"My friend, don't mock me! If I had finished my primary transformation, I could've roamed the edge of that forest without a scratch!"
Hearing the bedridden youth's answer, Mel thought about his own condition and found truth in his words. Even though he didn't have a deep understanding of how body transformation actually worked, he had seen that the dragon changes in his arms were more than enough for the early stages.
"If you get better... do you think you could finish the primary transformation?"
Sivo's eyes widened with fury; these two questions were like trampling on his deepest beliefs.
"Listen to me! Sure, my talent for turning nature's energy into spiritual power is garbage, and getting the resources for that path is impossible. But I have the guts to endure all the pain body cultivation demands. Maybe I'll never heal; maybe I'll die right in this bed in a few years. But if I got the chance to choose again today, I'd step into that forest without hesitating!"
Having lived alone for a long time, Mel was seeing the fighting instincts of someone just like him for the first time. Sivo was truly someone who had sworn his soul to the path of body cultivation.
"I understand your resolve. Can you teach me a little about body transformation?"
Even though it was like rubbing salt in the bedridden boy's wounds, Mel really wanted to take this chance to learn the cultivation methods. Judging by his relaxed face, it seemed Sivo wouldn't have a problem teaching him.
"Ever since the dawn of creation, humans and wild beasts have been locked in an endless war. The old records say that for a long time, humans were just food for the wild beasts. Until the Savior came down from the heavens and gave them spiritual techniques, mankind couldn't escape being prey!"
"Realizing that only a tiny fraction of the people had the talent to use these techniques, the Savior opened a second path for them; that was Body Cultivation. Humans who couldn't turn nature's energy into spiritual power tried to get strong by fusing with wild beasts, creatures naturally gifted in this area!"
The initial fog clouding Mel's mind slowly cleared; grasping the basic idea behind the cultivation path, he turned to the bedridden youth for more insight.
"Can you explain the stages of cultivation?"
Even though Sivo found this boy's curiosity a bit suspicious, in his current state, he had no choice but to talk.
"Someone who steps onto the path of Body Cultivation first has to target a beast that matches their own nature; the harmony of traits is the main rule you have to follow. After that, the beast's core has to be refined; once that's done, the primary transformation is finished. Naturally, to refine the core, your body has to be tough enough to survive the process; otherwise, you're guaranteed to die!"
"Usually, one core isn't enough; only when you refine the core of a boss-tier wild beast does success become a sure thing!"
Hearing the youth recount the exact rules written in his book, Mel realized that the core he had was something incredibly valuable.
"That's the first step of the Discovery Realm; it's followed by the Skin Shedding stage, where the cultivator's flesh starts to mutate to match the refined energy of the wild beast. The moment Body Cultivators stand out from normal humans starts with Skin Shedding!"
"The peak of the Discovery Realm is marked by getting the primary attribute; the Body Cultivator takes in a natural ability from the refined beast and uses it as easily as if they were born with it. Rich families and deep-rooted factions feed their disciples the flesh and blood of the beast whose core they refined through the whole Discovery stage. That way, they guarantee they'll advance at least twice as fast as everyone else."
The gap was massive; if you were poor, even if you miraculously got a beast core, success was never guaranteed, and you were doomed to fall behind the others.
"After Discovery comes the Assimilation phase; certain parts of the cultivator's body start taking on the beast's traits, their blood changes to copy the beast's blood, and finally, the cultivator turns completely into the wild beast they refined!"
Mel jumped to his feet in surprise; that last part really caught his attention.
"You have every right to be scared, my friend; this stage is the turning point for a Body Cultivator. After the complete transformation, you have to bend your willpower to turn back into a human, or else...!"
The bedridden boy suddenly stopped talking, but Mel understood his unspoken words perfectly.
"Some say... that boss-tier wild beasts are actually humans who fully transformed but failed to turn back!"
Every new thing he learned was like a hammer hitting the one before it. It felt like a long iron nail was being driven into his mind.
"With the Reversion comes the start of the Domination phase, but sorry; I don't know much about that level!"
Mel took a deep breath; he didn't need anything else. What he had heard so far was more than enough, but a sudden light flashed in his eyes.
"Sivo, I have one last question for you. Turning into a wild beast and failing to change back into a human... doesn't that scare you?"
The bedridden boy bit his lip; after a silence that stretched for a minute or two, he finally spoke.
"Mel, can you pull back the quilt?"
The boy did it, but he wasn't going to like what he saw.
"What happened to you?"
The bedridden youth's lower body was a disaster; with legs that looked like two frail twigs and a body wallowing in its own filth, he was condemned to a slow death.
"I can't even crawl, let alone walk. Turning into a wild beast is a way better fate than rotting in this state!"
Even though the bedridden boy's words were filled with sorrow, Mel was smiling. Triggered by this reaction, Sivo was about to lash out, but Mel stopped him by raising a hand.
"We're going to make a deal; no matter what happens, you won't tell anyone about tonight. In exchange, I'll fix your broken body!"
The two locked eyes for a while. Sivo could see that the boy in front of him wasn't joking. Once the two youths made their silent promise, Mel walked to the door of the small room and stepped outside.
The house was completely silent; it was clear the guard and his wife were already asleep. Standing watch at the gates all day was no easy job, and it was natural for a woman dealing with such tough conditions to be exhausted.
Coming back into the room, Mel turned the lock twice from the inside; his next move was lifting the bedridden boy out of bed in one smooth motion.
Taking off the boy's clothes and throwing them aside, Sivo's mangled body was exposed. He looked more like a twisted monster than a human.
"From today on, you're going to crawl, my friend; but I'm sure you'll become the strongest out of everyone who crawls!"
Lying on the wooden floorboards, Sivo waited calmly, but a moment later, seeing the vials pulled from Mel's tin-like ring, he went into shock.
"You have a ring with a spatial void! Who are you?"
The ring, which looked completely plain and worthless at first glance, turned out to be an artifact that his father couldn't buy the cheapest version of with ten years' pay.
"Who I am doesn't matter, but we made a deal that you wouldn't tell anyone what you saw, right?"