by A F Kay
Spell: Forage
Effect: Create enough food and water for one person.
Spell: Blink
Effect: Move 1 to 3 feet in the direction of the caster's intent. Each additional spell level increases distance by one order of magnitude.
Pay Back, coupled with Brawl and Street Fight, made him a formidable unarmed opponent now. He felt a little overwhelmed by all the new possibilities. It would take time to figure out how to use it all.
Ruwen stopped as the clearing came into sight. Once again, he used Detect Temperature to make sure no one had followed him or lay waiting here. He was alone. Now he needed to figure out where best to Harvest. His current location seemed too far away. Maybe he should enter the dungeon tunnel to make sure he only Harvested the creatures there.
He flashed back to what felt like a lifetime ago. Ky sat on his bed in the library, eating poppers and giving him his first lesson: always have at least two exits. If he actually entered the tunnel and someone attacked him, he would only be able to run further into the dungeon. Then he’d be trapped between two enemies. No, he couldn’t go in the tunnel.
Ruwen bit his lip. He needed to get close to the entrance to make sure his Harvesting was contained to the dungeon, but he needed to be far enough away that he could escape if attacked. The dungeon entrance would shield him from view from the mountains, but his back would be exposed to the camp side.
He didn’t plan to Harvest very long, and in the dark, he would be hard to see. If he wanted to advance his Harvesting, then he needed to take some risks. This was just another necessary one.
Ruwen moved out of the trees and walked as quickly as he could over the rocks around the entrance. The wind blew his hood down, and he left it, even though the biting cold had caused him to shiver. He briefly thought about casting Campfire, but the light would be irresponsible. He would only be Harvesting a short while anyway.
Ruwen stood in front of the entrance with his wrists crossed at his waist. His feet were on two different boulders, and it took some effort to keep his balance in the wind. Like he had in the pocket dimension inside Blapy, he focused his thoughts on his center while keeping his eyes open. The dark entrance in front of him looked like a mouth opening up to swallow him.
Separating his wrists slowly, Ruwen tried to relax his shoulders. As soon as his arms rose, the area around him grew darker. Instead of hesitating like last time, he continued to raise them, while keeping his focus inward.
As his arms passed his hips, the world became black, and the dungeon entrance disappeared. Slowly Ruwen continued raising his arms. The tunnel reappeared, but the temperature dropped dramatically, and the cold wind now felt like shattered glass on his skin. The wind increased, whipping viciously around him, and he squinted his eyes to protect them.
Thin wisps of Spirit swirled around him before disappearing into his body. Ruwen took slow even breaths and raised his arms up even with his shoulders. This had been where the pose had stopped working in the pocket dimension.
Ruwen tensed his core to keep himself from falling forward. Instead of feeling nothing like before, it felt like a thick rope had been attached to his chest, and it wanted to pull him down into the darkness. He didn’t know how to pull back, and then the mental construct used with Sift’s parents flashed into his thoughts.
Keeping his focus inward, he imagined the empty flask, its vacuum one of the most potent forces in the world, so powerful nothing could resist it. The invisible rope that tugged on his body jerked inward, and instead of whisps of Spirit, tendrils filled the air in front of him like smoke before disappearing inside him.
The pressure on his chest had disappeared, so Ruwen continued to raise his arms until they were both above his head. Spirit poured out of the dungeon, so much that Ruwen’s body couldn’t absorb it fast enough. A glowing ball formed between Ruwen’s hands as his body struggled to process so much Spirit.
Panicked by the bright light over his head, Ruwen tried to pull his arms down and out of the Harvester Open pose. But the ball of Spirit held his hands in place like some type of powerful magnet. He wondered if he needed to absorb this excess Spirit before he could stop. Ruwen imagined a larger flask inside himself, and he felt the Spirit around him respond, his body taking it in more quickly.
Encouraged, Ruwen focused on his entire body, making it one large empty vessel, only the need to be filled remaining.
