I bought a large amount of food, enough to last me a whole week. I planned to be away for a while in order to better hide this. If there was a chance that Hyeol would discover my secret, I was going to get rid of her.
In addition to food, I bought sleeping bags, insect repellent, and several contracts with spirits of enlightenment.
I walked for an hour until I reached the place, with the sun beginning to set.
The place was nothing more than a cave hidden under a tree. I discovered it while walking on a day off, testing the axes I had been given that week.
When I arrived, I saw a tree with red leaves and a thick trunk, swaying in the wind. Several cuts covered the trunk, my small mark.
I wasted no time and went behind the tree, lifting a thin layer of soil to reveal a large drop. I threw my things down first, before injecting mana into the contract and summoning the little spirit.
"You are the first of many, I hope you don't consume too much mana, I have to use the rest to control my body,"
I said to the little spirit, who rammed my face with his shiny body.
"Stop doing that, stay close and let's go down."
I moved the spirit with my hand before sitting down and throwing myself down. The little creature did as I said and followed me closely on the descent.
The descent is not a steep drop; there are several parts where you can hold on to avoid a hard impact. I had made all these formations after falling face-first to the ground several times.
Once at the bottom, I waited for the spirit to descend. It hadn't come down as fast as I had, and now I had to wait for it. As soon as it arrived, I picked up my things from the ground and guided it along the path. Soon I reached the expected place. It was a large room with a crystal clear lake. The whole place was dimly lit by small holes in the cave ceiling.
"Whenever I see this place, I can't help but think how beautiful it is,"
I say, sitting at the far end of the lake. Although it is very pretty and I like it, there are several creatures swimming in that lake.
In addition, the roots of several trees occupy a large part of the water.
Before I started practicing the skills I had recently acquired, I decided to eat something. I wasn't hungry or anything, but the absence of food was beginning to scare me. I usually eat little, but this was beyond my limits.
I took a meat-filled bread roll out of my bag that I had bought before coming. I thought that seeing something like that would whet my appetite, but after looking at it for a few moments, nothing happened. With a sigh, I put the bread in my mouth, chewing listlessly, even though it tasted good.
The moment I swallowed the piece I was chewing, a sharp pain in my stomach began to attack me. It felt as if my stomach was swallowing itself, roaring loudly. I went into a frenzy of hunger, devouring a week's worth of food in a matter of minutes. I collapsed on the floor, exhausted, staring at the ceiling before falling asleep in a mere second.
<<>>
"Shit!"
I woke up with a start, feeling a strong tiredness run through my body. Looking around, I saw the spirit of light, which barely produced any light.
"I'm running out of mana. Get out!"
I shouted, getting rid of the contract that held the spirit. Once the little creature disappeared, I collapsed back onto the floor, breathing heavily.
Damn you, if I hadn't woken up, my mana could have been completely drained.
This is something to avoid at all times. If someone falls asleep with a spirit active, they can run out of mana and end up dead. Luckily, this wasn't the case for me.
With the spirit gone, I had a new problem: I couldn't see well in this place. The light that managed to enter through the holes in the ceiling was dim, barely enough to look around. I fell backward onto the floor, feeling all my strength leave me. I passed out again.
When I woke up, I felt extremely tired and fatigued from sleeping for so long.
Even though I had slept for several hours, I was still sleepy. I jumped to my feet and began stretching in an attempt to shake off my tiredness. After moving around for a while, I managed to shake off my sleepiness, my eyes were no longer heavy, and I was able to move smoothly.
"I shouldn't have eaten all that."
All that fatigue must have been the fault of all the food I had devoured a few hours earlier. It's the first time something like this has happened to me; it's strange to sleep for so long.
Now that I was at my peak energy, I began to experiment with my abilities.
I took the broken axes out of my bag before repairing them using my blood. Once they were ready, I started making some cuts in the air before running out of breath. I sat down on the ground, my body tired.
"I use too much blood. It would be easier if I could use blood from other creatures,"
I said, looking at the stone fish swimming in the lake.
I tried again, using less blood to repair the handle. This time it felt more fragile, so I limited my movements. After a while, I began to increase the strength of my grip and my cuts, managing to cut through the air with each stroke, the sound echoing throughout the small cave. But I lost my concentration on the axe handles and the blood holding the wood together turned liquid.
"Ugh, this is difficult. If I stop concentrating on the blood, it starts to become liquid, but if I don't, I can't complete the movements with all my strength."
I tried using the ropes my axes are tied to, only to discover that if I don't touch my weapons directly, the blood becomes liquid once again.
I began to get frustrated with each failed attempt. I used different amounts of blood, limiting myself so as not to put my health at risk. But even so, nothing felt comfortable. I threw my axes aside before turning my attention to the book.
"I'll leave blood control for another time, I'd better focus on the techniques."
Out of curiosity, I flipped through the pages of the book, looking for any mention of optimization for blood control, failing completely. I'm surprised to find nothing related to this, as it's something I would expect.
I flipped through the pages of the book, going to the pages where the sect's techniques were written and illustrated. The first time I saw them, I skipped this whole part, as it was of no use to me since it wasn't my main weapon. But I think I can practice them now.
I chose a simple move, which consisted of throwing a punch and covering my fist with hardened blood at the last moment. All while using Qi and concentrating most of it in my hand.
"It sounds easy, maybe that's why it's at the beginning."
I fixed my attention on a fixed point before attempting the strike. I circulated my Qi throughout my body, condensing most of it in my fist. I threw the punch, and before I fully extended my arm, my blood covered my entire hand like armor, striking nothing.
"... It didn't feel any different."
It may be just me, but it felt normal. Out of pure curiosity, I tried the same punch without covering my hand in blood. When I hit nothing, something unexpected happened. My fist shattered, bending my fingers and tearing off several pieces of my skin.
"AAHHHH!"
I screamed loudly, bringing my hand to my chest to get a better look at it. I sat down on the floor and took a rag out of my bag, wrapping it around my hand in an attempt to stop the bleeding.
Just like before, the blood clotted quickly, stopping the bleeding but leaving the pain.
"What the hell happened? I didn't do anything other than throw a normal punch. This has never happened to me before."
I gritted my teeth in pain, looking at my mangled hand. I checked the book, looking for answers. All it had was an explanation of how to coat your fist with blood and harden it.
Is there a difference between a condensed punch and a normal one? If so, it shouldn't be that big. I tried throwing another punch with my healthy hand, running Qi through my whole body. This time it felt normal and there were no weird things.
"Hmmm... I better stop experimenting with this, I'm already bad enough."
At first, I was hoping to try this against a rock or a wall, but seeing how it broke my fist when I didn't protect it, I'd better keep it to myself. I don't want to cause a disaster. I should have kept something like potions or things to inhibit the pain.
I ignored the pain as best I could. If it didn't work without armor, would there be a difference if I covered my arm with blood before the punch?
I stood up and covered my healthy arm with blood up to my elbow. I threw a punch into the air, wondering if there was a difference. The punch felt the same as one without the blood armor.
I let out a sigh and set about testing the different skills I could do with one arm less.