My time with Ouka's family didn't last long. After about two weeks since the incident with the beast core, I was ready to set off to Orario.
I had gotten used to staying with them during that time, so I was sad to leave, but my cultivation had taken a nose dive in speed, which was unacceptable.
The reason for this was pretty simple. During those two weeks, there were no monsters. None, nada, zip, zero. Nothing had ever come since the pack of Direwolves.
I looked for some when I went out to collect herbs to replace the ones I wasted and to replace the potion I drank but couldn't find anything.
Now, that is a good thing for the village. And I do feel bad that I was actively hoping for some to show up, but it is awful for my cultivation otherwise.
Beast cores were the way forward, they offered an insane amount of Qi, and now that my organs were tempered I could eat them without debilitating myself.
Hence, I finally got up and left the village. After a warm goodbye, with everyone wishing me luck, I set off to put my plan into action.
The plan was pretty simple, I was to go to the capital city, spend some of the money Ouka's family had so graciously given me to get supplies, and book a ship over to the mainland. From there, they suggested I join a caravan heading to Orario.
A solid plan in theory. And it was going so well. But the universe just had to remind me that nothing was easy.
I made it to the capital, where I found out the country I was currently in was called the Far East because it is the farthest country eastwards.
I almost rolled my eyes at the name, but I contained myself and boarded a ship towards the mainland.
Except I couldn't buy a ticket cause it was more than half the money I currently had. I was sure the guy at the ticket booth was ripping me off.
So, rather than give him the satisfaction of earning my money, I stowed away in the hull, kept quiet, and meditated the whole journey.
Unfortunately, I got caught when we made port, resulting in a mad chase through the city before I escaped into the wilderness.
Since I was now a wanted criminal, for something completely harmless, might I add, I couldn't just walk back into the city. The guards at the gate recognized me when I went back to try.
This left me in a bit of a pickle. I wouldn't mind walking to Orario with what I had on me, but I didn't know where Orario was, which was annoying.
I didn't know where anything else was either, so I couldn't just go to another city and get supplies there.
So, not having any other options, I snuck back into the city in the dead of night, went to a general store, and broke in. A harsh kick on the door, and it went down while I went in.
I dug around for a bit before getting a few maps that showed me how to get to Orario, a compass, food, water, a tent, a sleeping bag, cookware, extra clothes, a traveling cloak, new boots, and anything else I thought would be useful.
Did I mention that I loved my storage ring? Because I love my storage ring.
I dug out some Vails from my bag and placed them down, hoping it was enough to pay for everything. Nothing had price tags after all, so I could only guess. It soothed my conscience so it was worth losing some money.
Feeling a little better about myself, and telling myself that I didn't have any other choice, I put on the traveling cloak I got to ward off the chill and ran off into the night.
I escaped the city and ran off into the woods for a bit, just in case anyone was following me, before looping back around to the dirt road and continuing from there.
After walking for a bit, I decided to take a break and go to sleep. Stepping off the main road, I set up the tent and, after a dinner of smoked meat, fruit, and water, I drifted off to sleep.
When I awoke, I ate some breakfast, cleaned up my tent, and continued on my journey to the next town.
While I wasn't the worst in terms of directions, I didn't want to get lost, and the best way to avoid that was to have someone lead the way.
When I ended up arriving at the next big town on the map a few days later I ran into another problem. None of the merchants would take me with them.
"Hah? You want to go to Orario, kid? Forget it, no one's going that far now. Too many unsavory things out on the road," The grizzled old merchant spat out.
My shoulders slumped in defeat at his response. He was the last merchant I could ask and his answer was the same as the others. Still, he was more talkative than the others so that could be useful.
"Unsavory things? Like what?" I asked. My walk here had been nothing but pleasant; the only animals I had run into were rabbits and the occasional deer.
"Bandits, monsters, you name it, it's going to be out in full force right now. That's not even counting the fact that you'd have to go around the Alf forest else the damn elves would hunt you down," He explained which left me with more questions than answers.
"Why are the bandits and monsters around now? Also, what do you mean by elves? Elves exist?" I asked to which he gave me a look of disbelief.
"You must be from the boonies, huh? It's almost winter, meaning all the monsters are fattening themselves up before the snow isolates them," He said, which was just as a wind came through and made me shiver a bit. Yep, it was fall.
"The bandit influx is from all the deserters since Rakia and the Empire started skirmishing again. As for the elves, yes, they exist. It's just rare to see them outside of the major cities and their forest. Of which they are very protective, so they'd kill you out if you try to go into it," He continued before sighing.
