Azalon slowly picked himself up from the ground. He hissed through gritted teeth as every part of his body protested against his movements with intense pain. Fist sized blue bruises entirely covered his body and he could even see some black color between those bruises. The worst off was his face that felt like a panda with two black eyes and swollen cheeks.
'Hank's not lenient when it comes to beating...' Azalon bitterly thought as he looked at his battered condition. He crossed his legs with some difficulty and managed to circulate his Spirit Energy to heal himself. Fortunately, Hank just used his physical strength. If he had induced his Spirit Energy into those fists, Azalon would have died ten times over by now!
The Spirit Energy in his body slowly reached the damaged parts and tried to heal them. A cool and comfortable feeling spread through his body as the pain lessened significantly. As the pain lessened, Azalon concentrated more on the healing of his body.
Two hours passed by before Azalon opened his eyes. His injuries were healed to a considerable extent but not completely. There was only so much the Spirit Energy could do at the cultivation stage Azalon was at. But due to the continuous usage of his Spirit Energy within him, the cultivation base of Azalon that was abruptly raised from the 3rd Level Spirit Sense Realm to that of the 5th Level stabilized and consolidated within this short time.
But his injuries gave him no choice than to search for some healing medicinal herbs. He had to take care about any hidden injuries as they could hinder his growth at a later date and he wouldn't know what to do once that happened. He could get some medicinal herbs back at home but there's something even better; he could ask his brother for that green pill that healed his injuries during the fight with the Thunder Horned Stag. Azalon was fascinated by the potency of that pill. He didn't see a medicine that could heal as fast as that pill did, even back on Earth! The medicinal herbs that he used to take during his Spirit Novice Training were simply like worthless weeds before that green pill.
Oh, no, wait... he had seen one that had way more potency than the healing pill Hank had. The green pill that pretty face bastard gave him that day! Azalon experienced first hand how effective that pill was. In fact he had to use the [Devour] ability that allowed the medicinal pill's efficiency to reach 100%. but on that day, he didn't have this ability. So this means that the pretty face prick had some very high quality goods! And he didn't even leave a pill or two behind for emergency purposes!
'Humph... Who cares for that pretty face, anyway. I am gonna kick that face one day.' Azalon humphed coldly as he remembered all that he experienced due to that pretty face. He threw out these thoughts as he looked around for his brother.
Hank was sitting on a rock some distance away, with his palms glowing with a red light. A silver figure was held within those palms and the red glow was being concentrated on the silver figure within the palms.
Azalon's pupils shrunk as he rushed towards his brother but his eyes never left the silver figure within Hank's hands, Hank turned his eyes and glanced at him as he approached, before shifting onto her once again.
“Hank, what happened? What happened to her, Hank? Why is she like that?” Azalon asked in a hurry as he was shocked to see the lively Fairy sleeping within his brother's palms.
“When your consciousness was under attack by the Soul force of the Soul of that Thunder Horned Stag, it was her who exhausted her Spirit Essence to protect you from that soul force. That's why she is weak right now and it will take sometime before she regains her Spirit Essence. If not for her, you would have died by now.” Hank's voice was eerily calm but Azalon knew what that calm tone signified.
It was one of the things Azalon knew well about his brother. When Hank gets angry, he wouldn't become rash and let his anger rule him and ruin his form. But on the contrary, he becomes calm and cold – hearted. The calmness Hank was projecting right now, Azalon was sure that Hank was really really angry right now.
“Don't worry, Az. Even though she over taxed her Spirit Essence, fortunately she didn't completely exhaust it. I have been trying to induce some of my own Spirit Energy into her, but my Fire Attribute became a hurdle. I have to first retract the fire essence from my Spirit Energy before it could be absorbed by her. Its just that it takes a long time and she recovered only a small part of her Spirit Essence till now.” Hank continued while a drop of pure and colorless Spirit Energy condensed within that red glow before being absorbed by LILY.
The red glow retracted from Hank's palms as he handed over LILY back to him. Azalon carefully held her in his hands as he concentrated his Spirit Energy onto his palms. Even though his Spirit Energy was not as concentrated as that of Hank's, but his energy was completely compatible with LILY and her recovery rate should speed up significantly.
'[Command: Report the System Status.]' Azalon commanded silently in his mind, and sure enough an announcement rang in his mind.
'[Command Accepted. Severe depletion in the power levels detected. Battery Levels currently at 12%. Integral A.I. System LILY deactivated due to the low battery levels. Energy Input detected. Energy Levels Charging. A.I. LILY will be reactivated when the battery levels reach 35%. Processing Units remain unchanged. Memory Units are not corrupted. Sensory disruptions are absent.]' The auxiliary system of LILY responded in its emotionless mechanical voice in his mind.
Only after listening to the report did Azalon breathe a sigh of relief. If her system became corrupted or damaged in anyway, the one he knew as LILY will disappear forever. Azalon looked at the silver Fairy sleeping in his hands and a tenderness appeared in his eyes. This was the second time she saved him from absolute annihilation of his existence!
As Azalon was treating LILY and reminiscing in his memories, Hank walked towards a small mountain of meat and bones piled on a wide leaf. Beside that pile was another pile of meat and bones along with various other body parts that were neatly arranged. The small mountain was the haul from the Spirit Beasts that Hank fought with these three days. And the smaller pile was naturally from the Thunder Horned Stag. In fact it was because of this pile that the Spirit Beasts attacked him. Each and every part of the Primordial Bloodline Thunder Horned Stag and Hank was not the one who would shy in front of a treasure trove.
