"Look up there, it's a sign," Maria whispered while tugging at my sleeve. Just ahead, she pointed at a large slab of wood nailed to a thin rotting tree. From my perspective, it was too far away to make out the words inscribed on it, but there was definitely something engraved.
"Isn't that great?" I said under my breath. Just another variable for me to manage. I pivoted slightly, turning to wave everybody over. "Hey, guys!" I shouted, "We found something cool over here!"
At my words, the rest of the group which had been rummaging through bushes in search of berries stopped what they were doing. Maria and I only waited about a minute before we all got to regroup.
"So, what's this 'something cool' you mentioned?" Charlotte sneered. "Wow, still so harsh, anyway," I pointed towards the sign up ahead. "There's a sign. I think. I'm not sure what else it could be anyway."
"So why haven't you gone to check it out?"
"Probably because its farther out than it looks," Jacob replied. He beat me to the punch there. I scratched at the base of my neck, then softly rubbed my fingers around it. A few red lumps found their home just under my neck. The mosquitoes here, or whatever their equivalent was, were pretty harsh.
Its been two weeks…I just wished we hadn't left the camp so soon, but we were pushed out from lack of resources.
"Jake's right," Terry added. "Though it seems close from here, I went farther up a bit and no matter how far you walk into those woods it doesn't look like you get any closer."
"Not to mention we'd have to climb to reach it," Jacob said while cleaning the muck off his hands. "How'd the freshwater hunting go," I said, grinning. "Didn't have much luck, as you can see," he beamed back at me. It was like a funny joke that only we understood.
Strangely, unlike in my past life, I have grown closer to Jacob. Maybe it's because his arrogance isn't as obscene in these circumstances, or perhaps I myself have mellowed out.Whatever the reason, I guess it's nice to not be at odds with the group's comedic relief.
Despite thinking that, Jacob undeniably played a large role in the dynamics of the group. Whether it was physical labor or helping others communicate. He really was a happy-go-lucky guy mostly.
"Don't go getting distracted," Leah pushed her glasses up, "I hope you're not forgetting we've only got two bottles of freshwater left." She gestured towards the makeshift rucksack made of bark Terry carried on his back. "And we've got two more to fill," she said revealing two empty plastic bottles of her own. At the edge of my vision, I watched as Charlotte crept off into the woods.
"Relax it's fine, Jake will find some before the day ends, won't you?"
"Hm? Yeah, of course."
"I can't believe you nitwits…"
Leah pinched the sides of her nose, obviously annoyed. "Right then, Charlotte, come with me," she beckoned her over. "We agreed not to let you out of my sight, so don't go wandering off," she spoke with a slight hiccup in her tone. With those words Charlotte stopped in her tracks.
"I wouldn't want to but…" Her gaze drifted to me, and I winked back at her. She frowned, knowing the implications. "It's like you people have a noose around my neck!" She exclaimed, putting on a false smile and miming gripping her throat. A particularly nasty sight in my opinion.
"Be grateful we haven't left you to die, Charlotte," I said, making sure to remind her of her position. She's pretty damn useful. But equally as dangerous. She'd get rid of me if she could, but I've already become a Dissonant by forming my Prana while these guys haven't reached any realms in their cultivation just yet.
I should probably teach them how to cultivate soon, then. With that thought, I turned to Maria. "Listen, Maria, I need you to do me a favor."
"Ah? W-what do you need?"
"I want you to come with me and finish mapping out the beach area, and we can also mark a few points of interest. Maybe also map out the outer lining of these woods too, that good?"
"It's fine with me," Maria nodded. She reached into her pocket and fumbled with her pencil. The tip broke off a few times in the past, but I've shaved it with a rock a few times to make the tip sharp again. Though lately the pencil has been getting shorter and shorter. Meaning, if we keep using up the pencil at this rate—
I took a good look at Maria and my thoughts broke off. Staring at her pale freckled face seemed to have put me in a trance. I was mesmerized. Her wavy reddish-brown hair reminded me of acorns. Which reminded me of home. Mom and Dad. I didn't want to think about them.
