Samantha knew that Silas was awake when he let out a series of excited chirps, “More cores! For me?”
“I found four in the bag you showed me, so yes! Those two are for you.” She watched with amusement as the two glowing pearls disappeared into his mouth and both of his cheeks puffed outwards slightly, “Now that you’re up, I’m going outside for a bit to stretch my legs. Will you watch the cave while I’m gone?”
“Mhmm.”
Considering how she had gained 2.5 qi points between sitting down to guard and now, Silas had only slept for around 5 hours. This meant that it was close to midnight now, but she couldn’t afford to wait until daybreak to start getting things done. Even though the cave was moderately cooler than outside, the pelt and meat wouldn’t stay fresh forever and she needed to get started on preserving them.
After making a few trips to gather the required wood to create a small cooking fire and a makeshift drying rack, she began thinly slicing the Steel Boar backstraps to make jerky strips. She hung most of the meat on the drying rack over the fire, but skewered a few choice cuts for a quick meal.
As her skewers cooked, she took two small cubes of meat she had set aside for an experiment. She wrapped both in cloth she cut from her other set of torn robes, and then went over to the enchanted bag. One piece she put inside the bag, and one she put on the ground beside it. She would check on how much they had deteriorated in a few days to see if the bag preserved the items inside of it or not.
The meat taken care of, Samantha moved on to tanning the pelt. She unwrapped the heavy fur and found a relatively flat area at the back of the cave to lay it out to dry. Scraping free any spots where her hasty cuts had been messy and left too much membrane or meat behind, she then dug out her sizable jar of tanning solution. This solution was commissioned by her family from the local alchemist to quickly preserve the highest quality spirit beast pelts they purchased from Hunters. They got a sizable discount on the purchase because they bought in bulk, but each jar was still worth around a silver–more than Samantha earned a week. She had been saving it for a truly special specimen given how expensive it was, and this was it. She carefully applied the first coat over the large hide, then took a short break.
She called Silas over to the fire while she ate a meal, cutting off a piece of her meat skewer and offering it to him. He ate the gift with gusto, then went out to forage for more food for himself. Although the glutton seemed happy enough to eat meat–she’d seen him gorge himself on nearly anything that was edible (and some things she thought weren’t) in the weeks they’d been bonded–he had a definite preference for plants and herbs. She probably wouldn’t give him too much of her limited jerky supply seeing as he could fend for himself, but it felt rude to keep all of it to herself. Upon finishing her meal, she received a new notification.
You have consumed qi-enriched meat (Rank 3-Mid)!
Effect: +2 Resilience
Duration: 1 hour
She let out a low, appreciative whistle.
With a rank that high, it was no wonder the boar had been so tough. Any spirit beast Rank 3 or above was generally treated with extreme caution, and were considered too dangerous for Copper cultivators to hunt alone. It was obviously possible for a lower ranked cultivator like herself to take one down, but the risks involved weren’t worth it. Not everyone could grow back limbs as ‘easily’ as she could, either.
She took a moment to admire the pelt again, and couldn’t wait to see it made into a proper set of armor. After applying a second coat of tanning solution to the hide, she set out to tackle her next problem while she waited for it to be fully absorbed.
The water in her canteen would run out soon, so finding a consistent water source was a high priority. There was a damp earth smell in the cave, and since this cavern was located near a dried river bed, she hoped that a bit of digging could reveal something worthwhile. Some searching revealed a section of the cave that was both slightly soggy and less rocky than the surrounding area, and she figured that this was as good a place to start as any. Using a small spade–which was typically for burying waste–she started digging.
And digging… and digging some more.
It took her much longer to hit water than she would have liked, but hours of effort had finally borne fruit. At the bottom of a four-foot deep, two feet wide hole, a pool of cold fresh water was slowly accumulating. She proceeded to dig out a small ramp to the well so Silas could reach it on his own without falling in.
Now that her basic needs were accounted for, she needed to shore up the cave’s defenses and arm herself–literally and figuratively. Putting the final coat of tanning solution on the hide and emptying the jar in the process, she went out to find a suitable log for a deadfall trap.
