"Master." A tap came to Hong Zhao's face, yet he tried to brush it off. "Master." the tap continued, once, twice.
"Ow! What the hell?!" Hong Zhao sprang up and held his cheek where he had felt something scratch him. He looked accusingly towards Shadow who was examining his protruded claw.
"What?" the half-panther said blankly who put his claw away. "You were not waking up, and I'm done." he stood straight and began to walk towards the entrance to the cavern.
"Would it have killed you to just let me sleep?" Hong Zhao complained as he caressed the cheek that was scratched. He still had sleep in his eyes as he got up to follow Shadow. He couldn't tell how long they had been in the cavern since his companion had started cultivating.
Hong Zhao only passed the time by cultivating using Qi Stones and Qi Grasping Pills, eating rations he had prepared during his training, working out and sleeping. He had cultivated a period of thirty times since Shadow had began. "You're lucky I wanted to leave this accursed cavern anyway." His deadpan gaze hit Shadow.
"Yes, Master." Shadow purred as he continued walking the path in front of him. He didn't seem to understand that Hong Zhao was trying to scold him.
"This is almost exactly the response I would expect from a common house cat." Hong Zhao complained to himself.
"What is a 'house cat?"
"Not important." Hong Zhao looked at the trail wall as they continued walking, yet he could feel his feline friend's eyes on him still.
Shadow shrugged and faced forward after a few minutes without a response. This started a very unnervingly quiet walk back to the surface as Hong Zhao tried to come to terms with the recent happenings.
'My shadow panther cub has not only become a large shadow panther, but has also gained a human appearance. He is clearly stronger than me, yet acts like a lazy house cat unless threatened.' Having a long time to think on such developments, Hong Zhao stayed quiet for quite some time. Not knowing how much time passed as they walked, the two companions only stopped walking if one's stomach growled or if a yawn could be heard.
"How long have you been able to shift into a human form?" Hong Zhao decided to break the silence after what seemed like a few days of walking. He seriously couldn't imagine what a decline this tunnel could have been like had he not been in countless battles on the way down.
"For a few months now." Shadow yawned as he continued his trek forward.
"And you said I helped by showing you how to hunt?"
Shadow nodded as he smiled towards Hong Zhao. "Master showed me many ways to hunt that mother could never have taught me." He continued with a starry look in his eyes.
Hong Zhao did remember how he had fought side by side with Shadow for those few years. He had shown him how to use his claws and teeth to his advantage. He had also shown him how to move silently and work with him to take others of his own kind down.
"Master had also given me hundreds of beast cores of my own kind, which helped a lot."
"I really have to figure out how to get you to stop calling me that." He had intentionally left out the word 'master' so as not to stress Shadow.
The half-panther seemed not to notice Hong Zhao talking as he hummed a tune while moving forward.
After such a long time of walking, they had finally reached the surface. Hong Zhao squinted in the bright light as they left the mouth of the cave. He had been using his Eagle Vision to see for so long, he had forgotten it was activated as they left, leaving him blind for a moment. When he deactivated his ability, the green color of the grass and leaves seemed to overwhelm him, even with such a cloudy day above. Having looked at gray stone for so long, any color would seem impossible when coming back into the outside world. "At least it wasn't sunny." He said as he moved forward.
Not knowing how long he had been gone, Hong Zhao decided the best thing to do would be to go back to the clearing in the forest and wait at camp for the Li siblings to finish with their own training. "If they were able to break through to at least the Seventh Star Student Rank, we might stand a chance for the next part of training." He said to himself, yet he could tell by the twitch in Shadow's ears that the half-panther was paying attention.
"I didn't know that you would be joining us in this training," Hong Zhao confessed. "I didn't make a room for you."
"Why do I need a room?" Shadow's head tilted slightly. "I sleep at the foot of the Master."
"Um." Hong Zhao tried to think of what to say. He couldn't imagine a boy with the look of the same age as him sleeping at the foot of his bed. "Maybe I should just make another room for you when we get back."
Instead of replying, Shadow only shifted back into his original shadow panther form and looked up at Hong Zhao. "Right." He sighed and looked forward. "I forgot you are able to do that."
Then the companions continued in silence, as Shadow's tail swayed lazily as he purred. Hong Zhao had forgotten just how long of a journey he had made to get to the cave, but he remembered many stone snakes had blocked his path.
He sent out his senses as far as they would go, yet he couldn't detect a living thing within a few miles of himself and Shadow. He looked at the shadow panther and remembered the magical beast's words. 'You taught me how to hunt.'
Hong Zhao sighed. There wouldn't be many fights between where they were and the camp, as long as Shadow was around.
Instead of walking at a slow pace, Hong Zhao patted Shadow on the top of his head. "I'm going to pick up the pace a little." He jumped into the trees above and activated Vortex Thrust. "If they are already there and waiting, they might be worried." Hong Zhao pushed himself forward as fast as he could go. He took a glance back to see that Shadow had shifted forms once again to the boy with the panther ears and was trailing behind him slightly, clearly without need of a movement ability.
With the new pace, it took only one more day to reach the camp. As he got close, he could see the walls of his new home and smiled. He could finally get a brisk shower and a good night's sleep.