The stars had come out by the time the entire bear had been skinned. Ben had watched everything. He had seen the man roll over the huge carcass so he could skin its underside. He had seen him cut out the huge heart and other organs and store them in special containers. He saw how he collected the blood and strange fluids from organs he didn't recognize. He also noticed that throughout all this, not a single drop of blood had stained that magnificent white coat. 'What a freak' he secretly thought.
The man also cut out some choice pieces of flesh as if for meat. But how could that be, after all who could chew that stuff? You had better luck chewing on granite.
"We will leave the rest for the other creatures in the forest" the man said. He created a simple wooden sled and placed the hide and other parts in it. "Follow me" he instructed as he pulled the sled with a rope and marched away. Ben followed after him, limping slightly. The bear's carcass would probably attract other monsters. It was a good idea to move away from it.
As they walked, he couldn't help but wonder who this warrior was. Sure, in the Grey Cloud chiefdom there were probably a number of warriors as strong as he was. But they definitely wouldn't go about helping a runaway slave. Back there, the warriors went about pillaging other villages, looting and killing. If you were weak and were from another tribe you wouldn't even be considered a human. This warrior was different. Although, he had used him as bait to catch the demonic beast. He caressed the bandage on his leg and sighed. That was not the worst someone had done to him. Soon enough, he would become stronger. Then no one would dare to offend him. Then he could rescue his sister.
After they had walked for over six hours, the man finally stopped. Ben was grateful. He was tired and afraid his wound would open at this rate. "You can light a fire" the man permitted.
Ben joyfully got busy. Normally, it would be suicide to light a fire in a forest containing demonic beasts, but with that warrior around, there shouldn't be much to fear.
The warmth from the flames was indeed welcome in the cold night. He sat close to the fire, cuddled up. But his comfort was short lived.
"Catch!" The man threw a nail-sized piece of flesh to him. Tiny. He somehow managed to catch it with the poor lighting. He could tell just from touching it that it wasn't any regular meat. It gave him the chills. "Eat it" the man instructed. Ben looked at the man, and then at the flesh. He swallowed hard before putting it into his mouth. He almost puked.
A vile taste overpowered his tongue. Extreme bitterness assaulted him, it took all his strength not to spit it out. He tried to chew the meat, but it was as he imagined. His teeth would wear out before he could soften this flesh. "Just swallow it" the man said, obviously enjoying Ben's suffering. He swallowed.
His gut convulsed, his whole body rejecting the flesh. He fought to keep it down. Instinctively, his body knew that the meat was dangerous.
"Good. Now listen carefully, your life depends on it." These were not the words Ben wanted to hear. He looked at the man as if he had just been cheated.
"The piece of flesh you ate comes from the least potent part of the demonic bear. Even then, it is still too powerful for your body, so if you don't follow my instructions correctly, it will kill you." Ah, more good news.
"Demonic beasts have their bodies nurtured by Essence, a source of Magical energy. They are able to use this energy to strengthen their bodies and gain special abilities" Ben nodded. His stomach was cramped horribly. It took all his strength to pay attention.
"You obviously can't sense Essence yet, but your body is still reacting to it. Try to sense the chaotic Essence in the demonic bear's flesh and focus of expelling it from your body." the man continued.
'What chaotic Essence? This was just chaotic suffering! Ah!' He tried as hard as he could.
The man walked towards Ben and placed his hand on Ben's forehead. "Now remember the feeling of this energy." Ben felt something cool enter just under the skin on his forehead. It moved back and forth, like waves tossed by a gentle sea breeze, and then went out of his pores. He was amazed he could feel this cool energy with all the pain coming from his belly. Then the energy came again into his forehead, but this time as hot as if it were fire. He shouted in pain. He thought he was surely burning. However, when the energy went out this time, he was sure he had somehow had a role in flushing it out. "Again!" the energy rushed in, but this time he knew to expect the heat. He braced. It still burned.
