With his eyes closed and mana sense open, Gust saw a strange scene. His black eye saw nothing but a maroon fire growing larger, his mind saw a mass of mana the same color growing around the flames.

But as he cultivated, the cloud of strange mana formed numerous vortexes as it was sucked into Gust’s body, carrying tendrils of fire with it.

The flames on the rock were the first to dim and fade away. The effect spread over the bear as it ceased burning, but Gust felt anxiety building as he worried how it would affect him. Gust expected to feel like he was burning from the inside out. He thought of the pain the bear experienced just before it died.

Instead, the energy seemed to sap all the heat from Gust’s body as it raced toward his core. He shivered and breathed out a puff of vapor, but he didn’t stop. Gust’s maroon core absorbed the mana and it’s glow brightened tenfold. Then his eyes burst open as something strange happened.

The dark maroon mana which entered his core exited just as quickly. Except now, it was the light blue color of pure mana. Gust’s mana base refilled at an alarming rate and his jaw dropped.

The flames spurted up again and Gust restarted. Despite using his mana stores in the fight, Gust’s soul quickly filled and reached its limit. He could barely breath, but the fire wasn’t gone, yet. With a final push, Gust let out a deep growl and sucked in the rest of the flames.

Something popped within him, and two lines of bright blue energy began to spread. They appeared on either side of his heart, grew upwards and connected with the pathways running down his arms, then continued up to the base of his skull.

The new pathways dimmed, then snapped into place and thrummed with energy as Gust felt a storm of mana dominating his body. He grew tired as he fought to contain the strange maroon mana, worried that the flames might return, but he let the pure mana dissipate. Even if he wanted to push toward his next meridian, his body was exhausted.

Meanwhile, as soon the danger had passed, Philo helped stabilize her brother. He was still bleeding from several places, but much slower. Her own left leg was deeply cut, otherwise she would have picked him up and ran to the village. She would kill anyone who turned them away.

If only she could run.

Instead, she turned to figure out what in the hell Gust was doing. The boy stood over the bear’s body which seemed to be disappearing. Gust said something about a fire that might burn down the forest, but Philo only saw a strange darkness which resisted even her Mana Singularity Sense.

The bear, and an area a few feet around it, was fading away. It was like a dark cloud grew out of that beast and consumed everything around it.

Then the damn mage started cultivating of all things! “Is now really the time?” She asked, but Gust ignored her.

While she watched, the darkness flowed into Augustus as if he was cultivating it.

Philo made a face that mixed disgust and confusion as she took a few steps closer and stopped. Gust wasn’t just cultivating, he was advancing. She gaped while his second set of meridians opened.

Within his soul, Philo found something that horrified her. The emptiness that she noticed when they first met suddenly absorbed the darkness that consumed the bear and transformed it into mana.

For a moment, she felt disgust and flung her hands up to shield herself from whatever this boy was. “A Demon?” she wondered.

Then she saw the tattoos that began on her fingers, spread up her arms, and then throughout her body. The fools who saw those unfamiliar markings had similar feelings of fear towards her.

Philo clenched her teeth and fought down the anxiety that told her to run. She and Myles would be dead right now if it weren’t for this boy. At the very least, she owed him the benefit of the doubt. She kept her distance and made sure no more predators approached while Gust cultivated pure darkness.

For his own part, Gust was fighting to remain focused. He was beyond thrilled to find that he had already reached the next level, but there were some feelings of apprehension deep in his heart.

Gust already had to lie about his advancement when he suddenly appeared at the Pathway Establishment stage. Every step was supposed to take more time than the one before it. They lasted years, not weeks. This would only bring more attention at a time when Gust wanted to lie low.

The other problem was the fact that Gust had absolutely no understanding of what was occurring. His core created the flames which consumed this beast, and Gust found that he was able to cultivate the mana it released, but that still taught him very little.

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When it was over, all that was left of the huge bear was a small, teal core of mana. It had burned like anything else, but the flames died down before consuming it.

Gust was covered in a thick black ichor which smelled horrible. He now knew enough about cultivation to realize it was his body expelling impurities as it improved. He looked within himself and stared at the new pathways carrying mana and Gust grinned.

“What the fuck just happened?” Philo asked.

“I reached the second level of Pathway Establishment,” he replied glibly. Gust reached up with his right arm and found that the injury had healed. He sucked in a deep breath and let it out with a smile. When Philo gave him a fearful look, he admitted, “I don’t know what I did either, but we’ll figure it out later. What’s this?” he asked as he bent down and lifted the small core of mana into his hand. All around it, the ground was covered in ash and burnt grass.

“That’s the beast’s core. It held the bear’s cultivation. Does your school not teach you about the outside world?” Philo asked in a suspicious tone.

