He looked at me like I was crazy, and laughed “hahaha, you are losing it, brother.”
“Eh, It sounds pretty fun, and could net many potential rewards. Speaking of, take this technique, I found it by accident in some cave.” I handed him the ‘ice towers’ technique, and he showered me in plenty of drunken gratitude.
“With this, we can do it easy now.” he was quickly brimming with confidence.
We laughed late into the night, it was a great reunion.
Later, they stuffed me in some unused servants quarters near the courtyard. This was starting to become a theme. Just like the last one, it was comforting. I lay on the bed, and Au-ha made sure I knew who was in control that night. I’d rather not talk about it
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The next few days went idly by, I explored the tribe. It was a matriarchal clan, dominated by women, large women with pale skin. Some man’s dream somewhere. Cyrek was led around by his new master, the small queen.
I learned she was smaller, to condense strength. Also made it easier for her to mate with humans. The tribe began growing tense. With everyone running around preparing for a beast swarm, as well as the possible attack of another clan. A few of the clanswomen did give me glares when I wandered.
There wasn't much to do. Everything around the area was ice. I really didn't feel like stumbling upon some other inheritance. All I could do was hang around and idly wander about. I spent my days training in what small ways I could. I went and asked the Queen for some money but she just kicked me away.
I spent nights drinking and talking with Cyrek. He had spoken of his time on earth after my supposed death. I could tell he was a changed man, slightly more mature. Slightly.
We spared, and when he shot out something that wasn’t an icicle, I felt so proud I could cry. It turns out he was actually at the lower outer-field realm. One of the few in the clan, part of the reason he was collared, and also at the number one spot in the queen's harem. I asked him what it felt like to cultivate.
“Hmmm…” he scratched his chin. “It's like stealing from the world, somehow. First, you breathe in its natural energy. It feels cold, and chilling, though maybe that's just because of the nature of my Qi.” he continued.
“It starts to form in the center of your abdomen, and it starts twirling into itself like a whirlpool, the dantian is formed at this point. This dantian passively consumes the “energy of heaven” as they call it. Afterwards, it begins to turn and leap. It keeps leaping upwards, like bursts of geysers. From the abdomen, to the chest, to the head. Once all points are awakened and spinning, that's called the triple point.
After this, there is a hard wall, and a qualitative transformation. All points melt into one larger field of energy, covering your entire body, multiplying your strength and control of qi, and passively consuming energy at much faster speeds. I have only just reached this point, in the few months here. I had reached the triple point while on earth.”
“So, you’re actually pretty talented, huh?” I was pretty surprised. He just rolled his eyes and shot and icicle at me. I said I was going to stab him. Ahh, this brings me back.
That night, we toasted to the dead.
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At long last, the beast swarm was imminent. A scout appeared, and claimed they were a few hours away. A beast swarm, a congealed group of beasts held firm by one leader. They seek to grow and consume, as all beasts instinctively do. A common occurrence in all provinces of the world.
The clan got ready in battle formation. Heavy knights at the gates, archers and mages in the back. The queen stood in the center of the clan. If she were killed, then all hope of the clan is lost.
I stood at the very forefront of them all, I decided I would meet the swarm a few miles ahead of them. I drifted in the sky as I saw the tsunami made of teeth, claws, and fur. Tens of thousands of beasts. I calculated exactly 21,567. Hyper speed computation allowed me to catch sight of the cyclops at the center of it all. Inside the swarms of hawks, eagles, and other
It was gray, horrid, mighty, tall. One large eye that bulged maddeningly outside the beats socket. It stood over 20 feet tall. Every step, the earth shook, it seemed to contain the overwhelming strength of the earth itself. Its skin was stony and looked like granite.
Around the cyclops were ice and earth fairies. Small and humanoid little sprites of energy. For some reason, they had gone mad. I took a deep breath.
It was time to go to battle.
I dove in wildly, using no real strategy. I cut a path straight through the horde, toward the cyclops at the center. My tail was a razor sharp whip that spun around, slicing enemies apart, leaving streaks of red lightning. Wolves, bears, some creepy ice spiders, a few white furred yetis, and many more. All based on elements of ice, snow, and earth.
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Some were abominations, of chimeric proportions. Wolfs head, man body, birds wings. A creature that is a worm with a woman's face.
The few creatures that contained beast souls resided in the center, The outer edge was weakest and it grew stronger going in.
The first beast to hit me was a rhino made of ice. It came stampeding from the left, its horn jamming in my chest. Then a bird sent me flying to the ground with a strong flap of its wings.
I pushed all beasts off of me with a magnetic force, and started blasting the beasts with pure red lightning. I evaporated the bird, I grabbed the rhino by the horn and cleanly broke its neck with a chop.
Off in the distance, the clan saw how beasts fought. Savagely, endlessly, with pure strength and natural movement. No casted skills, no chanting, no overwhelming energy expenditure. Many cultivators became beasts, but would quickly lose their identity. Many of the beasts in this horde may have once been human. Those abominations were close to the center, and they shrieked, as their souls were twisted in endless agony, trying to regain themselves.
