The weapon in his hand then began to morph as it became a ball of light. After a few moments it resembled a small orb with lightning energy and several spirits flitting around within.
"Is this the true form of the weapon?" Young Jade asked aloud as he gazed down at the orb of energy.
At this moment a new tutorial alert appeared.
"Power Of The Spirits Unleashed [2] : Spirit Items must be assimilated by the user or else they will gradually degrade. You can draw this weapon into your body and call it forth as you desire. Keep in mind there is a limit to the # of Spirit Items you can 'equip' in this manner so be selective in your set up. "
Young Jade closed his eyes and clasped the lightning orb in his palm as he flowed some of his qi into it. The weapon orb slowly sank into his palm until it disappeared completely and Young Jade could feel the presence of the weapon inside of him.
Then he passed out due to Qi deprivation. Using the weapon required 20 qi from the look of things, so he was once again dangerously low on qi points. All things considered though he couldn't help but be excited, after all with something like this that stupid monster wouldn't stand a chance--right?
That was probably premature thinking on his part, after all the same creature was barely phased by a point blank range lightning attack that may have been much stronger than the weapon technique.
"I'm definitely getting ahead of myself here." He thought as he gazed upwards into the sky. He had no clue of the actual time but if he had to guess, around midday or early afternoon. Considering he couldn't see the sun directly overhead he guessed afternoon.
His stomach rumbled yet again, reminding him of the fact that he would need to eat soon or begin to suffer the consequences. He was now also thirsty and dehydration was a much worse problem to contend with.
"Emergency Quests [1] : Emergency quests are tasks that must be fulfilled as quickly as possible. Ignoring them can often have dire consequences..."
[Emergency Quest Acquired : Food And Water * This quest has been automatically set as your current task.*]
The details of the quest appeared in the upper left corner of Young Jade's HUD.
"Your body is beginning to suffer from the effects of hunger and thirst. Within a day or two you may no longer be able to move. You must find food and water ASAP. Follow the quest markers to their destination. Reward : Another day Of Life."
"Another day of life? Ha. Well, it's right though." Young Jade said as he got to his feet. His balance was off due to qi deprivation and the hunger was now biting into his stomach. His situation may have been worse than he wanted to admit, still he somehow got to his feet and began to walk.
All he had to do was follow the arrow provided by the system, the problem was the distance. 1.2 kilometers! He had no choice but to walk slowly as well due to the state of his fatigue and the darkness.
At times like this Young would remember the words of his father and the few memories he retained of him.
"One foot in front of the other. Just keep walking. Eventually, you'll get there." Despite the long walk he found himself feeling better with every step. His qi had begun to regenerate on its own, and while the paltry rate was nothing compared to meditation it was enough to alleviate some of the weakness flowing through his legs and arms.
No less than half an hour later he'd managed to bridge the distance and he was surprised to find that there was much more to the ravine than he initially believed. The dark, dim lighting of the area gradually gave way to a bio luminescent glow, soothing and blue. If Young had to guess, it was the work of tiny plants growing on the rock surface. Gradually the ravine turned into a cave and within the cave were an abnormal amount of animal bones. The bones were of all types and sizes and Young quickly realized that this area was an animal graveyard.
He traveled roughly twenty meters into the cavern before his quest alert went off.
[Emergency Quest: Food And Water has been updated.]
The guide arrow blinked for a moment as it re calibrated directions and then pointed towards Young's left, downward near the ground.
He knelt and felt around in the dim light for something, anything and that's when he noticed a mushroom growth. The moment he touched the item a description appeared:
[Cave Mushroom (Edible)
A mushroom that you might find in any deep, dark place. It's edible, but it probably won't taste that great as is.]
[Would you like to take the 'Cave Mushroom' Y/N]
Veggies weren't exactly his favorite but…..
"Yes." He whispered and within an instant the mushroom turned into particles and floated upwards into the small black portal swirling just above its position.
[Got 1 Cave Mushroom.]