"Look kid, I want to help you out, but nobody is doing a direct trip to Orario from here. The only way you'd see that happening is if the merchant is on the other side of the forest. Until then, you'd be on your own," He said with finality.
"I see…thank you for telling me. I didn't know about all that," I said, feeling overwhelmed at everything he just threw at me.
"No problem, kid. If you want my advice, either wait for winter to come and go or travel down south if you can't wait that long. That way, you'll be able to avoid the bandits and the war for the most part. Though the elves, monsters, and cold will still be a problem." He advised me to which I smiled and gave a nod.
"Thank you. Do you know any merchants going south from here?" I asked but he just shook his head.
"I see. Thank you," I said before he waved me off, and I was left alone for a bit as I debated my options.
On one hand, going north, which was the original way I wanted to go, would be faster, but walking into a war zone was a terrible idea. I'd rather fight monsters than people.
On the other hand, going south lets me avoid all that, but it'd be longer. Then again, it's not like I'm in any rush.
Safety is more important, especially since I'm sure the familias were participating in the war, and being anywhere close to them right now is asking for them to find out I have the manual.
And that would draw attention to me, and that is how I die or get gang pressed into joining some God. So definitely a no-go. South it is!
Giving a final nod in satisfaction, I went to the general store and, this time legally bought a map. It was more expensive than I thought it was going to be but not having to deal with the guards chasing me or a guilty conscience was worth it.
Afterwards, I was off on my merry way. My walking speed was pretty fast, and the fact that I didn't have any luggage helped me continue smoothly.
I was thankful for all the times my dad took me out camping since that was pretty much my life now. Pitch the tent, start a fire with some flint and steel, cook some food that I had caught, and boil some water before settling in for the night.
The fire, tent, and sleeping bag all kept me warm enough despite the growing cold, and most nights passed peacefully. I thought that maybe this wouldn't be too bad, but the universe had to prove me wrong.
It occurred about a week into my journey south. I had just finished eating a rabbit I managed to catch and was lying down in my tent slowly drifting to sleep when I heard a slight crack of a branch.
I snapped up and waited, poised to move but hoping it was just a deer or something. It wouldn't be the first time something woke me up at night and I had been lucky that everything had been harmless so far.
A claw ripping through the fabric of my tent quickly disproved that theory and I leaped toward the opening of the tent.
I quickly rolled out before having to dodge another claw swipe, this one just barely missing my head.
I gave a blind kick to my assailant before my eyes finally adjusted to the firelight, and I saw what I was dealing with.
They were short humanoid creatures with a lizard-like head covered in red scales. Their eyes glowed a deep red, teeth pointy and sharp, and claws flexing as they readied themselves.
A group of five surrounded my tent, one was currently untangling themselves from my tent while the one I had kicked thrashed on the ground.
The other three simply looked at me in what I was assuming shock that I had made it out but it was hard to tell with their faces being lizard heads.
I didn't give them time to recover before rushing forward and giving a solid stomp to the downed one. A crack reverberated through the night air as the little Kobold ceased struggling and the others sprang into action.
I spun out of the way of their lunge before following up with a heel kick to one of their necks. I felt the bone give way, and the little thing when flying away.
Two down, three to go.
I closed the distance to the closest one and met its lunge. I grasped its neck and brought it off the ground before slamming it down, ignoring how it scratched at my arm.
I brought my other hand out and grasped the second one's arm before spinning it around and slamming it down onto its companion. With both prone, I brought my foot up before stomping on their stomachs.
I underestimated how hard they were as my foot went through them, leaving my leg impaled through them.
The first one finally dislodged itself from my tent before snarling at me and jumping, aiming towards my head.
As I watched the Kobold sail through the air, I steadied myself and raised my hand in a tight fist before striking it out of the air. A solid hit to the chest sent it flying to a nearby tree headfirst with a thunk.
I scanned the area for a second, ensuring I didn't miss anything, before leaning down to extract my foot from the two kobolds below me.
It was…gross. My entire right leg was covered in gore, and I got to watch bits of kobold drip off me and pool into the mess that was left of the bodies.
I saw the lady's organs spilling out of her as she used her final breaths to ask me to take the ring and necklace.
I grimaced at that memory before shaking everything off as much as I could and even using some water to wash it off before taking stock of my wounds. When I gripped the kobold by the throat, it did manage to get a few scratches on me but they were practically nothing.
