Chapter 5

Frowning, Danny looked down at where the snare was supposed to be. A rabbit should not be able to do that. The stick that Danny had hammered into the ground as an anchor had been pulled out. The wire, and whatever was caught in it, was missing as well. The main benefit of using the wire for the snares was that it was reusable. His guide seemed to be able to conjure supplies out of thin air, but Danny didn’t have that luxury. Every piece of equipment mattered. Hopefully, the fairy would be merciful and give him a replacement.

Danny returned to the temple with only two rabbits in tow. His last three snares he had set yesterday had been uprooted. The guide looked at Danny’s haul. “Two isn’t terrible for your first attempt.” The fairy offered. Danny was surprised. That was the closest thing to praise he had ever received from the guide.

“Oh…thanks, sir. I ran into a bit of a problem.”

The guide waited for him to continue.

“Three of the snares I set broke. I am sure that I anchored them correctly, but they were missing. Taken.”

“Hm.” The guide considered that for a moment. “It is obvious that you know how to set a snare from your success with those two, so for now we will only practice trapping sparingly.” Danny nodded. “Now, Form Three. Start to finish.”

___________________________________________________________

The sky was painted the color of the sunset as Danny practiced in the courtyard. Falling Thunder. Danny slammed the end of the staff downward in an overhead strike. He caught it before it touched the ground. This was the last movement in Form Five. The final form of the Weeping Willow staff technique. [Would you like to learn skill: Weeping Willow Dances in the Wind (Staff Technique)?] The system message popped into Danny’s view. “I got it!” He exclaimed. For the past few days, Danny had been running through all five forms from beginning to end, over and over, trying to get this notification.

“Good. Accept.” Aspen said.

Danny thought “yes” and the window disappeared. He didn’t feel a change. “Did it do anything?”

“Why don’t you run through the First Form and see for yourself.”

Danny began to move through the form. It took no thought. Everything was muscle memory now. Before he would have to think about where he would place his feet next, or keeping the staff balanced, but the skill made all of that automatic. The only thing that Danny had to think about was what move to do next. So he danced. He transitioned through the form, combining the movements in a fluid choreography. Then he began to mix in moves from other forms. He began to see how they could fit together. Each move led to many others, and those led to even more potential options. Weaving Willow could lead to Building Gale. Building Gale could lead to any move from Form Two. And nearly all of them could end with Falling Thunder. The style seemed to hold endless possibilities and sequences. Now, Danny could see them.

“Wow…”

“Tomorrow, we will begin practical training,” Aspen interjected. “We have to bridge the gap between your mastery in practice and your failure in actual combat.” Ouch, Danny’s pride sunk a bit. “For now, get some rest.” He retired over to the prayer mat he had claimed to begin his nightly cultivation. Aspen floated into the library, he seemed to spend most of his time there. Danny wondered what he was doing. No way he is reading all of the books in there, right?

He shook himself free of the thought. Before long, Danny was in that familiar trance. He felt the connection with the energy around him as he breathed with intention. Each breath pulled energy in from the surroundings and Danny directed it to eat at the blockages in his gates. Soon Danny thought, tomorrow I will break through the next set of gates. He was looking forward to it.

When Danny awoke in the morning he grabbed a set of five coils of wire from the supplies stashed in his room. There was practically everything you would need to survive in his little kit, one that the guide had mostly collected. Throughout the week that he had spent getting the Weeping Willow skill, Danny had been intermittently setting snares. It got to the point where four out of the five snares set would be pillaged. It didn’t surprise Danny at all when the fairy stopped him on his way out.

“Don’t bother. You aren’t getting any meaningful practice out of setting the snares anymore. It’s just a waste of supplies. Be ready in the courtyard in five.” Danny felt a knot in his stomach. Today was the start of practical training.

“Incoming.” The fairy flew out of the forest and into the courtyard. Danny saw the monster on his heels. Danny could tell by the long bushy tail and tawny pelt that this one had been disguised as a squirrel. He Identified. [Level 2 Vernian Horror]. Danny didn’t have time to dwell on the fitting name. He settled into Sun Rises on the Willow. His breath was shaky and goosebumps rose on his neck and arms. The sickening feeling in his stomach grew worse. “Now.” The guide commanded.

