Chapter 2

The forest

Surrounding the left side of the Tang clan is the beast forest. Is not a very big forest, but big enought to get lost, and killed.

Beyond the forest you will find the Kura mountains, an extremly dangerous place where only the most powerfull dared to go since that place is home of many divine beasts.

Divine beasts are those who have acumulated enought mana inside their bodies to create a core. By manipulating the energy in this core they can acomplish many feats imposible otherwise, like increasing the toughness of their sking, the strenght of their muscles or even bend the elements themself to their will. It also can increase their intelligence to human level, or beyond that.

Is rare to find one even at the deeps of forest, and it should be imposible at the borders where we are going, so we should be safe.

But i remember of a danger we will face this trip. I will need to collect some thing on the way.

" mmmm ahh there it is , the purple camellia, finally find some" I said with some relief.

"Carefull little Ru, that flower has poison in it" Ai said.

"Dont worry , i know what i am doing. Let me borrow your mortar" I said to Ai.

"So you want to make some poison with the purple camellia" She said while watching me process the flowers "Is not a bad idea, but the poison is very weak, the only beast that will die with it , can be easy be killed with just my spear"

"Yes, is weak by itself but if you combine it with the roots of blue grass the effect of the poison is greatly intensified. Is enouth to take down a big beast"

"What? but blue grass is used to make healing potions and pastes"

"Yes, but you only use the leaf, never the roots or it will ruin the effect. The root decrease the effect of the healing , that is why it must be taken out. But it has other uses if combined with certain poisons"

"How do you know all this? "

Ai ask, she had an expresion of surprise i dont think i have ever seen before.

"I read some books at the library of the clan" I didnt want to explain further.

After finished the paste i save it in a flask i gave Ai her mortar back.

"We should keep going" i said

"Brother Ru, do you think we will find something good here?" Qing asked with an innocent face.

"Big Qing , if there is something valuable in this forest, it should be deep inside, close to the Kura mountains. The outskirts are always being explored by the hunters of the clan" I explained.

After exploring for more than two hours all we found was a few stalks of blue grass and some blodd sage. The later  is used in a few low grade potions and quite common.

Suddenly, Ai got startled.

"What did you said?" she looked at me

" Huh? i didnt say anything" I answered.

"I just heard a voice say something . Was it you Qing?"

"No sister Ai. I didn't say anything"

"But- ahh , there it is again!..."

"And? what do you hear?" I asked

"I dont know, it doesnt sound like words, more like...i cant explain it but i think is pointing me in one direccion. Over there! , passing those big rocks, a bit further" She started running after saying that.

Mmm. This is extrange. I dont remember this part happening the last time. I do remeber we found a big lake with a cave next to it, then we found that flower and a red bear attack us. It was a tought fight and i was injured, but we made it out. But i dont remember Ai hearing any voices. Well it was a long time ago i guess... but what is that voice... could it be?

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"Brother Ru!! look" Qing suddenly yelled

After we went through a natural narrow passage made with giant rocks , there it was, the lake. It was just as i remmember.

"Its beautifull ! . Yes this is the place! . Ahh look, over there ,next to that cave. There is an strange flower with a mysterious shine. I need to get closer to examine it."Ai said, very exited.

" Wait! "I said while grabing her arm "Look at the cave"

While Ai and Qing were looking towards the cave i took out the poison paste i made before and a knife. I applied the poison to the knife and looked towards the cave. Then...

- ROOOAR!

Ai and Qing got startled.

"A RED BEAR!! we need to get out of here. This is one of the most dangerous beast in the forest"Ai said.

" Dont make any moves. Stay calm and let him come"

After looking around a few time the red bear finally found the intruders. He looked at us and made another roar. After that he started running toward us.

" Have you lost your mind? we need to run away! " Ai said

" Yes brother Ru, this beast is too dangerous for us"

That is funny. The last time it was big Qing who killed the bear. After i tried to protect Ai , the bear got me with a heavy blow , it broke my arm and throw me far away. But before the bear could kill Ai who was defenseless at the ground, Qing got in the way and punched the bear with all his rage. The bear flew backwards and did not move anymore. Even a peak initiate would not be able to do something like that, and Qing hasn't even started to cultivate yet. Turns out he was born with divine strengh, extremly rare gift. As far as i know he may be the only one in this continent. But this time no one has to get hurt.

"Trust me , everything is fine. " I had a serious expresion and my eyes were locked on the bear.

" Little Ru... i have never seen you like this. Ok i will trust you"

" Me too , i trust brother Ru with my life."

The bear was getting very close. I had the knife in my right hand and got into position to throw it. But before that i need to infuse it with my mana, otherwhise i might miss.

Shit , this is hard. I have so little mana, is ridiculus. Well i guess is normal, i just started cultivating a few weeks ago.

Ok, i'm ready, finally. The bear was only ten meters away.

"GO! " I threw the poison knife infused with my mana. It went straith to the bear's eye so fast that he didn't have a chance to react.

" ROAAAAAAAR-ROOOAA--!!"

The bear went down after a few complains and did not move anymore.

" It is dead?" Said Qing

"Yes" i said.

" He died so fast! . I cant believe that poison was so efective. No, i also can't believe your aim was so good!. Are you really the little Ru i knew? " Ai said with a mix of emotions

" Of course, the same as always"

Well not really....

" Anyways . Didn't you want to check that flower ?" I asked Ai

" Qing. help me skin the bear. This leather is excelent for armors"

" What? skin it?...." Qing face was getting pale.

" Qing, listen to me. This world is cruel and only respect the strong. If you want to protect those who you love, you need to become stronger, and i dont mean only physicaly" I say to Qing with a serious face.

Qing has a lot of potencial to become a supreme expert, but his soft personality is a real problem. Someone like that will never survive in this world. I need to toughen him up a bit.

" You are right brother, i will try"

He complained no more and helped me to skin the bear. His face was completly pale though.

After we were done i gave it to him.

"Here, make yourself a good set of armor. But don't show it to anyone. There is no need to announce we killed a red bear"

" Thank you brother"

" Lets go check on AI"

As we got close Ai turned around. She was holding a book in her arms.

" Guys! we found something good. I'm sure this is a yang lotus. Is supose to only grow on mountains and near volcanos. Is very rare to find one here at the forest"

" No wonder the red bear made its home next to it. By absorbing the yang enery from the flower he was trying to make his core and become a divine beast, the yang bear. But it would probably need like a hundred years for that to happend"

"So that is why he attack us, he was protecting this flower" Qing said.

" After collecting the flower we can give it to my father, he can make a low grade mana infusing potion for us" Ai said very happy.

Yes a low grade mana infusing potion can be very valuable to Initates and even aprentices. But is a bit of a waste. I could make something much better with that yang lotus, but im afraid it would call to much attention.

Alquemist are very scarce in this continent. Uncle Hai has a very respetable status in the clan for being an alquemist even though he is only a senior alquemist.

The first three alquemy ranks are: Aprentice, senior and master.

In the entire clan we only have three alquemist. Two aprentices and one senior. If i remember correctly, the only alquemy master lives at the Lao capital, and works for the king himself. That is how rare they are.

I never put too much effort into learning alquemy in my past life. But compared to the level in this place....

After collecting the yang flower we went back to the clan.

When we left the forest was dusk already.