Spirit surged from the dungeon, striking him like an avalanche. The tunnel glowed as a solid wall of Spirit struck him, but the wave of energy didn’t just contain Spirit.
Emotions and feelings that weren’t his swamped Ruwen’s mind. Followed by memories and thoughts. As Ruwen Harvested the dungeon, unable to stop, he felt the deaths of all the creatures below: their confusion, regret, anger, all of it. Tears streamed down his face as he absorbed the torrent of Spirit and emotion into himself. He understood now why Cultivators didn’t take Spirit from living things.
He tried to pull his arms down again to end the Harvester Open pose, but they were stuck to the Spirit gathered above him. If Ruwen stopped absorbing the Spirit, the blazing ball of Spirit over his head quickly grew in size and intensity. The last thing Ruwen wanted was a brighter light. He couldn’t see any way to stop other than to finish. Ruwen had no choice but to get this over with as soon as possible.
Despite the awfulness of his actions, he strived to do it faster. He tried to think of them as dumb creatures only there for adventurers to kill, but his time in Blapy had changed how he saw them.
The creatures here were not as self-aware and sophisticated as the ones in Blapy, but they weren’t dumb either. They had lived, they were reborn, they did everything in their power to protect their dungeon, and the presence that made it all possible.
And Ruwen slaughtered them all.
Surges of Spirit struck him as Ruwen Harvested the strongest creatures in the deepest part of the dungeon.
Then, under it all, the creature responsible for everyone Ruwen had just killed. The Spirit of this creature resisted him, and the flow of Spirit faltered. Ruwen quickly absorbed the Spirit above him and used the respite to rip his arms down. They moved slowly, as if through thick mud, and then with a pop that hurt his ears, his arms came free, and the Harvesting stopped.
Ruwen collapsed to the ground. Exhaustion, euphoria, and disgust swirled inside him. He had killed everything in the dungeon, possibly even the sentience that controlled it. He felt like puking, but his stomach was empty.
Unable to walk on the uneven ground, Ruwen crawled through the boulders until he reached the trees. Leaning against a pine, he tried to process what had happened. Only fifteen minutes had passed since he’d started, and his clock said 10:31 PM.
Blapy didn’t allow this, and he now understood why. It was a slaughter. The beings on the lower floors in Blapy must have a defense against it, similar to how the dungeon here had resisted him.
He needed to learn how to control his Harvester Open pose because he never wanted to experience that again. It hadn’t occurred to him that he wouldn’t be able to stop once he’d started. He should have waited to Harvest until he had more information. Instead, he had rushed into trying something new, and the dungeon had paid the price.
Briefly toggling on Detect Temperature, Ruwen looked around and confirmed he remained alone, and then channeled one Energy into Silence to hide any noise he made. He closed his eyes, calmed his thoughts, and looked inward. White light surrounded him, just like when he’d Cultivated in the city surrounding Blapy. But while that had been like a fog, this almost felt like soup.
With a small part of his mind, he channeled twenty Energy into Harden and focused on the Spirit around him, compressing it. He stopped after a moment, surprised that nothing had changed. He tried again with the same results. Unsure if it was working, he channeled twenty Energy and didn’t stop.
The Spirit around him eventually changed, turning from soup into something more like fish oil. He let Harden continue for anot
her minute, and the Spirit transformed into what felt like tree sap against his skin.
Ruwen stood in the middle of an almost solid ball of liquid sap made from the Spirit of thousands of creatures he’d just killed.
He had no qualms about killing things when the creature had a chance to fight back. But what he’d done felt cowardly, and he felt guilty using the Spirit to better himself. The reality was that not using the Spirit would be even worse. Then the creatures had truly died for no purpose at all.
Pushing the guilt aside, he decided to do what he’d come here to accomplish. He could deal with his feelings later. Curious, he opened his Profile and looked at the Spirit value. It had been just over three hundred thousand before.
