After a couple of seconds, the Young Master Sun Tie appeared running in his direction—face in turmoil, red with blood after a long run. His route to safety got stopped by a branch, and he was suddenly on the ground, robe full of mud.
Cole could not contain a laugh.
“Oh, the Noble returns to the peasant!” A smile was borning on Cole's face when he heard the loud noise coming from behind the youth.
The sounds of grand flapping wings rippled the air. When the creature appeared in Cole’s vision, he saw a gigantic bat with the most oversized fangs and the most enormous red eyes he had ever seen.
Sun Tie had all the reasons to run from that creature. Cole waited until the animal got close enough and made his shot.
----------------------------------------
As the youth prepared to confront the flying creature, he caught a glimpse of Cole's shiny white hair in the distance. Moments later, his face smeared with mud.
Before he could react to the old man's ill-timed joke, Sun Tie felt the creature's claws dig into his back and lift him into the air. Cole's gunshot missed its target.
“Oh, you fool! Hit the beast!”
The Young Master failed again to use his Qi and took an aggressive approach.
Suspended several feet off the ground, he swung his right hand at the monster. His blow connected, but the beast remained undisturbed. Undeterred, he struck again, causing the creature to dodge to the right.
“Stop moving!” Cole yelled at him.
Sun Tie’s eyes went in Cole’s direction. The man tried to aim at the monster but avoided hitting Sun Tie.
“Shoot! I can’t get hurt! Do it!” Sun Tie yelled, and the weapon released its projectile. It struck the creature on its right wing. Sun Tie found himself grounded again.
With solid ground beneath him, he punched even with the beast's claws embedded in his back. The creature let out a shrill sound of pain and retaliated with fury.
The beast's fangs sank into Sun Tie's neck. First, he felt a surge of anger, followed by fear, and then, to his surprise, the most fantastic euphoria he'd ever experienced. He was on the brink of death and relishing the sensation. His eyes grew heavy, and his body began to relax. Oh, Heavens… That’s good.
BANG!
The creature withdrew its fangs from Sun Tie, and a fresh wave of anger surged within him. Fueled by rage, he wrestled and thrashed, eager to face the monster.
With great effort, his flailing punches compelled the beast to release its grip.
He wasted no time.
Sun Tie seized the creature with both hands and slammed it to the ground, its wings and limbs thrashing against him.
“Stay away, wretched beast from the abyss!”
Sun Tie's sandals descended with force. He stomped repeatedly until the creature lay motionless.
Sun Tie took a moment to recover, exhausted, with sweat coating his body. As he did, he felt a touch on his shoulder and spun around, bracing for another attack.
It was just Cole, concern evident as he rested a hand on Sun Tie’s shoulder.
“Damn, kid. Are you okay?”
“What’s… your… plan?” Sun Tie asked between breaths. Somehow, he sensed the strange ‘system’ was delivering messages to him, even if they weren't visually appearing before him.
----------------------------------------
Water was their first plan. Cole clarified to Sun Tie that securing a water source was paramount unless they faced more dire circumstances like a storm or hurricane. Sun Tie had no idea what the second was, and Cole had little time to explain.
“If a hurricane occurs you’ll know what it is.” The arrogant old man had said. Who does he think he is?
Once they secured water, their next priority was shelter, especially since they had the jaguar's meat as a food source. They both agreed to avoid consuming the bat and to work swiftly towards their goals. They also chose to ignore any system notifications until they were in a safer situation.
Navigating the forest wasn't too challenging. Sun Tie could hear distant sounds of creatures, some more distinct than others, but none were close enough to be alarming. Cole seemed to have a clear sense of direction, so Sun Tie quietly followed his lead.
“So, what’s your story?” Cole Williams asked him, not turning back.
“What do you mean, mustache man?” Sun Tie returned his question.
“Who are you and what you were doing before the whole white room thing?”
“As I said before. I’m Young Master Sun Tie. I’m on the 9th stage of the ascending path of cultivation. The best cultivator in all Eternal Wind Continent.” His voice was full of pride. Sun Tie was a natural, but he had also worked hard for his cultivation level.
“I can’t see how this would be a good thing, but okay,” Cole asked with a chuckle. He removed a vine from his way and looked at Sun Tie with a big smile. “Cultivation… haha… My grandmother always told me that I would hear many things in life. Now I know what she meant.”
Sun Tie didn’t know what the old man or his grandmother meant, but Cole was clearly having fun with the conversation.
“What’s your problem, peasant? Having fun at my expense?”
“Of course not, Your Majesty,” Cole said, laughing. “I just can’t understand how planting trees could be so important and make you so powerful.” He could not control his laugh anymore. “Cultivation…”
“Cultivating your Qi, your body, storing energy and power in your core! That’s what it means to cultivate, you illiterate. You were probably the worst of servants. How could you not know what cultivation is? Cultivation is the path to immortality, your connection to elemental dominion, evocations, and spirit commands. All this is just a grasping of what a skilled cultivator can do.”
Cole stopped, and they almost bumped into each other—annoyance stamped on Sun Tie’s face.
“So let me get this straight, are you a gardener? A zen gardener with a green thumb?" He had his knife pointed at Sun Tie. The youth removed it with a hand gesture and approached the old man.
“It’s not about plants, it’s about Qi! Essence of life, you ignorant fool!” Sun Tie whispered in a loud tone.
“And why you didn’t do anything like that when we needed it?” The question stung in Sun Tie’s heart. He straightened himself,
“I would not waste my power saving a peasant's life. That’s your job to help the noble kind.” Sun Tie lied but remained stoic.
Cole looked at him with the corner of his eyes and resumed walking, not laughing anymore.
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“Can you hear it?” He asked, turning his head to one side and putting a hand close to his ear. “I think it’s water.”
Not five minutes later, they were in front of a river. In the distance, they could see a rock formation, like a little hill.
“Looks like we hit the jackpot. Water and shelter. With our backs to a wall, we’ll be safe enough to read those weird messages and assess the situation. Let’s go.”
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[You have slayed Amazonian Jaguar - lvl 2]
Feline from the Amazonian Rain Forest. The jaguar possesses formidable strength and has a bite force strong enough to pierce its prey's thick skulls or shells.
[You have slayed Vampire Bat - lvl 3]
"Flying mammals from the northern woods of Umbraheim, Vampire Bats possess potent blood magic just like their masters. Their bite is both strong and dangerous."
[You have gained a level]
You have received 1 basic skill point, 1 class skill point, and 1 stat point.
Open the menu to unlock or upgrade your skills and increase your stats.
A message materialized before Sun Tie. He pondered how to access these prompts when they popped up, and it was as though they responded to his thoughts.
He could select on the menu [Skills], [Stats], or [Messages]. Others were visible but impossible to open. He first opened his stats.
- Status -
Name
Sun Tie
Level
2
Title
[Shattered One]
Race
Human (Eternal Wind)
Runes
(0/3)
Class
None
Skills
None
Mastery
None
Health Points
90/90
Mana Points
140/140
Strength (Your physical capacities. Your brute strength.)
9
Dexterity (Your agility. Your speed and vigor.)
12
Vitality (Your life force, your health points.)
9
Endurance (Your physical resistance. Your capacity to take damage and stand.)
8
Intelligence (Your mental capacities, ability to store mana or Qi.)
14
Luck (Your social skills and resistance to bad outcomes.)
10
You have 1 point available.
Sun Tie's initial reaction was a mix of disbelief and indignation at the system labeling him merely as "human." Yes, he was a human and proud of it, but the messages did not even mention his cultivation power. As for his core... he could sense it within, fragmented but present. And it will become functional again, I promise.
He found the stats to be an accurate representation of his lifelong efforts. After some thought, he chose to invest the point in Dexterity. Lacking weapons and given his recent encounter with the jaguar, Sun Tie recognized the importance of agility.
The system asked if he was sure, and he affirmed mentally. After that, he opened his skill menu.
Before him unfolded a pattern, a series of little dots, like a constellation or a tree with many branches, however, only two paths were accessible to him.
He couldn't see it, but Sun Tie felt there was another menu for his class. The class he would never accept. Swordsman… what a joke. If grandfather could see it…
Sun Tie could unlock the [Combat Dexterity] or [Combat Strength] skill. Both would provide him with a boost, either in agility or strength, during combat. He didn’t hesitate to invest a point in dexterity.
Upon doing so, two additional points became visible above the [Combat Dexterity] skill. However, Sun Tie couldn't decipher them yet; a message displayed, indicating [Available at level 3].
Two more skills appeared on his "skill tree" separate from the others. They were [Tracking] and [Stealth]. Unlike the previous one, these didn't have any branching paths.
To finish up, he opened his quests.
- Quests -
Gain 10 levels until the end of the tutorial (2/10). Reward: EXP and an Uncommon Treasure Chest. *Bonus* Gain 5 more levels, and your Treasure Chest will be Rare.
Kill 1 enemy (Completed). Reward: EXP and a beginner box.
Kill 5 different Umbraheim hostile life forms (1/5). Reward: EXP and an Uncommon Treasure Chest.
Kill 5 different Earth hostile life forms (1/5). Reward: EXP and an Uncommon Treasure Chest.
Kill 5 different Eternal Wind hostile life forms (0/5). Reward: EXP and an Uncommon Treasure Chest.”
Kill 15 enemies (2/15). Reward: EXP and an Uncommon Treasure Chest.
The system seemed to reward aggressiveness, but Sun Tie was uncertain about its true nature. Granting five days for adaptation didn't align with the actions of a brutal deity.
He had read the other message several times, but the answer remained.
When he blinked, the display vanished from his vision. Upon looking again, he noticed Cole opening a chest marked with a blue circle punctuated with green and yellow spaces that resembled a map.
Adjacent to it was another chest. This one bore the symbol of the Eternal Wind: a circle with three waves stacked atop one another, representing his homeland. Recognizing it as his chest, he first glanced over to see the contents of Cole's.
Within, he spotted a bow alongside arrows housed in a quiver. The craftsmanship was exquisite, with colors as dark as the night. Alongside these, he noticed a small pouch and a blue stone.
“What are all these?”
“A magic bag, apparently. It says I can put a lot of things in here. A beginner bow and an uncommon rune. It gives me the ability to see further for a limited amount of time. It will be pretty useful to us. Open yours.”
Sun Tie didn’t need the old fool to tell him to do it. He opened the chest to find just a bag and a rock. As he examined the items, descriptions emerged before him.
[Small Portable Inventory] - Common
Description: Storage of all sorts of items. Weapons can’t be taken or stored in combat.
Then, the other item caught Sun Tie’s attention.