The only reason I haven't lost myself is probably thanks to the Lord of Stars and Au-ha, keeping my mind and soul in place.
They Yetis jumped in the air and slammed the ground with both fists. The ground quaked as a shockwave sent me and many other beasts flying. I dodged one's fist, which had an earthly strength. When its fist landed on the ground, it broke the earth into pieces like sand.
Luckily for me its defense could not match my alloyed finger blades of lightning. I put them to its heart, fingers pointed at it in the fashion of a salute. I stretched them into one single blade that pierced it straight through. Its soul was quickly consumed by the snake mouth on my tail.
More brutal fights occurred in this fashion. The few beasts with souls could even yell in human language. They spoke of nothing, making gurgle noises and pained shouts. I killed and killed, and ate and ate. My mind was like a perfect machine analyzing all beasts in the vicinity.
I dodged, ducked, glided, and cut them perfectly apart. The ones with hardened shells, I smashed into pieces before its soul was either consumed, or taken into me for some potential later use.
The guards that saw this felt frozen. With fear, shock, and awe. I'm sure they were asking themselves - how had he not lost his mind? Battling as a beast? How had he gained so much power and strength, yet retained so much skill and agility? These answers, even The Lord of Stars could not know.
It was simply the nature of animals, all life, made from nothing.
Cyrek simply smiled, not surprised at all. After all, he once saw this man turn into a giant metal beast and throw a cosmic nightmare into space. The Queen could also not conceal the amazement on her face.
Finally, I was at the center of the storm. The eye, as they say. I saw it face to face. Bulging with a madness enlaced. The cyclops was pulsing with an enormous earthy strength, and I had the incredible urge to consume him.
The fairies around the one-eyed beast make the first move. A blue and green stream of light, started dancing, twirling, and swinging wildly about. It took all my martial training to dodge, swiftly bobbing my head, leaning back and forth, left and right, barely dodging the streams of light.
I enhanced my fist with magnetism and lightning, I raised it far above my head, and in a second struck down like a hammer to an anvil, the ground cracking apart, and the two light streams blasted in the magnetic and electric shockwaves. They fell to the ground, writhing.
I quickly went to eat the earth one. Then I heard a fairy sing.
“Wait!”
The blue stream of light, the ice fairy, had spoken to me. Madness in her eyes fading into fear, she pleaded for help.
“We were ensnared in illusions, by a perverted monkey down east!” She said something borderline crazy. “When we refused to gratify him, he turned us mad with endless nightmares. Damn that satori!”
She all said this as the cyclops inched forward, a few beasts in the air attacked, cut down by my blade.
“Please, knock Un out of the illusions!” she nodded to the approaching cyclops.
Damn, I'm not going to get to eat him?
“Of course you can, eat it, and that green fairy too.” The Lord stated darkly. It wasn't a bad recommendation, and I strongly considered it. Killing these monsters would bring me great benefit. Would saving them do the same?
No, I doubt it.
I shot a pure and powerful blast of lightning from my third eye, straight into his. He held his head back and roared in maddened pain. He lifted his leg, and stomped.
The earth began to quake, all footing was last as the ground fell into broken pieces. I grew my wings once more, and continued to rain lightning strikes down upon it. I couldn't do it forever, but I could do it for days and days. Beasts have their energy inborn, like a wellspring of power and stamina.
The beast tanked the blows of lightning, though they still left dents and black marks on its skin. It grabbed the earth, swooping its hands underneath. The cracked earth was then lifted into the sky, bits of rock flying at incredible speeds.
In that initial mess, I took some hits, and dodged some others. My vision was blocked by earthly shards, as I pushed them away with magnetic force I saw a giant leaping.
A beautiful jump, It held its right arm high in the air, like he was ready to dunk a basketball straight into hell.
BAM
I was flung, straight downwards, the initial impact cracked many of the bones in my body. As I hit the ground, I bounced like a metallic rubber ball, thanks to the elasticity of my alloyed skin. As the hand came down again, I used my tail to push off the hand, deflecting much of the strength of the blow.
I bounced around again, and barely crawled upon my feet. I was bloody and beaten down. The strength of these blows nearly crushed my body. I would have felt an enormous pain, had au-ha not tuned down my pain receptors. But still, I felt the fear that was death.
This beast was a level above me.
It came at me ferociously, its strength too mighty to combat, I could only barely dodge out of the way. It swung its arms and legs down and down again. Just as another blow was about to hit me, a blue streak of light flew into its eye.
“Stop this, Un!” the ice fairy pleaded, as she held on to its eye. A small little fairy like that, would be crushed instantly in a second by this beast.
The giant held its hand up, to smack the fairy on his eye. But as it raised its hand, it began to slow.
The cyclops froze, seemingly coming back to sanity at last.