The four-legged beast collapsed near the river, exhausted and wounded. The clouds blocking the moon parted, and the light shined down the Spirit Beast. Its fur glistened in the moonlight as its nine tails curled in to curl the beast into the ball. Gunn and his grandfather none the wiser of the beast so close to home.
After Gunn finished his food, he patted his full belly happily. It wasn't often he got to eat his fill. His grandfather looked over and smiled. The older man grabbed a knife to clean out the burnt residue in his pipe and sat down next to the fire.
Gunn walked over and sat down next to him, and looked at his grandpa.
"Grandpa, can you tell me about cultivators again?"
"Of course, my boy. I will tell how cultivators allowed me to escape with you."
"Oh, you never told me the full story before," replied Gunn with anticipation.
The man grinned and began retailing his tale of a much younger man working slave labor in the mortal mines.
~~~~~
A tall man swung his ax with his full strength at the rock and stone before him. These movements caused the chains to clink and tug at the two men he was connected to.
"Watch how you move, Burgha," replied a burly and hairy man to his left. He then went back to loading a cart of the excess rock and debris. Burgha rolled his eyes and got back to work. But, before he pulled his ax back, the whole tunnel shook.
"The tunnel collapsing," yelled someone further down the tunnel.
Burgha and the men in his group dropped their equipment and grabbed their chains. Picking up the shackles and heavy iron chains, the men began running as the cave shook. The beams bracing the walls gave way causing several roofs to collapse. As the light at the end of the tunnel drew closer, Burgha kept running, and just as he stepped forward, the entrance buckled. The rock and dirt caved in, killing the burly man directly behind Burgha.
"Jurr!" Burgha shouted as he tried to dig the dirt to free the man. An explosion in the air caused everyone to look up from the sound, and pressure is exerted.
Two men faced each other in the sky. These two men were cultivators using the world's energy to soar the sky and do battle. The man in silver grey robes sends forth a flying sword zipping towards the man in red robes, brandishing a spear in hand. Blinding sparks fly from each clash and each attack causing the place to rumble.
The grey-robbed cultivator drew his sword, causing a tidal wave of sword energy to cut across the earth. Then, the spear-man summoned a beast causing the sword energy to diverge towards Burgha, trapped by chains on his feet and the men buried in the mountain.
~~~~~
"Grandpa, how did you survive?"
"Let me finish my tale, and you will know."
"Okay…" replied the disappointed boy. He loved his grandpa's stories so much that he wished he could be a cultivator, but being a mortal human, that would never be possible.
~~~~~
Burgha closed his eyes and awaited his fate. The energy wave carved away the entire mountain next to the man. When he opened his eyes where the once tall mountain stood, only a new deep ravine now existed. The chain as his feet was severed, but the man didn't feel free. The men he worked with for years are now gone with a single attack. For the first time in his life, his admiration for cultivators also brought on fear.
The man got to his feet and ran down the mountain. He no longer cared to watch the battle in the skies. Screams of men and women rang out in the air. Burgha ran past all of these people, not helping a single one until he came upon a young woman whose legs were trapped underneath a makeshift house.
"Please save my baby," she screamed. Lying there, holding out her baby. Burgha eyes locked with the women, and for some reason, he couldn't move his feet no longer. He looked down at the baby boy crying and then back at the woman. She was beautiful even as dust and blood covered her face. The girl was young enough to be his daughter. It pained his heart as most slave mortals never got to have a family.
"Please," she begged, crying.
"What is his name?"
"Gunn…"
"And yours miss?"
*WHOOSH!* A giant dust cloud blew over them, but the explosion caused the building to further collapse on the woman and she…she…didn't…
~~~~~
"What happened to the woman?"
The man paused and said, "Gunn, that's it for tonight. I will finish the story tomorrow tonight."
"Ah, that's no fun," complained Gunn. He wanted to know what happened to his grandpa and the woman.
"Get ready for bed. Let's see who brings home more food tomorrow."
As he tucked the boy in, Gunn whispered, "I'm going to hunt a big animal for dinner tomorrow, so you will be proud of me…." The boy barely finished his sentence as he drifted off to sleep.
The old man placed his hand on him, "Silly boy, I'm already so proud of the man you've become." The old man put out the fire. The light disappeared, and the two were fast asleep in no time.