Chapter 12: Argument with a Demon Wolf

Uzman had been following energy flows as he gathered herbs. The skills he had learned from his grandfather came in handy. It felt like another lifetime since he had accompanied the old man into Vinaya forest curious about herbs and demons. He smiled at how his life continued to follow the steps charted long ago. Instead of using a spear, he had transitioned into a glaive though the principles were the same.

The crack of a twig warned Uzman that danger was afoot. He turned quickly and was nearly disemboweled by a vicious swipe from a lunging bearcat. Uzman dove left rolling to his feet and dropping his glaive. He reoriented to face the cat. The animal stood 5 feet high at the withers, baring its 4-inch-long canines. Uzman could see thick saliva coagulating in the bared mouth as the cat growled menacingly. His heart beat fast, and a thin film of sweat trickled down his back.

It took all of his resolve not to turn and run. This was the first time he was face to face with an animal trying to take his life. He evened his breathing to fight the fear, carefully watching the circling cat. When the cat lunged, Uzman augmented his body with earth dodged the claws, and punched out wildly. The blow connected with a loud crunch, caving in the head of the cat immediately. The fight had taken less than 15 seconds.

Uzman was trembling with adrenalin as he stared at the dead animal, reading its energy flows as they dimmed; he realized that it was only a Rank one beast. No wonder his earth-empowered punch had caved its skull. He processed the kill and stored it in the pendant. It would fetch him a few coins.

Uzman retrieved his glaive from where it had fallen. He had spent two weeks training with the weapon and at the first sign of danger, he had dropped it. He continued foraging gathering different types of herbs as he went deeper into the forest. He was careful to advance slowly using his energy sense to scan the surrounding area in case of an ambush. Master Khalid had explained to him that all living things extruded a film of Chi that can be used to assess their level and notice their presence.

Just before the sun was about to set, Uzman realized he was being stalked. He could feel malevolent eyes watching him. He stopped advancing into the forest and decided to move back toward his camp and spend the night near the river.

As he came within sight of the river a loud howl split the air. He turned and saw the biggest wolf he had ever seen lounging between two trees. Uzman noted the glowing red eyes proclaiming the identity of the beast as a demon wolf. Uzman stopped and braced himself. He was determined to make a better showing this time around.

The massive wolf stalked forward, baring its teeth in a low growl. The canines were a full five inches. Uzman noted these details fleetingly as he enhanced himself with fire; choosing mobility over strength. As the wolf pounced, Uzman dodged left and thrust towards the exposed flank. The wolf howled in pain and rage and turned to face him. Uzman harried it moving fast and scoring many hits. Unfortunately, the hits were only drawing blood angering the wolf, and failing to do any serious damage.

As the fight continued, the wolf became more vicious and attacked incessantly not caring about safety. Uzman managed to just keep out of the reach of the flashing claws and teeth. However, as he moved backward, he tripped on a root and lost his balance. The wolf pounced on him burying its claws in his navel while its mouth went for his throat. His last thought as his head connected with the ground was that at least he had died bravely.

A few moments later, Uzman regained consciousness covered in the gore of a demon wolf. Luckily, he had braced his glaive as the wolf pounced and the wide tip had pierced its heart killing it instantly. His hauberk had borne the impact of the claws reducing the damage. However, he had suffered multiple broken bones and his body felt as if it had been run through a grinder. He heaved and pushed the dead wolf off of him and drew a painful breath. He circulated wood Chi through his meridians reducing his injuries and then took a healing pill. Uzman closed his eyes and started meditating as the healing took effect.

A few hours later Uzman was feeling much better and rose from his meditation trance. He processed the wolf and extracted its demon core. He had faced a Rank 2 demon beast and lived to tell the tale. Barely.

When Uzman relayed his encounter with the demon wolf to Master Khallif, the waves of laughter streaming through the book were almost palpable. ‘It is a successful hunt if you come back alive. We need you to remain alive, but you can only do so if you face danger and learn from it.’ ‘That encounter will make you stronger. During my time, a man was not considered a warrior until he killed a demon beast that was higher in Rank than him. You can therefore consider yourself a warrior in the martial path. Congratulations.’

Uzman spent the rest of his time training advanced forms against the golem. He had gained a sense of urgency from his near-death experience. He now appreciated the injuries he received from the golem as they would keep him alive. He continued cultivating Chi, strengthening his meridians, and managed to open more meridians. By the time he returned to the Academy, he had opened 10 meridians. To advance to Rank 2, he needed to condense his Chi once more and open at least two more meridians.

‘Master Khallif, can you create a similar list of the weapons and armor in the storage device and their attributes?’ Uzman asked. ‘Why do you need the information?’ ‘I would like to give some of them to my friends from the Clans. They have been steadfast and may benefit from the weapons attuned to an individual affinity.’ ‘OK. It is always a good idea to strengthen one’s allies. However, watch them carefully. My trust was the main reason for my downfall.’

The list contained weapons enough to outfit 200 warriors. Most of the weapons required Rank three users who could actively project their Chi to enhance damage output. the list contained a category of weapons that were written in bold with captions to indicate their importance. There were two heirlooms of the Bear and Raven clans that had been wielded by their war leaders who had stood with the Guardian in the final engagement.

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At the academy, Uzman found that the other students in his cohort had progressed to using weapons. They had been actively drilling with weapons in preparation for the coming ranking tournament when the houses would be redistributed. Additionally, all students were trying to increase their strength in anticipation of the lifting of the ban on open challenges.

Uzman went looking for his friends and found them sitting outside Kenzo’s house. They were having a heated debate about the merits of weapons and did not see him advance.