Honestly, it looked like I was playing with a cat, and it got annoyed at me rather than me getting into a fight with monster lizards. Cultivation is insane, and it honestly just showed me how far I had come since the goblins.
Not only in terms of power, as there was no way I couldn't have just put my foot through a monster a few months ago, but also in terms of technique.
My first fight with the goblins resulted in close calls and glancing blows. Compared to the battle that just happened, where the only wounds I had on me were those I let happen, it was a world of difference.
After taking stock of myself, I went over to my tent and found that it was completely unusable.
The stupid kobold had managed to not only snap the rope holding it up but also put so many holes in the thing that I couldn't tell where the original opening even was.
I stored it in my ring, hoping I could use it in some other application. I sighed in defeat but shrugged it off.
It wasn't that cold yet, a fire through the night would keep me plenty warm, and if it rained I could always find a cave or something. Hiding out in a cave was a staple of cultivation after all.
Speaking of cultivation, that reminded me that I need to get the beast cores from the kobolds. They disappeared in a puff of smoke as I observed my bounty.
The cores were a bit bigger than the dire wolves, but other than that, they were the same so I felt confident in eating them. Though, not confident enough to eat them in the middle of the night after I had just been attacked.
I put out the fire and moved away from the now-destroyed campsite, feeling a bit disappointed that my tent had been destroyed.
Still, sleeping under the stars ain't too bad, and my sleeping bag is still intact, so it could be worse.
After about an hour's walk, I found a suitable spot to lie down and try to go back to sleep. The ground wasn't as hard as I had feared, and the stars above proved to be a nice view as I drifted back off to sleep.
When I woke up again, it was morning and no monsters were attacking me. A vast improvement from last night.
I scavenged up some fruit, which was growing more and more scarce, I noticed and went to find a safe place.
I wanted to walk to the next town and maybe get an inn, but one, I needed to save my money for stuff that was more important, and two, it was too far of a walk and I didn't want to wait that long.
Luckily, after about two hours, I was able to find a little cave in the surrounding area. After double-checking that it wasn't a bear den or something, I went in and settled down.
I rolled the cores in my hand before carefully picking one up and swallowing it with some water. I then calmly closed my eyes and started to meditate as it worked its way down.
When the heat came I was prepared for it. Well, I was mentally prepared for it, it still was hot but it was a lot more manageable than before. Not only that but it was more efficient too.
Before the Qi bounced back and forth across my entire body and stopped at my muscles and skin, this time it was contained to my organs with a few waves hitting my muscles when I shifted a bit but as long as I stayed still then I was golden.
I stayed like that for a while, letting the Qi waves bounce around before it eventually lost its momentum and stopped. What I was left with was a decent chunk of my organs being saturated with Qi and minimal to no soreness in the rest of my body.
I let out a sigh of relief as I stood up and stretched, satisfied with my progress and thankful that I didn't hurt myself again.
Unfortunately, that progress had come at a cost, as it was now night and I hadn't eaten anything since breakfast.
My stomach made some noises at me reminding me of that fact. I got out some food from my ring and quickly began chowing down while setting up my sleeping bag.
I finished up my meal and ended the day by practicing my developing martial arts style. I say that but it was mostly just me kicking and punching the air till I felt like I had gotten a good form down.
So, it is still a work in progress, but I was confident it would develop into something useful. Once I had the basic forms down then I could start comboing and developing stances or special moves.
The quote about fearing the man who has practiced one kick ten thousand times rather than ten thousand kicks is what I am basing my entire routine on. I'd rather do a few things well rather than go and try to do a bunch of flashy things.
Also, every cultivation novel I've ever read always starts with the foundation of your skill before moving on to the "ten thousand suns of the morning dawn dragon punch" kinda thing.
Moving on, the Kobolds attacking me started a nice cycle of what I want to call experience farming. Like clockwork, every few days or so, I would get jumped by some other monster group while traveling to the point where I developed my little schedule.
I would travel for a few hours, sit down and consume the latest beast core that I had gathered, practice my developing moveset, hunt and gather some herbs, and then kill some monsters while I'm at it cause I always find them somehow, eat dinner, write in my journal, prepare some supplies for tomorrow and then go to sleep.
It drastically cut down how long I was traveling for each day, only a few hours now compared to nearly eight before, but in exchange, my cultivation was progressing rapidly, so I wasn't complaining.
