Master Jiang had instructed him to review his powers extensively if he were to ever figure out or find experience points. Wu Hai not only felt like his body was stronger, his magic was clearly a bit more powerful than it was before.
Things during his adventure were finally going to start to get interesting. Wu Hai remembered his Master's words, 'The moment you start to grow, the Custodians may sense your power, it is only a matter of time.'
It was a secret Wu Hai was keeping that had the potential to get everyone killed, after some serious thought he decided to tell everyone in the morning. Warning his team, he told them of the enemy, even a bit about the Crusher. He decided not to tell them that it was a weapon of God, that sort of burden would be a little overboard, still, he emphasized the dangers until all of them were nodding.
Having pulled many things from its storage, they were well aware that the weapon was different than most. The Crusher was definitely unique and everyone wanted to try to pick it up or swing it.
The Twins quickly realized they were unable, Khan Ni managed to pick it up, she could feel its power as well but there was something wrong as she held it. It drained her completely, she was forced to rest for a while.
When Khan Ni woke up, she realized the significance of the matter. She sighed inside, if she could have wielded that much power back in her village, she would have been able trample over the people who had destroyed her homeland, murdered her parents and turned the Forest to ash.
Releasing the weapon, letting it go, she also felt her grief pass. The burdens she held in her heart had started to consume her. If she tried with all her strength, she certainly would have been able to use it in combat, if only for a second. It made Khan Ni feel a sense of dread.
"That weapon preys on its owners emotions and mindset.." Khan Ni was extremely perceptive, she picked up on something Wu Hai hadn't considered, her breathing was heavy and Khan Ni knelt down on the ground to recover.
Grabbing the weapon from the floor, Wu Hai talked about his teacher. "My Master tried picking it up, he could not. I'm impressed you picked it up at all, not even my Father could do that." Wu Hai couldn't help but laugh, he was really starting to believe that his destiny was unique and his own.
Khan Ni explained a little more before she stood back up, she didn't believe Wu Hai understood what she had said, "It felt like I was being pulled by regrets. I was consumed by feelings of anger and resentment very quickly. It wasn't a problem until I circulated my energy into the weapon itself..." She trailed off a bit and looked dizzy, "Where did you find the Crusher?"
Wu Hai started to tell her about where he had found the Crusher, "When I came across the Crusher, a man had been stabbed in the back for it. A group of bandits and thugs came to murder my Family to take it back. My Father almost died protecting it from recapture." Explaining the ordeal of it all, He told her the story of how his house was burned down by him and how they fled hoping the people who'd found it before would just give up. "..and that was how I came into possession of the weapon."
He made a pushing gesture to stop telling the story and he tried not to leave anything out. "That's also where I found the first two Gygax, the Dice.." He flipped his hands around a few times, "There is was a compartment in the scabbard, I found one inside and other I found where they had tried to kill my Father.. The red one just showed up after I tried buying it, and the Twins gave me one each. I am a little curious to find out if there are more. I have Five, I know there has to be a way to use them and the Crusher at the same time, I just can't figure it out. The Dice pass right through it. I've dropped them into the holes on the Crusher before but that didn't work." Wu Hai was sure there had to be a way to do it but he was unsure how, in his opinion, it was only a matter of time.
"Didn't you say you had instructions on its use?" Khan Ni never missed a beat, her intuition had really started to take a foot in the groups momentum as well.
"Yes, I saw some instructions but they didn't mention this. Maybe I have to get more Experience Points and that only comes with time, at least.. I think.." Wu Hai was very happy to try a lot of things out. Experimenting seemed to be his biggest interest, the act of trying something different.
"Experience points?" Khan Ni hadn't heard the term, she asked Wu Hai about them but he shrugged like he had no idea idea on how to explain. When he couldn't give her an answer, she dropped the question.
Winter still had a long way to go, and they had been closed up without any meat. The remainder of the stored meat was eaten up by the Jiao and Tolo's about a week ago.
Everyone was getting restless, they all wanted to stretch their legs. The cold weather would cause problems for the unprepared. Khan Ni had close to no cold resistance and the Cheng Brothers had taken Qilinkin forms, they were covered in feathers and entirely immune to natural cold weather.
High winds in the area made the trip difficult and the group decided to not spend much time on their outing. Thinking about the high winds, Khan Ni equipped herself with thick leathers and handed the Darkflame Dagger. The Dagger would get hot very quickly just adding some energy and because the Jiao could shrink, she kept him in her coat or draped around her neck. When he was dried off, the Leopard Jiao made a fine pillow that was perpetually warm.
To keep their group together, Khan Ni carried the Jiao while she rode with Wu Hai on Darkwing's back. Carrying Khan Ni, the Jiao and Wu Hai was no Issue to Darkwing, their time in the cave had increased his overall strength. With his new abilities and form, carrying passengers was not even a worry.
Passing through the blocked entrance, they were forced to destroy the original wooden wall.
Since the Twins had the power of metal, they made a ten foot thick wall with a hidden door, then made their way with the Tolos following closely behind.
A bit to the north, they found a grassland free of snow with grasses and herbs that were already growing in the area. They were a bit frozen, dried and frail but had value.
The Twins set the Tolo down to graze and Darkwing guarded them while he lazed about in the sunlight.
The rest of the group went out to look for food. Be it Beast, Fish, Bird or Monster, they had to get some meat. All the vegetables in the world were not enough for a Carnivore like the Jiao and everyone except Khan Ni was craving meat.
Khan Ni spotted a nest of Forest Imps after a short run in the woods and passed into a clearing.
The Forest Imps were rude creatures that didn't appreciate outsiders. In an effort to avoid conflict, Khan Ni stayed hidden and tossed out a few herbs to pacify them. The Forest Imps got lost in a dizzy spell after eating all the herbs. The medicines, when mixed together, made powerful tonics. The mixture was so powerful that the medicines would often put the anyone affected by them to sleep for long periods of time.
The Dosage made the possibility was unlikely the Forest Imps would be bothering anyone during the hunt.
She found a pit filled with miscellaneous things littered in a pile, some of the crafting materials were completely unusable after the Forest Imps had gotten hold of them. The majority of things laying around were destroyed, entirely worthless.
֍ꟷꟷꟷꟷ֍
Wu Hai looked like the most beautiful cinder in a fireplace, cracks of fire would occasionally appear on the outside of his form and it kept him feeling warm all over. The Forest had a trail of melted snow in his wake and he had found a few tracks. When he noticed the tracks, Wu Hai made a few ethereal cages to trap some of the smaller animals in the area. In a matter of minutes, he had already captured several creatures for the winter months.
Tracking animals was easy, he had done so his whole life, it wasn't until Wu Hai saw a large shelled beast rising up out of the ground that he stopped and called out to the group.