Constantine stood beneath the dense canopy of trees, holding his breath in taut anticipation. He strained to hear any signs of life, but only the rustling leaves and his own accelerated heartbeat broke the silence. ‘Is it dead?’ he wondered. Despite having placed wooden spikes at the bottom of the pit, he wasn't entirely sure they had done the job.
He advanced toward the pit, each step measured and quiet. The ground beneath his boots was charred black.
‘It must possess some form of fire-based abilities,’ he deduced as he cautiously leaned over the pit's edge. His eyes widened in astonishment. An orange-furred feline lay impaled upon the wooden spikes, its striking patterned coat a jarring contrast against the scorched, blackened surroundings.
Sighing deeply, Constantine felt the onset of a colossal headache. ‘How am I supposed to extract this?’ he mused, his eyes scanning the forest for any tools that might assist in retrieving the carcass from the pit. There was nothing besides his ladder, set aside nearby. Resigned, he sighed once more, realizing he had no choice but to descend into the burnt and bloody mess.
‘At least there’s no risk of being accused of poaching,’ he thought, finding solace in the fact that poaching laws were nonexistent here. With monsters breeding prolifically, they needed to be routinely culled to prevent devastating monster waves.
'What are you?' Constantine wondered, intrigued. It was his first encounter with a creature of this kind. Shaking his head, he tried to recall entries from the bestiary. There were a few orange-furred, fire-attributed felines listed that he could think of. Apparently, orange and fire frequently coincided for some reason. Eventually, he shrugged, positioned the ladder, and carefully climbed down.
'It summoned fire, so it should at least have a core.'
Hovering his palm over the carcass, he closed his eyes and felt the throbbing warmth envelop his hands. He moved them slowly, searching for the core. Sometimes the heat diminished, prompting him to adjust his hand until it intensified again. Opening his eyes, he grinned and plunged his dagger into the precise spot.
Blood flowed, but he ignored it as he thrust his hand inside. Curling his fingers around a hard object, he pulled back. Accompanied by a fresh surge of blood, he extracted the core. His grin widened—the core was at least three times larger than the rabbit’s. He felt its heat pulsating in his hand, almost urging him to consume it.
‘So my senses have developed enough to detect the core,’ he thought, pleased with his progress. The more he practiced, especially with liquid mana, the stronger his spiritual sense became. He paused momentarily, struck by a new idea. ‘Can I infuse mana into my eyes or perhaps ears too?’
He longed to sit down, discard everything, and experiment immediately. Yet, he shook his head. There was still work to be done: repairing the trap, using the new carcass as bait after skinning it, and checking on the wolf. Shrugging his shoulders again, his grin faded at the irony. ‘I’m practically unemployed, yet there’s always something more to do.’
Grudgingly, Constantine climbed out of the pit, pocketed the core, and nodded to himself. The trap could wait; the wolf pup was a priority. Striding down the familiar path, he ventured deeper into the forest, where the trees grew taller and older, their twisted branches allowing only slivers of light to penetrate the dense foliage.
As he approached the wolf den, he noticed the skinned carcasses of wolves still lying there, intact. Their drying furs hung from the branches, swaying slightly in the draft. At least now, he understood the reason behind it. This was their den and territory, and it would take some time before other monsters and animals dared to encroach upon it.
Closing in, he felt a pang of worry. A night had passed, and there was no guarantee that the little wolf was still alive. Cautiously, he approached the gaping maw of the dark tunnel. Then, the familiar pair of red points lit up, bringing him a sense of relief.
"You are alive," he whispered, and knelt at the entrance of the den, pulling out a small piece of dried meat. He held it out and called softly, “Come out.”
The wolf pup hesitated, its red eyes gleaming in the darkness. Sniffing the air cautiously, it edged closer, drawn by the scent of the meat. Constantine remained still, his hand steady. Finally, the pup emerged fully, snatched the meat, and retreated a few steps to devour it, its red eyes never leaving Constantine.
He sighed, knowing trust would take time. ‘Both wolf and dog pups, while young, have the ability to bond with those around them,’ he thought. Seeing how small the little wolf was, he was sure it still had that potential.
Constantine remained sitting, his back against the tree’s bark, beside the den. He sat there silently, circulating the warmth of mana through his liver. Time seemed to crawl forward. Only when the shadows lengthened, signaling that it was well past midday, did he shift his position.
The pair of red eyes still shone inside the den, the pup likely observing him the entire time.
