In meditation, the longer one could maintain the ethereal state of conscious emptiness, the bigger the benefits. Naturally, the longer they sensed the Qi of the world, the higher their understanding of it become, no matter how slow the process was.
Qi Gathering was nothing more than a preparatory stage. It is said that with enough talent and affinity, one could soar through it in just a single day. It was nothing more than the basic sensing, manipulation and absorption of Qi, there was no finesse involved.
Even so, such a high level of talent and comprehension was only seem once every hundred years. Of one thousand mortals, one would have the ability to develop his divine sense. Of one thousand people with divine sense, ten would be able to absorb Qi, direct it to their dantian, and be able to start Body Tempering.
This time, Amon had managed to stay in meditation for a few hours. When he woke up, the sun was setting and the sky was darkening. Daniel had been long gone.
He reheated the porridge he had made and ate some of it, since he had skipped lunch. He then took some for his mother as dinner.
When he entered her room, she was looking out the window in a daze. Amon quietly left the bowl with food next to her bed and left again. He knew that when his mother was like this she was reminiscing, so he found it better to leave her to her memories.
One week quietly passed.
Amon still didn't manage to control a single strand of Qi, just like all the other times he tried in the past years. He didn't go to the Northern Station again, but still took a few strolls around the area on the mornings.
As the sun rose on the day of the Scavenging, Daniel visited their house again. He made his way to Rebecca's room and took a small leather pouch from his clothes. Amon was gathering a few spare clothes in his room.
"Here, auntie. In this Bottomless Pouch you will find bread, cheese, dried meat and water enough for a week."
Rebecca carefully received the pouch, looking at it with a funny expression.
"It's been a while since I've held one of those. I could never really adapt to the strange feeling you have when you put your arm into it. It is like submerging it in water, but without getting wet. It gives me the creeps."
She laughed merrily as she said that. Daniel too couldn't help but smile. Then, her laugh disappeared and her expression turned serious.
"Daniel, be very careful in this Scavenging."
Her gaze was unmoving.
"Did something happen?"
He asked, surprised.
"No… at least I think not. It is just a nagging feeling. Still, it is the Broken Forest. Keep your guard up."
She seemed to be in a daze for a moment, confused as to why she felt this way.
"I promise you, auntie. I'll be careful and take good care of Amon."
She smiled hearing that.
"Thank you."
As she thanked him, Amon entered the room.
"Well, I'll be going. Goodbye, auntie. See you in a few days."
Daniel stood up and left. A strange expression on his face.
Amon had a small linen sack full of clothes on his shoulder. His black hair had a strange glint to it, almost as if it as shining. It had been more than a week since he last used the black nuts and soon the dye would lose effect.
Rebecca opened her arms and welcomed him in her arms, hugging him and ruffling his hair, just like she loved to do.
"You have to be careful, okay?"
She whispered in his ear, her voice full of worry.
"I'll take care mom."
"Listen to Daniel and if something happens, promise me you will run."
"I…"
"Promise me!"
"I promise. I'll run."
Amon was starting to feel insecure. What was this about?
"Good. You can go. See you in a few days."
She tightened her hug and kissed his forehead. Amon kissed her cheek before leaving through the door. Rebecca stared at his back as he left the house with Daniel.
There was a strange feeling churning in her chest. Was this worry? Fear?
She had a strong sense of foreboding. She reached for something inside the sheets and recovered a small necklace with a green jewel attached to it. A strange blue light seemed to be floating inside of it, flickering nonstop.
She always felt somewhat relieved every time she held it. It was the last gift her husband had ever given her, and the one thing she managed to retrieve from their old house beside Raven. Not even Amon knew about it. She didn't know why she never showed it to him, but thinking again, it would have most likely only brought him pain.
She looked at the sky that was slowly brightening through her window as she held the necklace close to her chest. She had dismissed Amon's worries a week ago. She thought it was just him blaming himself for a situation he obviously had nothing to do with, but now she felt strange whenever she remembered his words.
What if it wasn't just his guilt speaking? Even she didn't know what Lloyd had done to her son that day.
Maybe she had made a mistake. She clutched the necklace even harder, really hoping that she was wrong.
--------------------------------------
Amon and Daniel took a few hours by foot to reach the boundaries of the Broken Forest. There were watchtowers made with black stone placed every few miles in the limits of the forest and there was always someone standing watch. A thick wall made of the same black stone connect all of the watchtowers, completely dividing the sect's living grounds and the forest.
