Eric was in a world of his own as he could feel his body writhing with strength. He could feel the strength increasing as he finally became a bloodline warrior.
'My first bloodline. I bet mom and dad would be proud." A week later and the cocoon fell apart, scattering in the wind.
Eric appeared once more, his face still badly burned while his body showed a marked difference. His back looked strong and muscular while still retaining a lean appearance. His six pack was now defined as he stood an impressive 5ft 10inches tall.
Smiling, Eric looked into his dantian to find his first totem, calling out the name of the bloodline, he changed.
"Cloud Serpent Mountain Guardian!" Eric grew bluish white fur while his skin grew thicker. His eyes turning a green and light blue color. His eyes now turning into slits, scales lined the joint areas of the body.
"Your looking pretty good." Turning Eric saw Silver Cloud as it watched in fascination at Eric's transformation.
"This is my first time doing this and it's pretty cool." Changing back to his regular state, Eric could feel the strain of activating the bloodline. His body aching and feeling low energy.
Silver Cloud commented, "You haven't integrated with the bloodline deep enough. I bet when you do, you'll be able to do some of the stuff I can." Smiling, Silver Cloud called out, "[Ivory Somersault]"
A silver cloud came into being that the young monkey stood upon.
"Woah, I can't believe you can do that!!!!" Eric watched in fascination as his friend zoomed around.
Silver Cloud tried to do a daring exhibit where he turned last minute, right before hitting the wall, but he just ended up hitting the wall.
Running up to make sure his friend was ok, Eric laughed seeing the dazed look on Silver Cloud's face. "Hahaha guess your not too much better than me huh?"
The two laughed and bantered with one another as Blue Cloud and Silver watched from the shadows.
"I've never seen Xiao Er laugh like that. She needs friends."
"Silver honey, you know why this is a problem. We're already blessed enough to have reached Knight rank in our bloodline but our union.... It is seen negatively by some. Xiao Er's very existence needs to be kept under raps until she is strong enough. You know how I feel about Humans."
"Cloud sweety, I know how you feel about them but it cannot be helped. They are not all bad, they have done us some good and now Xiao Er finally has a friend. This human has potential, I can smell it. We should assist him a bit. You know that it is good to have more than one plan in place."
Blue Cloud lovingly stroked his wife before they retreated into the distance. Eric and Silver Cloud played and rested all day until deep in the night when they fell asleep.
When morning came, Eric sought out Blue Cloud. Walking deeper into the cave along with Silver Cloud Eric couldn't help but be enamored. The ground had nice grass and soil but it also had a small creek running deep into the cave. Inside the middle of the cave was a small lake, with a circular hole that allowed for sunlight. Clouds perpetually hung around near that hole. Hiding just enough so the sunlight didn't hit them.
The walls were lined with brown and silver indicating the dual nature. Sitting on a large cloud platform, Blue Cloud was meditating while Silver was curled up on the ground seemingly sleep.
'Mom said I should patiently wait instead of interrupting a cultivator's meditation.'
Yet Silver Cloud made a low whistling noise and the two stirred awake. Blue Cloud asked, "What is it that you need Eric?"
"I would like to fight some spirit creatures, and I wanted to know if Silver Cloud could come along with me?"
'Blue Cloud doesn't seem to like the idea.' Instead of looking at Blue Cloud, the two looked at Silver.
Laughing like a snake does, Silver looked towards her husband who rolled his eyes.
"Fine, but don't think about going into any of the dangerous areas or going to the Hyena, Toad, Monkey, or Snake areas. You can fight and kill anything else but those four groups. I expect you both back here before nightfall." Blue Cloud growled low, trying to contain his annoyance.
Silver Cloud summoned his cloud while Eric hopped on as the two zoomed out of the cave. Zooming around on the cloud the two laughed.
"Where should we go Silver?"
"Mmmm, we should go to the centipede's territory. They are always fun to fight and they reproduce fast. Even our enemies are weary of their reproduction rate." An hour later the two stopped and rested for awhile before sneaking into the snake's territory.
"Eric, you should try using the [Snake Breathing Technique], it'll help mask your presence. I'll show you and then you try." Silver Cloud started breath differently from normal, causing her presence to diminish.
Watching his friend, Eric's eyes grew into Silver slits as he imitated her. His eyes turning into slits ever so briefly. Bloodlines gave individuals knowledge that ran through the very course of their being. Though not very proficient in the technique, it was enough to get by on.
