The prattling voice of his mentor shouted out to him once again.
“Hey! I heard that! That tone of voice is exactly why you are struggling.”
Egosum rolled his eyes as he took in the sights and sounds of his soul domain.
The most recent breakthrough of the hearing realm brought more life than he could have ever expected to his core.
The running water, popping bubbles, and sourceless insect calls made the space truly feel swampy. It was almost the perfect rendition of his memory of home. That led him to the one thing that was missing and the reason for Pangu’s nagging.
The realm of proprioception. It offered him greater sensing of motion, location, and action. Something that would greatly increase his battle prowess if the dirt was to be believed and a necessity to continue growing in strength.
“You need to really focus on the understanding of it and not the utilization of it as you have been. Talent has been allowing you to skirt by without deeply understanding the realms but this is where that ends!”
“You said something eerily close to this not that long ago if I remember correctly but look at me now. In a few weeks, I will shoot past this hurdle just to prove you wrong.” Egosum listened to the dribble of water trickling over some moss nearby while trying to tune out the shouting celestial demon.
“I don’t understand why this is even taking you this long. It should be a freebie to every cultivator with muscles… so all of them. They should be fully aware and well trained by the time they get to this state.”
The toad scoffed at the tone before realizing one of the issues.
“I know I am only a little more than a year old but I have only been a fully formed toad for about a month. It isn’t that surprising that my muscles are still not used to this form after being water bound for the vast majority of it.”
The patch of dirt went silent, and he swore he could hear its mind working through various jumps in logic.
“Yeah…Yeah! That is most certainly why. I was going to suggest this anyway, but it might be even more effective than I imagined before.”
Egosum could hear the leading tone and let Pangu sit in silence to deny him the satisfaction.
“I hate you. Ugh. Whatever. Now follow my instructions!”
The dirt led him through an array of actions focused on manipulating the body and expectations of where his limbs were placed with his eyes closed for the entire duration.
He became increasingly familiar with the motions but felt no difference in his understanding of the realm.
“It isn't working.” He spoke with frustration barely hidden.”
“Of course it's not. You are doing it inside your domain with a spectral body. How would this transfer over to your physical realm?”
‘Had he been doing this for hours for no reason?’
“You…you…I hate you.”
The soul soil burst out into laughter.
“You are starting to really sound like me! Hahaha. Well, I am sure you will actually want to practice now that you understand the movements and the purpose of the exercise. Now get to it!”
The world around them began to shake with its telltale closing that waking up often caused. Egosum blanked at the sudden thought.
“Did you figure out how to kick me out of my own Soul core?!”
He swore he could hear the smugness in the silence from his mentor.
“That has to be impossible!”
Pangu finally spoke up.
“Yeah, it is. Just impeccable timing. HAhahaha”
Right before the world fell away from him, Egosum got in the last jab.
“I will be sitting on you next time I return.”
“Noooo-” The shout cut off as his eyes fluttered open.
The next morning welcomed him with the sounds of the action. Pounding footsteps and giggling children filled his tent and he pushed the flap open.
‘That has to be the longest I have slept since tadpole hood.’
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He hopped forward and searched the surroundings for Thunkar. A small huddled-up group of beastman stood to the side of the encampment with the young man at the helm
On his way over, the old matriarch of the village pulled him off course and struck up a conversation.
“I am glad to see you out and about after disappearing. It's become more and more rare for you to go out and search for my grandson so early.” She sat down with the aid of a new-looking cane as she watched the toad.
“I had something I wanted to talk about.”
She hummed slightly before speaking up again.
“You want to leave the village because you feel the need to move on to the next…challenge?”
Egosum nodded his head and watched her deeply sigh at his confirmation.
“I understand that. It saddens me that you guys will be leaving, but I can’t say I don’t understand it. It is in our nature to live in these forests, and I know your nature must be somewhere else. I just want to reiterate that you will always have a place in our homes. The beastmen of the twilight forest will welcome you no matter what.”
She looked to be on the verge of tears as she finished. The sheer volume of weight behind the words made it even more difficult for him to speak up.