Spirit: 593,692,703
Chapter 52
Ruwen stared at the number. Without any context, the five hundred million didn’t mean much to him. He had Cultivated light and thermal energy for hours, and it had resulted in three hundred thousand Spirit. Minutes of Harvesting living creatures had given him half a billion. Living things were definitely more Spirit dense.
He looked at the current state of his Head Meridian.
Meridian - Location - Level - Progress to Next Level
Light - Head/Neck - Lead - 16.74%
In Blapy, he had managed about two percent an hour. If he worked through the night, he might be able to get his Light Meridian a third of the way to Copper.
Scooting away from the tree, he held his arms out in a circle and pulled his head back, entering the Fortifying pose for his head. The Suffocation Bracer activated, and his breathing became labored.
Before, when his Spirit reservoir had been small, he’d pulled a tendril from it and guided it to his Head Meridian. Now, his entire body, and all his Meridians, were drenched in Spirit.
Ruwen didn’t focus on pulling Spirit up and into his Meridian. Instead, he just held the pose and followed the Fortifying breathing pattern. Even with the Suffocation Bracer making everything twice as difficult, Ruwen managed it. In fact, with the Spirit already surrounding all his Meridians, the impacts from the bracer were reduced.
After a minute, Ruwen opened his eyes and retrieved the War Marshal Oil from his Inventory and looked at the details.
Name: War Marshal Oil
Activation: Spread on a single piece of armor.
Effect: Doubles all attributes (Physical, Active, and Passive), making item twice as effective.
Description: Viscous liquid distilled from White Dragon Venom. Its true value is measured in time.
Ruwen stared at the vial. He had already decided to use it on something that saved him time. Currently, that meant either the Suffocation Bracer or the Falcon Gloves of Training. Both were worthy of this oil.
What if he got something better in the future? Ruwen pushed that thought aside, not because it wasn’t valid, it was, but because it would never go away. He might be level fifty and still be saving this oil for some future item. By using it now, it was true he lost the opportunity to use it later, but he would benefit from it immediately.
And while advancing skills had incredible value, it wouldn’t have as significant an impact as Fortifying his body. The idea that his body could become harder than the best armor was too great to pass up. He needed to advance his Fortifying as fast as possible.
Ruwen removed his Suffocation Bracer and set it on his lap. He pulled the cork from the War Marshal Oil, and the smell of sweat filled the air. Carefully, he dribbled oil onto the bracer and then massaged it into the leather. Ruwen repeated this process until all the oil had been used. A notification appeared, and he opened it.
Tring!
You have upgraded an item…
Name: War Marshal’s Suffocation Bracer
Quality: Rare
Durability: Indestructible
Weight: 1.25 lbs.
Effect: Fortifying poses and Refinement forms are four times as effective. Stacks with breathing techniques and other Suffocation items.
Effect: Poses, training forms, breathing, and focus are four times as difficult.
Effect: Internal Spirit manipulation for Fortifying or Refinement creates a spatial bubble, hiding your techniques from view. This spatial bubble will absorb 250 points of damage per day.
Restriction: Soulbound.
Description: Progress is the sound of labored breathing.
The oil had upgraded the bracer to something genuinely fantastic. Not only would it make Ruwen’s Fortifying four times more efficient, but it now had a two-hundred-fifty-point shield. He was vulnerable while he trained right now, so the added protection made him happy.
Sliding the bracer back on his right wrist, he resumed the Fortifying pose for the Light Meridian. Instantly it felt like someone had shoved a rag down his throat. He gasped, ignoring the breathing pattern for the moment, and just tried to get air into his lungs.
He cast Numb on himself for forty Mana, lowering all sensations by ten percent, and the choking feeling lessened. Forcing himself to relax, he concentrated on getting air into his lungs, and after a few minutes, breathing became more manageable.
It was already eleven, and he needed to be back in camp by six before dawn’s light made sneaking back tricky. Resuming the pose, Ruwen gagged as his windpipe felt like someone had crushed it. His head spun, and his thoughts scattered, making it hard to focus. He ignored the sensations and held the pose, determined to make progress.