‘Has it gotten used to me?’ he hoped, knowing that every extra day alone in the forest might cost it its life. His hands hovered momentarily above the small porcelain bottle on his belt. ‘If it doesn’t work, I’ll have to knock it out and take it home that way.’ The thought sent shivers down his spine. The forest always made him feel watched, as if a monster lurked behind every tree.
Taking another piece of meat, he held it beside the entrance. This time, he didn't drop it, instead firmly holding it in place. The red pair of eyes closed in, claws scratching against the dirt. He felt a pull as the little wolf bit into the meat, trying to snatch it from his hand. A small smile formed on his face as he let the pup take it, watching it stumble backward. Seizing the moment, he slowly reached out, patting its head. This time, it didn’t pull away.
‘It seems to want to stay in the darkness. Maybe my bag could work?’ he mused, observing how the wolf always remained in the shadows.
Gently, Constantine placed his open bag with a piece of meat inside near the den’s entrance, leaving it partially in the shadows. The pup, intrigued by the new object, sniffed the bag cautiously. It nudged the bag with its nose, testing it.
“It's safe,” Constantine murmured reassuringly. “You can come with me.”
The wolf pup hesitated for a moment longer before slowly crawling into the bag, curling up in the dark, enclosed space. Constantine carefully lifted the bag, making sure the pup was comfortable inside.
With the wolf pup secured, he threw the wolf pelts over his back, and Constantine began the journey. He could only sigh, knowing it wasn’t the end of the day. He still had to fix the trap.
This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
Later that same day:
The doors squeaked as Constantine pushed them open. The old floorboards groaned under his weight. The room was dark, with windows boarded up to block out the light. He slowly set down his bag, careful to minimize the impact. Opening it, a dark-furred wolf’s head peeked out, its crimson eyes curiously surveying its surroundings.
Constantine sighed as he collapsed onto his bed, feeling the weight of the day’s failure. ‘Who would have thought it would be so hard to sell a ton of monster meat? I guess, no easy coin for me.’ he thought, recalling villager’s puzzled looks and grimaces. One had even laughed at him, muttering about the inedibility of the meat. Its flesh was apparently tempered to withstand high temperatures, making it a nightmare to cook, and it was tough to chew due to the mana within it.
While he pondered on the failure, the small wolf climbed out of the bag, its claws tapping against the wooden floor as it slowly moved. It padded around, its nose twitching. Constantine watched the wolf with mild amusement, a faint smile playing on his lips. The wolf approached the bed, looking up at Constantine with its crimson eyes.
“Do you want to eat?” Constantine asked, glancing down at the tiny animal, wondering momentarily how he should train it. He would need to consult the data in his implant for that.
The wolf tilted its head sideways, its crimson eyes glowing. Constantine pondered their significance. “Why are they glowing? Maybe it’s using mana to infuse them,” he murmured, his thoughts drifting back to his idea from earlier that morning. At first, he thought it might be risky to infuse his eyes with mana, but on second thought, it seemed feasible. ‘I’ve already done it with my heart and most of my inner organs, and there was no damage.’
Constantine stared into the wolf’s eyes, biting his lip before chuckling. ‘If something goes wrong, I would still have the second eye,’ he mused jokingly, recalling the manual he had read earlier. ‘I think there was something onto this topic? Implant, search the cultivation manual for it.’
<<<<<<>>>>>>
Senses Purification Technique: During the Purification substage of the Body Refining Stage, a cultivator can, in addition to purifying their internal organs, also purify their eyes, nose, tongue, and ears to improve their senses.
QI Sight Technique: During the Muscle Infusion substage of the Body Refining Stage, a cultivator can infuse their eyes with QI, gaining the power to perceive the QI around them.
<<<<<<>>>>>>
Disappointment flickered across his face. But then he grinned. ‘Although I am only at the peak of the second substage, and I do not plan to continue to the third substage to infuse my muscles, there’s nothing stopping me from borrowing this bit. These substages are just artificial constructs, to some degree.’ Although it would be unreasonable to practice the entire third stage as it would take too much of his time, he could at least infuse a selected few parts.
‘A jack of all trades will always end up mediocre or even subpar in everything.’ He sighed, knowing that if he truly wanted to focus his efforts on forming his core and raising the quality of his mana, that he couldn't afford to waste too much time on infusing his muscles.
‘This is worth the extra time and mana. If I could see mana, then I could gain more insight onto it.’ He closed his eyes, steeling himself. The heat rose within him like a tidal wave, surging through his veins. His eyes flared with light that shone straight through his eyelids, shining like a pair of stars. He gritted his teeth in pain, mana blinding him with flashing lights.