Quietly they snuck around in the forest like environment. It felt humid at this time of the day but it didn't deter the two's spirits. Silver Cloud motioned a stop with her tail, Eric going on high alert immediately and took out his whip.
Watching the centipedes, Eric felt shock even though he knew what to expect. A bunch of them swarmed around a certain tree that was leaking wood essence. The size of them was crazy! They were five feet in length while also having shimmering purple, their exoskeleton was thick and strong.
"What do you usually do Silver Cloud?" The monkey smiled and responded, "I usually sneak attack them first. We'll go at the same time, and make sure you kill that tree's worth of centipedes. They are all of the younger generation and considered our opponents. The older generation cannot say too much, and the centipede king is blocked by even our enemies. Lets go.'
Eric breathed in and out, determined to improve his weapon handling skills. The two watched intently until they saw an opening. The creatures having taken the wood essence from the tree were lethargic.
Silver Cloud rushed in and used her strength to crush one bug after another with a quick onslaught. Punches rained down as the young monkey's hand flared a deep blue.
Looking at Silver Cloud, Eric vaguely understood what the technique was. [Tidal Wave Fist] A technique that depended on a strong physique and qi. The pressure grew the longer the technique was used. With a bang the centipedes grew flustered.
Eric launched into attack not too long after Silver Cloud. Not using his totem transformation, the boy tested his skill without it. A full force crack of his whip tore through the centipedes as the cite of impact like a small explosion took place.
Emboldened by his success, Eric focused on accurately hitting each creature one by one. 'I feel amazing. My body feels far stronger than it ever did before. My vision, strength, stamina, flexibility, and speed have all increased.'
The two easily slayed more than 100 centipedes in just a minute, yet feeling a vibration, the two retreated immediately. A centipede 8ft long with many eyes, razor sharp mandibles, and a bluish-purple exoskeleton arrived.
"zzzzzeeeee, Been awhile shit smeller."
'Must be one of the more prominent members of the centipede clan on the mountain. His shell is turning blue, he must be in the mid bronze rank. Haaaa, I know humans have it easier assimilating multiple bloodlines but our starting positions are so drastically different.'
It had to be said the Silver Cloud killed most of the 100 centipedes with Eric merely killing 30. Eric was still Iron rank of1st Order while Silver Cloud was Bronze 1st Order, both still the lowest of the low on the ladder. Yet that didn't account for how powerful they would become in each successive realm.
Bloodline, Comprehension, Intuition, Knowledge/Wisdom, Skill. Each of these things made it possible for an individual to fight those in a higher realm, successively culminating into how 'Deep', you could delve into the bloodline. Silver Cloud was a mere infant but was already powerful enough to crush hyenas bigger than him and centipedes with tough shelling.
"I see, zzzzzeeee, you're merely fighting the dregs of our clan. Why don't you try fighting some that are your level." In a split second the centipede had charged Silver Cloud, causing her to be pushed back.
Eric became separated, now having his own problems to deal with. Hairs on the back of neck standing, the boy dove to the floor and used his free hand to unsheathe his short sword. A clang resounded from the collision.
The impact felt tremendous to the boy. He slammed into a tree, his back making a wet thud against it. Eric's eyes went wide as he felt his body going into shock, his pupils dilating.
"Am I going to die here?" Feeling a surge of anger, the boy barked tersely.
"No, who the fuck do they think I AM???!" With a roar, Eric initiated his transformation and moved with dexterity behind the tree he'd just hit. Claws cut deep into the tree where the blood that burst from his back still dripped from. A hyena, it was blood red with a black pattern across it's face.
"Humans always did have the weakest senses." The creature spoke in no hurry to kill it's prey as it quietly loomed towards it.
Eric still felt his neck hair raised as a centipede snuck up, using his short sword he parried the mandibles as he felt the tail hit him. Dropping his whip, he was launched towards the hyena. Flipping midair, Eric spun as he tried to build some momentum for a spinning slash.
A bang and he was blasted to the floor.
"Hmmmm, hehehehehehe. Not bad human, you weren't bisected again. We're going to have to change that. Hehehehehehe."
'Damn it, I've barely reached 1st Order and I only have infancy connection with my bloodline, and I have to face this guy. He has to be Bronze 1st Order.'
Looking up at the trees above, Eric gulped as he saw the previously easy to slaughter centipedes above him.
Looking at both the hyena and Bluish-purple centipede, Eric broke into a cold sweat.
'I can't fly, can't take to the trees, and I can't run on ground. Just peachy Eric.'