Ruwen passed out.
He regained consciousness lying on his side, his face pressed into dry pine needles. Only a minute had passed. Ruwen pushed himself up and resumed the pose. This process repeated another six times before he stopped passing out. He added the breathing pattern and passed out again.
It took two hours for him to finally hold the pose and cycle his breathing in the proper pattern. When his entire body flushed and his head grew hot, Ruwen thought it was just another side effect of oxygen deprivation. But a notification had appeared, and he opened it.
Chime!
You have advanced your Light Meridian from Lead to Copper! You have gained +5 to your Armor Class.
Ruwen hadn’t been checking his progress because he had been intent on breathing. But in two hours, he had leveled his Light Meridian to Copper! And really, only the last half-hour had been anything remotely consistent.
He opened his Harvesting view and picked his next Meridian. With all his gains in unarmed combat, he decided to Fortify his hands next. It would be nice to use them as a sturdy weapon.
Ruwen removed the open Worker’s Guide to Harvesting book from his Inventory. He kept it open because he still feared not being able to reopen it if it closed. He searched for the pose to Fortify his right hand but discovered the hand, arm, and shoulder shared a single Meridian. The left hand, arm, and shoulder also shared a common Meridian.
Ruwen decided on the Water Meridian, which would Fortify his right hand, arm, and shoulder. The pose in the book looked like he needed to sit cross-legged, back straight, with his right arm diagonal across his chest.
Putting the open book away, Ruwen assumed the pose. He set a timer for fifteen minutes so he could stop and judge his progress, and then started the breathing pattern.
When the timer sounded, Ruwen pulled himself out of his trance and opened the Harvesting view. He leaned back in shock.
Meridian - Location - Level - Progress to Next Level
Water - Right Shoulder/Arm/Hand - Lead - 54.30%
That had to be a mistake. Before, fifteen minutes would have resulted in half a percent.
But Ruwen realized a lot had changed since then. The breathing and poses, while not natural, were at least manageable. His War Marshal’s Suffocation Bracer increased all his gains by four times, and the most significant change was the amount of Spirit that saturated his body. Now, when he concentrated on a Meridian, it was like opening a drain and allowing the Spirit in as opposed to pulling it with great effort from another location.
Ruwen calculated the remaining Meridia
ns and the time needed to advance. If he could keep this pace, he would advance his entire body to Copper by six-thirty that morning.
Ruwen spent the rest of the night holding each of the poses for thirty minutes. When he finished with his last Meridian, he couldn’t keep the grin off his face.
He opened the notification for the last Meridian.
Chime!
You have advanced your Dark Meridian from Lead to Copper! You have gained +5 to your Armor Class.
Ruwen closed it and realized another notification had appeared. He opened it, wondering what else had changed.
Chime!
Your body has leveled to Copper! You have gained +2 to all attributes.
Ruwen shook his head in amazement. While advancing each Meridian gained him Armor Class, it appeared once your entire body had reached a new level, you gained additional benefits from the synergy. An extra two points to every attribute would have a significant impact on his stats. He closed the notification and smiled with satisfaction.
The ball of Spirit inside him had finally shrunk enough to become visible, as the advancement of his entire body to Copper had used up a vast amount of Spirit. He looked at his hands. Even though they seemed no different, he had gained sixty points in Armor Class from tonight's efforts, and it made his skin as durable as leather. All his attributes had risen by two as well, which at his current level, made a huge difference.
Ruwen looked at his Spirit total.
Spirit: 360,028,115
It had dropped by around two hundred forty million Spirit. But it had been worth it. He hated to admit it, but even the guilt from killing all the creatures in the dungeon paled in the glow of this success.
Ruwen checked his surroundings with Detect Temperature and then channeled one Energy per second into Obscure and Feather Feet and two Energy per second into Silence, which he placed on himself. He toggled Owl Eyes and pulled the hood of his cloak over his head, making the night appear like dusk.