Alchemist’s Apprentice

"Any preference for what sort of cultivation practice we do this evening?" Cathryn asked as the two of us started eating dinner.

I thought it over as I had a few bites of my seasoned pork, but neither option really called to me. After washing down my food with a gulp of cheap wine I shrugged, "Not really. It feels like I'm not making any progress either way, so it's getting kind of hard to act enthusiastic about it."

My tone of voice reflected the dejection in my words, and my sister frowned as she sipped her higher-quality wine. For the next few minutes the two of us ate in silence, as I tried to avoid thinking about cultivation and instead tried to focus on enjoying my meal. It was hard though, since I knew Cat wouldn't let me skip training any more than she'd let me give up completely.

Not that I was ready to quit, but after trying and failing for so long it was hard to believe I'd ever master either version of the second method.

We were both nearly finished eating by the time Cathryn finally spoke up again, "I know it's discouraging Val. I wish I could give you more than empty platitudes, because I know you'll get it. And I know you haven't forgotten the other stuff I've told you right? You're way ahead of the curve in terms of actually brewing potions, you're getting all kinds of hands-on experience. And honestly, you're not behind on cultivation either."

She sighed, "That's another thing, if you were in a class of twenty other first-year students you'd realize you're not lagging behind. If anything you're ahead of the curve cutie. I know it might not feel that way, when the only person you have to compare yourself to is me? But you know I was at the acadamy for nearly three years. That's a lot longer and a lot more experience than you've got, and it's really not a fair comparison."

"I know sis," I sighed. "And it's not about feeling like I'm behind? It's just night after night of failure. I know this stuff is hard and takes a lot of time and effort. I'm not saying I need to master the whole second method before I'll be satisfied? But I'd like to see something, some kind of small success in some aspect of it, so I know I'm not wasting my time."

Cat replied, "It'll come cutie. I know it'll come. I wish I could tell you when it'll happen. All I can say though is every day you practise means that success is one more day closer."

That almost made me smile, like she was just so positive and certain even though I had nothing to show for months of effort.

"Thanks Cat," I grimaced. "I don't suppose you'd tell me how you did, when you were learning this stuff?"

She hesitated, and her cheeks took on a pink colour. "I mastered the first method around the same time you did, in terms of how long it took. I mastered the second method right around the end of my first year, so you're still on track to match me. And I didn't master the third method till a month or two into my third year. Which means I went the whole second year without any progress at all in my cultivation. More than a year really, from the end of first year to part-way into my third year."

"Oh," I grimaced. "How'd you keep from getting discouraged? How'd you keep from losing hope?"

"I didn't," my sister replied with a shrug. "I got discouraged, I lost hope dozens of times. I kept practising though, because it was part of the curriculum. They didn't grade us for mastering the methods, they graded us for putting in the effort and doing our practise every day."

She added, "And even though cultivation was kicking my ass, I still had other successes and other progress to show for my efforts. Same as you cutie. Maybe it's harder for you to see because you're not writing exams or answering spot-tests every so often, but you're doing great. So please try and keep that in mind whenever you feel down on the cultivation stuff. Ok?"

"Ok sis," I said with a weak smile. "And thanks again. I really appreciate how much you're trying to help me."

"Any time Val," she replied. "And if there's anything else I can do, just ask ok? I'm here for you."

I smiled again, then got up and started cleaning up after dinner. When that was done I sat back down with my sister again, and the two of us enjoyed another drink together rather than rushing off to the bedroom to start the cultivation work.

Eventually she commented, "If you've no preference then I think we'll work on moving mana into your medians again. It's the more important of the two, and I'm pretty sure once you master that it'll make it easier for you to be able to visualize my core. I'm pretty sure everyone in my class mastered it in that order? Moving their mana first, then visualizing the partner's core second."

I just nodded quietly as I sipped my wine, but I still wasn't looking forward to it.

Cat drained the last of her wine then added, "Tonight we'll do a little mid-term test. The goal is to put the effort in. Do that and you'll score ten out of ten. Better still, you can be the teacher's pet again. For a full week this time too."

