Chapter 36
Iwake up with a start. Traces of pain and terror still linger in my mind but no matter how much I question their origins, it’s like some crucial memory is gone.
“You’re awake?” Moe asks in a sleepy voice.
“H-how long have I been out?”
“Almost three days,” she says as she offers me a jug of water.
I let the cool liquid wash down my throat, feeling refreshed for the first time in so long.
“Three days…” I repeat, wondering what exactly happened during that time. I have some flashes and sensations but no clear memories.
“You eliminated all your blockages. I think your meridians should be clear now,” Moe explains. “Do you feel any different?”
I glance down at my body and notice I do in fact feel lighter than before.
“Yes. It’s a little different.”
“Then you should try absorbing some energy to be sure,” she continues, her voice methodical.
“Wait. What did you do while I was out? Did you take care of me the entire time?”
She nods, her lips thinly pressed together.
“Thank you. It must have been hard on you all this time.”
“I’m just glad you’re fine now.” She forces a smile. “Here, let me prepare you something to eat before you attempt to channel energy.”
I watch her move around the cave, carefully selecting some items and preparing a simple meal for me—dry meat and bread. My hunger rises to the surface upon seeing the food and I don’t even mind the staleness. I eat everything and ask for seconds.
She stands by quietly, watching me and giving me a small smile here and there. She seems tired, but it’s to be expected since she’s been taking care of me for three days.
“Are you sure everything is fine?” I ask, again. Seeing her like this, I can’t help but be riddled with guilt.
“Just a little tired.”
“Then you should sleep while I absorb the energy from the embryo.”
“Are you sure? What if something happens—”
“You’ve already taken care of me through the worst. You need sleep, Moe. Please,” I murmur.
She looks like she wants to argue, but she’s too tired to do so. She ends up nodding. She lays down on the makeshift bed and I cover her with a blanket.
“Sleep. I have you now,” I whisper, brushing a few strands of hair from her forehead.
She falls asleep almost instantly. Once more, I feel a pang of guilt at how tired she is—all because of me.
I let out a tired breath. Opening the proto-realm, I pull out some water and the embryo. The latter, I place aside until I’ve washed myself with some water.
I step deeper into the cave so I don’t disturb Moe and I wash three days worth of sweat from my body.
All the while, I can’t help but feel embarrassed at the state I was in while Moe was taking care of me.
As my meridians got cleansed, every little impurity from my body was expelled. That means I…stank.
I scrunch my nose in disgust.
What must she think of me? That I’m a smelly bastard.
As I carefully scrub myself, I think of different soaps and fragrances I can buy for the future so I don’t impose on her olfactive senses.
Poor girl… On top of being tired she must have also been disgusted by me but she did her best to mask it.
I squeeze my eyes shut as embarrassment floods me.
Out of all the things…
I doubt I would be here without Moe’s help, but at the same time, why the hell did she have to witness me at my objective worst?
After washing as best as I could—until my skin is raw and almost bleeding—I put on clean clothes and return to her side.
She’s sleeping so sweetly, I’d love for nothing else but watch her for an eternity.
Alas, we still have a lot to deal with, first of which is making it out of Horan forest safely.
Those beasts might still wait for us to come out, regardless of how much time has passed.
They might not have anthropomorphic forms, but they are equally if not sometimes more intelligent than humans.
For that reason, a war of attrition might not be out of the question.
The Raffia in particular has a grudge against us. If that bird is still alive, she will definitely plot something.
For that reason, I must get stronger. With no Zantrax left, the only way to do so is by absorbing the energy around me…and the one from that embryo.
I set the slimy embryo in front of me as I assume a meditation stance. Since I’ve never done this before, I’m a little awkward as I try to figure out what’s the best way to cultivate.
I shift around, facing the embryo, touching it, talking to it.
Thank the Seven Moe is sleeping otherwise she’d laugh at me. Yet another humiliating side of me.
From laying down, to laying on my side, to sitting cross-legged to ultimately hugging the slimy embryo to my chest, I try it all.
Yet nothing works. I don’t feel anything. The more I try, the more it doesn’t work and the more frustrated I get.