And I didn't have to, not for long at least, as Jacob lightly punched my shoulder. "What'cha lookin' at there bud?" I brushed him off with a smirk. "Get us some water and maybe I'll tell you a thing or two," I replied.
"Haha… you guys really are such a pain."
"Only 'cause I believe you got it!"
I made sure my enthusiasm would reach. Come to think of it, what happened to my best friend?
A figure materialized and began to appear in the recesses of my mind, but to no avail, for his face was gone. Not blurred, not disfigured, just not there.
Huh. Did I really… forget?
I shook those thoughts off as well. There were more important things to be worried about in the moment.
"What do we have for food?" I asked.
"We have about three roasted fish, though they're pretty small," replied Terry. He flashed a worried expression for a second, before returning to his usual unbothered face.
"Well, it's not much to worry about then," I said. "I can go about a week without food or water by relying on just Ardor… granted, that means we'll run out of our main way of attacking, since none of you guys have a Prana yet."
"Right," Terry grunted, "You still haven't told us how cultivating or Pranas work. It's not a good time to keep secrets."
"Don't worry, Terry, I'm not keeping it secret or anything of the sort. There just hasn't been a good time to mention it, at least, not up until now."
"So, will you tell us now?"
"'Course I will."
The group stopped their chatter and turned to look at me. Taking a good look at them, I had finally decided to teach them about the core principle of this world. Cultivation.
But first…
I walked over to a nearby tree. Inspecting it, I found the width of it to be suitable. Thus, I exhaled, and energy naturally began to flow into my right hand. A warm breeze manifested around me, then like a mini-tornado, spun around in my palm. The Ardor took shape, a small vortex with a green hue, making it visible to those around me.
"Woah…"
I heard Jacob murmur behind me. I smiled to myself as I raised my hand, and then chopped at the tree's base. Thwack!
For a moment, my hand faced a familiar resistance, the equal force that's met to repel a strike. The funneling energy around my palm created rotations allowing it to bore through, akin to a side ways drill. Then it proceeded through the trunk, and cleaved the tree at its base.
Thud.
The tree fell, and landed beside me.
It's quite long. In terms of length it might be around sixteen feet? If I cut it into logs they'll be about two feet thick.
So I took my hand once more, and with the vortex that lay in my palm, I began to saw through pieces of the trunk; dividing it into three logs. Once I had finished, I decided to ask Terry and Jacob to help me move them.
"You two," I pointed at them. "Come help me here," I exhaled, quite tired. Terry nodded but Jacob was already beside me, picking up a log.
"Aren't you fast," I muttered under my breath.
Looks like I'm still not used to channeling Ardor. I need more practice, huh.
It didn't take long, but just like near the cave, we set up the logs as seats. And so we sat down. Maria next to me; Leah next to Charlotte; and Terry next to Jacob.
"Alright, before I get into it all, does anybody have any general questions?"
No one said anything.
Guess that's the green light.
"Okay. It's super simple actually, understanding it, not the process, haha," I chuckled to myself. "In this world exists an energy called Ardor. It exists in the atmosphere and air around us, but only because we generate it."
"What do you mean by that?" Leah inquired. Everybody seemed interested, but Leah seemed especially interested.
Probably because she leans so much on science. But it's not like cultivation in this world is illogical, it may seem like magic at first but as many say, magic is just undiscovered science. I shouldn't worry about it too much.
"It is formed by will, passion, ambition all of that. Emotion is probably supplementary to it, as there aren't really any dramatic shifts based on mood from what I've observed. But the person's will and goal seem to be the key."
"And you know this how?" Charlotte chimed in, sneering once again. I scoffed and tapped at my temples. "The voice is really useful for things like these, although, it's been fading lately," I mocked her, considering she was the only one with enough doubt to technically know the voice wasn't real despite not having confirmed it myself.
"Anyway, lets get into the meat and potatoes. Prana. A Prana is essentially a vessel for your Ardor, that allows you to convert other energies into Ardor, channel it, generate it, and manipulate it better. Simple right?"
