Samantha observed her regrowing fingertips with impatience, willing them to be whole faster. She missed her home and her family after two months away, and she could hardly wait to get back to them. By this point, she felt that she had enough of the Eastern Reaches to last her a lifetime.
About a week had passed since the encounter with the Spitting Viper, and in that time she had done her best to be productive despite the numerous injuries. After getting the rough cave defenses set back up she went out with Silas to forage and briefly stopped by the place where the River Deer herd had fallen. As expected however, scavengers had gotten to the carcasses first and not a trace of the felled spirit beasts remained. After harvesting all the edible plants they could, they had completely isolated themselves in the safety of the cave to wait things out until they were both fully recovered.
During this period of seclusion her cultivation base had finally gotten back to ‘normal’. Her new cycling pattern became fully self-sustaining and she now had a qi pool of 18 and a base qi regeneration rate of +0.8 qi/hour, or +1.6 qi/hour with [Sage’s Rumination]. In addition, every day that passed she felt the pain in her channels subsiding from her close brush with core overuse. She estimated that in another week she’d no longer feel discomfort from using any arts at all, but felt reluctant to utilize any spirit pearls again right away.
Samantha watched with relief as the last details began to reemerge from her healing flesh. When her nails finished growing in and her fingerprints took their rightful place on the pads of her fingers, she clapped her two hands together with vibrant glee. She whooped and cheered, punching the air with both fists and doing a cartwheel for good measure. She swore to herself she would never take her intact limbs for granted again.
One thing she had been putting off until she regrew her dominant hand was fashioning an outfit for herself for the trek back home. She was happy to finally be able to address the problem. She pulled the torn scraps of her robes out and arranged them, then grabbed her travel sewing-kit to try and recombine the pieces into a functional piece of clothing.
Though she certainly wasn’t bad at sewing, she also wasn’t a miracle worker. A couple of hours of fiddling with the material left her with a patchwork robe that was slightly too short. The bottom hem only came down to around her mid-thigh, and while it wouldn’t exactly be perceived by others as indecent, it was much more revealing than she would normally be comfortable with. Still, she was pleased enough to be wearing proper clothing again. Though it offered no real protection, she felt vulnerable without them.
Silas hopped over to her and took in her new attire. “You’ve got your false fur back! Glad not to be naked anymore?” he asked in a teasing tone.
Samantha smiled and huffed lightly, “I haven’t been walking around naked! I had small-clothes on–and I know that you remember that because we spent literal hours talking about clothing styles and underwear.”
He turned up his nose at her, “Not my fault you’re a bad teacher. Clothes don’t make sense!”
“Have you considered that you’re just a terrible student?” she retorted playfully, and he lightly butted his head into her calf in response.
During their ample downtime, she had been trying to teach Silas more about ‘human’ things. Language, laws, societal norms, and generally what to expect when they returned to town were some of the topics that she covered. Silas soaked up all the information she threw at him like a sponge–those that interested him, anyways. Beyond his mischievous and gluttonous nature, he was actually quite curious and clever.
Seeing him pick up new knowledge so quickly made her confront some uncomfortable truths about how she viewed spirit beasts. While it was easy enough to see Silas as an equal because of their relationship, it was difficult to think of other spirit beasts as anything more than animals. She had to admit to herself that it was possible that spirit beasts were not inherently less intelligent or capable than humans, just that they had completely different knowledge sets. This, in turn, made her question if the beasts she had slain during her time in the forest had been… more. It was also possible, however, that this ‘sapience’ was something Silas had gained after they formed a bond, but she had been too afraid to ask him about it. She didn’t know if she was ready to face the answer.
“What’s wrong? You feel sad all of a sudden.” Silas inquired.
“Sorry, I was just thinking about…” Samantha stopped herself, briefly debating whether now was the right time to ask her dreaded question. “I’ve been worried about something lately,” she continued, changing tact, “but I don’t know if now is the right time to talk about it. Can we discuss it later if it’s still bothering me?”.
“Okay, just let me know. We’re a team, afterall!” he finished brightly, trying to lift her mood. To punctuate his words he sent warm feelings of comfort and affection through their binding thread, and she felt her good cheer return. Encouraged, she resolved to ask him about it after they made it back to town.
She packed up everything in their makeshift camp into the two backpacks and set them by the cave entrance. Now that she had finished healing, she felt safe enough to use a portion of her qi pool to [Inspect] the enchanted bag and check if she could glean any more information. After investing a qi point, she let her spiritual senses pass over the bag.