By this time, the sun had fully risen and her qi pool had filled up to 10/13. She tucked a sheathed skinning knife into the sash of her travel robes to keep her left hand free, and began more thoroughly exploring the immediate area. The six inch long blade would be a poor defense against an attacking spirit beast, but it was better than nothing. With dark humor, she mused that if worse came to worse, she could always detonate the knife and sacrifice her left arm.
The memory of the explosion caused her body to shiver involuntarily. She had been able to avoid thinking about it too much due to how busy she had been the last day, but upon reflection the experience had been… disturbing. The thought of repeating such an act made her stomach churn.
She looked down at the stump of her right arm apologetically, “Sorry… that joke was in poor taste.”
As she walked she noted that the air was getting chillier of late. When she left for her cultivation quest almost two months ago, the harvesting season was winding down. By her estimates, the dead season would arrive within the next couple of weeks which was both a boon and a curse in this situation. Many spirit beasts hibernated or became less active during the days dominated by dark and cold, which meant less predators potentially hunting her but also less prey for her and Silas. In addition, not many plants in this region could survive the chill, so the longer they stayed here the tougher it would be for Silas to forage.
As she was contemplating her future food options, she came across a log a little under two feet in diameter and eight feet long. She took her skinning knife and made a large scratch in the remaining bark, smiling to herself as the wood beneath was bone dry. Grabbing hold of a large, attached branch, she began the arduous task of dragging the tree back to the cave. Her 5 Strength allowed her to slide the log along the ground without too much difficulty, but she lamented the lack of ability to stabilize the awkwardly sized object with both hands. On several occasions it snagged on roots, vines, or hidden rocks, but Samantha persevered with her task until the tree rested inside the cavern.
Her next trip out saw her return with several grape vines wrapped in large loops over her right shoulder, and an armful of various edible plant roots and tubers. At the sight of the haul, Silas jumped up in excitement and snapped at a hanging leaf.
“Hey! I need those!” Samantha scolded, “Take one of these instead.”
Samantha unloaded the plants onto the ground in a neat pile, and handed Silas a potato-like root. Predictably, he munched down on it happily.
“Didn’t know you liked leaves,” he commented.
“I don’t, but these are for storing the jerky and making rope.” she replied, beginning the process of stripping the grape vines of their large leaves.
Through [Prey’s Perception], she watched behind her as Silas polished off the root in moments and then looked at the small pile of vegetables longingly–no remnant of his previous victim in sight. She stifled a laugh. His bulging stomach was proof enough that he wasn’t hungry, just gluttonous.
“Go on then. Take a few more–a few. I can’t survive on just jerky, you know.”
He beamed delightedly at her, then nudged a few morsels from the pile to snack on.
The jerky had been hanging over the low heat of the fire for several hours now, and a quick check confirmed they were sufficiently dry. She wrapped the jerky in the grapevine leaves, then stored them in the enchanted pack. All in all, considering her reduced need for food and proper rationing, she had a few weeks worth of supplies ready.
Now, it was time for the hard part.
Samantha spent the next several hours painstakingly setting up a deadfall trap at the cave opening. Using the large log she dragged to the cave as the ‘fall’ that would make any intruders ‘dead’, she carefully balanced it atop several thick branches. These branches had strategically placed notches carved into them, and were arranged such that any force put on the long ‘trigger’ branch crossing the cave opening would cause the notches to disconnect from each other and the log to fall. The ‘trigger’ height was almost even with her knee, making it easy for Silas to pass under it and her to step over it, which ensured they could still pass the trap safely.
Feeling more secure in the cave with the new defense in place, she began studying [Sage’s Rumination] from the manual. Her qi pool had long since filled, and she had been funneling all of her qi regeneration into her severed arm to regrow it. It had been slow going so far, but with [Sage’s Rumination] she could double her regeneration and thus double her healing as well.
Unlike a single-use manual–like the [Inspect] book she purchased–this tome was clearly multi-use. Single-use manuals were made with alchemically treated paper which would disintegrate once the qi inscriptions had been activated and absorbed by a cultivator. Multi-use manuals were expertly crafted from spirit beast leather and specially prepared parchment, making them prohibitively expensive for all but the most wealthy and influential families. The quality was reflective of the cost, however, and these books were capable of holding a semi-permanent qi inscription that could impart knowledge many times before being destroyed.
With great appreciation for the treasure she held in her hands, she read through the opening introduction of the manual for the second time.