With everybody listening, I also had to stop and make sure every once in a while to make sure nobody was lost.
"Here's the dangerous part, if you remember what happened to me the first day we arrived… That's the consequence of failing to form a Prana. Additionally you're supposed to form a Prana by meditating and focusing the Ardor you naturally have into a spherical shape, roughly anyway. The problem is that if you fail to many times you'll eventually run out of Ardor, and without Ardor you can't form a Prana. And you need a Prana to generate new Ardor." I addressed the main issue in detail, hoping to drill into them the consequence and some fear.
That way they won't be overconfident or reckless.
"Lastly, the elements. There are six of them, one of which each of us is respectively attuned to or has an affinity for. How do I know there are six? I can feel the distinction between these six energies, as you guys should be able to do as well once you form a Prana. And although I'm not one hundred percent sure, if I had to take a guess the other elements besides wind most likely correspond to fire, water, darkness, earth… and maybe nature? Something of that sort." I finished.
Of course I'm purposefully withholding the actual details of the 'elements'. It feels odd to call them that, when Will just rolls so naturally off my tongue. Well, it shouldn't be too long until we find civilization… right?
"Any questions?" I asked, making sure everybody could comprehend what we had just discussed. Leah raised her hand, saying, "Just one."
"What is it?"
"When are we going to attempt this?"
"Ah. That."
I looked up, checking the direction of the sun. It was about 4:00 in the after noon, if my skills were still accurate.
"Well, today has shown that we can still be productive… We might as well start soon," I said. "But, only after Maria and I go scout and map out the beach… And you guys can search for more berries or fruit. We can figure out if they're safe to eat after we get them. Oh but some are probably toxic or poisonous to touch. Not sure what the right term is… Anyway, good luck!"
By the time I had finished my sentence I had already taken Maria by the hand, trudging through mud towards the beach.
Yeah, this will probably be fun…
Maria and I spent about two hours mapping the beach. We talked just about as much as we drew. It was an experience for sure.
While we were walking along the shore, just a bit north of where our old camp resided, we saw something interesting.
"Hey, Paul, in the sea, what's that?" Maria asked, gently placing her hand on my shoulder. I turned to look and surely enough, there was a dark silhouette just under the water, about twenty feet in.
"To be honest, I don't know."
I squinted, trying to get a closer look. And as I did, the silhouette began to rise up and emerge from the water. A knot formed in my stomach as the silhouette took form.
A thin ivory tusk with a spiral texture emerged from the water. Following it, a sleek gray body, coated in blubber and fat. Deep black eyes with a hint of gold reflected us in its vision.
It's… a narwhal?
"It's… Kind of cute?" Maria said, surprised about how to feel.
"I guess narwhals exist here too? Where ever we are."
But in that moment something struck me. Upon scrutiny, I had realized that narwhal possessed golden scales, barely visible just beneath it's blubber. That was when I realized.
Demon!
I gripped Maria's shoulder, intending to pull her back— but the Demon was faster. It shot forward, sprouting out of the sea like a geyser.
Its wicked tusk lanced straight at us, and I knew in that moment that no matter what I did, it would hit me.
But not neccesarily Maria.
As the though flashed through my mind my body was already moving. My left hand flew out in a chopping motion, while the rest of my body scrambled to cover Maria. Deep beneath my chest in another plane, the vortex that formed my Prana guided Gale into my arm.
The narwhal's tusk was cold and sharp, obstructing the movement of my arm as it lay deep in my shoulder. It pierced me with such speed I had only realized moments after it had already struck.
However you could say the narwhal was outmatched. The funneling energy that resided in my palm burst out into spiraling blade of wind, creating a precise incision at connection between the narwhal's tusk and head.
Crck!
The tusk came off with little resistance, causing the narwhal to cry out in great pain.
"Geeuuu!" It cried out. But I did not relent. A cold flame lit in my heart, the familiar grasp of life and death entangled me. In a split second I let go of Maria who I held in my right arm, and dashed at the narwhal.
My right hand came from just below it's head, right at its neck. I struck at its throat, embedding my fingers into its flesh, before channeling Ardor into my hand once more.