As if on cue, the monster leapt at Danny. The insectoid legs sailed through the air behind it. Its salivating leech-like mouth sought Danny’s blood. Snapping Branches. His body didn’t respond. Falling Thunder. Nothing. Weaving Willow! Danny found himself frozen. Eyes gazing into the abyss ringed with teeth heading towards him. “Oberon’s balls! What the hell are you doing, native!?”

The fairy shot over and grabbed the creature by the throat. A knife appeared in his hand in a flash of blue and he stabbed it into the monster’s midsection. Black blood dribbled from the wound. The Horror couldn’t even screech, its throat was locked in a vice grip. The spindly legs flailed in desperation. It went still. The guide dropped it to the ground and flicked the ichor from his blade. He looked over at Danny. “Again.”

And so the practical training went. Danny did not freeze helplessly again, but every time he made major mistakes, always resulting in the fairy stepping in to save him. They spent hours luring monsters to the courtyard only for Danny to fail to defeat them. It was exhausting and tensions were running high. Finally, it all came to a head.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

“We’re done here.” The guide said, “Go find something else to do. This is pointless.” Danny was a little startled at the fairy’s reaction. The guide waved his hand and each of the monster corpses littering the courtyard vanished. The exhaustion and stress of facing down monster after monster burst out.

“What am I supposed to do? You can’t expect me to become a monster-killing machine in a week! I already said I wasn’t going to fight anyway.” Danny grumbled the last part.

“How about you go find food. Plenty of daylight left. Maybe you can find some success with that.”

Danny scowled and stormed off into the forest.

___________________________________________________________

The only food Danny had was a few pieces of smoked rabbit. Not enough for a meal. It had been mortifying to return to the temple after storming off into the woods like that. About ten feet into the trees, Danny realized all of his supplies were still in his room. The only thing he had on him was the staff. That resulted in a shameful walk, but now he was out in the wilderness, searching for sustenance. He knew enough of the edible plants in the area that he was certain he could scrounge up enough to satisfy his hunger. His stomach gurgled. He had worked up quite the appetite from all the “practical training” today.

A warm yellow glow radiated from the small fire that Danny had built. It was still light out, and wasn’t particularly cold, but Danny had decided to practice his fire making. He figured it would be one of the most important survival skills when he was on his own. He had a couple of edible roots, and a few handfuls of edible berries to go with his measly portion of rabbit. Not a feast by any means, not even up to the standards of his usual meals this past week, but it would quell the pangs in his stomach for the night. Just as he began to tear into a tuber, he heard a disturbance in the leaves.

Danny readied himself. The memories of the morning’s training came back to him. The way he froze, terrified. The way his body wouldn’t listen to his commands. The way he failed. Every. Single. Time. Uncertainly, he held the staff in front of him, pointed in the direction of the noise. A wet black nose poke out of the green. Amber eyes with black pupils and a furry orange head followed. A [Level 5 Navigator Fox] stepped toward Danny.

Danny tightened his grip on the staff and shifted his feet. The little creature tensed and looked ready to run. If this is one of those shape-shifting horrors, it’s the highest level I’ve seen. Most of the monsters had been in the one to three level range. Danny knew that if this turned out to be a fake, his only option would be to flee. The fox backed away. Danny saw its ribs showing through its coat. Danny had wondered if the monsters were preying on the wildlife, and this fox seemed to be proof. The Horrors were killing the animals that the fox would normally hunt, and Danny’s trapping probably hadn’t helped. Unless…

“You were the one stealing the snares, weren’t you?” The fox eyed him carefully. Danny sighed. He had always been a sucker for animals. Danny tossed a piece from his dwindling supply of meat. The fox caught it in the air. It stared at Danny for a moment longer. Then, it darted back into the veil of plants, disappearing. Well, at least I know those snares weren’t feeding some random monster.