Despite my mood that put a smile on my face. I looked up at her and asked, "All week? And all I have to do is make an effort tonight?"

"That's what I said," my sister replied with a grin.

"Ok sis," I nodded. "Let's go get started."

We left our cups on the table and headed into the bedroom together. We each picked a bed, then stripped off our clothes and sat on the edge facing each other.

"You don't want to do this lying down?" Cat asked. "It's usually easier if you're able to lay back and focus fully on cultivation."

"You always do it sitting up," I replied. "And this is about putting in the effort, right? I'll try it like this."

My sister nodded, "Ok sis. In your own time."

I knew she cultivated sitting up because she was mostly watching me rather than focusing on her visualization and stuff, but I figured at this point it really didn't matter what position I was in. I still closed my eyes since I needed the focus, and being able to watch her cultivating would just distract me.

Getting started was fairly easy despite not being the least bit aroused or horny. The enhanced sensitivity was a bit of a shortcut in that regard. All I needed was to start gently touching and rubbing myself in the right spot and my body quickly started to respond. That in turn got me into the correct mindset too, and from there it was just a matter of meditation and focus and all that stuff.

Visualizing my core wasn't so hard anymore, but it still took a lot of effort to get the mana out of it and into my median. And now I had some hesitation to actually try pushing the mana out, since I knew the moment I did it I'd lose control again. The mana would flood my median, pour straight into my nipples and clit, and I'd explode.

That reluctance meant I ended up prolonging things more than usual. I was at the point where it only took me about fifteen minutes of focus before I could try moving the mana, but tonight I wasn't in a hurry to do that again.

Instead I found myself sort of analyzing the problem a little more. Or at least, I was trying to think it through as well as I could while at the same time edging myself, meditating, and keeping control over my breathing and muscles.

I tried to come up with an analogy for what was happening, some other way of looking at the problem that might lead me to find a solution. Or at least maybe it would help me understand what I was doing wrong. It wasn't that I couldn't get the mana into my median, that actually worked great. It was more like when the mana got there everything went a bit haywire.

One idea I'd already tried to work with was maybe I was pushing too much of it into the median and overflowing things, like trying to dump a whole bucket of water into a cup. Except I couldn't really control how much of the magical energy I pushed out of my core, and I hadn't been able to control how fast or slow it moved either.

So this time I sort of focused on the median itself, and I ended up imagining it like pouring a batch of potion into a cracked beaker. It didn't matter how fast or slow you poured the liquid in, if the beaker was cracked or broken the potion was going to drain out regardless.

Not that I thought my median was broken, but clearly it had 'openings', places where the magic could flow into or out of. That in turn made me think of a musical instrument like a flute, specifically the idea of a tube with holes along its length. Covering and uncovering holes controled the flow of air and consequently the sound you made.

With that idea in mind, it suddenly made sense that just pushing magic into the median without any control over where it flowed would have unwelcome results. I needed to have as much control on my median as I did my core. Maybe even more so, if I wanted to direct the magic in specific ways.

It felt like another level of difficulty but I tried to envision that secondary median line, running from my forehead down my front, between my boobs, and into my clit. I tried to picture it like a hollow tube with a number of holes in it at the various nodes. Then I tried to picture it with some of those holes pinched off or temporarily closed, especially the one that led to my clit since that's where I kept losing control.

I had no idea if it would work or not, but once I had those images fixed in my mind I finally started exerting pressure on my core, to push some mana out into the hopefully sealed-up median.

Cathryn remained silent through all this, I knew she was still sitting on the bed across from me and I was positive she was watching. She wouldn't have any idea what I was doing, or at least what I was attempting. And I couldn't really ask if I was on the right track, without breaking my concentration.

So I just kept at it, I maintained the focus as best I could while my fingers continued stroking and fingering my dripping wet pussy and rubbing circles around my throbbing clit.