"GYAAAH!" A guttural screech rang out as I sawed through the Demon's neck--black blood gushing out and landing on my eyes.
It was only when I realized the narwhal had gone still, that I realized the owner of that roaring was me.
"Gyaa—hah…"
"Paul…?"
Ignoring Maria I looked at my hands. Streaked with blood. Black. Not red.
At least it isn't human this time.
I stared at my hands coldly for what felt like an eternity— until I realized Maria was shaking me awake.
"Paul!"
I jolted forward, suddenly conscious. I looked at Maria to see quite a peculiar sight. Tears streaking down her face. The quick rise and fall of her chest.
She's panicking, I thought.
"Oh. Maria," I began to say, but I was interrupted by Maria practically tackling me, hugging me tightly. I winced as I noticed the pain in my left shoulder. I shot a glance at it and realized a piece of clothing, perhaps a ripped shirt, was wrapped around it to stop the bleeding. And also there was no tusk skewed through it.
Oh man. I'm on my knees. When did I fall to my knees?
I wasn't sure what to think about as Maria held me, not saying a word. Just silently sobbing onto me. But I did think about how fast her heart was beating against my chest.
You always were delicate…
I reached out and patted her back with my good arm, saying, "It's really alright, Maria. Everything will be just fine."
"Paul… You're my only friend here," said Maria while lifting her head. Face to face it was only more awkward for me.
"Please don't leave me…"
"Relax, drama queen," I replied, "Wasn't planning on it."
I gave her a small smile.
Despite crying like a damsel, you're anything but helpless. After taking a good look at my shoulder the bleeding completely stopped. Just what did you do? Come to think of it even in my last life you were never weak, in fact you might've been the strongest. Always being there to care and tend to others… I don't have any direct memories of you fighting except for that one time you had shot some enemy soldiers with a rifle. You didn't react.
I started to think about the past, recalling a somewhat disturbing scene. Me, Terry, Maria. I had my leg cleaved in two from the knee down. We were hiding in the ruins of a building, as a group of enemy scouts followed us closely.
Maria stuck close to the entrance, holding the wall just a few feet next to the door, her rifle held steady. Terry was trying to reattach my knee to my leg and it all happened so fast. Enemy soldiers burst through the door, a squad of four.
Two of them aimed their rifles at me and Terry, and I thought it was over for us. Fortunately they hadn't seen Maria. And I mean fortunately for us.
At that point in time Maria hadn't killed anyone, let alone an animal. But she pulled the trigger without hesitation, and as if the shell was guided by fate it blew two of the riflemen's brains out.
The other two came rushing in behind them with swords, one with a Prisma-flame Will. Luckily, Terry was already in motion after the first two, and swiftly took them down. That man was a martial brick wall in my first life…
Snapping back to the current moment I looked directly into Maria's brown eyes. They'd soon turn gray, though I still don't know why. Back on that battle field, her eyes were gray. They'd switched colors sometime after we'd gotten picked up by Lira in my first life. After we'd gotten off the beach. Lira's eyes were gray too…
"Maria, I need you to do me a favor," I said. Her head perked up, and she gave me a questioning look.
"It's quick, since we were already on our way back anyway. Go get the others."
Maria looked at me dead in the eyes and said, "Don't want to."
"I mean, how could I leave you when you're like… this?"
"Haha, I'm a tough nut to crack, trust me. Also it's not like I'll drop dead and die if you leave for a few minutes."
I pointed at the narwhal corpse.
"That there is a Narwhal Sprite, a sort of Demon. We're gonna do something with it, and the others need to be here for that. Whether we cook it, use it as bait, or make material out of it," I explained. Reluctantly, after giving her convincing explanations on why to leave me, Maria got up and left.
You really are strong. I can't imagine the amount of willpower it takes to stay and protect someone while they're hurt when you could just run away. And it definitely takes even more to then leave them alone after committing to staying with them… You truly are amazing.
So I sat there in silence, and I began to wait.