Spirit beasts invading the sect's grounds were extremely rare, but the people in the Outer Sect would have no chance to fight make if it ever happened. Plus, even if there were no records of it, a stampede could happen without notice, so the Abyss Sect always kept security tight close to the forest.
As Amon and Daniel approached the golden gate in the wall, they saw that there was already a multitude of people gathered there. There were even a few children here and there. They were divided in lines, confirming their prior applications to the Scavenging. There were at least twenty lines, and an Elder was handling each one.
Amon and Daniel chose a line and soon it was their turn. As Daniel had applied for both him and Amon, he showed to the Elder two wooden plaques with their names on it. The Elder glanced at the plaques and just had the duo stand on the side after he confirmed their application.
Not long after, a middle-aged man walked in front of the golden gates. He wore the fiery red clothes of an Elder, and his black hair had streaks of gray all over it. With a light kick on the ground, his body shot up, creating a gust of wind that blew into the faces of a few dozen people next to him. He landed atop the wall and started talking. Somehow, his voice seemed to sound directly in the ears of everyone listening.
"Good morning. As you all know, today we will open the Broken Sect for the Scavenging."
His voice was calm and serene, his tone steady.
"As you might know, all of the twenty Elders here will be roaming the forest for the next four days and helping every one they see in danger. Still, the forest is big and the Elders are few. Your lives are ultimately in your hands."
"For the parents that brought their children, I don't recommend staying more than a mile from the gates. Their lives are your responsibility and the Abyss Sect will not answer for their deaths if you ignore this warning."
Amon could see more than one mother bringing her child closer to her. It reminded him of five years ago.
"This Scavenging will four days long. You might return anytime between now and the deadline. If, however, you return late, a penalty will be applied for trespassing the limits of the Broken Forest, as the Scavenging will be already over and the permission granted will be nulled."
The Elder then opened his arms wide, raising his voice.
"I declare the Scavenging officially open!"
The enormous golden gates slowly opened, and soon the multitude started flooding towards it.
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
There was pushing and pulling everywhere. Daniel grabbed Amon by his collar and somehow managed to drag him beyond the gates.
As soon as they were out, Daniel pointed east.
"Come on, we have to be fast!"
He shouted, still dragging Amon behind him.
They ran for a few minutes. Daniel seemed to be jogging rather than running, but Amon was trying his best to be fast. They had barely covered a mile, but Amon was already panting for breath and covered in sweat.
"Alright, guess this should be enough. We can slow down a bit."
Amon didn't manage to speak as he was catching his breath, but he gave a slight nod.
"We are twenty miles or so away from the Red River. We should get there by nightfall if you can keep up the pace."
"I… huff… fine, just… give me a second."
Amon managed to speak with difficulty.
He sat down on the ground and slowly regulated his breathing. They were still near the wall, but he could already see the forest from up close.
The trees were dozens of meters tall, with dark green leaves at their crowns. Their branches intertwined, blocking the sunlight. Their twisted, dark trunks were at least four meter thick. The trees should be hundreds of years old, if not thousands.
Amon couldn't see past a few meters inside the forest. It was incredibly dark, as if a wall of shadows blocked his view. Looking at it gave him chills.
He suddenly felt a pressure in his heart, almost as if it was heavy. He found it difficult to breathe, and his face paled.
Daniel realize it and slapped his back, snapping him out of it.
"Are you okay?"
Amon didn't have a good expression. He was actually trembling a bit.
"I'll be fine. It is just… Getting out here again is hard."
Daniel gave a nod. Sitting beside him. Amon clenched his fists hard and tensed his muscles, trying to stop his body from trembling. It took him a few minutes to recollect himself. When Daniel saw that he was somewhat better, he jumped on his feet.
"Let's go, or we will never get there in time."
Daniel offered him a hand. Amon accepted it and Daniel pulled him up.
"So, what will we do? I don't know if we could reach the place and return in four days…"
Daniel scoffed hearing that. He continued walking east and Amon followed suit, looking all around him like a scared cat.
"Well, if I was alone I could get there in a few hours if I wanted to be fast, but since I'm with you I had to use my brains for a bit."
Amon pretended not to hear the first part.
"What do you mean by that?"
"Once we reach the river we will build a raft. With me here, we can make it in half an hour at most. I have some ropes in the Bottomless Pouch to speed up the process. The river will give us a ride straight to our destination. We would be there before sunrise if we build the raft as soon as we reach the river. If you get tired you can sleep on the raft as we travel."