Tonight is the night. Danny was resolved. He sat on a prayer mat that he had moved outside into the courtyard. He was dressed in borrowed undergarments from the temple dormitories. To his sides were from the storeroom buckets he had filled with water from the stream and hauled back. Time to break through the next set of gates, get my class, and fix my Status page. This was one of the major goals that Danny and the guide had been aiming for besides his staff technique. The guide had explained that breaking through the next set of gates would force the System to deploy an update, and fix the errors on his Status. Normally you would just Level Up, but that wasn’t possible for him, not anymore. Danny began to regulate his breathing. The mystical mat improved his focus and concentration. In the two weeks that had passed since he arrived here, Danny had greatly improved both his ability to absorb Qi as well as his capacity. This was partly due to opening the Heart Gate, but also a substantial improvement had been made through the nightly practice.

Danny directed his Qi to compress down into a tight ball. It obeyed much more, now. The Qi still didn’t do exactly what he wanted it to, but it no longer felt like it was constantly slipping through his fingers. The feeling was similar to handling snow with mittens on. Sure you lacked dexterity and finesse, but for just moving and pushing things around, it was sufficient. Lungs burning and Core full, Danny began the hard part. He would have to create five “spouts” that the pressurized Qi would shoot out of and collide with the impurities sealing his gates. Just as he was about to start, Danny felt like he could squeeze in a little more. Clipped gasps of air drew in more Qi until Danny felt like he could hold no more. One, two, then four, and finally five streams of concentrated Qi blasted forth and collided with the gates. Danny had been steadily wearing away at them ever since he had broken through the Heart Gate, and he knew that he would make the final push here and now.

Blockages were being washed away as Danny kept firm control of his Qi, but the lack of finesse was showing itself. The streams assaulting the gates in his shoulders were getting too much output, while the Qi clearing the Gate of Breath was a dwindling spurt. Sweat began to collect on Danny’s brow as he struggled to even out the discrepancy. Constant focus was needed as Danny continued to make micro-adjustments to the flow of his Qi. After what felt like an eternity, and, at the same time, way too little time, his Core began to run dry. Danny could tell that he didn’t have it in him to refill his Core a second time today. If he didn’t clear the gates now, he would have to wait for tomorrow. It wasn’t the end of the world, there wasn’t a time crunch, but Danny really had his heart set on getting this done today. He needed to finally see his class, it had to be something good to get him a personal guide, Danny just knew it.

Rallying the last of his Qi, Danny squeezed. What he lacked in reserves he would have to make up for in power. Danny put even more pressure on the compressed Qi, more than he ever had before. His whole body shook with the effort of it. He could hear a low groaning. He realized it was himself. Just when it felt like he had nothing left to give the gates in his shoulders cracked. And blew open. With a second wind, Danny quickly cut off the flow to those gates and redoubled his efforts on the remaining three. The gate in the right hip shattered. The gate in his left soon followed. Danny gathered all the Qi he had left and focused it at one place. The Gate of Breath. Salty drops stung his eyes as Danny shouted in effort. Veins bulging, body quivering, Danny threw all he had left into breaking open the final gate. It worked. A single crack went up the center of the remaining blockage. Then the onslaught was too much. The seal shattered and the Gate of Breath was open at last. Danny took in a deep, exhausted breath.

It was like breathing for the first time. Danny felt a part of himself that he had never noticed was there before. It was like when you wake feeling refreshed and ready for the day, on steroids. His body felt full of energy and renewed strength. His mind, not so much. The weariness from breaking through made it hard to appreciate just how different his body felt. Adding to the stimulus…

[Breakthrough Detected. Updating Status. Anomaly Detected.]

[Patching System. System Error @!MX109E##. Patching System.]

[Patching Successful. Updating Status. Update Successful.]

[Displaying Status…]

Danny Moore

Awakening (6/17) Human Beastmaster

Bloodline: King of Beasts (Pure)

Body: 5 (8.5)

Qi: 5 (8.5)

Soul: 9 (15)

System Functions:

Identify, Soul Contract

Class Abilities:

Soul Bond, King’s Tribute

Skills (1 / 4):

Weeping Willow Dances on the Wind: Staff Technique