The steady yet diverse stream of monsters allowed me a steady supply of cores and practice dummies for refining my techniques. So much so that I quickly completed both the organ refinement stage and the basic moves of my style.
Breaking into the blood refinement stage brought forth a new feeling of energy and awareness I hadn't had ever. It also had the added benefit of being less hungry.
Before I was eating three times a day with snacks in between meals but after completing the organ refinement stage I noticed it took both less food for me to feel full and longer for me to feel hungry again. It wasn't anything drastic but it did reduce the amount of food I needed.
This was excellent news, as I noticed it was getting harder and harder to find food in the woods. The fruits were starting to disappear or rot, and I was seeing fewer and fewer animals.
After about three months since I left Ouka's place it was truly winter. The trees had lost their leaves, there was hardly any fruit or animals to come across and the monsters had started getting more…crazed.
Before I would run into a group of Kobolds or Goblins or even mutated wildlife, they had a certain intelligence to them.
I could tell by their body movement when we fought they didn't want to get hurt. They would hesitate before attacking or try to regroup after getting kicked in the head and they didn't attack their companions.
Not anymore.
Now they attacked with an onslaught of slashes and bites meant only to get food as soon as they could.
This new change in aggression allowed me to gather even more cores than usual since I would regularly come across sites where monsters were fighting among themselves, only to sweep in and harvest all the stones.
It was sad to say but it wasn't just the monsters getting more desperate.
When it was fall, I ran across a few merchants who were heading the opposite way as me but they still offered directions to the nearest city or some supplies to trade.
Now, they were very hostile to the point I didn't even bother interacting with them anymore. The same was true with the towns as well.
Before, they would welcome me in and show me to an inn or supply shop, but now the guards don't even let me in unless it's a bigger town. When I asked why they very bluntly told me that they didn't have the extra food or firewood to spare.
It was a little lonely, but I didn't let it affect me too much. The villages were more landmarks telling me where I was than they were stops to sleep or eat.
I had killed a deer previously when it was still warm, and thanks to my storage ring, it was still just as fresh as the day it died.
As for the cold, with a fire, my sleeping bag, and a tree or cave to block the wind, I hardly notice it. Another advantage of going down south is that I don't think I'll be dealing with any snow.
Time flowed before I finally completed the blood refinement stage. Next was the bone refinement stage and I began dreading what was next.
The bone refinement stage was perhaps the fastest stage to get through. The problem is that the way to do it is by breaking your bones.
Not in the "my arm is a staircase or my bone is poking through the skin" kinda way but in the hairline fractures all up and around your body kinda way. So that was good news, I guess.
Some not-so-great news was that since I had so much Qi in my body at this point, soon it would start to break my bones on its own but randomly and uncontrollably. The manual said that this was bad cause it would unevenly disrupt the Qi and mess up your foundation.
Also, your bones randomly breaking in different ways could kill you, as it could puncture your brain or an artery.
So yeah, a controlled break is vital if I don't want to die. So, to avoid that, I was on a time limit and needed to get this over with as soon as possible.
I would have loved to check into an inn or even just be behind some city walls for this, but I'm far away from any of the major cities, and the surrounding villages won't let me in because of the winter.
So, I did the next best thing. I went and found a cave. But not just any cave.
I found one that was saturated with Qi, so much so that I could feel it in the air as soon as I approached.
I needed a cave with a lot of Qi since it would speed up my cultivation massively and I needed to get this over and done with as soon as possible.
I didn't want to spend more time with broken bones than strictly necessary.
So, after wandering around a bit and finding a cave absolutely bursting with Qi, and quickly making sure it wasn't a monster den, I got to work. A part of me was laughing at the cliche, but it was my reality now.
First, I went and blocked off the entrance to the cave with rocks and sticks as best I could. My camouflage wouldn't work against people. But hopefully, it would keep out monsters and animals.
Next, I went back in and took out all the supplies I thought I would need. Cooked food, water, sleeping bag, herbs, and beast cores.
I couldn't light a fire in the cave unless I wanted to die, and I didn't want the smoke to give away my position to monsters if I did it at the entrance, so I would have to make do with keeping warm with my clothes.
I took the herbs and began soaking them in water along with the beast cores to make what I'll call a soup. Hopefully, it will help heal my bones faster after I drink it and be diluted enough that the Qi won't hurt me.
After I was done getting ready I took a deep breath and walked over the cave wall before exhaling and taking a stance.