"That is a really good plan."
Amon was very impressed, but not surprised. Daniel always seemed to be thinking a few steps ahead.
The sun rose above their heads and the temperature rose sharply. The walked closer to the edge of the forest to seek refuge in the shadows as they moved.
Amon was tense the whole time as they walked. Daniel tried to loosen his mood a bit, to no avail.
When the sun started to set, they finally could hear the running water of the river ahead. They had spent at least eight hour walking on the woods. Amon had to take a break three times, as he was just too young and weak.
Hearing the sound of the river gave him back some energy, and he started rushing ahead. Daniel shook his head, but followed suit.
The Red River was at least one mile wide. It had muddy, brown waters, that made it seem dirty. The water rolling on the surface was incredibly fast, and the sheer sound produced by the current made Amon somewhat fearful. He was sure he would drown in no time if he didn't manage to grab into something or return to the riverbank fast enough.
Daniel didn't waste time. He opened the Bottomless Pouch and retrieved an axe from it. He choose a few of the younger trees near the river, being only half as thick as the one deeper in the forest and started chopping.
His axe whistled through the air every time he swung it, and the impact produced was enough to make the leaves of the surrounding trees rustle. The impact was so strong Amon could feel it in his chest, as if someone was punching him. It didn't take long for him to take down three of the trees.
He then took his time chopping off their crowns and whatever branches remained, leaving only clean trunks about four meters long.
"Help me out a bit."
He requested Amon's help as he retrieved some ropes from the Bottomless Pouch. Amon helped him hold the ropes in place as Daniel firmly tied them around the trunks. After he was satisfied, he let out a long breath, cleaning the droplets of sweat in his face. Even he got tired from it.
By the time they dragged the raft to the water, the sun had already set, only a few slivers of red light still shone in the horizon of dark sky.
Amon climbed on the raft as Daniel pushed it into the river, before jumping on it too. He used a long stick he made from one of the branches of a tree and pushed the raft away from the riverbank.
By then, Amon was nearly passing out. His face was pale and his clothes clung to his body, covered in sweat. It was getting colder, so he started shivering.
Daniel retrieved Amon's sack of clothes and handed it to him together with a blanked. Amon covered himself and used the sack as a pillow before he fell soundly asleep, not even acknowledging the rocking of the raft.
Daniel, on the other hand, was still fine. He had done most of the work, but he only felt slightly tired. He could actually go on for days without sleep.
He seemed to enter a trance as he conducted the raft downstream. Stars slowly started lighting up in the sky, and a full moon appeared from behind the clouds, almost like and eye gazing at then.
The dim light shone on the river, making it look like quicksilver.
Although the current was strong and fast, they had a long way to go.
Time slowly passed.
Sometimes a bigger wave would pass beneath the raft, making it shake abruptly and wake Amon up, but he would soon fall back asleep. It was far from comfortable, but was better than staying awake. He felt as if he was in a dream that would not end as he woke up and went back to sleep again and again.
Eventually, without him noticing, the raft came to a stop. Daniel's strong hand gently shook his shoulders and he woke up for good.
"We are here."
The sky was still dark, but Amon could already hear the chirping of the birds alongside the screeching of cicadas.
"What time is it?"
He asked, rubbing his eyes. His golden eyes seemed like lanterns glowing in the dark.
"There are still two hours until the sun rises. Let's go, the faster we search here, the faster we can return."
As Daniel said that, he jumped down from the raft and into the riverbank. He dragged the raft into it, away from the water. Amon scooped some of the cold water and washed his face, trying to properly wake up.
Daniel slowly took a flat disk from his Bottomless Pouch. He gave Amon the disk as he continued to search for something inside the pouch. He had a serious looking on his face a he pulled a slender sword from it.
The scabbard was azure, but the handle had a pure white color. It was a high grade artifact that his father had gifted him long ago, years before Daniel 'decided to live on his own' in the Outer Sect.
Daniel tied it to his waist, being able to draw the sword quickly if anything happened. He still had Rebecca's warning in mind. She had been an outstanding cultivator, so he trusted her senses. No one could reach the heights she had if they couldn't feel danger coming.
He also recovered a small paper talisman from the pouch. It was an expendable treasure that could create a thick barrier around the user for a limited time. It was a basic tool for self-protection.
He extended his hand and Amon returned the disk. It was made of green jade and was filled with strange runes that glowed with a green light. Daniel injected Qi in it and it started to madly spin in his hands and slowly started to float.
