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Cultivating Chai 77
🕑 Added 2024-12-27 14:14:57 +0000 UTC77:
Moments passed by him as Xiao Feng remained rooted to the spot. Logically, he knew that he had given no reason for Beast Master Zen to harm him and if the true bond was as intimate a connection as it seemed, neither should Lianhua.
But that did little to assuage his instincts, a natural fear of the unknown. Following an umbral fang much more powerful than himself into a murky cave that led into its soul wasn’t something to be done lightly, preferably not at all.
Yet, Xiao Feng didn’t have much of an option. It was he who had discovered the beast egg and it was also him who had asked Lianhua to arrange for this opportunity.
He clenched his teeth and took a step forward.
Liulian barked again, in a softer pitch than before.
Xiao Feng turned his gaze to the umbral fang, only to be met by her own. Two deep pools of ruby red intently stared at him, before offering him a quick nod.
Is she encouraging me? Xiao Feng wondered, blinking away in surprise as his gaze refocused on the murky cave.
One step after the next led Xiao Feng to the mouth of the cave, until he was but a step away from entering.
Even from up close, he could not discern what lay on the other side, a canvas of deep brown and muted black obscuring his gaze.
Xiao Feng allowed himself a deep breath to collect himself, angled his gaze to confirm that Liulian was still at his side and then took two quick steps into the murky cave before his resolve waivered to logic.
Darkness ensued.
His sense of sight was the first to go, enshrouding the world in a sea of nothingness. There were no scents to be found in the void, nothing physical for his form to interact with.
Regret and terror filled Xiao Feng’s heart as he realised that he had lost himself to an endless expanse of nothingness, a world untouched by the luminescence and warmth of light, the myriad wonders of nature and the beauty of the continent of Tian, of the alchemy division, of his alchemy lessons with Lianhua, of sparring with Alchemist Jun, of wrangling advice from his predecessor and of life itself.
Only the sanctuary of his mind remained as Xiao Feng floated in the vast expanse, stripped away of his five senses.
Xiao Feng hadn’t even begun to come to terms with the reality of what had transpired, when the earth beneath his feet began to rumble.
With a loud snap, his five senses returned to him in a jumble of movement. The terror he had been feeling lessened to a deep sense of unease, as he realized that all his senses felt profoundly wrong.
Xiao Feng an unnatural strength in his arms and legs as he all but glided across the ground, albeit in a manner that felt completely bizarre to him as his legs kicked off the ground in unison, only for his momentum to be caught by his hands as they muffled his landing, before he repeated the motion.
No, not hands, Xiao Feng thought, as he angled his gaze to his limbs only to find furred forelimbs with small, pointed razor-sharp claws that mirrored the glossy black color of his fur.
Instead of panic, understanding flashed in Xiao Feng’s ruby-red eyes as he allowed his gaze to sweep across his immediate surroundings.
If Xiao Feng could still gasp, he would have. Instead, choked bark escaped his snout as he realized that he galloped amongst a pack of Umbral Fangs that all dwarfed him in stature.
A feeling of warm affection arose in his chest as his gaze stopped at a female Umbral Fang, marked by streaks of silver running across its slender tail, that loped next to him, her casual stride enough to match Xiao Feng’s gallop.
There was a sense of contentment in Xiao Feng’s heart as he kept pace with the female Umbral Fang as they proudly strode across the forested region. His acute sense of hearing picked up on the panicked flight of other spiritual beasts, a sense of pride welling up in his chest as lesser spiritual beasts fled in the face of their majesty.
The time to hunt would come later, as it always did. This was not the first time their pack had crossed a territory unchallenged and it would not be the last.
The ear-piercing trumpet of an unknown beast cut through the rhythm of their pack’s charge. The earth beneath their feet trembled as the umbral fangs around him, alongside him came to a grounding halt.
His own form collided with the female umbral fangs as she curled around her path to stop him.
A light thump sounded out as they collided, but instead of pain there was only surprise as he mewled in confusion.