“Ugh!” I mutter under my breath.
Just as I place the embryo down in front of me, a tingling sensation arises in my chest.
I frown, not understanding what it is. It’s a soft fizzing right under my ribcage.
Blinking, I note faint particles of shimmer float through the air. They’re there only when I concentrate hard enough. They come toward me, but they stop right before merging with my skin. It’s almost as if they’re seeking permission.
I open myself to all the particles around me, allowing them to enter my body.
The tingling sensation intensifies. But this time it’s not just inside my chest. It spreads throughout my body, filling my limbs and my head.
The more I focus on them, the more I note discrepancies.
Some of the particles are a deep green while others are only a faint yellow.
The latter arise from the environment around—stone, earth, plants, anything that nurtures and exists on energy.
The former, however, is coming directly from the embryo.
There are other differences, too. The environmental particles are slow and farther in between. The embryo’s energy is so rich, it’s almost too much for my body.
Excitement forms inside me. This is it. Finally! I’m cultivating!
Even though this is the most elementary form of cultivation, merely absorbing energy from the environment and the embryo, it still delights me to no limit.
Me, who was once a never-before seen level zero, is cultivating. How exciting is that?
My happiness knows no bounds and I get the urge to wake Moe up so she can see it too, so I can tell her everything I’m feeling. But I quench it. She needs the rest.
Instead, I diligently focus on the energy from the embryo and do my best to absorb all of it.
Since I’m at the very beginning, I’m not sure how much of it I can properly absorb.
Some books say that even high levels have a hard time absorbing big amounts of energy, and that it sometimes goes down to genetic inheritance.
In a way, it makes sense. If everyone would be able to absorb all energy, not only would the world be filled with invincible immortals, but there would be no more energy to absorb!
After a moment, the green particles create a beam of light that shoots straight at me.
I can barely control my breathing as I struggle to accept it all.
My entire body strains to house this much energy. If before the particles would disperse throughout my body, now they’ve stopped moving. They’re condensed in one particular place and I don’t know how to make them move further.
It seems I’ve hit a bottleneck.
I let out a disappointed sigh. Perhaps I can try again tomorrow after this energy has dispersed through the rest of my body.
Reluctantly, I exit my focused state and cut off the connection with the particles. This is much easier than establishing the connection.
Fatigue settles within me as my body tries to accommodate to the onslaught of energy. Despite this small discomfort, I don’t think I’ve ever felt as good before. It’s as if I don’t recognize myself.
I sneak a glance at Moe. It’s been hours and she hasn’t moved. How tired she must have been!
Getting up, I walk around a little, trying to feel the differences in my body.
The only frame of reference I have are the snippets of information I gathered from taking Zantrax. According to them, when one ascends to the first level—usually within the first one thousand years of life—they instinctively know which domain they belong to. It’s a natural occurrence.
“How much energy do I need to reach the first level, I wonder?”
Once more, this depends on a person’s ability and speed in absorbing energy. Some take a full one thousand years while others do it earlier. But that is generally without the help of a mythical source of energy like the embryo.
I move and exercise my body, noticing an increase in my natural speed, but not much else in terms of strength.
Moe is still stronger than me at this point, I think drily to myself.
Although there aren’t too many changes yet, an idea suddenly comes to mind. There is something that all immortals acquire fairly young: speedy healing. That ultimately develops into instantaneous healing once they reach a more higher level.
I grab a small blade and glide it over the tip of my finger. Blood immediately pools to the surface. I wipe it off with my shirt and watch the gash closely.
Minutes go by. My focus is unwavering as I wait for any change.
Then an hour goes by. Then two, perhaps more. I’m still staring at my finger.
All the while thinking I’m a little pathetic for doing so.
I don’t know how long I wait, but at some point, there is a change. The gash becomes slightly smaller. Excitement fills me.
A few more hours and the gash completely disappears.
Yes, I did stare at my finger for all those hours. Another good thing Moe isn’t awake to see me or she’d also think me pathetic.
Normally, this type of cut would take me two to three days to heal. Now, it takes about half a day. Of course, it’s an extremely small cut. A larger injury would likely take much longer to heal. But it’s a start.