From morning till noon, Ace cultivated alongside Bao Feng, whom he was pretty sure was cultivating much faster than he was. Even with that said, he tried to not pay too much attention to the other man’s success.
Which, he found wasn’t challenging as he didn’t mind cultivating once he’d gotten used to it. Yeah, it took copious amounts of time and effort, but Ace didn’t feel any of that as time ticked by outside his body.
He was cut off from the outside world while opening new meridians and the like, but ironically, Ace still felt more in tune with natural forces pushing and pulling the world around while in a strictly spiritual state.
As he fell deeper into the spiritual domain, the rushing, carefree aspects of the cold wind of the mountains struck him with abundance. It was as if the wild, joyful, and guiding wind beckoned him to follow their wishes. Maybe, if he wasn’t so laser-focused on the tasks at hand, he would have let out some thoughts of appreciation at the one-of-a-kind experience, but even so, he still subconsciously admired it.
Distinctly unlike when Ace had sought out Darkness Qi back in his old cave, it wasn’t anything near a stressful experience. Whereas before, Darkness had only followed his will with thoughts of consumption, gluttony, and emotions densely packed with wantingness; this time, the wind was the one calling out to him, taking the lead in guiding him to the entryway to his meridians, uncoerced in the fullest.
As the massive wad of Wind Qi weaved its way into an unopened meridian, a wave of pain resounded throughout Ace’s mind. However, after having done the ordeal many, many, times that day, he scarcely paid any attention to it. Briefly, he felt a burst of enthusiasm as the Qi settled in his dantian. New high score again. 1, 2, 3… not too shabby. 8 motes.
Ace calculated his total motes for the session in a flash.
In total, he gained 18 brand new Qi motes, while on the flip side, he opened 11 new meridians.
One thing Ace had noticed was that finding Darkness Qi was a lot more of a test of skill than it was in the dim cave. Out in the open like this, there wasn’t much in terms of shadows or darker areas. However, the tundra also brought an increased ease of latching onto Ice Qi.
Core Qi Composition: Darkness - 40.3% Ice - 49.3% Wind - 10.4%
Darkness had taken an obvious hit as he had only been lucky to get two motes. The Wind Qi stat was a cool addition to go along with his new achievement, though.
Achievement Unlocked: Tri-Core
+1 Spirit
(T2) Spirit 1 > 2
This time, Ace didn’t bother reading the description that went along with it, already certain it was going to be the same explanation with a bit more ass-patting that ended with the System droning on and on about how dangerous having three elements was.
But, Bao Feng had washed away any of his concerns about a Qi-type devouring another. Paraphrasing his words, as long as he gathered Qi that matched his major affinities, Ace would be in the clear. Primarily because when the System mentioned ‘vastly more attuned,’ in its explanation of a dual-core, it meant it with a quadruple exclamation point.
Anyway, the summarization of his gains was as follows:
Level: Meridian Opening: Progress 10.85%
Sub-Level: Qi Gathering: Progress .77%
In his royally humble opinion, the progress wasn’t too fucking bad. He had leaped roughly a percentage point in the meridian opening category and, if he kept up the pace or better, he would be finished with the main stage in about three to six months.
However, this timeline was highly contingent on his consistency with cultivating because it’d take much more time if he deviated from cultivation every day.
But, Ace didn’t plan for it to pan out that way.
He shoved his straying thoughts aside when he saw Bao Feng start shaking all the snowflakes resting on him. He perked up and inquired. “How did it go? I have Wind Qi in my arsenal now and I also heard those, uhh, voices of the element, or whatever, again.”
Bao Feng shrugged. “It went per usual,” He pressed his lips together, thinking. “Isn’t Wind your second highest affinity? It would account for you hearing the Voice of Wind.”
Ace gave a ‘yeah,’ and the other man expanded on his thoughts. “Okay, then, here is what I am thinking,” He paused for a moment. “I believe you have very high affinities for Darkness and Wind, but from what else I have seen of you, most likely you have middling or slightly above average talent with Ice and Metal, just letting you know.”
Ace nodded, not caring too much about his likely average affinities; instead, he asked. “How uncommon is hearing those weird voices, which are more of strong feelings to me, but whatever?”
“It’s rare enough that I am confident you would be drafted into the army for, ‘academic teaching,’ then transferred to the frontlines to fight the Hondu for the kingdom. So, if you could do me a favor, try not to let anyone know how good your affinities are for Darkness and Wind.”
“Sure, bro. Maybe I can make some meridian imprints for Ice and Metal once I unlock it, and pretend to have those elements, exclusively. What do you think?”
Bao Feng approved the idea. “Perfect, try to make some more imprints if you will, tonight, if feasible. With Ice Qi, obviously.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Ace agreed.
After their quick discussion, Bao packed up all of his items and they continued their journey south. They had a long way to go.
----------------------------------------
The wind picked up later in the evening and he watched as the beautiful sunset disappeared into the horizon, dreaming about another world closer to home. In times like these, undisturbed by anything but the quiet rustling of the dead trees brushing up against each other Ace remembered everything he had unintentionally left behind.
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I hope someone didn’t find me slumped out on the bed, he grimly thought.
The rustling grew a bit louder in the background.
Fucking hell, at least I didn’t have to finish college or work a nine-to-five to make a living. Now, I get to do magic.
Ace debated using his ability for a second but decided not to with his friend nearby.
