Veil rolled out of bed. It had been three days since he started his pain intensity training, Last night, he had reached the verge of what the Spirit Viruses were capable of. Next step would be to advance them to Tier 2. But with them and the little chubby cheeks, he should be fine. Assuming that the lightning on the squirrel's sides meant anything, that is. He checked himself before he wrecked himself, and bet a large check against his wreck.
Putting on the lightning-retardant cargo pants, he wore a tight t-shirt over his tight figure. The shapeshifting paid off. The squirrel in the corner continued staring at him.
"Alright squirrel, you can move slowly." He said. The squirrel complied at 90MPH.
"STAHP!" Veil yelled! The squirrel skidded into a wall. "I said slowly!"
Veil tried to influence it via the mental link, but then he realized... The squirrel was, in face, being slow. "Follow me, walk right behind me, and as slowly as I am walking." As soon as the squirrel heard the command, its mouth turned downward as its cheeks deflated. Unlike the economy...
Veil rolled his eyes. Calling out to Nano and Kirby, his allies entered his spirit space. He called SV-1 over and began to walk towards the door. As soon as his hand touched the handle, he blacked out.
----~~~~----
"So, you're ready to get beat on, eh?" The cranky, crotchety voice called over.
"I'm young! I can still take it!" Veil replied. "I can take some for you too, old man!" He added as his genius entitled him to. As a result, he got hit on the back of his head.
"Take this, then!" Kubble yelled. The old man proceeded to whack him black and blue. Veil tried to block it with his arms, but the old man simply hit too hard. "That'll teach ya for bein' just what a young whippasnapa ought to be!"
"But if I ought to be, then shouldn't I be?" Veil replied with much courageous ado.
"No, you ain't!" Kubble replied quickly. After thinking for a moment, he added, "SILENCE!"
"NEVER!" Veil returned cheekily.
"FINE." Kubble snorted, and whacked Veil upside the head. Veil blacked out again.
"Hmph." Kubble wondered aloud as Veil disappeared. "I wonder when he'll figure out what this space truly is.
----~~~~----
Veil arrived back with a mild headache. He checked his arm- all the bruises were gone. Instead, he had some new information - 'How to Make a Lightning Seed 101, for Druids: By Kubble.'
Basically, by trapping a portion of the lightning inside his body, he could eventually make it climatize to his will and trap it to himself. This could be done easily in the later stages of cultivation, but as he was just a lowly Ki Holder, this could give him a head start.
The other miscellaneous information was brief. Basically, Kubble shattered his heart with several rather inflammatory insults, and then mentioned that the squirrel should be able to handle the tier 2 lightning, as it was tier 2 itself. However, Veil would have to let the squirrel spit the lightning back at him. He'd have about 15 minutes before the lightning fully formed.
'Huh.' Veil thought as he opened the first door. 'Better make a run for it.'
He quickly shapeshifted into his most recent disguise. The style was based off of some male South Korean models. He had pitch black hair, matching earrings, and a plain t-shirt. He was planning on adding the jacket, but he knew it'd blow to smithereens, so it wasn't quite worth it anyways.
...Veil opened the second door. As soon as he did, he felt a shift in the air. 'Time to run.'
Running as fast as he could in the mall without torqueing mall security, Veil finally made his way outside. He still had 11 minutes left.
He quickly made his way to an empty space in the parking lot. He began to prepare himself. Ripping his shirt off to show off in splendor and glory, Veil knew his abs were smiling. Rock-hard with a bit of chest hair in all the right places, and missing from all the places they shouldn't be, Veil looked tight.
Two girls eating ice cream off in the distance gawked from within their cars before passing out. A lizard fell out of a tree. A bird fell from the sky. A car started honking. 'Karens...'
Veil picked up the little chubby squirrel and put him on his head. As the squirrel made its nest... Fan club +99 +99 +99 +99...
Suddenly the squirrel fiercened its appearance. Its legs scrunched up, and eyebrows slanted. A small growl appeared. 'I'm menacing!' Chubby Cheeks thought to himself.
'Even its growls are cute...' The female schoolteacher in a miniskirt thought from a distance using the enhanced senses of her higher tier. 'Where can I get one?'
Suddenly, the sky broke! The gray clouds cast overhead began to form a small tornado. Instead of reaching down, however, lightning spouted out!
The squirrel was smitten! The ladies were worried! But shortly after, they knew: The little squirrel liked it.
Then came another strike! But the squirrel was steadfast. No lightning would pass it today! The master was clear. It needed to absorb it so that Master could receive them one by one inside the building.
Down they continued. 3 strikes! 4 strikes! 5! 6! 7! Alright, he was nearing his max capacity. 8! 'Dam!' the little squirrel thought. 'I feel like I'm about to explode! It's all on you, Master!' The little one sent throught the spirit link.
