God I feel stupid
I mean come on it's like forgetting you can swim or how to breathe
In my defence I haven't even been able to get a good look at myself since i entered this body and as such plead innocent till proven guilty of stupidity
Oh right, falling
Making sure to keep hold of the spiritual core in my mouth i started to bull my front arms out of her thorax, which i might add is a lot harder than it sounds especially when your arms have literal blades on them and you're falling to your death
As the ground got closer and closer, I started to yank my arms harder and harder until eventual when there was only ten or so meters left, they pulled free spraying clear blood on my body
Using her lifeless body as a launching pad i jumped and simultaneously opened my wings
And started flapping like crazy
Thankfully it slowed my fall enough that when I landed it only hurt a little.... Okay it hurt a lot but i survived and as far as i could tell nothing was broken
"I need to get back to that burrow" I muttered as I began walking/ limping towards the base of the tree I had just "exited", also is it still limping if two of your legs work fine?
Thankfully finding the burrow wasn't that hard and the light of the spiritual orb in my mouth acted as a form of flashlight as I crawled my way into the space that was both cosy and cramped at the same time.
As I lay down on the dirt floor amongst the numerous roots in the burrow, I began to take stock of my situation
At present I was in an extremely dangerous situation, I'm in THE Blood Forest. According to the information I had, within the world of Asemas the seven death lands are known as the places most humans won't set foot. While Blood Forest is not considered the most dangerous of the known Death Lands it is however filled with Demon Class Nonhumans which are equivalent to Expert Cultivators.
Generally, a Nonhuman when compared to a human of the same level rank will be stronger than said human due to their normally superior strength, speed, and durability thanks to the large bodily changes they experience form the eating of raw cultivation materials. Because of this human cultivator have employed several abilities into their arsenal to combat this, these mainly include:
Chi manipulation:
Chi is one of the primary energies created by the cultivated soul and as such the quality and quantity of chi is based on the soul of the individual. Cultivators can manipulate this energy to strengthen their body, create energy constructs or attack with Chi energy directly
Intent:
The spiritual manifestation of an object or concept created through the user's willpower and understanding of said object or concept. These may include Sword Intent, Blade Intent, Killer Intent, and an endless variety of others and are only limited by the users will and understanding. Intent is much harder to master or use than Chi
Techniques:
These are martial techniques used in combat that allow for smoother use of Chi and Intent as to increase combat power and can come in any number of categories, levels of difficulty and most importantly power.
However, there are a few problem with these for me.
I can't techniques, I don't know how to use my Chi and I don't even know how to start on training intent
All I can rely on is my blades, instincts, and not so charming smile.
As it stands, I'm likely only as strong as a Stage 3 Apprentice Cultivator which on its own wouldn't be so bad except when you compare it to the fact that this forest is said to be teeming with Class 4 Nonhumans and the fact that I haven't run into any yet Is nothing but luck
As it stands at present, I can only think of one way out of this dammed forest
It's well known within this world that demonic cultivation sects often send there young and Rank 2 and Rank 3 cultivators to the death lands as a form of "survival training" to ensure they are even worth spending cultivation resources on. Yeah, what a lovely bunch they are
Nobody actually knows how they get in and out of the death lands but if I can somehow track an apprentice cultivator down without being killed, I might find out how.
Obviously, this comes with two major issues
1 how am I going to even track one without being killed by either the apprentice cultivator or another Nonhuman and 2 even if I can find the method of transport that they happen to be using how am I going to sneak onboard?
"First I need to get stronger" I couldn't help but mutter, although to anyone else it probably just sounded like a mix of clicks and screeches
And as I thought this I looked over at the spiritual core sitting in the corner of the burrow
As it stands there are all kinds of raw and rare cultivation, and you really can't get more raw than a spiritual core freshly ripped out of a White Mantis.
Unlike cultivators who would generally slowly integrate the core into their body, Nonhumans directly devoured the core as allowed by their unique biology and this directly strengthens their body and even can bring unique mutations to their body.
However, this does come at a price. One the larger risk of death due to practically bombing your body with foreign energy and the other…
Kekeke
This going to hurt really, really bad