The wolf whimpered beside him, as Constantine screamed in pain. Gradually, the pain dulled, leaving him gasping for air, the glow in his eyes growing dimmer and dimmer. Finally, he punched the floor, extinguishing the lights. Panting, sweat soaking his hair and clothes, he remained still, his closed eyelids twitching uncontrollably.
When he finally opened his eyes, the colors were more vivid and sharper than ever. He could see details in the wooden floor’s texture he hadn’t noticed before. The world had been dull without him even realizing it. It was as if he were a patient with an eye deficit, opening his eyes for the first time after surgery.
Frantically looking around, as if searching for something, he let out a disappointed sigh. ‘My vision improved a bit, but there is no mana. At least, I think.’ He didn’t even know how mana was supposed to look, but he was sure he couldn’t see it. ‘It looks like just purifying them isn’t enough. It will take longer than a single session.’
He staggered, realising the absurdity of the technique and its nonsensicalness. ‘To purify my eyes to improve my sight makes sense, but how is infusing them with mana supposed to make me able to see mana?’
He snorted, feeling it was a bit too unlikely. ‘Just because one bombards their eyes with infrared light wouldn’t make them suddenly adapt to see it.’ He shook his head. ‘No, I must keep my mind open. This mana is an entirely new concept. I shouldn’t fall into the trap of seeing everything through the lenses of my old world’s understanding.’
He thought further of how just pumping mana into his muscles made them stronger. ‘It shouldn’t work like that. If I pumped electricity into them, I wouldn’t magically get stronger, even though it was an extra energy source.’ His eyes lit up in amazement at the sudden realization. ‘What if the local lifeforms, potentially on the cellular level, are evolved to utilize this mana? Mana-based organisms? Like the life on Earth evolved to utilize the abundant oxygen and carbon to their maximum?’
It was an interesting thought, especially if he considered that humans, demigods, animals, and monsters had to have common ancestors at some point. ‘Could it be that there are dormant genes in humans that awaken under the influence of fuel, mana in this case? Like human’s bodies changing in puberty under the new hormones? Something that was already there, just inactive?’
Although he wanted to ponder and think of the mysteries of the cosmos, he calmed his beating heart. ‘I can’t allow myself to get carried too deep with theorizing. I need to know how to do certain things, not why they work that way. That is too far ahead.’ He knew that if he got stuck on theories now, he might never live long enough to witness if they were true or false. For now, he most importantly needed to gain power to protect himself and perhaps stall his aging. If he got killed by some dumb, random bandit, all his knowledge and theories would be for naught.
Thinking of a metaphor from his previous life, he nodded. ‘I just need the equivalent of simple Newtonian gravity; I do not need to go into complex models like quantum gravity and the theory of relativity to describe how gravity works.’
A whimpering sound drew him back to reality. The small wolf was pressing its head against the floor, its tail tucked between its legs. Constantine let out a sigh at that. “Hey, what’s wrong? You’re supposed to be a big bad wolf, but you’re acting like a scared poodle.”
The wolf perked up slightly, its ruby-like fluorescent eyes looking at him. Constantine’s hand gently ruffled the creature's fur, trying to comfort it. “Sigh, I must really start training you,” he murmured, feeling a pang of responsibility.
“What are you looking for?” He noticed that the wolf didn’t retreat, instead kept intently watching Constantine. He scratched his head, feeling a bit awkward under the scrutiny. Following the crimson gaze, he noticed it was aimed for the pouch on his belt.
‘So this is it? It really is hungry.’ He sighed, already feeling tired, and rubbed his temples. The maintenance of a predator like that wouldn’t come cheap. Albeit a bit unwilling, he opened the pouch, taking out a small rabbit core. The wolf, its tail swaying, opened its mouth.
‘The bestiary was correct, monsters do really feed on monster cores.’ His dismay at losing the core quickly turned into an excited gleam in his eyes. He could watch and observe how the monster absorbed the core. ‘I might gain some insight out of this. Implant, start recording.’
He tossed the core. The wolf leaped forward with surprising agility, catching it mid-air. Then, swallowing it in one piece, it landed back on the ground. Its eyes burned, and its dark fur swayed like in the invisible wind. The shadows prolonged, the light seemingly vanishing. Constantine, watched wide-eyed. There was no glow he associated with him absorbing cores. Instead, the wolf laid down, closing its eyes as if just asleep.
Meanwhile, Constantine’s heart drummed. He couldn't feel any sudden spike in the wolf's aura; there was no excess radiation. ‘This efficiency! It is much better when compared to me!’ He almost couldn't believe how much energy he was always forced to vent; it was a painful waste.