"Good. Now, the way you breathe will be instrumental to controlling the Essence" the man instructed. Ben only heard half of the words. "Listen carefully to my breathing." The man taught him a breathing technique. Ben was unable to immediately grasp it. How could he possibly focus on something as meaningless as this man's breathing when he was suffering so?
"… Now the rest is up to you" the warrior said as he left Ben with his twisted face. 'The rest is up to me?' Ben thought, a sour feeling in his heart. After making him eat this deadly poison the man says it's up to him? This kind of joke was not funny to Ben.
The man sighed. That was truly all he could do to help. Any more and he would end up crippling the kid's cultivation path. He sat down and began to cultivate himself.
Cultivation. This is the continuous process of consciously refining one's strengths and abilities. It could be perfomed in many ways, but the most common was through continuous practice, controlled breathing and meditation techniques.
When one cultivated Essence, they were essentially improving their body's ability to interact with the Magical Energy. Demonic beasts were naturally able to cultivate Essence. Over the length of their lives they would instinctively refine their bodies using Essence, making them stronger and more powerful. Their very flesh, bones and blood were filled with the Energy.
Human beings and other living creatures had a dormant ability to harness Essence. This ability had to be awoken and improved through Essence cultivation.
Essence, however, was poisonous to the uncultivated human body. The body's tolerance for the energy had to be gradually improved over time. When more Essence entered the body than the body could tolerate, it would result in violent and dangerous responses from the body as it tried to defend itself. The Energy would also attack and destroy the cells in the body. However, an interesting response could be brought about by an Essence overdose: the body's natural Essence Channels, similar to blood vessels, might be awoken in an effort to channel the excess energy out of the body.
Ben's task was to discover his dormant Essence Channels and use them to drive the chaotic Essence from the demonic beast out of his body. He had to do this before the Excess energy destroyed his organs. But for someone who had never cultivated before, this was much easier said than done.
'Is this the price for power?' the thought surfaced somewhere in his mind, but was soon drowned in pain. He could feel his organs spasm and writhe as the chaotic Energy attacked him. He tried to remember what the warrior had said about breathing. Only part of it was coming back to him. He tried to remember rhythm of the energy that burned his forehead. He tried to remember his name. He realized he had forgotten. He had forgotten everything. Only the pain was left. His whole body burned.
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Dawn was announced by the shrill calls of the Morning Fire Peacock. It flew high above the forest canopy, far away from most predators, yet close enough to look for prey. Its 20-foot wingspan, slender body and powerful wing muscles allowed it to fly easily without relying on rising air currents. It waited eagerly for the early light since it relied on it for its cultivation.
'It's already the third morning since the boy ate the flesh and still not much progress.' He did not want to admit it, but a trace of worry was evident on his forehead.
This kid reminded him of his own youth. When he was similarly weak and that old geezer found him and trained him. He still hadn't fulfilled his promise from back then. He sighed. It annoyed him to be reminded of how helpless he was at that time. How pathetic he was. 'So, this is also Karma?' thought.
He couldn't afford to wait much longer. He took the kid, dumped him on the sled and continued his journey out of the forest. 'Hang in there, kiddo.'
Ben opened his eyes. The noon sun blinded him temporarily with its bountiful light. He had lost count as to how many times he had slipped into and out of consciousness. What he remembered was he had to breathe. Yes, breathing was able to ease his suffering by a bit.
It seemed they had somehow moved from the original camp. He couldn't gather the brain cells to figure out how. His body felt weak. His stomach was a boiling pot of fire. But within all this, he thought he could faintly sense the heat flowing out of him. Maybe it was his imagination.
Bloodshot eyes peered into the sky. It was already dark. The moon was a full circle. Ben's mind was a fuzzy mess. 'Moon' he said. His entire body felt sore. He noticed he was sitting against a tree. With each breath, clarity returned to his mind. 'The chaotic essence, it's gone!' It was already the fourth night.