Commendations to you, master or mistress of House Granvich, for successfully awakening your cultivation. Within this book you will find the traditional cycling pattern of our esteemed family up to the Peak Copper rank, along with a supplementary utility art, which have been passed down for generations. May this knowledge serve you well as you bring further honor and acclaim to the Granvich name.
Cycling Pattern: Vital Wellspring (Low Copper - Rare)
Shape: A large outer ring flowing clockwise, a smaller inner ring flowing counterclockwise.
Base Qi Pool: 15 qi points
Base Regeneration: +0.8 qi points/hour
Mindset: Sage’s Rumination (Rare)
A passive mindset that embodies unshakable tranquility and allows one to maintain a meditative state without entering a trance. Learning this art requires dual focus and split attention, and those who lack mental control may be unable to implement this technique.
Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.
…
The concepts involved in [Sage’s Rumination] seemed near impossible to put into practice. The utility art required her to segment and compartmentalize her mind in ways she would’ve never considered. One part of her mind had to always remain in a state of peace–unaffected by external events or powers–while the rest would handle her conscious thoughts and actions. Even with information being directly passed to her from the qi inscriptions, it was difficult to comprehend how to manage such a feat.
Hours of studying and practice ended with a splitting headache and extreme frustration. She was beginning to grasp how to divide her mind, but as she became mentally fatigued her goal moved further and further out of reach. It was time to call it a night.
----------------------------------------
The next day, Samantha was determined to make more progress with the manual. Before she got lost in the pages, she tasked Silas with scouting the area for the same types of plants she had brought back yesterday and he agreed a bit too eagerly. Suspicious of his enthusiasm, she clarified that he shouldn’t just eat everything he found immediately, and should instead convey the relevant locations to her so she could harvest and save them. His excitement was briefly dulled, but after she reminded him that winter would be upon them soon and vegetation would be sparser, he was much more amenable to the concept of rationing.
Once he left, Samantha reopened the manual and decided to try her hand at the new cycling pattern instead of [Sage’s Rumination] for now. Her head still slightly ached from the night before, and she felt like she needed the confidence boost of a success before going back to learning the frustratingly difficult art.
The introduction had mentioned that this thick book contained cycling patterns for the entire Copper tier of cultivation, but despite her looking at every page, she couldn’t identify anything past Low Copper. She did note that the manual was much thicker than it needed to be to just contain one cycling pattern and an art, and that many of the pages had odd markings or seemed jumbled. She got the impression that the latter stages of the pattern were hidden somehow in the chaotic script, but she didn’t currently have the knowledge required to decode them. Still, the Low Copper version of the pattern was more powerful than the Entwined Circlet she currently used, so she started learning that.
As she changed her internal qi flow to match the Vital Wellspring cycling pattern, she was glad to see the effects take hold relatively quickly. Her qi pool maximum dropped from 13 to 9 points and her regeneration from 0.5 to 0.3 qi/hour, but this was actually a good sign. Switching cycling techniques always had a period of instability as the dantian acclimated to the changes, but would normalize as the new pattern became self-sustaining.
Over the course of several hours, her pool maximum increased to 12 and qi regeneration went back up to +0.5 qi/hour. She had gotten to the point where the pattern was mostly stable and didn’t require much of her attention to maintain, and she expected that it would reach full stability in the next day or so. At that point, she could begin practicing [Sage’s Rumination]. Hopefully, this time around she’d have an easier time learning the elusive technique.
As she stood from her cross-legged position to shake the stiffness from her limbs, a feeling of visceral alarm shot through her bond and caused her heart to race.
“Something big is coming. I’m in danger.”
Silas’s panicked thoughts and emotions bled into her own, making it difficult to think clearly and causing her questions to come out in a stream, “What’s coming? A spirit beast? Can you describe it? Where is it?”
She scrambled to grab her skinning knife as she was bombarded with her companion’s unclear impressions. A gaping, toothy maw. The churning of earth as it moved. The scent of burning mixed with rot. The way it made his fur stand on end as it passed him while he hid with [Translucence]. Judging by how her binding thread felt, Silas couldn’t be more than a few hundred feet away.
She ran outside and climbed to the top of the riverbed to get a better vantage. She crouched down to lower the chance of her being spotted and scanned the treeline in the direction of the binding thread.