I started out punching wood, and now I have upgraded to punching stone. Oh, how far I've come.
Alright, first things first. Let's get the ribs and chest out of the way. I emptied my breath as much as I could before running chest-first into the wall.
I felt my bones break as I let out a silent gasp in pain before taking a sharp inhale and gently touching my chest and ribs.
The spike of pain told me that all of them were definitely broken, and I didn't need to try again.
Taking that small victory, I went back over to my setup and very gingerly took a sip of my soup before slowly getting into the lotus position.
I ignored how much it hurt to breathe and focused on the warm feeling of the Qi slowly soothing my injuries.
When I could finally breathe again without wincing in pain, I ate a quick dinner before heading back to the wall and running into it again, only this time backward.
Crack
I didn't even need to confirm I broke my back as I quickly dropped to the ground with a groan of pain. It was hard to stand with a broken back. Who could have seen that coming?
Still, I didn't let the pain in my back stop me as I literally dragged myself over to the sleeping bag and drank my soup again.
Since I couldn't sit up I just rested my face against the makeshift pillow and focused on my breathing before eventually falling asleep.
When I woke up, I ate a quick breakfast before continuing my breathing to speed up the healing process.
Once I could stand again I walked over to the wall and decided to do my right hand and forearm next.
Crack, Crack, CRACK!
Oh, that took a few tries but I eventually got it and went back to sip on some soup, my arm limply by my side as I started breathing again.
Thus, the cycle was born and time began to blur. I spent most of my time in the cave, healing with only a few breaks in between for food, or just for my mental health and seeing sunlight.
Crack!
My other arm only took one try this time, though I cracked a bit of the stone off. Hmm, I should be careful, wouldn't want to cut myself.
Crunch! Crack!
My left toes and ankle were a bit tricky cause I think I broke my toes too much. It's going to take longer to heal now, great.
Pop! Crack!
Hey, only a dislocation on my right toes and ankle. Improvement! But, I did cut myself. Hmm, evens out I guess.
Bang! Crack!
Bang! Crack!
The shins and kneecaps, on the other hand, went off without a hitch.
I broke both of them at the same time to make up for the time from my toe blunder, and it seems like it paid off. Can't walk, that sucks.
Slam! Pop! Crack!
Ooooh, damn the femurs and hips hurt a lot more than the others. Also, I can't walk or sit again, hell, even lying down is a pain. The fact that I have to do this to the other ones…
Slam! Pop! Crack!
Yep, it still hurts like a motherfucker and still the worst of them all by far. On the bright side, I'm almost done. I think.
How long have I been doing this?
Pop! Crack!
Can't forget the collarbones and shoulders now, can we?
Pop! Crack!
God, it hurts.
Still, compared to the hips, this is pretty much nothing.
I'm almost done though I can't relax yet. It's time for the tricky part.
I got up and slowly went over to what I had dubbed the breaking wall. It had a few blood stains on it from when I accidentally cut myself, but it was smoother now than when I started.
How long has it been? Time is a blur, everything hurts. I want it to stop.
But I can't stop. I can never stop. Stopping is not allowed…
I have one left. I can do it. One more then I'm done. Let's go!
Then I can leave this stupid cave. I want to leave now, but I can't. Not until I finished breaking the last bone in my body.
My skull.
I was hesitant to do so, hence why I left it for last, but it was time to face this head-on!
I want to leave after all. I want to be done. This is gonna hurt.
I am pretty sure I'm gonna pass out from this, so I preemptively took a drink of my healing soup and patted the ground around me for a softer landing.
Okay, here's to hoping I wake up soon.
I took a deep breath, tilted my head back, and shot it forward.
Crack!
'Ha! First try! Ouch!' It was the final hazy thought I had before dizziness took me over, and I went off into dreamland with a concussion and a broken skull.
…
…
…
…
When I awoke, I had both a killer headache and a slightly bloody forehead, letting me know it hadn't been too long since I passed out, so that's a good thing.
After fumbling over to the Qi soup mixture I proceeded to dunk my entire head in it before maneuvering it to where the back of my head remained in the water while lying down.
"I take it back, this is worse than the hips," I muttered, my voice gently echoing off the cave walls. Still, I was able to get into my breathing routine, and a short time later the headache was gone and I was officially done with the bone refinement stage.
I let myself grin as I hopped around and punched the wall I had been hitting this whole time only for me to feel nothing as I felt the stone crack a bit.
Oh yeah, Orario here I come!