Pack of Safekeeping (Uncommon)
A leather backpack crafted from Alidae Cattle (Rank 1 - High) Hide.
Enchantment 1: Minor Preservation (Common)
Enchantment 2: Minor Durability (Common)
She was glad to have her suspicion that there was a durability enchantment on the pack confirmed through the system message. While it was easy enough to discover the preservation enchantment herself, she was loath to try and purposefully damage the pack to test if it held up better than expected.
While she waited for her qi pool to top off again, Samantha addressed one final task before leaving her temporary sanctuary–entombing Eduin’s body. She had originally wanted to bury Eduin outside the cave, but decided against it after some consideration. She didn’t know if his skeleton would stay together if she picked him up, and felt it was more respectful to keep him in one piece in his final resting place instead.
Gathering some of the plentiful stones from the dried riverbed outside the cave, she built up a small burial mound over the body. When the final stone was placed, she took a step back and took in a calming breath. Quietly, she sang out a traditional Yiveshian dirge to properly send off his soul, though she doubted it still lingered in this place after all this time.
Farewell, until we meet again
You, who've ventured on ahead
I pray we someday reunite
Reconnect in another life
Rest easy now beloved friend
Farewell, until we meet again
Finishing the final notes of the mournful tune, she grabbed her gear and headed for the area where she had slain the Steel Boar with Silas in tow. She was ready to move on.
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Several hours of hiking later, they finally arrived at their destination. To her delight, though the rest of the carcass had been picked apart and carried away, the skull was exactly where she had left it–still embedded in a nearby tree trunk.
Using a bit of creativity and a lot of patience, Samantha freed the skull from the tree and removed the six long tusks from its jaw. Selecting one of the straight tusks that had grown after the Steel Boar had evolved, she pulled out the small strands of rope she had made from grapevines. Then, she cut down a straight-looking sapling to use for the spear shaft and started refining the shape with her skinning knife. After notching the wood and tying the tusk onto the shaft by wrapping it with rope, she began the process of making pitch glue.
Pulling her cooking pot out from her pack, she filled it with a decent amount of pine resin from nearby trees. As the resin melted atop a small fire, she quickly crafted a powder from charcoal and dried leaves and started mixing it in. Once the glue reached the consistency she desired, she smeared it over the wrapped portion of vines to better hold everything together.
She nodded to herself in satisfaction as she gave the spear a few test swings to get a feel for its balance and weight, then put a point of qi into [Inspect] to check her work.
Primitive Bone Spear (Common)
This six-foot-long spear was made from the raw tusk of an Alpha Steel Boar (Rank 3 - Mid), a hickory tree sapling, grape vines, and pine resin glue. This weapon is simple, yet practical.
She smiled at the notification. This was a great improvement over the poor quality primitive bone spear she had originally lost fighting the boar.
Samantha cleaned out her cookware thoroughly to get the sticky substance out, then put everything back neatly into the packs. Making sure to snack on just enough Steel Boar jerky to keep the +2 Resilience boost active, she and Silas made their way West towards Yivesh.
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With her heightened attributes and [Flawless Regeneration] keeping her uninjured and alert, Samantha was easily able to travel throughout the entire day without stopping. She still made sure to make camp at night because she didn’t want to run into any of the spirit beasts that prowled the dark, but her reduced need for sleep kept her stops relatively short. As a result, she traversed the distance that had originally taken her nearly three weeks of hiking in one. It really drove home to her how much of an advantage cultivators had over mortals.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
Though she did not encounter any more spirit beasts on the way back, the trip was far from unproductive. Due to the exertion of carrying two heavy packs (and sometimes Silas) and extended periods of activity, she ended up gaining +1 Strength and +1 Endurance. The realization that her hiking doubled as attribute training went a long way towards keeping her spirits up.
After a particularly long stretch of silence, she decided to start a new topic of conversation to pass some time. “Hey, can I ask you about what it was like to live here? Before the nexus, I mean. We’ve spent a good amount of time together, but I feel like there’s still so much I don’t really know about you.”
“Like what?”
“Like… I don’t know. How old are you? Do you have any family? Do you know why you’re listed as a Rank 4 spirit beast? That kind of stuff.”
Silas was silent for a few minutes, but Samantha could feel that he was just thinking about how to answer her, not ignoring her. So, she waited for his reply.
“My earliest memories are from last dead season.”
“Wait–you’re only one year old?” she said, a bit taken aback. “Actually, less than that. You’re practically a baby!”
