. The mages. This revelation was deeply distressing, requiring Jake to go into meditation to focus his mind, to stave off the possible horror the mages might twist him into if they altered him any further, and a sinking feeling told him that he was already too far gone to avoid whatever the mages had planned. He'd taken the books, used them, he had mastered the techniques within and now he would have to pay the price for his greed. Fine. Jakes focus increased as he fell deeper into meditation, letting the world roll by, if he could do nothing to the mages yet, then he would accept their power, perform their tasks. He simply needed to bide his time, hone his willpower, and find a way to best the mages before they could overcome him with their strange spellcraft. All good things come to those who wait.

Once Jake was returned home, the next manual was where the oil lamp once sat. Inside was detailed the most basic of the techniques for circulating Qi throughout his body that he would be learning, finally allowing him to understand the true nature of his transformation. The manual detailed the rhythm in which he would need to breathe in order for the circulation to be properly maintained, the focus necessary for it requiring Jake to meditate constantly to maintain it, but as he meditated, he could feel his Qi breath new life into his metallic body, revitalising minor bruising and sore muscles from his training routine as his metallic skin began to gleam, as if polished. He could practically feel the meditation technique synchronising with the earlier techniques, working together to amplify the effects of one another to new heights. As he practiced his meditation, he could already feel the nascent forms of further techniques beginning to gestate within him, the properly commanded Qi gathering and growing and flowing as he willed it to, making him feel stronger with every breath. It would take further manuals to properly apply this nascent power as true techniques, and even with the accelerated growth from these quests he undertook, it would take him years to understand and master the true depths of his techniques, the untapped potential only truly revealed as they acted in tandem, physique being augmented by training, which was supplemented by the regenerative and enhancing properties of Qi. All in due time.

The flames lapped at his core, scorching his insides with every breath. Ever since his return from the quest two months ago, his Qi had experienced a potent change, only growing stronger with each passing day, and he could hardly bear the relentless hunger of his internal fire, still lashed by the forge within him, but only contained, not controlled. The near limitless well of energy now seemed as much a curse as a blessing, his body no longer able to sink into the sweet release of sleep every night, his needs for food and water no longer potent enough to drive him past the pain, all he could do was try to focus, hone his concentration into a powerful blade and cut away any distractions. Finally, the new manual arrived, a technique for furthering the bodies refinement, to further forge the iron of his flesh into a perfect form. All it required... was exposure to strong, magical flames. Jake was struck with an epiphany as to why he struggled so with his Qi, he had unwittingly skipped a stage in his training, and was trying to use an advanced technique without proper guidance, but no longer would he have to suffer. The new manual contained instructions for the proper control of the fire-enhanced Qi, allowing him to direct it and even generate controlled ignitions within a short distance from his body, the flames rapidly growing, but nowhere near to the intensity of the ones which had first reforge him. As he looked upon his body, finally completing the next stage of its refinement, he seemed to notice, an slight increase in size, as well as a deepening of the hue of his skin.

After their encounter with the thief, Jake knew even the iron-hard defence granted to him by his refined body was not enough to hold up against all forms of weaponry, and he would need something stronger. Fortunately, once more a manual lay upon his bed, a book instructing in the creation of a protective layer of Qi over the skin of its user, allowing them to ward off all forms of damage, from blades to spears to blasts of magic. Once mastered even the strongest of foes would struggle to harm him. Jake once more sat in meditation, letting his Qi flow through him, guiding it through his pores to sit just above his skin, and allowing it to gather, and harden. The metallic nature that served as the primary attribute of his Qi solidified the barrier faster than expected, the inherent nature of his Qi combining with the enhanced aptitudes of an adventurer to allow him to settle his Qi into a strong, yet flexible shell that he could call upon at the slightest notice, the flow of Qi settling into a steady pattern that he could maintain for up to an hour. The only thing left was to test his honed might. Jake set out in the small hours of the morning, delving into the depths of the caverns of Corumare, until he chanced upon one of the mushroomfolk he encountered in an earlier quest. The small creature followed Jake on his journey, until they encountered a large, reptilian beast, with slathering fangs and wicked claws. Jake charged, his gauntleted hands capable of turning aside almost any blade, and the creature failed to land a single hit before its skull was shattered by Jakes fists, and the mushroomfolk rammed a dagger into its heart. After carrying the corpse back to his home and butchering it, two particularly large claws were claimed by the mushroom creature and Jake sold the rest.

Refinement. That was the core of his discipline, his martial arts, refinement. Jake meditated upon the nature of his techniques, the enhanced learning that came with his adventures beggining to ebb from his mind as he finished his studies of his newest technique. Until now, he had forged his body, becoming like Iron in both appearance and might, but now he moved on to his other aspects. With each breath, he felt his body shift, and these shifts caused vibrations in the earth beneath him. The vibrations spread out, travelling throughout his small hut before bouncing back to him, providing his mind with an image of everything inside his small home in the mountains as they were picked up by his metallic skin. A stranger in most towns he went to now, feared by the average villager, Jake was glad for the early warning his newly enhanced sense provided him, he would surely need it soon.

Following his latest adventure, Jake had delivered the monster eggs he had recovered to his friend Raz, though he had not heard from the wizard for some time now. Come to think of it, his kobold friend, Sowdie, had gone missing a short while ago too. A shudder ran through Jakes body, as he recalled the strange worlds his quests had whisked him to, and he silently hoped that his oldest friend among his fellow adventurers was alright. He would need to check in on his workshop soon, maybe he was wrapped up in a new concoction for his Sowdie's? Making a silent commitment, Jake returned to his meditations on his new art. Sowdie was a clever kobold, Jake would just need to have faith in him, he was sure.