Blue Dragon

mock helicopter, strapped in,high above a big pool. Then they tip it upside down and drop it into the water. You have to release your own seatbelt and swim out after you’re submerged, still unsure about which way is up. Sounds terrifying.’
    ‘Imagine what it would be like if the seatbelt wouldn’t unfasten,’ John said, turning back to his book. ‘And the safety crew were hanging back, enjoying the sight of watching you drown, only rescuing you when it was obvious you were in serious trouble.’
    ‘No. They’re much too professional to do something like that.’
    ‘That’s where the money is. Some of the Celestials agree with you, that the crews are more professional than that. There’s also money on a Nitrox accident at very extreme depth.’
    ‘They have a book running on it?’
    ‘Since Leo arrived and it became obvious.’
    ‘That is so wrong.’
    He shrugged almost imperceptibly. ‘Most of my staff are Chinese, Emma.’
    ‘You don’t have money on it, do you?’
    ‘I’m running the book.’
    ‘Oh my God, you bastard !’ I hissed. ‘Does Leo know?’
    ‘Yep. He finds it highly amusing. I think he asked Gold to wipe the records in the States so that nobody will ever know.’
    ‘Good.’ I jumped up and went to talk to Simone and Michael at the back of the boat.
    I stood against the long wall of the training room back at the Peak, unsure. We hadn’t invited the Dragon along; we wanted to see what would happen first, just the two of us.
    ‘Let’s try it on a little one,’ John said. He reached into the jar. ‘Level five.’ He glanced up at me, eyessparkling. ‘It was a level three that nearly broke your nose that first time. Now you can handle a whole battalion of these with one hand.’
    He threw the demon under the mirrors, and it formed: a normal-looking Chinese female. He released it and it went for me.
    I generated black chi and threw it at the demon. The demon imploded completely, taking my chi with it—a visible suction into a shrinking black hole that quickly disappeared. The chi was gone.
    John didn’t move at all. Then he pulled another demon out of the jar. ‘Do that again.’
    He threw the demon onto the floor. It was a level ten, a small humanoid in True Form.
    ‘Can you lose that much chi without draining yourself?’ he said.
    ‘Yep,’ I said. ‘Not a problem at all. Let it go.’
    He released the demon, it went for me, and I threw black chi at it.
    It melted like a wax sculpture, losing its form slowly, the black stuff oozing into a puddle on the ground. The puddle moved towards me and I realised with a jolt of horror that the demon was still alive.
    ‘Black again,’ John said.
    I threw another bolt of black chi at it and it reformed and shook its head.
    ‘Again,’ John said. ‘Stop if you become too drained.’
    I threw black chi at the demon and it imploded, disappearing completely. But this time the chi returned to me.
    ‘This is ridiculous!’ I said. ‘It’s different every time.’
    ‘Fascinating,’ John said. ‘Want to try something bigger? How’s your energy level?’
    ‘Let’s try a level twenty,’ I said. ‘I’ll hit it with ordinary chi to top myself up if I’m too drained.’ I stopped dead as I understood. ‘If I can use both types ofchi alternately, I’ll never drain myself or explode from absorbing too much. If I balance it out correctly, I’ll be able to use energy for as long as I like.’
    ‘Precisely,’ John said, and reached into the jar. He pulled out a bead, threw it under the mirrors, and it formed. It was a small cockroach, about a third of a metre long.
    ‘Oh God, you hate me, Xuan Wu,’ I said, running my hands through my hair.
    ‘Let’s see what the black chi does to one of these,’ he said. He released the insect and it waved its feelers at me.
    ‘Don’t you dare turn,’ I said softly. ‘I hate you things.’
    It raced towards me and I hit it with a big ball of black chi. Nothing happened. Damn, now I had to take it out hand-to-hand; my weapon was too far away.
    ‘Shit!’ I shouted. ‘I don’t want bug goo all over my hands!’ I hit it with a huge ball of gold chi instead and it exploded into feathery streamers of black stuff. Some of it hit my pants, but not enough to worry me.
    ‘You okay?’ John said.
    ‘Fine. Let’s try that again. Another level twenty.’
    ‘Another bug?’
    ‘Yeah, I think so, then we’ll try a humanoid.’
    ‘Okay.’ John shuffled around inside the jar. ‘Here we