He scrunched his nose in distaste, “You know I don’t understand time well. Or numbers. Who really cares?”
“Me!” she protested, “I can’t take a baby into battle! That’s awful.”
“Lunar Hares grow up fast! You’re the baby.” he pouted.
“For your information, I’m 17! Almost 18 now, actually.” she smugly informed him.
“Oh…” he said thoughtfully. Samantha grinned, about to tease him about her more senior status when Silas continued, “That’s higher than I can count. You must be ancient!”
Her smile fell, “I–no! Humans can live to be 100 and cultivators–”
Silas cut in, “I can’t count that high either.”
She sighed, “Nevermind, just answer the other questions.”
A series of short, rhythmic snuffles told Samantha that Silas was having a laugh at her expense. Then he took a deep breath and became more somber, “Family… yes. Somewhere. I left the nest long ago. I guess you’re my family now.”
Her heart warmed at the sentiment, “You’re my family now too.”
“As for why I’m so strong? I was born this way. Not all beasts start weak. Maybe it’s because I have so many abilities. I’ve always had a lot. There are more to come, too.”
“You’ll have more later?” she asked, the prospect of getting access to more bond abilities exciting her imagination.
“Yes. I don’t know what though. Or when. I just feel them inside me.”
They continued chatting back and forth for a while longer when Silas lifted his nose to the air and stopped moving.
“What is it, Silas?”
“I smell… something tasty. It’s close by!” he said eagerly, “...I’ll be right back.” The Lunar Hare promptly darted off and vanished into the underbrush before she had a chance to reply.
Samantha quickly followed after him, “Hold on, I’m coming too! At least let me [Inspect] it before you try and eat it!” Silas had an uncanny knack for finding useful herbs as they traversed the forest, and she was still slightly traumatized from the Starfire Sprig incident at the nexus.
As she jogged, a sudden pain gripped her ankle and she took in a sharp gasp of air.
Steel Trap has activated [As One]. Moderate damage to right hind leg (Silas) has been transformed into minor damage for Silas and Samantha.
A ring of dark bruising blossomed near her right ankle, but as far as she could tell nothing was broken. Picking up the pace as she sensed his fear and alarm, she dumped all excess equipment except for her spear. Then, she put a point of qi into [Flawless Regeneration] and ran to the place where she felt Silas’s qi signature. As she approached, she could make out the sound of male voices growing louder.
“…Lunar Hare. Haven’t seen one of these outside the pages of an almanac before.”
“…reward? Don’t know if it’d be a popular choice for cultivators, though.”
“…know! It might be tougher than it looks…”
She broke through the tree line to see three hunters nonchalantly circling a snarling Silas. Taking in the scene at a glance, the man closest to her was tall, had dark hair, and looked to be in his 30’s. His face was rather plain, and he had no distinguishing marks other than a singular streak of gray near his left ear. The other two looked to be in their 20’s, but with opposite physiques. One was squat, scarred, had a crooked nose, and was heavily muscled–exactly how she would imagine a brawler. The other was lean like a long-distance courier with symmetrical, handsome features that made him look scholarly. None seemed to be aware of her yet.
“Get away from my bonded now!”
They turned to look at her, surprised by her sudden appearance. Samantha guessed that the random arrival of a 5’4”, filthy, shorn-haired woman wearing patchy robes would cause anyone to gape.
Continuing forward despite their lack of response, she put a point into [Swift] to ensure that she was easily able to sidestep the men and reach Silas. Before they could do anything to stop her, she wrenched the jaws of the trap apart and freed her companion. [Prey’s Perception] allowed her to keep her eyes on all three of the men as they unsheathed their straight swords and cautiously approached her.
Waves of killing intent washed over her as the three men pushed their cultivator’s aura outwards. When she was mortal, such a ploy would have sent her to her knees and left her gasping for air. Now? Now she could tell that they were weaker than her.
As both an act of self-defense and an offensive attack, she released the full force of her own killing intent towards the group. Her more-potent aura sent the three men stumbling back a half-step and she felt the weight of their intent retract.
“Final warning. Step back.”
The men stopped moving at her words, all three becoming deathly pale and starting to sweat.
A cultivator’s soul–some preferred to call it spirit–was inherently changed by the cultivation process. It gained a sort of physical presence that mortal souls did not possess, and cultivators could then project their spirit outwards to create a powerful aura. Even when not actively emitting an aura, a cultivator’s soul could weigh heavily on those around or be sensed by others if they did not work to restrain it.
