The wolf looked down at Alphonse with a cold stare. "Child... Why are you in my den?" The wolf asked with a cold tone as it stepped towards Alphonse. Alphonse put his arms up in a defensive maneuver as he stepped back and looked away.
"I... I came... To... Find... Herbs..." Alphonse said with a slight amount of fear in his voice, though his expression remained calm.
"I cannot allow you to steal mine, I require it for my ascendance. Leave at one." The wolf said with a calm voice.
"Ascend... Ance...?" Alphonse asked as his stance became more relaxed and he dropped his arms. The wolf sat as it tilted its head.
"No one has told you? Are you not a beast-man?" It asked.
"No... I am... But..." Alphonse said as he paused and looked at the wolf. The wolf sighed.
"Since we are of the same ancestry I will tell you, but only once so listen closely!" the wolf said. Alphonse nodded.
'Prism, take notes.' Alphonse told Prism.
{Taking notes.} Prism responded.
"Ascendance is the act of a beast, beast-man, or man-beast ascending to the next stage of existence. I am on the second stage of existence, you are somewhere around the fourth. The natural state of most creatures is the non-sentient beast state, I have ascended to the sentient beast state after this is the man-beast state, which is the third state. The man-beast state is the transition between beast and humanoid." The wolf said.
"How... Does... Someone... A... Scend...?" Alphonse asked.
"I was getting there, be patient, child of the beast clan. To ascend a beast creature must achieve a certain level of cultivation, most members of the beast clan are not fit for cultivation and our talent is quite low which makes it difficult. A beast's spiritual ki affinity rises as they ascend, however, their physical strength also lowers. The main reason a beast wants to ascend is to blend in more with the humans to give their descendants a better chance at life." The wolf says as it remembers something.
"If a sentient beast such as myself has children with a non-sentient beast, then the children will be a sentient beast if a man-beast has a child with a non-sentient beast then the child will be a sentient beast and if a beast-man has a child with a non-sentient beast then the child will be a man-beast." The wolf said.
Alphonse nodded, showing that he understood what the wolf had said. "One last thing. There are two paths of ascendance to choose from beyond the sentient beast, the humanoid path, and the draconic path, the draconic path is not taken by most as it takes much more spiritual ki and sets your cultivation back farther, cultivation is set back when ascending in either direction, but it is drained more quickly on the dragon path." The wolf finished.
"Now leave my den, you will not get any herbs here." The wolf said as it stood. Alphonse nodded.
"Thank... You..." Alphonse said as he left the cave. 'Prism, any other ginseng anywhere?' Alphonse asked.
{I can sense within a ten-mile distance, anything past that is faint at best.} Prism responded.
'I see, then if I want that ginseng I will have to wait for the wolf to leave, though they can probably smell me considering I can still smell them, I don't know why I couldn't smell the wolf earlier, though it may have been a product of training...' Alphonse thought to himself as he walked back to the city.
'I have two days to gather that ginseng if I can get that then I could probably use it as some form of a donation to the sect and gain privileges which would further ensure my success. I don't need new clothes now that I think about it, so long as I can manage to gain the favor of several higher-ups I will be fine, though gaining their favor would also be quite dangerous...' Alphonse thought to himself as he went off into deep thought.
'Thinking about all of the possibilities, the sect likely has certain robes based on your ranking, I can likely artificially boost my rank by making that donation and gain a better set of clothing therefor making me seem more important than I actually am, meaning fewer people will want to mess with me and given by what I have seen when it comes to racial relations, many people will want to fight me.' Alphonse explained to himself trying to justify giving away such a wonderful item.
'Prism, how far away from the cave am I?' Alphonse asked.
{Distance: Three miles. Would you like to set a waypoint on the cave to allow for easier travel to and from the cave?} Prism asked.
'Yes.' Alphonse responded.
{Setting waypoint: Waypoint successfully set.} Prism said. A beam of light appeared in the direction of the cave. {When you have stronger spiritual ki you will be able to teleport to your waypoint.} Prism notified Alphonse.
'Now I just need a way to hide my scent and make very little noise.' Alphonse thought to himself as he looked at his surroundings. 'Prism, set a waypoint at the city.' Alphonse told Prism. Alphonse crouched down and grabbed a handful of dirt. 'If I remember correctly, in my previous life hunters would use dirt and leaves to mask their scent from their prey... Hey, Prism, can you hide my spiritual ki?' Alphonse asked Prism.
{Activate stealth mode?} Prism asked. Alphonse nodded. {Activating: Activation successful} Prism said.
'My ki is hidden now?' Alphonse asked.
{Affirmative.} Prism responded.
'Good.' Alphonse thought to himself as he spread the dirt on himself. 'If I can smell my own scent still, then I most definitely need a better way to hide my scent.' Alphonse thought to himself. Alphonse walked around for a little bit, gathering dirt, leaves and other objects which have a certain scent to them, then looked for a river.
Once Alphonse found a river he washed his body and clothes, then got dressed and covered his scent with dirt leaves and other such things. 'Prism, are you able to tell if my scent is covered?' Alphonse asked.
{I can not.} Prism responded.
'Of course... It makes sense, but still...' Alphonse thought to himself as he searched for some extra things to cover his scent with. After around twenty minutes Alphonse was ready and waiting. 'Prism, is the wolf in its den?' Alphonse asked.
{No, it is not.} Prism responded.
'Good, then I am going in, I will need you to direct me to the ginseng and warn me if the wolf appears.' Alphonse told Prism. Alphonse started walking to the cave. After a little while, he reached the cave and took a deep breath. 'Here we go.' Alphonse thought to himself.