“You were the only one that offered to help us even when we asked you not to. You pushed through our stubbornness and transformed this village. I…There is something I would like to offer you. Please stay till midnight. See off Thunkar’s first hunter as pack leader.”
She pushed herself up and waited for his answer.
Egosum eeked out a small agreement before watching her walk away.
‘I really am just getting softer by the day.’
He turned to the small gathering of hunters and headed in their direction again.
Cinera came up beside him and struck up a conversation.
“Soooo, what did she say?” Egosum glanced at her from the corner of his eye before answering.
“You know what she said. How else would everyone know that I wanted to leave if you didn’t spread it and she is probably the first one you told.”
She giggled at his accusation before shrugging it off.
“I wonder about that. Oh well. I can’t say I don’t understand, but the coal baths have been really nice.” Egosum tuned out her ramblings of fire starting as they made their way over to the gathering.
Thunkar stood out amongst the older men with youthful exuberance and energy that the others were only just beginning to regain.
“I wanted to thank all of you for participating in the first hunt I will lead as the pack leader. Gran said that we will be setting off during the peak of midnight. With the full moon, we will have great sightlines and my nose should handle all of the hidden dangers.”
With his piece said, he clapped his hands together and stomped over to the toad.
In the days since he took over, the previous puerile kid had grown in stature, bearing, and pure muscle mass.
The influence of his pack connection was showing itself in full force. The mischievous and sneaky personality was overtaken by an upfront and firm voice.
“Hey. I wanted to tell you that all of us are going to be leaving by tomorrow.” Before he could continue, the young man spoke up.
“I know. I understand the desire. I finally feel like I finally found my purpose and I have seen what you have been like the last few weeks. You are missing that same kind of purpose that you arrived here with.”
“Yeah. We need to move on to something new. Somewhere different.”
Thunkar coughed with a sad look on his face.
“Well, the whole village will be around for your departure. I'll save the goodbyes for then but make sure you stick around. Granny has some good stuff planned.”
Egosum huffed before turning around to leave.
“That's what I heard.”
The duo headed back in the direction of the tents
“We will miss our amphibian guardians!” The beastman yelled out to their retreating figures before getting back to work.
-
The moon was quickly overtaking the sky once again.
It had been growing closer and closer to the full moon that lit up the entirety of the forest with dense mana and shining light.
The longer Egosum watched the moon rise the more he thought about his froggy friend's wide, clear eyes. The hypnotic quality and strange clarity had always been something that lulled his mind into thought.
A sudden bump from nearby startled him from his musings and brought him back to the land of the living.
Children bolted around the clearing with toys and bits of food. The lonely members of the village that were still grieving the loss of their family had come together to bask in the joy of their fellow beastmen.
The festivities appeared to be reaching a crescendo as Thunkar and Morgal ducked out of her tent.
The pack leader ripped out a deep trailing howl, silencing everyone in their tasks as they turned to the source with interest plastered on all of their faces.
The call eventually sputtered out with echoes of it coming back from deep in the forest.
“I want to thank everyone for coming. Tonight is more than just the send-off for my first hunt as pack leader. It is also the night we will be sending off our friends. Egosum, Cinera and Coyotl will all be heading off to continue their journey once again.”
The sounds of children shouting their displeasure and breaking out into tears at the news filled the clearing.
“I know it will be different without them beside us after everything they did but I ask that you let them leave without hindering them. They are our heroes and it is only right that we offer them the respect they deserve.”
The crowd murmured with signs of approval and Thunkar spoke up again.
“This night we will celebrate their achievements and all they have given us. In return, I would ask that you listen to what my grandmother has to say.” He moved back to let her smaller figure take the stage.
“As the matriarch of this village and oldest of the beastmen present, I would like to ask for all of your help in channeling the most sacred of names for tonight's blessing. I wish to call on the great Luna to help bless all three of our saviors this night.”
The gathering cheered and applauded her declaration. She thanked them and turned the speech back over to her grandson.
He looked between all of the parties as he made his way to the center of the village under all of their gazes.
“With all of that said, I would like to officially call on the start of the night. Let the festivities begin!”
Egosum sighed as the crowd blasted into a ruckus.
“I hope this party goes better than the last.”