Infusing an aura with violent intent or angry emotions was extremely common–hence the well known designation ‘killing intent’. The higher ranked the cultivator, the more effective their killing intent would be at intimidation, suppression, or domination. If rumors were to be believed, a Low Silver could exert a killing intent so potent that any non-cultivator would be at risk of dying outright. As a Mid Copper, Samantha couldn’t do anything quite so extreme. She could, however, make some Low Coppers feel extraordinarily uncomfortable. She worried for a moment if her aura would negatively impact Silas as well, but he seemed to be completely unaffected by it.
The three men looked between her and Silas, Silas baring his teeth at them from behind her legs. A long moment passed as the two opposing groups observed the other in silence. Then, the Low Coppers sheathed their weapons and stepped back. In unison they gave her a slight bow, but she didn’t make the mistake of believing it was a genuine sign of respect. She couldn’t help but feel that something predatory remained in their stances, though she couldn’t pinpoint exactly what it was.
To show she acknowledged their change in demeanor, she pulled her killing intent back into herself. Immediately the three looked relieved, and their pallor improved significantly.
The oldest looking member of the trio spoke up, “Forgive us, sister. We were unaware that this spirit beast was already claimed. It is an unusual choice, as so many typically gravitate towards companions that increase their fighting prowess.”
She could acknowledge that it would’ve been difficult to tell at first that she and Silas were traveling together since he had gone on ahead of her. She couldn’t let the backhanded compliment go unaddressed, however.
Cultivators fought almost as much with their words as with their bodies, the complex dance of saving face and building reputation deeply intertwined with their place in society. She was somewhat familiar with the game because merchant families like hers had to dance to a similar tune when bargaining and making deals, so she knew the stakes. Being too aggressive would make enemies, but being too lenient would portray her as a pushover to be taken advantage of. So, she settled for a mildly scathing rebuke instead.
“He is a fine partner, but I’ll forgive you for the assumption that he’s weak. I’m sure it’s difficult to understand his value seeing as you lack spirit bonds yourselves.”
The scarred man’s eyes widened in offense and he tensed his body, but the scholarly one gave him a warning glance. Seeing the look, the scarred man rolled his shoulders to release some of the tension and took another step back.
The oldest one gave her a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes and spread out his hands in front of him placatingly, “Fair enough. May I ask you what brings you to this part of the wilds? Perhaps you’re unaware of basic Hunter’s etiquette, but it’s incredibly rude to intrude on another’s trapping grounds. I expect you’ve scared away any spirit beasts from the area, and cost us quite a bit of time and effort.”
“You’re trapping spirit beasts this close to the city? You must be new Hunters. I haven’t seen any worthy creatures for at least a day or two. Ah–but I wouldn’t recommend going to where I’ve just come from. The beasts are quite powerful that way, and I’d be concerned for your safety.”
The scarred man started to grit his teeth and his face reddened. A calming hand was placed over his shoulder by the scholarly one, but the interaction didn’t seem to have much effect this time. She wasn’t too concerned with those two, however.
She watched the oldest cultivator in particular, seeing how her words impacted his body language. The three men were still too close in proximity and the oldest was far too comfortable disrespecting someone of a higher cultivation rank. He seemed to be the leader of the trio, and if she didn’t get him to back down then this could easily devolve into a fight. If she could gain his respect–or fear–the other two would most likely back off as well.
Keeping her face carefully neutral, she decided to go for an affront that would specifically affect the eldest. It was difficult to tell the age of a cultivator since their aging slowed and lifespan extended as they advanced in power, but it wasn’t difficult to tell that all three were at least older than her. In the case of the eldest specifically, it was obvious that he had either spent years unable to break through to Mid Copper or had started cultivation much later in life.
“As for why I’m in the area, I’m returning triumphant from my cultivation quest as a Mid Copper. After less than two months away, at that! I’m thrilled to see my family’s reaction, you understand, seeing as how such progress can take some years to achieve.”
The man’s pleasant facade cracked, a frown slightly tugging at the edges of his expression.
Not confident she had pressed him far enough, she added in a concerned tone, “Of course, I do not mean to imply that you are incompetent by comparison! Everyone advances at their own pace. I’m sure you will reach such heights too, given enough time.”
His fake smile completely vanished as his posture shifted to be a touch more subdued. He lowered his head briefly and grunted thoughtfully once, then raised it again to meet her eyes, “I have to say, not a bad first showing for a new cultivator. My name is Liam, and perhaps we’ve gotten off on the wrong foot here.”