It took about an hour and a half for Maria to return with the rest. Turns out they were pretty far. By the time they came back I was parched. Collapsed. Probably looked like death.
Fortunately, Terry swiftly reached me and forced some water down my throat, which in the moment felt like drowning. But trust me, I was very grateful… after I could feel the air in my lungs, of course.
"Man, are you even alive?" Jacob asked. I was curled up in a ball, laying on my side after coughing up a whole lot of nothing due to the drowning sensation. Rather than being a good friend and helping me up, he proceeded to snap a twig off a branch and poke me with it.
I wish I could smash a brick over your head, Jake.
When I finished coughing, I didn't even have time to take in a deep breath as Charlotte and Leah immediately got to interrogating me.
"What the hell is that?" Charlotte said, pointing at the Narwhal Sprite corpse.
"It reeks…" Leah commented. For once, it looked like there was something she wasn't curious about. Until she started questioning me, of course.
"Did you kill that thing? It looks just like a narwhal… Is its anatomy the same? Tell me, what is that tusk made out of? Is it really a tooth? Hey, Paul, are you listening to me?"
I groaned, partly in pain, partly in annoyance.
"It's a narwhal alright. Just not a friendly one," I said.
"It's a Narwhal Sprite, a type of Demon," Maria clarified. Leah looked at her in shock, Charlotte just raised her eyebrow. Maria just stared blankly, "Ah, don't look at me, Paul's the one who said so."
"No… It's just you rarely talk. I thought you'd just go back to your sketchbook after telling us about Paul," Leah said, a small smile forming.
"It's about time isn't it?" Charlotte yawned. Then she looked at me.
"I call dibs on the tusk—"
"Hell no!" I exclaimed. I turned to the tusk, only to find Terry and Jacob already disassembling it, pulling it apart with their bare hands. My face must have been real funny the way Charlotte started to break out into laughter and wheeze when she saw it. I think I even caught Maria snickering at the edge of my eye.
Regardless, I think I was terrified of losing such a valuable resource. Demon horns are precious Ardor amplifiers. Which makes them so useful.
Which is also why I was horrified to see them portioning it so casually.
God help me.
I didn't say anything about it. I just slowly rose and decided to address a different problem, though I wasn't going to let it be a problem.
"Okay… Okay. All~ right. Who's ready to eat malicious steak!" I shouted. Leah shot a sideways glance at me. Maria didn't seem to hear, already drawing in her own little world. Charlotte was indifferent. Jacob was happy. Way too happy for someone who was just about to eat demon steak. Terry looked concerned for once. For some reason that brought a smile to my face.
Grinning widely, I jumped up and proclaimed, "We're gonna cook it— demon steak!"
I almost fell over but I caught myself just in time.
Seems I'm still a little dizzy after all.
"You can't be serious about cooking that… Narwhal Sprite or whatever it is." Leah said.
"Oh, I'm dead serious."
"Paul's probably right on this call," Terry chimed in.
"Not only right, but batshit insane!" Jacob exclaimed.
We all turned to look at him. "What," he shrugged, "I'm grateful for the chance to eat something big… and meaty for once. Also, you killed that thing on your own, didn't you? Maria told us."
"Ah, um, yeah, that. I won't be able to fight for at least another day, so I need to get some rest after this."
"Sure you haven't gotten enough rest? You were already fast asleep when we got here." Mocked Charlotte. I clicked my tongue.
She's not wrong, but she's definitely not right!
"It's true, he does spend most of his time asleep, according to my statistics, he's been asleep for at least 35% of the time everyone else has been up and ready!" Leah agreed. And for once, I allowed myself to relax. To laugh.
Although we were stuck, stranded on this dangerous shore with no where left to go but into some creepy forest, I realized we were all in it together.
I mean even Leah is getting along with Charlotte.
"It's out of my control," I muttered out of my breath. Leah seemed to hear, but she pretended like she couldn't.
Well whatever. Then after this, there's only one thing left…
I turned to look for the sign, and surely enough, laying on a hill, hammered right onto a tree— was a sign. For some reason, this time I could make out the words.
It said: Beware ye, death lies ahead.