“I’ve just never seen one before,” Gust replied quickly. The core was like a marble an inch or two in diameter. It rolled in his palm as he held it toward Philo. “You take it. I don’t need it.”

Philo snorted and put her hands on her hips. “I’ll say. You just burst through your second meridian like an arrow piercing a leaf! Are you sure you don’t know what you did? Because you sure as hell seemed to know what you were doing.”

Gust gritted his teeth and pointed toward his black eye. “Something within me created those flames, but it was just mana. When I realized that, I knew I could use it. But that’s not important. Right now, we need to get Myles some help.”

Philo hadn’t seen any flames. She didn’t understand what she was hearing, but there was more on her mind than curiosity. She limped over to her brother and then looked up at Gust. “You have to take him,” she said, “to the village. If it’s a… mage taking him, maybe they won’t turn you away.”

Gust shook his head. “You know I can’t read maps to save my life, never mind someone else’s. Point me in the direction of my school. It’s closer, anyway. Er, I think.” He raised an eyebrow, and Philo confirmed it. She bit her lip and Gust knew she didn’t want to accept help from the school her former tormentor might belong to.

But she didn’t have any other choice.

Gust lifted Myles into his arms. The man was surprisingly light for his size and Gust worried about how much blood Myles had already lost.

Before he could leave, Philo grabbed his wrist. She wouldn’t meet his eyes as she asked, “Are you a Demon? You’re eye… that darkness… it’s the only explanation.”

Gust hated that moniker, but there was no time to explain the true origin of his black eye. He nodded grimly and held both eyes open as he stared into Philo’s firm gaze.

“If you don’t bring him back to me… I will kill you,” Philo said as tears ran down her cheeks.

With one last look, and the promise that he wouldn’t fail her, Gust sprinted toward the School of Fallen Leaves.

***

Along the way, Gust concocted a story.

While using his mana sense to search for goldenseal, Gust stumbled upon a man being attacked by a beast.

After a long struggle, the pair of men managed to defeat it and Gust devoured the core that held the beast’s cultivation. The mana contained therein allowed him to reach the next level of Pathway Establishment in record time.

Not a word of Philo’s existence would pass his lips.

When he arrived at the sect, Gust relayed this version of events to a guard who only grew interested when he realized Gust had advanced while he was gone. He had some trouble believing that someone of Gust’s cultivation could defeat even the weakest beast, but there was an enigmatic air around the Demon which made his story easier to accept.

Myles was given a bed in the alchemy ward, where a mage began work on him. His low cultivation state meant pills would be too dangerous, but Gust witnessed something else that astonished him.

Healing magic.

The woman who performed the spell, an older student named Henrietta, explained it to him while she worked. “Healing mortals is actually very simple. Mages can simply take cultivation pills and cycle their mana. As long as their bodies aren’t too far gone, that would be enough. He can’t do the same, but I can simulate that process using my own mana very carefully.” She scanned Gust’s cultivation quickly and her brow furrowed as she saw the darkness within him. She recovered quickly and said, “See for yourself.”

Myles and Henrietta’s bodies were sharing a cycle of mana. Her hands were placed with extreme care over Myles’ abdomen and heart as she poured mana into his body, cycled it to the locations that most needed it, and then back up to herself.

Myles began to breathe heavily and sweat profusely, but the wounds on his leg sealed. Flesh began to reknit itself over white bone and Gust almost wanted to look away. Before it was completely healed, however, Henrietta let out a long breath and stumbled backward.

“It… takes a few rounds… of healing sometimes. He’s lucky you made it here in time, the boy’s lost a lot of blood. He’ll need to rest for about a week, but he’ll be alright.” She said with a pat on Gust’s back.

Gust’s eyebrows shot up. “A week? You fixed him up in a few seconds!”

Henrietta chuckled. “Ah, that’s right. You’re the Demon. The mana I’m putting into your friend’s body isn’t healing him, per se. It’s stimulating his own body to fix itself, including by generating flesh and blood over the ruined area. Normally, a full recovery like that would take months. Making his body do it in such a short time will retain use of the leg but take a gigantic toll. Even when he’s back on his feet, he'll need help walking. Don’t worry, we’ll take care of him,” she smiled.

Gust bowed his head politely and clasped his hands over his chest. Then, he slipped out quietly.

When he left the alchemy ward, Gust headed straight for the south gate. His increased cultivation meant he could travel faster than ever, and he didn’t want Philo to spend the next week thinking about how she might kill him. Oddly, the thought put a wry smile on Gust’s face.

He only took a few steps before Masters Ephraim and Christos landed before him. Without a word, Ephraim took out a flying sword and indicated for Gust to get on. Mere moments later, the three were alone in a remote part of the forest.