“Everybody knows that the sword is the weapon of warriors, it is easy to wield and access in an emergency.’ Argued lady Tameria. “Spoken like a true noble” Chided Jurdur. “Have you ever faced a charging beast with a sword?” Kenzo asked. “It is useless when your life is on the line.”

“Ah, the prodigal son returns. Where have you been we missed you.” Fatima spoke pointing at Uzman. Kenzo turned quickly almost spilling the tea she was holding. However, it was the reaction of Lady Tameria that surprised him the most. She moved quickly and gave Uzman a fierce hug, clinging closer than it was considered appropriate. Realizing what she had done, she blushed furiously and punched him in the chest. ‘You scared me, I thought a demon wolf killed you.” She scolded stepping away from Uzman.

“It was closer than you know”, Uzman answered enigmatically as he went around shaking hands and hugging his friends. “Wait… What? Did you fight a demon wolf? Jurdur asked raising his brows. “For the price of a cup of tea, I will tell you the story,” Uzman answered.

Uzman sat with his friends outside enjoying the ambiance of the setting sun as he regaled them with his escapades in the forest. “You should not do that again.” Kenzo admonished. “You are not supposed to go past the Zone 1 area unless in a team of 5 and accompanied by a Rank 3 adept.” Admonished Lady Tameria. “I wish I was there.” Jurdur lamented. “Don’t encourage him.” Fatima scolded Jurdur. Uzman realized that he had missed the good-natured bantering of his friends. He had grown in power and skill over the four weeks he had been training. He knew he would continue doing so, but was content for now basking in the warmth of their friendship.

Uzman retrieved the demon wolf core and pellet from his storage ring to show his friends. “You have a storage device? I am so jealous. We have to rely on Kenzo.” shouted Fatima. “I thought you came from the fringes of humanity. Aren’t you full of surprises.” Lady Tameria added. “You guys are more knowledgeable about adventurers and cultivators. How should I go about selling these items? Uzman asked. “You can sell them to the Academy for points or to a merchant in the Academy Town. The Academy will take everything you have for points that can be converted to useful resources. On the other hand, the merchants may not take everything but will offer a better price.” Lady Tameria answered.

Jurdur accompanied Uzman as he went to the Academy shop to sell herbs and animal parts. The shop was buzzing with activity as the second-year class had resumed. Some were checking the notice board for quests to perform while others were sitting around catching up on events. Uzman and Jurdur entered the spacious shop and approached the counter.

“We were informed that we can sell herbs and beast parts here,” Uzman told the lady manning the counter. “You look like first years, have they started allowing you to venture into the forest.” The lady asked with the disdain of an upperclassman.“ “What do you have?” Another voice from inside the small room past the counter asked. “Ah, why have you been missing my classes? Madame Zubiya asked coming into view. “I had ventured into the forests outside the Academy for meditation and training. The energy out there is much higher.” Uzman answered. “I hope it was worthwhile. Show me what you have.” She ordered.

Uzman placed the herbs he had gathered in the forest on the counter and the parts of the animals he had killed. “This is interesting! I can see you have a natural talent for gathering herbs and an eye for quality and preservation. The bearcat will provide good meat for the kitchens. The demon meat is worthless. But the core, pellet, and fangs will be useful.” Madame Zubiya did some calculations and informed them that the haul would fetch 1200 points due to the value of the Rank 2 demon core. He bought 12 minor healing pills at 100 points each. Uzman had come to appreciate the importance of healing pills from the injuries he suffered when training.

One day before the tournament, Uzman gathered the Northerners in his house. He had decided to inform them part of the story about his heritage and provide them with more resources. “What I am about to tell you should be held in confidence. If word was to get out, I would be hunted by strong cultivators for the resources I have. Additionally, it would alert the Imperials about the existence of items that would lead to danger for me.” Uzman informed his friends. “I trust each of you since the information may be relevant to the clans.”

“As you all know, I grew up in a small village in the south and came here after it was razed and the occupants murdered. As my grandfather died he gave me this pendant and informed me of my real name. After Prazard almost killed me, the pendant was activated by my blood and contains the Dragon Fire Clan Legacy.” There was a letter informing me that it could only be opened by a descendant of the blood and that I was to use the resources to become strong enough to safeguard the clan. The resources are mainly for stronger cultivators at Rank 3 and 4. However, there are also a lot of techniques and memory training stones. The majority of the items, however, are for fire practitioners.

The room had grown silent as Uzman relayed his story. They all looked at him in awe as he informed them about the Legacy. “I will share the resources with you since I believe that they are meant for the clans. However, I would like you to contact your family to determine if there are any remnants of the Dragon Fire Clan.”

Kenzo was the first to find her voice. “That is incredible and hard to believe however much the evidence keeps piling up. I still cannot get around the fact that you are a true descendant.” “What do you mean by true descendant? Uzman asked. “In the clans, it is widely accepted that they all originated as offshoots of the Dragon Fire Clan. Only those who are true descendants can channel blue dragon fire. The Sting Ray, Raven, and Bear clans are offshoots. No one alive has ever met a true descendant. The old stories hold that it is through a true descendant that the clans will rise and attain their former glory when a Guardian finally walks Tanga.”

“Another thing I wanted to talk to you guys about. My training has progressed apace even though I was the weakest student when I arrived. Jurdur and Fatima are still in the middle meridian rank while Kenzo is at the late stage- “you can see the levels of cultivators?” Fatima cut Uzman off before he could finish.“ “I thought that only happens when a person reaches the Third Rank?” Jurdur asked looking at Kenzo. “She shrugged”

“I have opened my sense meridian allowing me to see the energy aura around people. I can thus gauge their strength, even though, I am still practicing.” Uzman answered. The Northerners agreed to keep the information secret and contact Kenzo’s father for further direction. Uzman shared his healing pills and provided them with an assortment of resources that were aligned with their paths.