"Well.. if this is all I have for now, I better collect more." Young Jade said to himself as he continued to follow the directional arrow from mushroom to mushroom. In a short amount of time he'd gathered just over a dozen of the mushrooms. These would be plenty for a day or two, after all the mushroom caps were fairly large in size.
[Emergency Quest: Food And Water has been updated.]
"Now that you've found food you must find a clean source of water. Venture deeper into the cavern, but beware.."
The last sentence gave Young room for pause, but there was nothing he could really do about it. He decided to take a few more moments to pick a couple of mushrooms and eat them before moving on. Though the mushrooms were spongy and tasted bland, it felt great to have something in his tummy.
He called forth his Beast Spirit Short-sword and held it before him as he ventured deeper into the cavern. By this time his eyes had begun to adjust to the dim light for the most part, he could see the remains of countless creatures within the cavern, though strangely enough the stench of death did not permeate the air.
The further into the cave Young ventured the more tense he got. He couldn't really place it but he felt as if he wasn't alone. Still, since he hadn't encountered another creature he had little cause for concern. Young dismissed it as his imagination running wild and continued to press forward. Soon the cavern ceiling began to slope downward and he went from walking to crawling, still the quest marker prompted him to continue. Eventually he came to a bottleneck in the cavern, a space barely wide enough for him to crawl through. He was forced to put away his weapon and soldier crawl almost six meters through to the other side.
What awaited Young was beyond his wildest dreams. As he crawled out of the hole the scent of fresh air hit him, next the humidity of water. A natural spring bubbled forth from the ground as a large pool of clean, clear water awaited before him. The first word that came to mind was "oasis". Logically Young knew that oasis' existed in the desert, but the large, open clearing reminded him of such a place. The sun shone down, shimmering against the clear water prompting Young to glance upwards. The area was a marvel of nature, the cavern ceiling was gone, perhaps eroded or maybe it never existed to begin with. Instead curved, bumpy rock formations lined the walls which extended several hundred meters upwards to a large circular opening.
For the most part Young realized that climbing such a wall would be impossible but he didn't care, he could always return the other way to look for an exit from the ravine.
[Emergency Quest: Food And Water has been completed.]
"Ha. Ha ha, yes. I did it." Young said with a smile as he sank down to his knees before the pool of water.
He decided to take a long break, drinking his fill of water before making plans on what to do next. At times like this he wished that he could ask Spark for his input but that would have to wait. Spark left no indication of how long he would be resting and it had only been a few hours after all. With this in mind Young decided to work on his swordsmanship.
He summoned forth his blade and did several practice swings. With no particular goal in mind he just focused on doing what "felt" right and eventually an epiphany struck him.
"The Quest menu. I forgot.. I have a ton of quests I didn't even look at yet!"
He put away his spirit weapon and checked out his Quest menu.
"So many. I wonder which one I should do first." Young said as he took a seat on the ground, making himself more comfortable.
[Quest Added : Body Fortification (1)]
[Quest Added : Body Fortification (2)]
[Quest Added : Body Fortification (3)]
[Quest Added : Riding Lightning (1)]
[Quest Added : Affinity Awakening]
[Quest Added : Survive]
[Quest Added : Combat Ready (1)]
[Quest Added : Combat Ready (2)]
[Quest Added : Escape]
"Hmm. This one looks interesting." Young said as he clicked on one of the quests.
"Affinity Awakening:
You've taken a gamble and it paid off - your affinity is lightning element so, why can't you use any lightning element techniques?
Task : Learn A Lightning Element Technique. (Rank 1 Prerequisite)"
"Ah.. so I can't do this yet." Young felt disappointed, after all the ability to command the elements was the hallmark of being a cultivation warrior. Who wouldn't want to wield lightning to defeat their foes? It would definitely help in a battle against that monstrous cat creature, that's for sure.
He decided to click on the top quest next.:
"Body Fortification (1):
'In order to obtain power, you must make sacrifices.' The body of a cultivator is fundamentally different. Flesh, muscle and bone -- all of these combine as the foundational stone to greatness. Infuse your flesh as the first step and gain greater power.
"
"Interesting." Young Jade remarked as he read the quest description.