A splitting headache cursed me, as my soul entered back into my body. I could hear a crackling sound coming from my stomach, and the twirling sensation of a growing vortex.
Each agitated and painful breath pulled in the spiritual energy, highly concentrated in the air, sending it around, unclogging my spiritual veins for the first time. Each agitated and painful breath sent out a turbid and dark air, as the impurities accumulated in my body were sent out.
I could feel the energy slowly soothing the pain, nourishing my body and reinforcing my flesh. I closed my eyes and concentrated on the inside. I could see a whirlpool spinning around, slowly establishing itself, it looked stunning as a galaxy in the sky, with a bright sphere right in the center, shining shyly, the mark of a lower one-star meridian, and the official beginning of my life as a cultivator.
Yet, there was something... out of place, rather, there was something else encircling my meridian, my little galaxy.
A dark sphere, a black hole that camouflaged itself in the darkness, almost unnoticeable, but surely there, draining the energy my body absorbed, even threatening to steal the energy of my meridian itself. Is that black hole the thing that was talking with me?
As that thought had just finished passing on my mind, I swear I could see two red dots emerging from the black hole, smaller than pinheads. There was my answer. I looked down, the puddle of blood amounting on my feet was absurd, but the coagulated impurities at its surface indicates that my body used it as a mean to expel them as well.
Only after taking my hands off the golden tablet did I realize I was firmly grasping it all this time, making my fingers white and leaving a deep marking on my palm. As I looked around, I could see the others were still in trance, their eyes hijacked by the white light, pulling a white thread from the outer circle, slowly filling their meridians, exhaling air filled with black particles. I wonder why they were taking so long. Some of them had the thread thicker, such as You Xia and Alexandros, other had them almost intangible, as if the mere thought of a stronger wind could dissipate it.
My attention was pulled to the outside as a sluggish sound turned audible, as if someone was throwing ground meat on the ground over and over. That monster was coming. I have to buy time for them.
"Forget them! Let's just get away"
A voice resounded. Loud and clear inside my head. The voice was that thing again.
"Funny, you said you were braver than me, yet you insist in escaping"
"I also said I was smarter, so I insist in surviving to fight another day"
I could feel it agitating itself in my insides, coming to the surface
"Guess what? I am out! Just be careful to not destroy your body too much for me to take over later!"
I could see a gathering of shadows surfacing from my arm, before the sound of chains rung on my ear, and all I saw was a spectral arm slightly stretching itself out of mine. I could feel that the black hole was surprised.
I tried to emerge from other places only to be met with the same results, the same sound of chains ringing and merely resulting in something akin to a small afterimage.
"Heavens, your are useless" I said, provoking it. "We are in the same boat now, so you better help me get rid of that monster or we will be doomed"
As if listening to my words, that deformed lump of meat erected itself, now mimicking a bipedal walk, limping as he took the steps towards us, finally turning visible. Its sight had already my very soul trembling, but that effect was even stronger now that I was in my physical body
"What? Changed your mind?" The darkness inside me spoke
"Wait! Wait! Say it again"
A confused semblant marked my face while my lips said slowly
"The darkness inside me spoke...."
"That's it! Finally a good idea! From today onwards you shall call me Darkness!"
I could sense a tinge of proud hidden in its words.
"Why should I comply?"
"You can't read my mind, and we need to talk. Simply calling me 'it' all the time is way too disrespectful and inefficient, don't you agree?"
"Whatever, I don't have the time to deal you. So, Darkness, do you a have a way to deal with that monster?" Irony permeated my voice.
"See? Was it so hard, my boy?"
"Focus"
"Alright, aaaaalright. First let's get out of the zone the altar created, it filters the spiritual energy and makes it easier to absorb, but is sensible to disturbances and might hurt their bodies if we fought inside here"
I started to walk to the outside, feeling the changes in my body. My muscles were stronger, my steps were firmer, my eyes were keener, my mind was clearer, my soul, lighter.
I felt I could take on the world by myself.
Finally, after traversing the wall of fog that encircled the tablet.
"What now?"
"Now, WE GET SOME FUN!" Darkness said again with that deep and distorted voice
I felt a hole being opened inside me. I looked around and noticed the spiritual energy moving in a strange flux around me, as if I were, myself, the center of a drainage. I directed my mind to look inside me. There it was, the black hole draining every thread of spiritual energy it could, growing at a almost invisible pace, but undeniably growing, forcing itself against shackles made of stars that were caging it. Soon enough, one of the chains collapsed, dropping the stars inside the black hole.
"A BREAKTHROUGH, HA HA HA!"
Looking back to the outside, there was almost no spiritual energy left around, allowing me to see the monster, and the monster to see me.
"What did you do?"
