Leor spent the next five minutes explaining his unusual encounter to Alina, describing the strange visions he had seen and repeating the conversation with the serpent.
She leaned in toward him as she listened to every word, a look of deep concentration on her face.
"Fascinating! So the old myths about the serpent got it wrong! He wasn't trying to steal the light from the heavens, he was running for his life!" she exclaimed. "Wow, your transformation process was much more interesting than mine; you got to interact with an ancient godlike being. All I did was roll around in agony and spout some useless prophecy."
Leor wore a light grin, his eyebrow lifting as he recalled the time Alina took her world tree potion.
"That's right. What were the words you said? 'The seed of corruption flows from the union,' or something like that? Did you ever figure out what those words mean?" he asked.
Alina's expression soured as he repeated the phrase, as if the words themselves carried all the frustration they had given her.
"No. I don't even remember saying them. If you hadn't told me, I would have no idea. Any revelation I received during my first transformation is lost to me now. Whatever, if it was important, I'm sure it will come again someday. All I can do is wait," she lamented.
As they talked, Leor was getting used to his Beastly transformation. The most immediate change was the obvious strength flowing through his limbs. His physical body had been upgraded only recently when he attained the Body of Will, and now that power was compounded even further by this transformation.
The best part was that his new Beastly body and Body of Will would integrate and work together, increasing his growth by a tremendous amount.
Another major change was the fact that Leor now had access to spiritual energy. This was the energy that gave spiritual herbs their strange abilities and also empowered the bodies of Beasts. He could feel the energy moving through him, and his ability to sense it had grown nearly tenfold. He could almost taste the thick spiritual power lingering in the air.
Drawing a deep breath, his body slowly absorbed it. The energy was pulled from his lungs, rushed through his circulatory system, and finally directed toward his broken arm, speeding the healing to a degree most humans could only dream of.
Leor now had a body of the Feral tier, which technically made him a Feral-Adept. These double-tier labels were usually only used for Beasts who had become defiled, or for the lofty dragons. It felt odd to Leor that the terms applied to him at all.
"Here, try this," Alina said with a knowing smile as she handed him a strip of Beast jerky.
He smelled the meat before she even removed it from the pack, the scent pulling at him like a sacred treasure. Grease and pepper clung to the air, warm and wild, like smoke after a hunt. Leor's mouth watered with a fierce craving as an insatiable hunger rose at the smell. The feeling was so strong it was almost painful, and he clenched his fists to endure the sudden rush.
"Yeah, that's what it feels like at first. You'll get used to it. Here, eat," she insisted.
The craving only intensified. Leor quickly accepted the dried cut of meat from his companion. He tore into it with his sharp nail, ripping a bite-sized chunk off the edge and popping it into his mouth.
Then he nearly melted into a world of pleasure. The spiced flavor exploded across his senses, and the thick spiritual energy in the meat flooded his stomach, then drained away to strengthen him and knit his wounds. It was probably the most heavenly experience young Leor had ever known.
He glanced up at Alina with narrowed eyes, staring at the package of Beast jerky he had gifted her.
Alina smiled and tossed him a few more strips before stuffing the rest back into her pack.
"That's all I'm giving up. You gave me this meat; don't even think of trying to take it back," she warned.
"Tsk." Leor clicked his tongue as he scooped up the few measly pieces she shared, scoffing them down while his hunger grew. It wasn't nearly enough. He felt like he could eat an entire defiled pig right now.
A moment later his eyes widened as understanding settled in.
"I get it now. I understand why the Beasts treat meat like a sacred object, to the point that it's almost a religion to them. It all makes sense," he muttered.
Alina nodded along to his words with an intense expression, as if she had come to agree that meat was serious business.
"Indeed," she replied.
After his meal, Leor wanted to experiment and familiarize himself with his new body, but that would have to wait. With the transformation complete, the way out should be unblocked. It was time to leave this dreary grave site.
Rousing the others from their slumber, the two humans explained that the way out should be clear and convinced the others to set off once again toward the cliffside tunnel. Poor Rynn was still too exhausted to open her eyes, so Old Grey just kept carrying the sleeping girl.
As the crew began the long journey back, Bone stepped up beside Leor, staring with narrowed eyes. The great ape's large nostrils flared as he took several long sniffs, then he gently shook his head in displeasure.
"You smell like a snake," he admitted, and then he lost interest and kept marching across the wide bone plain.
The journey was destined to be as long and arduous as before, but this time the shadowy ocean was not quite as unbearable for Leor.
When they reached the area where the waves swept through, the companions huddled behind the towering fangs for protection. When the first wave of darkness rushed over him, Leor found he was not disoriented as he had been before. In fact, it felt almost pleasant as the cool hush slid over his skin.
Instead of feeling consumed and pressured, Leor felt just fine. Acting on instinct, he opened his mouth and inhaled. A portion of the shadowy sea drew into his fangs and flowed into his body, where it transformed into a unique spiritual energy that looked like pure condensed light.
As soon as the new light filled him, it joined with his Body of Will and circulated the same way as his light-natured Willpower. Leor felt energized and empowered as the light spread through him, and he wanted to drink more of it, but that small mouthful was his limit.
The great waves of condensed shadow in this place were so potent that even a little filled his body to bursting, so he was forced to stop.
As the group continued their long march, Leor studied the strange new attributes of his body. The Beastly body and his Body of Will seemed to support each other perfectly, almost as if the two had always been intended as parts of a larger whole.
His Body of Will was like the magical soul, while the Beastly body was the vessel. The spiritual energy in that Beastly body was ideal for hardening the flesh, while his Body of Will was an engine that generated power. Now he would need to discover the uses of the spiritual light flowing within him, but he suspected it held some combat potential, whether as a direct means of attack or as support like Alina's abilities. He would find out soon.
Another thing Leor desperately needed now that he was an Adept was access to Willpower cultivation manuals. The simple talents he had were children's toys compared with the many and varied abilities those manuals could cultivate. It wasn't just the Body of Will that made Adepts so strong. It was also the fact that they could begin to cultivate powers that suited them more directly.
Willpower was a magical energy, and it needed to be harnessed properly in order to become the wondrous tool it could be. If Leor was in the realm of light, he would have access to the manuals of the house of flame. Unfortunately that was not the case.
Still, Drelk had a massive library from the old dragon lord; there were bound to be Willpower cultivation manuals in there that would be useful to Leor.
At last the group made their way through the shadowy ocean waves, up the steep cliffside, and onto the small platform.
Alina raised her fists in celebration when she discovered that their shadowy cage had been unsealed. This long night of misfortune was finally drawing to an end. She longed to soak in a warm bath and then snuggle into her dusty old blankets, safe in the mountain fortress.
They only needed to pass through the final stretch of tunnel, and then they would be home free.