𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘊𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘫𝘶𝘥𝘨𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘗𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘳, 𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘊𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘥𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘻𝘩𝘦𝘯𝘲𝘪. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘮𝘴 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘗𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘴:
𝘍𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘚𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵 𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘮
𝘏𝘢𝘭𝘧-𝘚𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵 𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘮
𝘛𝘳𝘶𝘦 𝘚𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵 𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘮
𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘚𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵 𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘮
𝘚𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘯 𝘚𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵 𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘮
𝘊𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘚𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵 𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘮
𝘌𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘐𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘭, 𝘐𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦, 𝘈𝘥𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘗𝘦𝘢𝘬. --Hao Laoshi on the fundamentals of Cultivation.
A man stalked low to the ground, eyes trained to the front, not missing even a single movement. Nearby a young boy could be seen trailing behind slightly, mimicking the man's movements. Cain and the hunter had been tracking this deer-like beast for half a day already, and its end was drawing near.
The Hunter stopped slightly ahead of Cain, slowly unslinging the bow from his back and into his hands. Cain watched intently, trying to study every last detail so as not to waste this opportunity to learn. The Hunter pulled back on his bowstring and held his breath, taking aim. He exhaled as he released his arrow, a crisp 𝘵𝘩𝘸𝘪𝘱 was all that was heard before the arrow tore through the air. It pierced through the beast's eye, claiming its life instantly.
"Come," The Hunter stood and made his way over to his prize, Cain in tow. It didn't take long for him to get to work. Wielding the skinning knife with practiced movements he separated the beast into different commodities. There was the pelt, meat, even the Antlers were not spared. The Hunter spent some time going over the process with Cain for a moment before setting out once again. This time Cain took the lead, following tracks the hunter had pointed out to him previously. It took less time to find this prey compared to the first, Cain anticipated his first kill.
Recalling the Hunters movements Cain slowly pulled back on his drawstring, his hand reaching his cheek. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵. It required more strength than anticipated but he could still hold on momentarily as he took aim, eyes trained on the Deerbeasts chest. He knew he couldn't hit the head with his skill, and he was not going to be able to keep the pelt anyway so why bother preserving it? Cain released his arrow, and it lodged firmly into the creature's midsection. It released a slight cry before immediately running. Cain didn't react in time but the Hunter seemingly anticipating this, had already given chase. Cain rushed to keep up with the man as he pulled ahead.
With the Deerbeast crashing through the forest it wasn't exactly the hardest to track. The beast and the Hunter had pulled slightly out of Cains field of view when he heard howling from the front. A brief sound of struggle was heard and when he caught up, he saw the scene of 3 large beasts surrounding the Hunter. The creatures resembled slightly large wolves with silver fur that reminded Cain of steel fibers. The Silver Wolf in the center was even bigger and had a stronger sheen than the rest of the group. The Hunter gave Cain a stare that seemed to say 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦, so that's exactly what he did. Crouching behind some trees he silently observed the show down.
It didn't take long for someone to make the first move. A strange feeling seemed to envelope the hunter before he pulled back his bow and fired three successive shots much faster than what should be humanly possible. Before Cain could even process what had happened, the hunter swayed for a moment in place before arriving in front of one of the smaller wolves faster than his eyes could track. As he appeared his three arrows arrived at their mark, the other smaller Steel Wolf. It tried to evade but two of the arrows blocked off its path of retreat, and the third punched a hole in its chest as wide as an egg. It fell to the ground, amazingly not dead, but dying. These creatures had a surprising tenacity. The large Steel Wolf hesitated slightly at the sight before charging towards the Hunter, it could tell the other Steel Wolf faced extreme danger.
It could only cover half the distance before it watched the hunter drive his skinning knife into its companion. A small flash of light could be seen before the Hunter removed the knife from the beast, the wound was deeper than what should have been possible for the knife. The last and largest Steel wolf howled in anguish as it charged recklessly at the Hunter. The maddened beast stood even less of a chance now that it lost what little cunning it originally possessed.
It lunged towards the hunter, covering the remaining distance between the two. With the wolf rapidly approaching the Hunter charged forward instead of retreating, sliding below the beast before it could land. The skinning knife had a slight glow before plunging into the beast, the knife slipped through its metallic fur easily, and with its forward momentum the wolf was bisected. Unwillingness seemed to linger in its eyes before its life force faded away.
𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭! 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨? 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘧𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴? 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘭 𝘦𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳. Countless questions filled Cain's head as he stood in a daze, watching as the hunter got to work on the three Steel Wolves. The Hunter looked up for a moment before pointing at the Deerbeasts carcass that sat over to the side, a leg missing, from the wolves no doubt.
Resolving himself to ask all his questions later, Cain skinned his first prey. When he finished his work, it was obviously done by an amateur, but it didn't matter to him. He would get better; the pelt was definitely useless though. The Hunter looked at Cain in amusement before turning around and walking off. The two returned to the cabin after a successful hunt. Cain looked at the sky and seeing as it was already evening, took the game he earned today and excused himself.
A veil of dusk cast a peaceful shadow over the village of Porth. No one could be seen wandering its streets but a lone boy, rushing in a certain direction. 𝘗𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘰𝘧. Cain had not seen anyone else besides himself out at this hour, which was a bit strange, but he soon discarded it from his mind. 𝘏𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦! Pushing open the door to the apothecary Cain spotted Old Luo waiting besides the door to his study.
"Come this way and we can get started." Old Luo turned back into the study and walked in, waiting for Cain to follow. Following Luo inside Cain took a second look around the study. A bookshelf lined the westward wall, and a desk was positioned adjacent to it. On the opposite end of this doorway was another door, most likely leading to the Old Man's quarters. "Come, sit." Old Luo gestured to a chair sat next to the desk. The two spent the next couple hours going over basic characters of the alphabet. At the end of their session a realization hit Cain. 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳! He had left immediately after returning from the hunt and had not asked anything about the Hunters weird abilities. 𝘈𝘭𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘐 𝘥𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘳. Cain glanced over at Old Luo and decided to recount his experience during the hunt, his teacher paused for a moment before responding.
"He's a Cultivation Practitioner, it's not anything particularly impressive. "
𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦? 𝘚𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘭!?
"How does one go about Cultivation, teacher?" Cain inquired.
Old Luo went on to explain the basics of Cultivation to Cain expressing his surprise at his lack of knowledge of Cultivators before sending him away for the night, it was already deep into the evening after all. Cain left the apothecary and hurried towards his home, he hadn't expected to be out this late and his family was undoubtedly worried.
Both of Cain's parents questioned him when he returned, and he explained that he had been at Old Luo's for the entire day. Somehow convincing his parents that he was fine, and that he would be out late more often, Cain retired to his bed. What he had learned from Old Luo today had re-lit a fire in his chest. Never again would he have to await death, powerless to resist! In his old world no matter how strong one man was, a bullet could stop them. In this life one man could climb to the top using nothing but his own strength! With enough power Cain could easily support his parents and prevent harm from coming to them.
𝘛𝘰 𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘐 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘫𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘊𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘳!