Congratulations on making a breakthrough! You are now at the 2nd stage of Qi Condensation.

Due to breaking through the 2nd stage and consequently tempering your body, you have gained:

+25 Health

+37.5 Stamina

+51 Mana

+50 Chakra Pool

Meditation has leveled up.

Cultivation has leveled up.

I opened my eyes, vigor surged within them.

Standing up, I flexed my hands and stretched my arms. The popping of bones created a rhythmic sound and it made me feel good.

“Well, that was anticlimactic.”

I sighed. I didn’t know my breakthrough would be that bland and inconspicuous. I assumed it would be explosive and eye-catching enough that it’ll alert the whole forest but it might also because it was my first bottleneck so it was lackluster and the next stages would surely not be the same. It’s a problem for the future but still, it doesn’t hurt to be prepared.

A quick glance from my surroundings let me know that it was still dark. Fetching my phone and glancing at the time warranted me to return home. I was merely two hours away from my curfew.

Deciding that it was time to go home, I made a stance for a jump but before I really did, the sound of snoring alerted me the presence of the girl I saved earlier.

I take a look at her once more.

Silver hair cascaded through her cheeks, obscuring some of her facial features. Her furrowed brows once again reminded me of the events earlier.

Normally, bears won’t attack humans around these parts. The animals that littered around this part of the forest were somewhat docile due to constant interaction with the humans living at the foot of the mountain.

But strangely, the bear that we encountered earlier was feral. When we crossed eyes, I swear it was slightly reddish. Looking at the bear’s eyes made me think of an enraged bull.

By the time I drowned the bear with the Touch of Life, the madness in its eyes vanished and was replaced by confusion. Clearly something was amiss.

I reignited the waning fire by throwing twigs and leaves and carried the sleeping girl in a princess carry. She let out a groan midway and huddled closer to me. Her complexion eased until I put her down next to the campfire. She grabbed my sleeve unconsciously and it made me smile. I patted her head and traced her hair to comfort her and she slowly let go.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not a pervert okay. It’s just that her situation made me pity her.

Not every 12 or 13 year old girl can be brave as her under those circumstances. Although she cried, it was a big plus that she didn’t wet herself. I’m pretty sure that if someone other than her is in that situation, they would just scream endlessly and peed straight on the spot.

“I hope that she won’t get any trauma on bears and dark forests.” I sighed.

Deciding that it the incident was exceedingly strange, I head towards the forest to investigate.

Stepping inside the dark grove, I activated Beacon of Life.

In a 10-meter radius around me, all life became clear. The foreign sensation assaulted my senses and I spent a couple of seconds reorienting myself.

The strange feeling morphed into a kaleidoscopic sense where everything living being moving inside my domain becomes a color-coded object.

It is very hard to describe, mainly because it gave me a sixth sense to distinguish life around me and my brain perceiving it as color without me directly seeing it.

The unsettling sensation made me want to puke but I held it in. It took me a couple of minutes to get used to it and before I knew it, I was mesmerized by what the skill can do.

Every inch of my perceived area became clear to me like the back of my hand. Life thrived, striving to survive and eventually die. Every blade of grass, twigs, leaves, bugs, spiders, crawling critters and even the snake hiding in its lair 16 inches below the ground swirled together to create a strange but vivid cacophony of colors. The contours, the hues, the vibrant vitality and vigor of life assaulted me in its entirety.

I halted my steps and admired the wonders of nature.

Focusing my senses into a tree at the distance made me realize how complex life is. Its roots pilfered life from the soil and stored it into its trunk. From there, the nutrients were slowly distributed to its branches and into the leaves. The leaves greedily sucked the nutrients but the most astonishing sight of all is the fruit between the branches. There, life were so concentrated enough to burn my senses. The seeds in its core were nourished wholeheartedly indicating it ready to birth new life.

Beacon of Life has leveled up.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

A notification blew away my stupor, alerting me of my skill’s subsequent level up.

“Ugh, what a spoilsport.”

I willed the notification to disappear and set an option for future notifications to never appear in my vision. A distraction in a battle might be the deciding factor between life and death.

And with the weird sensation gone, I weaved through the forest.

The dense foliage was nothing in front of the skill. Instead, it became a glowing wall, shimmering all in its full glory.

I extended my senses and searched for any indication of the bear.

After a few minutes of strolling and admiring the forest, I saw at a distance a hulking concentration of life. It might be the bear.

With an instantaneous use of sprint, I hid behind a tree and observed it.

The bear was casually lazing around, rolling and munching something doing bear stuff. Its current appearance bore no hint of its earlier savagery.

I was puzzled by its conduct and might have written the accident off as a coincidence if not for the traces of white fur at its paws.

With a closer look, the thing it was munching on is a carcass of a dog. It didn’t take a genius to put two and two together to make four. The events played into my head and anger, sadness and injustice welled up inside me.

I pushed those things but seeing the bear lazing around while casually eating the dog made me throw my hesitations away and I decided to go all out.

I threw a fireball straight to his face and run left. The fireball hit it the unsuspecting bear and I fired another one.

The bear that clawed his face from the burns didn’t have time to react before it was hit by another one. It singes his fur but the bear cannot do anything but growl indignantly.