"I have eaten the energy around us in its brute form so I could strengthen myself. BEHOLD MY GREATNESS"
Darkness once again lauched itself to try escape my body, this time his projection could reach more than a fist of distance over the real body. So, he wastes all of that so that the image of his fist could be over mine?
"What about the others?"
"I left enough energy for them, now let's get spicy!"
Two molten dots surged on my shadow, as little threads climbed my clothes, crawling under my skin. They gave me strength.
I ran.
Lauching myself in a frontal attack against that beast in order to save my companions, and possibly my new love.
Before you mention it, I know I am being delusional, but hey, I need a reason to fight for.
The beast looked at me as a lazy tiger would look to a fly. Unmoved, uninterested. It slowly dragged itself towards the plate.
I jumped, turning in mid air to launch a rain of kicks upon it, only to regret instantly.
It felt as if I was kicking a pile of rocks.
A mere slap with the back of its.... hand? I guess, sent me flying for a dozen of meters. Almost making me spurt more of my already lacking blood.
I threw myself back in, the wind howling on my ear as I punched its back, only to see the beast unaffected by my fist leaving a deep dent in its flesh, that slowly went back to place.
The beast let out a growl, as if a bit annoyed
"What are you doing boy? Go for its weak points!" Darkness spoke from my shadow
"What weak points?"
"Here, let me show you!"
Darkness projected its molten eyes over mine, dying my world red and giving me a slight feeling of discomfort.
Then, I could see it, white and black threads floating in the air, converging to the plate. White points scattered across the walls, marking the emanating of the energy.
And red spheres on the surface of the monster, along with the flow of spiritual energy inside its body.
"Those red stars are nuclei of that monster's meridian, crush them and you will dissipate the energy accumulated"
"Understood"
Once again, I forced myself into a flurry of punches, aiming for the bright spots. I punched precisely, over and over, but my own strength was insufficient to penetrate enough to harm the flow of energy.
However, it was enough to make the beast sense the danger I could have put it on. Finally taking me seriously, its flesh agitated as it turned to face me.
"To the left!"
I ducked, avoiding a giant claw passing over where my head was, if not for the warning Dakness gave me
"Seems like I got the demon to look at me, but no way to kill it"
"Aim for the joints and tendons, there should be small nuclei in those places, since that monster is an aggregation"
Just as said, when I focused my eyes, I could see small points of frailty.
"Now it's do or be done!"
I jumped back and forward again, dodging the claw of the monster, thankfully its sluggish movements allowed me to counter. My fist flew over the center of its fist, with a cracking sound. I could see whispers of energy dissipating, and being absorbed by it again.
"Boy, do it again, let me eat that energy!"
Before the monster could retract its arm, hit again, except Darkness stretched itself to grab the dissipated whispers before the beast. Without the energy, that piece of meat began to decay, falling on the ground .
The monster roared in anger, cracking the ground beneath with its advance and quacking the cave.
It took all of my effort merely to avoid its attacks, now that it was frenzied, I couldn't get into range for a punch.
But I can still kick!
Hitting the back of the beasts knee, made it fall on the ground, as Darkness was busy aggregating the spiritual energy and negating the beasts recovery.
The monster rolled on the ground, reforming its flesh to form something akin to a snake, slithering on the ground with hate emanating from its lifeless eyes.
It attacked, way more agile than before, alternating the coiling for defense and the offensive bite, it forced me to take a defensive posture and dance to its tune. I am doomed.
"Don't give up boy! Can't you see? it gathered all its energy on its head! We just have to kill it!"
"I don't have a way to hit it!"
"You don't have to, trust me!"
"Seems like I will have to"
I prepared myself for a counter, baiting and taunting the beast into diving into an attack.
The bloodthirsty beast bore its fangs and came as a lighting, mouth wide open
"Punch" screamed Darkness
"I sure as hell will regret it, but goddammit I can't escape anymore"
I stretched my arm, with a closed fist right inside the beasts mouth.
I didn't die.
I could only see the beast frozen in the air, rotting, as a shadowy arm projected itself from mine, traversing the flesh and right into the core of the beast, absorbing the beasts core and robbing it of the energy that moved it.
I fell on the ground, my legs giving up.
I could have died one too many times today.
"Hey, what is happening?"
I could see that Darkness wanted to absorb the monster's essence to feed himself, but instead, my own meridian was feeding upon the beast essence, making my start shine ever so brighter, thickening the ring of stars around it. A perfect intermediate one-star meridian.
Seems like we are paired up once again.
As the beast body turned to dust, leaving only a red crystal that I picked out of curiosity, I saw the others waking from the trance, exuding the aura of cultivators, imposing, elegant, heroic
"Let's finally get of here" I said.