Opening her eyes slowly, the light crept into Zoe's eyes as she awoke.
'Where am I?'
Sitting up, she found herself in an unfamiliar place. The room she was in seemed primitive and made of a material not known to her.
"I could have sworn I was following the World Bane....what happened?"
Murmuring to herself, Zoe slowly sat up. Her attempt failed, falling back down to the floor. She felt weak; she felt hungry.
A door slid open, and a man in ancient-looking doctor robes walked in with a bowl of soup. He was shocked to see Zoe moving about.
"Miss, you cannot be straining your body. You are weak and need to eat! Here, have this; it is made with many natural herbs and shall give you strength for your journey."
'Strength? Journey?'
Zoe apprehensively took the bowl and chugged it in mere moments, her famished stomach rumbling in delight.
After a few more bowls, she found the strength to stand while being helped by the doctor.
"Thank you for the soup. I can't thank you enough. But why do you say I need to go on a journey?"
To this question, the doctor had a look of confusion before thinking a moment. The confusion slowly cleared and he answered her, "Your husband didn't tell you? To get to the Spirit Lands, you must go through the Misty Mountains."
Zoe didn't question the Misty Mountains; what she did question was her marital status.
"Husband? I don't have a husband."
The doctor's face turned red with embarrassment. "Oh? I apologize; I thought the man who brought you to the village was your husband. Oh, I think he's here now; he has been waiting since daybreak."
'He brought me here? Wait....is it who I think it is?!'
Trying not to throw up, Zoe watched Cain enter the room. Only, Zoe found him different; his entire appearance seemed more dignified and tidy. Not only that but the way he carried himself had changed, along with his eye color. It made her body tense.
"Cain?" She asked in apprehension.
"Yes? Are you ready to go? I hope to enter the Spirit Lands as quickly as possible."
Cain's attitude threw Zoe for a loop. He seemed full of emotion and disinterest in her. This was radically different from the cold and indifferent Cain from before. Cain almost sounded more like an annoyed babysitter than anything else. It brought great offense to Zoe.
The doctor spoke up, "Mr. Cain. She can move, but I suggest you stay in the village for one more day."
Cain responded harshly, "Your Chief stated we could only stay the night. We really must be leaving if we want to cross the mountain range quickly."
"But-" Zoe tried to speak, but seeing Cain's increasingly annoyed look, she became quiet.
He then threw her a pack of supplies and turned to leave. Begrudgingly, she followed like a dog. Carrying the supplies, she couldn't help but curse Cain behind his back.
'Bastard, why is he acting like this now? What's his problem!'
...
By the time the sky darkened, the moons in the sky drowned the land in their light. Cain and Zoe were already in the mountain range.
All around them was white mist. It was almost impossible for them to see in front of them. Thankfully, Cain still used his mist to sense his surroundings, leading Zoe with confidence.
The next two days were uneventful; Cain would talk to his other self about some events or get nagged by Zoe, whom he would quickly put in place. Other than that, he found the territory's Spiritual Energy only grew denser, with it, the Pure Energy too became abundant.
'This place isn't like anywhere else. It's like a mystical forgotten plane. Why hasn't anyone traveled here? The village didn't seem to be accustomed to outsiders...' As Cain was thinking, it seemed Lady Luck's protection of him ran out.
A massive howl exploded, and from a foggy cliff, a giant beast dropped down.
Acting quickly, he put his mist into action, the silky waves of red wrapping around Zoe and throwing her away from the battle.
With a crash, the mist dispersed, and a giant monkey the size of ten men was standing in front of him.
"Is this a demon?"
Cain had no time to digest the situation as the Monkey Demon howled again, sending his fists in a flurry of destruction. The ground cracked under its might, rocks, and dust flew, and he was almost pulverized.
However, the spot Cain was standing in began to distort within space; every time the Monkey threw down a fist, it would somehow miss its trajectory and fall only slightly beside Cain.
"What a silly creature. No brains at all; it is easy to deal with."
Cain flicked his finger, and space seemed to step aside. A tiny see-through cylinder the size of a crayon was created by Cain and sent into the Monkey's head.
With the sound of something cracking, blood gushed from the Demon's skull as it fell over, leaking black liquid everywhere. Cain took no time to cut open the corpse to do a dissection; however, he made an interesting discovery.
"A gem is in the chest? What is this?"
Making contact with the mist, Cain found the gem teeming with spiritual energy.
"Is this how this beast got so strong? How peculiar. This Territory seems so strange; it's so much more different than the others I've seen and read about. Even the animals can use this place's power it seems?"
Standing up from the corpse, Cain brought Zoe back.
"W-What is that?"
Cain turned to the shaken human and snickered, "A lowly beast, why? Did you hope it could kill me?"
Zoe's face turned pale; she didn't dare look at the corpse a moment longer.
'Childish!' Cain internally made fun of her.
The two continued on their journey, almost reaching the other end of the mountains in only a day. Yet, their journey still had one more obstacle in their way.
Seeing the path forward becoming blocked less with mist, Cain could see the outlying lands before him.
It was beautiful, the daylight covering a glistening land filled with plants and life, the air itself was fresh with morning dew, and Cain couldn't help but become captured by this scene.
'The Spirit Lands!'
Finally making it, Cain quickly closed his eyes and focused. In the next second, his body became weakened, and he felt he had lost something precious. He quickly panted with exhaustion.
'Hah.....the seal is not a good idea if it were any other circumstance. But I need to immerse myself in this place to grow beyond my limits apparently.' He mocked his other self's words, yet he listened to them nonetheless.
For a second, he peered behind him, Zoe was oblivious to what he had just done.
'This girl should still be fearful, so my life isn't currently at risk. Only, my body is so weak! Hah... I can't use my powers and my lifespan has surely plummeted. But this is fine; I can always remove the seal if I'm in danger!'
Cheering himself up, Cain felt much better about his actions.
With the final step complete, he was ready to enter this new world. Only, as he did, he heard a boundless screech and laughter that made him freeze.
Looking above him, he saw two giant figures; one was that of a man, with red skin and horns covering his face. The giant Demon was fighting a mighty bird with many wings.
"Haha! Die, you damn bird; your flesh will help increase my cultivation two-fold!"
The Demon forced the bird down, and a massive crash came of it. Thankfully, the impact was in a nearby valley and Cain wasn't anywhere near there, but he still somehow got injured.
Cough! Cough!
'Damn it, what the hell! The earth shook, and I coughed up blood?!'
Cain looked behind him to see Zoe unconscious. The sight of that demon and bird caused her to collapse.
'This damn woman! Why is this place so strange!? I need to do everything myself now!'
Complaining to himself, he picked up Zoe and her supplies and headed down the mountain to look for help.
'I hope that Demon and Bird fight to the death! I'm already feeling the fatigue of a mortal body....hah, this girl is way too heavy!'
Trekking on, Cain carried Zoe and the supplies, making his way far from the fight between the Demon and the strange Bird. The entire time, shockwaves would shake the mountain range, causing Cain to fall to one knee or tumble backward.
Nevertheless, he escaped and made it to society.