The female umbral fang before him turned her attention forward without paying him heed, baring her teeth and growling in a low rumble.
For a moment, there was silence.
Then, two massive trees that made up the forest’s canopy creaked and crunched before tipping to the side as a towering spiritual beast revealed itself, it’s pillar-like forelimbs causing the earth beneath to rumble as it strode forth to block their path.
The strength of its beast core crashed down upon him with the strength of a cascading waterfall, causing him to drop down to his knees.
Even a dozen umbral fangs standing atop each other could not compare to the hulking beast before them, its skin covered in tawny skin from head to toe. An earthy gemstone was embedded in the centre of its forehead, two tree-trunk sized tusks curving from behind its snout. Dense muscle rippled underneath its fur, its hulking frame casting a shadow behind it that was more befitting of a small hill.
Never before had he beheld a creature of such strength. Even the brightest core amongst the umbral fangs was but a candle before a wildfire when compared to the elephantine creature’s core.
For a moment, there was silence.
Then chaos broke out as the umbral fangs howled in unison and a thick blanket of darkness subsumed their figures. Panic thrummed in his heart as the blanket of darkness enshrouded his form, as even his ruby-red eyes that were attuned to the dark failed to see through it.
Before the blanket of darkness could encroach upon the elephantine spiritual beast’s form as their favored pack hunting method, it trumpeted in defiance, stomping its right forelimb against the earth.
Three spikes shaped from the earth, each as thick as the elephantine spiritual beast’s limbs, cut across the blanket of darkness the umbral fangs hid within, at such a speed that they had naught but a fraction of a moment to react to the swell of earth Qi.
The blanket of darkness half collapsed, revealing the broken forms of half a dozen umbral fangs, while the survivors howled in both horror and grief from between the risen spikes of blood drenched rock.
A roar of command echoed out from the pack leader and a moment later the blanket of darkness collapsed, as the Qi within was reshaped into crescent arcs that were sent slicing towards the elephantine spiritual beasts form.
Darkness met earthen fur and clumps were sheared away, leaving light cuts across the beast’s hulking form.
Then the umbral fangs split away, intent on flanking the elephantine spiritual beast from it’s sides and back.
Leaving only his quivering form and the female umbral fang, whose form was ensconced in a layer of darkness as she protectively stood before him.
Xiao Feng watched as the Umbral Fangs’s lithe frames flitted around and under the beast’s torso, tearing light gashes open with both darkness and now extended fangs.
In response, the elephantine spiritual beast’s Qi flared and in what felt like a moment, it’s trunk was enveloped in a layer of rock that connected to a heavy block of solid stone, akin to a long-handled warhammer.
The beast swung it’s head and with it, it’s snout, causing the block of stone to arc into the side of an umbral fang with such speed and force that it was reduced to a mist of blood.
Terror welled in Xiao Feng’s heart and he found himself rooted to the spot, when the female umbral fang turned.
She pressed her snout against his own before turning her gaze into the distance, an urging bark telling him to flee.
But Xiao Feng remained rooted to the spot, his quivering legs unable to find the will to move forward.
Moments passed and the female Umbral fang grew more and more insistent, before her eyes widened in panic. She picked him up by the cuff of his fur and dove forward.
The cloying smell of blood filled the air as Xiao Feng’s eyes widened in panic, only to realize that it wasn’t his own.
A whimper escaped the female umbral fang as she pulled away from him, letting him notice the paw-sized puncture wound that had punched through her abdomen.
The female umbral fang placed a single paw on his forehead and with it came a swell of darkness Qi. He found his form ensconced in a darkness so deep that the light fled from him, yet he could see through it as clear as day.
The female umbral fang looked him in the eyes, her ruby-red matching his own and no communication needed to be exchanged.
This time, he turned around and ran.
Comments
Daoist Enigma
Hmm good point, I'll look into that
CrouchingWombatHiddenDropbear
If he's never seen an elephant would he describe it as elephantine tho?