I guess he’s more of a mentor than a friend. He is crazy old after all, but who’s to say he can’t be bo— FUCK!
Pain magnitudes more terrifying than opening meridians screamed out from his left shoulder as a huge chunk of flesh was ripped out of his body. Jagged, blood-stained teeth gleamed in the side of his vision from the final vestiges of light that barely remained.
Panic took over him as he ran straight forward, whirling his head to face the threat as he did so. The dark silhouette of a gigantic, ragged beast blotted out the path behind them. The chest was marred with dark maroon blood he could see and hear dripping, disgustingly pairing with the smell of raw flesh.
I’m going to die here.
Not a single thought of somehow surviving this horrible conundrum even flittered through his brain.
Suddenly, the cool and collected voice of Bao Feng reached his ears, ordering him. “Ace, use your imprint, it can see in the night, but it won’t be able to see through your darkness. Make it as big as you possibly can and I will handle the rest.”
Ace tried finding the source of the voice in front of him but gave up when he only caught the subtle waving of a blue ribbon attached to the spear Bao Feng had been holding the day they met.
He activated his ability hastily, pouring every last drop of his Darkness Qi into the technique.
Instantly, a plume of darkness, blacker than night contagiously spread across Ace’s visual purview and beyond, into the range of his spiritual senses, which he was too flustered to analyze for more details.
For a period that felt much longer than it was, nothing happened. The trees stopped rustling, the wind stopped pounding, everyone stopped moving, and the only audible sound was the beating of his heart.
What Ace saw next was something he would never forget.
A ray of cobalt lightning with golden flashes pierced through the black void obscuring his vision, illuminating the entire forest, and highlighting the visage of a grizzled white and black wolf with crimson eyes. Then, a spear brimming with arcs of lightning brighter than the sun collided with that same beast.
Piercing cleanly through the bloody jaw of the beast, the silver spear rocketed out the back of the wolf, who was turned from a malevolent menace into a shrieking pup in no time at all.
Splotches of rancid blood and shards of bone shrapnel exploded out from the corpse, putting head-sized indents into the tough bark of the trees and almost grazing Ace in the process.
The light disappeared, once more casting his world into the shadows.
“Let me see your shoulder.”
Ace jolted, having seen no sign of Bao during the collision and definitely not now.
Without uttering any meaningless words, he presented his gruesome injury to his friend as best he could without seeing him.
A second later. “Drink,” He commanded, shoving a potion of some sort in his hands.
Ace accepted the offering, chugging down the small glass. He quickly came to regret his lack of asking for more details when his flesh began mending with pain akin to being bitten all over again accompanying the healing
“Agh, fuck,” He groaned.
He listened to Bao Feng spin around, boots scraping against the snow.
And, although he didn’t have any idea of it, Bao Feng was looking through the pitch-blackness like it was as clear as day. He stood, rigidly facing the corpse of his slain foe.
He growled at Ace. “That,” He most likely pointed to a place he couldn’t see based on the pause in his sentence. “Was a Yin-Yang Wolf. I don’t know what the fuck it’s doing out here, though.”
“Uhmm, I don’t know either-” He clutched his shoulder as it finished knitting together. “I don’t know either, but you sure did beat that thing to a pulp, so great job,” He sincerely complimented.
“Thank you,” Bao Feng curtly said, before striding through the darkness, vanishing from his senses.
Ace heard him call out. “Oh, and try to dispel this darkness for yourself. Just put a lot of willpower into it. It shouldn’t be hard for you.”
He grouched. “Hello, I just got molested by a fucking wolf and you're already going away?” He didn’t hold his grudge for long, though.
“Just fucking go away!” He whisper-shouted to the darkness, which to his surprise, worked.
Ace felt a rush of Qi flow into his meridians unprovoked. The Qi felt drained of its usual energy, but still had the signature feel of his Qi as it settled in his dantian.
Notifications began welling up ahead of him:
Partial Achievement Unlocked: Defeat a Magical Beast
+ .2 Strength
(T1) Strength 5.5 > 5.7
Partial, Ace chuckled, I didn’t do shit except make a big cloud.
Achievement Unlocked: Dire Straits
+1 Toughness
(T1) Toughness 3 > 4
Huh, what-
After he read the notifications, it felt like a hammer had sufficiently hammered him and that his muscles had strenuously extended beyond their usual proportions. It was the classic sign of growth for his physical attributes, but it hardly fazed him after what he’d been through.
Ace tapped his dire straits achievement, interested in the details.
The Dire Straits achievement is awarded to those who have survived a near-death experience as a result of a magical beast attack or other sentient lifeforms.
Ace remarked. “Well, yeah, I guess that explains it.”
With a heave of exertion, he straightened up and began approaching the corpse of the splayed-out wolf, covered in its filthy remains, before he stopped mid-step because of Bao Feng.
The man’s eyes, which, until now, Ace hadn’t realized how exotically blue they were, were strangely unfocused, scanning around him with signs of unease.
“What?” He called out, shifting side to side uncomfortably.
Bao Feng simply answered, seemingly amazed. “You made it go away.”
Confusedly, he said. “Uhm, yep. That’s what you said to do, right?”
He looked at him, before opening and closing his mouth, two times. After that, he kept a soulless stare locked on his person. Finally, right when Ace was about to intervene and say something, Bao declared. “I think it’s time we talked… genuinely talked… about your affinities.”
Oh, damn.