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Meanwhile, with his Spirit Energy, Azalon managed to help LILY recover about 25% of her Spirit Essence and he immediately absorbed her into his Soul Root. He was sure that LILY would recover within a day under the continuous nourishment from his Energy vortex.
He slowly walked towards Hank who was sorting the large pile of meat and bones into smaller ones by the Spirit Beast they belonged to. He fidgeted for a moment before:
“Sorry, Hank. It may seem to you that my actions are foolish to downright stupid. But believe me, I needed that Soul of the Thunder Horned Stag. It just happened to attach itself to its Spirit Core and i had to no choice but to risk taking them both. But I didn't think that the Soul would be that powerful. It was because of you and LILY that nothing happened to me.”
“Sigh... No, Az. I did nothing. No, I couldn't do anything. My Spiritual sense was useless against that soul force. It was all because of your Fairy Spirit. I know that you profited greatly from this ordeal, Az. But at what cost? If your Fairy Spirit wasn't there to protect you in the nick of the time, you would have died with your Soul scattered! She exhausted her Spirit Essence to save you and it was fortunate that she could destroy that Thunder Horned Stag's Soul just before her Spirit Essence ran out. Do you know what will happen to a Spirit once they use up all their Spirit Essence? They will die! Spirit Essence is a Spirit's life force! In other words, she risked her life for yours! And don't you know what will happen to you if your Spirit dies, you idiot? Look at our grandfather!
If you want to take risks, fine, but remember one thing, Az. Challenge something only when you have the strength to face that risk and return alive! Without enough strength to back your actions, it will only lead to your demise. This is the same thing grandfather told us before we came hunting! And you forgot it already!” Hank thundered in that same calm voice, slowly pronouncing each and every word.
Azalon hung his head low while bearing his brother's scolding. Yes, that's right. Even though he knew that he needed the Thunder Horned Stag's Soul for the Awakening of his Spirit, did he have enough strength to defend against that Soul? It only took a few moments for that soul force to almost completely crumble his consciousness! If not for LILY risking herself to save him, even if the Soul would have been absorbed by the Soul Embryo, he would have become a vegetable by now or even worse, he would have died!
Azalon swore to himself to be more careful in the future and not risk himself or his Spirits for his power, as he knew that he still had to do this sort of thing for another 6 times! He had to take certain measures in order to not repeat this incident once again!
Not only that, he had to increase his strength first. He had to at least the Spirit Condensation Realm before he attempted once again. The Spiritual Sense that would be available to him once he reached the Spirit Condensation Realm would provide the precious seconds of protection before the Soul Embryo could consume the Soul.
But this was in the case that he would swallow the Soul into his body while it was still alive!
What if he could absorb the Soul just like what LILY and Raka would do after he killed a Spirit Beast? Doesn't that solve the problem pretty easily? He didn't know and he didn't have enough mental strength to think on that long. The mental strain he took because of the soul force was not small and even his Soul was affected slightly. He had to recuperate for sometime before he could venture out.
But before that, he had to pacify his grumbling brother who was concerned for him. His heart felt warm as he looked at the lean figure that was scolding him with a sheen of water in his eyes. This was the kind of feeling he had craved desperately back on Earth during his dark days, till Mother Lillianna came into his life. Even though life here was more cruel than on Earth, this simple familial love he experienced from his grandfather and his brother gave him a lot of support both physically and psychologically. So, Azalon decided.
“I have a third Spirit, Hank. But it's still in hibernation and I needed that Thunder Horned Stag's Soul to rouse it from its sleep. And it was not LILY that destroyed that Soul but the Spirit that absorbed it. By my estimation, it will take around 2 weeks for the Spirit to Awaken.” Azalon spoke cutting off his brother mid speech, and Azalon went silent.
Hank froze for a moment before he abruptly turned around. But in his haste, his foot slipped on a piece of bone and he couldn't stabilize his posture and his face was planted on the ground. He immediately jumped and was panting lightly.
“Wh... Wha... What... What did you just say? I don't believe it. Yes, i should have heard it wrong. Right, it's definitely my imagination. These three days have been taxing and should have made my senses rather strained. There's no way that I heard Az say that he had a 3rd Spirit. Hahahaha...” Hank seemed absent minded as he mumbled to himself before letting out a hollow laugh.
“Calm down, Hank. You didn't mishear it. I indeed have a 3rd Spirit” Azalon said carefully but his amused expression betrayed his words; 'and a lot more from where it came from' he thought silently in his heart, but didn't speak out in concern for his brother's heart.
Hank stared stupidly for a long time while his body was trembling violently non stop. His eyes were wide as saucers and his jaw almost reached the ground. Disbelief completely filled that face and his comical expression almost made Azalon giggle. Azalon calmly waited for Hank to wake up from his stupor. He knew that his news should have come as a massive surprise to his brother... and maybe a little scary too...
“Y-y-yo-you have a third Spirit? And that too a Lightning Attribute Spirit? AHHHHH... What THE F***? Heavens cannot be that generous to a single person! AHHHHHH...” Hank stammered before his shout reverberated through the entire mountain. “Are you a Human or not?”