'Fudge a biscuit and eat the cherries, this is no good. Here comes nuttin.' Veil thought as he prepared to face the next lightning bolt. Coincidentally, the one he faced was the biggest one yet. Slowly but surely, he crouched into a waiting position.
CRACK! The lightning seared down. If Veil had flab, it would have jiggled. Instead, his body lanced with the arcs for a few seconds before calming down. But the shivers were still visible. However, mere shivers would not stop him! Veil was determined to succeed. SV-1 began to patch him up. However, yet another lightning bolt was appearing. SV-1 quickly left his body.
KRRRRZRACK! Veil's body nearly fell over, but he managed to steady himself with a hand. SV-1 began to heal him some more. This time, the lightning continued to gather for a while longer. While he had been patched up a bit more, Veil knew he was about to get kicked in the butte.
WHADANG~! Thunder boomed as the lightning came forth. It splintered onto Veil's hair, and he felt it in his skull. The entirety of his body was shaking as his body was tempered. He nearly passed out, but the lightning kept him awake. The first two bolts ran rampant, but the last one managed to stick around for a bit.
As Veil's body fought the lightning, Veil began to use the Druid Shapeshifting technique to push the lightning into a single area- the center of his body, his dantian. After about 20 minutes of lying on the ground, he did it. He was safe. A small lightning bolt had condensed into a lightning seed. He could head back. Slowly, he staggered to his feet. SV-1 had done its job properly. Luckily for him, the only ones who noticed it assumed it was a healing-type wind elemental.
And then he realized: everyone was staring. Literally. Everyone.
----~~~~----
Harry Dickens was a man of his heart. He worked hard for his dreams. Unfortunately for him, he was a really bad salesman. In fact, he was sooooo bad, his sales made a new record for being sooooo low, he was kicked out of not one, not two, but 17 different sales companies before he landed his current gig as a recruiter. In fact, the only reason he was hired on was his spirit ally and his affinity.
Unfortunately, they did NOT increase his chances at landing anything. And so, shortly after spending 3 days in the dumpy mall hotel, he realized he was losing more money than he was gaining. He needed to try a new venue. Branch out.
He packed his bags and left the mall. It was time to move on.
But he was worried. How was he going to make money? He might even have to go back to doing *that* thing. But *that* required more courage than he had, and he had already resolved against doing *that* ever again. He got out once with his dignity intact. He didn't need to go back again.
'But hard times call for hard measures' he thought sadly as he sighed to himself. As he began to steel himself, Harry saw a lightning strike. 'That's tribulation lightning... But how is it so weak?!?!'
Normally a cultivator wouldn't receive tribulation lightning until they reached Tier 4, the Lord Ki Commander Stage. The lightning would purify their bodies and allow them to access Lord Ki. It would then follow them and strike again at every great stage. But as far as Harry could tell, this young man was only at... 'Wait, he's a mere mortal?'
Due to the Druidic Ring (of stealth, cloaking, Kubble, and LiMiTlEsS PoWeR), Harry was unable to see Veil's current stage. But what Harry didn't know couldn't help him.
"Hey, hey, hey you!" Harry started.
Veil pointed towards himself like a true innocent.
"How would you like to give the Golden Alliance College a run for their money?"
"...I could manage something like that. What exactly are you thinking?" Veil cocked his head in a knowing manner.
Harry coughed twice. "Why don't we talk about it over in the mall cafeteria?"
"Sure, why not?" Veil replied smoothly.
"Alright! If you don't mind me asking, what Great Stage are you at?"
Veil checked himself and reeled. After all that lightning, he should be Tier 2. What was this with Martial Ki Holder stage 10??!?!?!?!?! A flabbergasted Veil quickly composed himself. If this man, Harry, couldn't tell, then why should he tell the truth? "I just advanced to Tier 2."
"That's impressive! I've never met anyone with a tribulation at that stage! My name's Harry Dickens. What's yours?"
"B-I-G-G. You can call me Bigg."
"Nice to meet you, Bigg~! Quite a storm you stirred up, eh? What kind of food do you fancy?"
Veil was starting to get annoyed, but he answered anyways. Burger Hotel had some pretty good noodles, so he mentioned it casually. As the man droned on incessantly, Veil began to assimilate one of his spirit pets: Nano! Since she was in his spirit space, he could start the assimilation without anyone noticing. Covered in nanocells that were designed specifically for Veil's body, she knew she wouldn't be attacked by Veil's body. According to the Druid Assimilation Shapeshifting Sutra, this would make her linking safer and stronger at the initial stages.
As the two men went inside the doors, all the girls had a single shared thought. 'How does a man like that end up with a man like THAT?!' ...Harry had muttonchops, a mullet, and clear signs of hair loss.