After another couple minutes of slow but steady pressure I felt my core shift slightly and a surge of mana lit up my secondary median. And unlike the countless dozens of previous attempts, it didn't all blast straight into my clitoris. I didn't suddenly lose control and explode. On the other hand it didn't exactly feel great either, there was a pressure and a warmth that was almost but not quite burning, which I took to be the magical energy I'd trapped in my median.

My breathing started to get ragged and my fingers lost their rhythm, but I managed to hold on for a few more seconds. I tried to release the 'seals' I'd placed on my median, starting at the top. My plan was to slowly and carefully let the mana flow out of where it was trapped, but I had no idea how to do that. Really I was completely winging the whole thing, and my plan for a slow steady release worked about as well as tipping a bucket of water over into a shot-glass.

About the only thing I got right was the flood of mana went upwards instead of down. There was a surge of heat in my boobs as my nipples felt like they'd both been given a pinch, tug, and twist. It was an exquisite blend of pleasure and pain, and the shock of it knocked me completely over the edge. At that point I lost all semblance of control, and just like every previous attempt I exploded.

My hips bucked and my body twitched and convulsed as my eyes rolled back and I let out a loud cry of ecstasy. I came hard, squirting my juices all over and around my hands. It felt like it lasted a solid twenty or thirty seconds of nonstop orgasm before it finally ended and I slumped back to lay sprawled across my bed.

"What did you do differently?" Cathryn asked. "I know something new happened, I'd love to know what it was."

"Nnnggh," I moaned as I lay there staring at the ceiling.

My sister sighed impatiently, but she waited another minute or so before asking again. "That's enough wasting time Valeria, sit up straight and tell me what you did. I want to know what happened."

I sighed as I pulled myself upright, then grimaced at the mess I'd made. Not only were my hands and inner thighs soaked, but I'd managed to squirt halfway across the space between the two beds and there was a small puddle on the floor between my feet. I knew I'd be cleaning all that up tonight before bedtime.

Pushing those thoughts aside for the moment I took a deep breath then explained to Cat what I'd been thinking. I described my thought process, how I came up with the flute analogy and the idea of closing the various holes so I could control what the mana did after it was in my median. I also mentioned how there was that pressure and heat, and how when I did try and release it everything sort of happened at once which ended with me losing control yet again.

"So I don't know," I sighed as I shrugged my shoulders and grimaced. "I was just kind of making stuff up and winging it, but I still lost control and exploded just like every other attempt. The only difference was there was that tiny delay in between?"

When I looked up at my sister again I noticed she was grinning. Cat actually sounded proud as she stated, "That 'tiny delay' as you call it is a huge milestone Valeria. You said you wanted a small success, you've certainly done that. In fact you've sort of figured out the first steps of the third method all on your own? Being able to guide the mana in specific directions is something that took me like two years to figure out, so you're way ahead of me there."

"That's not to say you've mastered the second method," she added quickly. "But you've taken a big step forward tonight cutie. I'm proud of you."

It took a couple seconds for all that to sink in. I finally asked, "For real? You're not just saying that to make me feel better?"

"For real sis," she stated. Then with another grin she added, "That's not just ten out of ten, you get bonus marks too."

I smiled back at her, "Does that mean I'm the teacher's pet?"

My sister giggled, "It sure does, naughty girl."

I was still grinning as I moved around onto all fours in front of her on the bed, then looked back over my shoulder at her as I wiggled my behind.

"Very naughty indeed," Cat said as she stepped up behind me and put her hands on my hips. Then I felt the tip of her girlcock against my sopping wet pussy as she added, "All right pet, time for your treat."

I started to respond but the words came out as a happy moan when my sister thrust her big throbbing girlcock deep into my needy pussy. And that was about it for the rest of my evening. By the time Cat was done with me three or four orgasms later I'd collapsed on the bed in a happy blissful daze.

As I drifted off to sleep, it was honestly hard to say what I was more excited about. I finally had some progress after all this time. And I got to play 'teachers pet' with Cat for the next seven days.