It sniffed the air to locate me but I already encircled him and was now at his back.

With a quick gust aiming at my opposite direction, my scent was blown away and gathered beside the bear.

The now blind bear once again growled and stood up. It swiped its claw and promptly dismembered a tree which burst to splinters at the humungous paw strength.

Some of the splinters buried into the bear’s paw, making it flinch from the unexpected pain.

I, who was behind it didn’t miss the opportunity and threw three fireballs barraging it. The first fireball hit behind its face, charring it. The second and third found their way towards the bear’s back, igniting its fur.

The bear stumbled forwards from the force of the blow and once again, I threw another three fireballs.

This time, the fireballs landed on the bear’s butt. Due to the number of fireballs that hit on the same spot, the bear suffered not just a minor burn but a blazing flame.

The scorching flame danced across the bear’s butt and laced it fur, threatening to return it to ashes.

Intense pain assaulted the bear and made it froze in fear. I hesitated to deliver the finishing blow but seeing the disfigured carcass of the dog at the corner of my eyes made me renew my determination.

With a fireball bigger, denser and clearly hotter than the others, I delivered the coup de grace.

A blood-curling scream echoed through the forest but immediately died down moments later. Silence accompanied me as I watched the bear’s corpse slowly burn to ash until bones remained.

The last fireball I casted depleted a third of my mana, almost ten times as costly as normal ones. On that battle alone, I used an entire two-thirds of my mana pool.

With the bear dead, I headed towards the dog and inspected it.

Its corpse was dismembered beyond recognition. If not for the slight traces of fur, I might not tell that it was a dog beforehand. The intestines were out and blood littered the area around it.

I sighed.

Crouching down and joining my hands in front of me, I muttered a prayer towards the mutilated corpse.

“May you arrive safely in the afterlife.”

Standing up, I threw a fireball at it to cremate it and with a quick cast of gust, the ashes rejoined the wind.

Here ends the saga of a brave hero who sacrificed himself for his mistress.

***

I woke up with a gasp. The cold hard ground added more to the lingering fear in my heart.

Fufu was dead. She sacrificed herself to buy me time to escape.

I wanted to cry but I have to brave for her sake. I need to survive.

The fire at the corner of my eye reminded me of the events yesterday.

Once again, I held the sadness of losing her. Bawling my eyes, I wiped some of the tears that leaked.

I exhaled.

Trying to stand up was taxing for my battered body so instead, I sat down. The hard grainy texture of the log beside me and the heat of campfire prompted me to move from my initial position. While I raised my head, I saw a black-haired youth sitting atop a rock.

Confused, I searched my memories until it hit me.

“Ah, the big brother from yesterday!” I exclaimed.

The older boy faced me and smiled.

His smile made me recall the most embarrassing moment of my life. Blood rushed into my face and I felt my cheeks heat up. I hid between my hands, afraid he might notice it.

“Hello” he awkwardly replied.

I sneaked a peak at him and watch his sheepish smile on his face calm me down.

The strands of his black hair and the darkness made it impossible to discern some of his facial features so I decided not to mind it. Even if his face is average, his broad back and commanding tone when he defended me from the bear will elevate my impression of him no matter what he looks like.

But with the flick of the flame, his face lit up letting me see his facial features.

It was also because of that kind of assumption that I was shocked when I saw his face. If not for the silly smile hanging on his face, he could be considered handsome. I really didn’t expect someone like him to be this deep inside the forest.

A few moments passed until he decided to break it.

“Um, can I ask your name?”

Hearing his query, I woke up from my stupor and realized that I was staring at him. My cheeks once again heated up but this time, I held it down and answered him.

“Hannah. Hannah Galanza.”

My voice was so small that I was wondering whether he heard it or not. But surprisingly, he did.

“Hannah... What a cute name,” he smiled. “Well, what is Hannah doing here inside the forest?”

His question was clearly without any intent but I found myself crying once again.

The silly grin on his face was erased and replaced by grimness.  Seeing that, I cried louder.

He noticed that I am looking at him so he smiled back and sat down next to me.

For the next few minutes he comforted me but I didn’t relent so midway through my cries he hugged me and helped wipe my tears.

After that, I gradually calmed down and looked up to him. He gave a helpless sigh that said ‘what am I gonna do with you’.

“Thank you,” I said between my breaths.

I wanted that moment to last but sadly I have to be brave so I asked him about my most dreaded question.

“Um, did you happen to see Fufu?”

“Fufu? The dog? Oh, him? ...or her?”  his silly way of talking made me chuckle.

“Her and yes, the dog.”

Sadness marred his face and he hesitated for a moment before he gave me his answer.

“She died,” my tears tempted to leak out, “along with the bear. I already avenged her,” but got stuck up due to his ridiculous statement.

“You’re kidding stop it.” I retorted.

“I’m not. Look at the pile of bones there.” He pointed at a ribcage beside the fire.

The littered bones were neatly piled and looking closely they were slightly charred. I arranged them using my imagination and the remains overlapped with the bear that attacked me earlier.

“No way...” incredulity masked my faced and I hastily faced the increasingly mysterious boy just to see him smiling smugly.

“Who are you?”

My question brought a grin to his face and he answered.

“Me? I’m a wandering vengeful spirit.”