“It stopped.” Silas said warily, his voice sounding like a fearful whisper in her mind, “I think it’s…”
A loud snap echoed through the forest and a swarm of birds fled into the sky.
“IT FOUND ME! HELP!”
“Try and lead it away from the cave! I’m coming.”
In response to her words, Silas’s direction instantly shifted and he ran deeper into the forest instead of towards the riverbed. Samantha followed after him at a sprint.
She scanned the forest that blurred past as she ran, avoiding dangerous and hard to maneuver areas as efficiently as she could. When several seconds had passed and no update had come from her companion, she checked in with him.
“Do you think you can outrun it?”
“No! I’m only a little faster. It won’t stop chasing me. It wants my core.”
She inwardly cursed. If the unknown creature was almost as fast as Silas, it was definitely faster than her, “Forget leading it away then. Come back towards me and we’ll handle it together.”
She felt his direction shift again as he began drawing nearer to her location.
She skidded to a halt as she heard a rumbling sound rapidly approaching.
Is that the churning earth sound Silas described? No… it doesn’t sound quite right. What is…?
The foliage ahead of her began to violently shake, then burst outwards in an explosion of loose leaves as a River Deer charged towards her– the whites of its eyes visible as its nostrils flared in panic. Samantha put a point into [Swift] to try and avoid the herbivore, but there wasn’t enough time to fully move out of its path. Not wanting to be bowled over and trampled, she struck out blindly with her good fist to try and push it away from her and was much more successful than expected. Despite her poor form, the extra traction and speed made her punch solidly connect with the River Deer’s throat and it was knocked to the ground with a spray of blood. The blood initially confused her, until she belatedly remembered that she was holding a six inch knife in her hand.
In the next second, two more deer emerged from the foliage with fearful eyes and flew past her, but when their fallen brethren let out a cry of pain they stopped dead in their tracks. As the injured spirit beast tried to regain its footing, more of the herd appeared and began pawing at the ground and rearing. Fearing a stampede was imminent, she jumped up into the boughs of a nearby tree to get a bit of distance from the still-growing group. There were around 10 of them so far, which weren’t good odds for her even in her best condition. They butted their heads against the thick trunk of the tree and snorted their displeasure, some nearly reaching her with their sharp antlers, but she climbed higher until she was relatively safe.
A new rumbling sound drew nearer–this one sounding as though the ground was being churned like a farmer plowing his fields–and her binding thread told her that Silas had almost reached her. Seeing the angry River Deer below, she realized that they had probably been running from the same beast that Silas was. Now that she had wounded one of the herd and they were riled enough to fight back, she wondered if she could make this a similar situation to when she had found the Matron Rock Beetle and the Forest Howler. Perhaps she could get the River Deer and the unknown spirit beast to fight, then reap all the rewards afterwards.
From her new vantage, she saw Silas emerge into a small clearing and dart around a boulder as a large, black snake slithered closely after him. In its wake it left a deep furrow in the earth, and rocks and dirt flew up behind it wherever it traveled. She could only conclude it was using some sort of ability, because though it was nearly 15 feet long and a foot thick, it did not have nearly enough mass to make that kind of trail. Also, snakes aren’t typically that fast.
Hearing the commotion, the River Deer turned towards the newcomer and promptly forgot about her presence. They gathered around their injured member and faced off against the quick predator, putting their heads down to form a wall of spiked bone.
“Silas, I see you! Run here, towards the River Deer herd.”
Trusting her instructions, Silas set his course directly for the mass of angry deer. Samantha thought he was going to run around them at the last moment, but began to worry as she saw him speed up and continue to move towards the antlers. Just when she thought for certain that he was going to impale himself, he activated his [Leap] ability and soared 10 feet into the air–completely hurtling over the group and landing safely on the other side. He sprinted for another 50 feet or so, then stopped. She could feel his exhaustion–his Endurance far less impressive than his Agility–and imagined that he wouldn’t have been able to run much further even if he wanted to.
The snake slid to a stop and clumps of dirt and rock showered forward with the halt in momentum. The deer jerked back, startled as they were pelted with debris, but then something unexpected happened. The snake reared up and opened its mouth wide, its neck briefly expanding in size before it spat out a spray of green liquid. The mystery fluid struck several of the deer and began smoking wherever it landed. The affected deer bleated in pain as their fur and skin bubbled, and they immediately rolled in the dirt to try and remove the painful sludge.