It was a tool used to search for high concentrations of Qi. It would tilt in the direction where the Qi was thicker. As artifacts also had high concentrations of Qi, the disk would react to their presence. It had cost Daniel a fortune, so not everyone could use one of those and make their lives easier in the Scavenging.
Daniel and Amon started to slowly walk through the riverbank. They tried to cover a wide area, but the disk simply spun in Daniel's hand, showing no reaction.
They had walked for over an hour, covering almost a mile to the east of their starting point, yet they found nothing. They had been thorough, but maybe there was really nothing there after all.
When they were about to give up and return, the disk suddenly tilted right, in the direction of the river.
"Oh?"
Daniel was surprised. He had never expected to find anything and was just waiting for Amon to give up so they could return. Amon's eyes shone with excitement, and they slowly started walking in the direction the disk pointed, taking small and careful steps.
Suddenly, the disk almost fell out of Daniel's hands and started floating above the ground. Daniel didn't waste time and spread his divine sense towards the ground.
A few feet underground, what seemed to be a spear's tip was buried. Daniel carefully started digging, completely absorbed in his task. The sun had already started rising on the horizon, painting the river with a hellish red light.
They didn't realize. There were no birds chirping. No cicadas screeching. There was no sound at all, almost as if time had stopped.
Amon felt his hair stand on end, and his body started to heat up. He could feel his blood churning in what seemed to be excitement, and he suddenly felt eager. He could feel something coming from the forest at an incredibly fast speed. He could feel it in his blood; it was almost like the primal excitement a warrior would feel when being challenged to a fight.
His face paled, and he started trembling. Cold sweat started running through his back. This feeling was very familiar. It was not nearly as strong, but it was very similar to how he felt five years ago.
"Daniel, we have to go."
Daniel was still digging on the ground. He glanced at Amon and saw his pale face.
"Daniel, we have to go now!"
Amon screamed, full of terror. Daniel didn't ask, as he seemed to sense something wrong. He ran to Amon, caught him on his arms and started running back in the direction they came.
However, it was too late.
He felt a chill and almost lost his balance. He managed to stop in time, as a black shadow jumped in front of him and blocked his path. Daniel put a terrified Amon in his left shoulder and drew his sword with his right hand. A piercing trill echoed through the forest as the shiny blade revealed itself.
As he did that, he heard something snapping to his right. He slowly turned to face the tree from where the sound came, and he saw it.
A huge shadow was slowly taking shape between the trees. They could feel each step it took making the ground lightly shake beneath Daniel's feet. When it got closer they could finally hear the muffled sound it made when it walked.
A pair of red rubies that burned like the flames of hell was staring at them. Soon, a paw that was as big as an adult's torso made it out of the shadows. Claws as big as daggers left scars in the ground as they grazed it when the creature took a step forward.
Something as big as Daniel made its way into the light, completely covered in black fur that seemed more like an armor of sharp and hard needle. The pair of rubies were stuck into the sides of this thing. Amon finally realized that the rubies were eyes, and what he was seeing was an enormous head.
The beast opened its mouth, and a row of fangs as big as spear tips showed themselves, the saliva dripping from them giving them a cruel glint. A bite from it could rip a tree from the ground, roots and all.
Amon and Daniel could feel a cold wind blowing at their backs that made their hair flutter when the beast's lungs expanded. It then released a howl that made the trees sway and a cloud of dust to rise from the ground.
"AWOOOOOOOOOO!"
It felt more like an air cannon than a howl. Amon was blown away from Daniel's shoulder and fell on the ground, while Daniel stumbled a few steps backwards.
The pair of rubies locked into Amon while hundreds of leaves were blown away from the trees and slowly fell to the ground, swaying in strange ways. Amon started shivering uncontrollably. His ears started bleeding from the howl. He couldn't move a muscle.
The beast slowly approached him, one step at a time. Finally it come to a halt five meters away from Amon, looking at him full of hostility, the fur at its back erect as a low and deep grow resonated from its throat.
Daniel finally snapped out of his trance. He recovered the shield talisman from his clothes and shattered it, moving closer to Amon. A thick and translucent golden light enveloped them. Daniel grabbed Amon and turned away, running at full speed in the direction they came from.
They heard another air splitting howl that made the surface of the shield ripple like water, and the beast ran towards them.
Daniel was scared out of his mind. A beast like that shouldn't be here. He wanted to deny it in his head, but the name still made its way into his lips.
"Direwolf!"