Seeing more of their fellows wounded, the rest of the herd screamed out a chorus of grunts as they crashed into the viper like a wave. Samantha watched as the deer attempted to gore the viper, stomp it to death, or otherwise injure it, and evaluated how she could best contribute to the fight. Unfortunately, though some minor injuries were inflicted on the predatory beast, the scales of the snake were too tough for the River Deer to do anything significant. Then, the serpent struck back with a vengeance. It snapped its head forward with lightning-fast strikes, hitting the three closest deer in a matter of seconds and causing them to fall to the ground, foaming at the mouth and writhing.
At the quick defeat of several of their members, the previously aggressive herd became spooked and Samantha came to the realization that this wouldn’t be like the fight between the Matron Rock Beetle and Forest Howler at all. This would be a slaughter.
She looked from the large deer that went down with a single bite, to the tough snake, to the woefully inadequate knife in her hand… and decided to get out of here while she was ahead.
She quickly made her way down from the tree and began running back towards the cave, holding the hilt of her knife between her teeth and scooping up Silas on the way. She used [Prey’s Perception] to keep an eye on the rear, hoping that the snake would be satisfied with the fresh carcasses lying near it and leave them be.
When she had gotten 100 or so feet from the site of the battle, the return of a familiar rumbling sound informed her that the snake was on the move again. When the rumbling started getting closer, she concluded that several Rank 1 River Deer cores were not as appealing as Silas’s Rank 4-Low core was. The ominous sound gave her a burst of energy, and she ran full tilt towards the cave with little concern for how branches and vines tore at her face as she sped past.
She made it back into their cave with the snake hot on her heels as she was briefly slowed by the narrow entrance. She watched the snake navigate the same space with ease as it closed in, and a horrible thought occurred to her. The snake was too low to the ground to trigger her trap.
Thinking fast with mere moments until the creature caught up with her, Samantha pumped 4 points into [Swift] and stepped over the trigger branch while simultaneously tossing Silas deeper into the cave to free up her good arm. She moved off to the side where the trap mechanism was so the snake couldn’t strike at her from the entrance, and then triggered the trap herself once the snake slithered into position.
The deadfall trap, true to its name, fell through the air and smashed the serpent into the ground in a fraction of a second. An audible crunch echoed in the small space as the snake was pinned between the hard, dry wood and the rock floor, but it shockingly survived the impact. Samantha’s eyes widened as the earth beneath the snake began to ripple and the log began bucking with the movement. It was trying to get out.
She jumped on the log, adding her 130 pounds of bodyweight to the spot directly above the reptile in a bid to prevent it from escaping, and was relieved to see its movements weakening. She stabbed the knife towards the exposed back half of its body repeatedly, not wanting to risk getting bitten by the head.
After a few attacks the tip of the blade found purchase under a loose scale and she was able to plunge the metal through the beast. The snake’s body curled, twisted, and contorted as a low hiss escaped its maw, and it turned a hate-filled eye upwards towards her.
Spitting Viper has used [Mutually Assured Destruction]!
Then, the Spitting Viper’s eye clouded over and its body stilled.
Samantha jumped away from the snake, scared of what the menacing sounding ability would do. When a few uneventful seconds passed and she felt the beast core forming as normal, she relaxed slightly. She wondered if the spirit beast had died before being able to fully manifest the skill.
Silas moved forward and sniffed at the area where she could feel the energy of the spirit pearl accumulating, “Can I have it?”
She laughed, “Let’s see what rank it is first and then we can decide.”
Her hair suddenly stood on end as the carcass unexpectedly began bloating.
“Silas… get away from–” the snake ballooned to absurd proportions, looking ready to burst at any second as Silas started backing away. The energy which she had assumed was forming a core churned angrily in the snake's head, and she feared that the beast had been successful in activating its ability after all.
Instinctually, Samantha slammed one of her Bond Ability Points into purchasing [As One].
Bond ability selected! Changes have been made to your status page.
And then, the corpse erupted into a cloud of corrosive gas, poisonous flesh chunks, and bone shrapnel.
She really had bad luck with explosions.