Chapter 10: The Sea Is Dangerous And Full Of Treasures

Once Debuk Jin and Ulvi stopped chasing Zax, he paid them no further heed. All hates and enmities he strived to put to the side than let them foster and eat at him when he was too weak to act upon them. Besides, up ahead was a tempest of ice and fire, none of which was directed at him, but attacks spawned randomly in short intervals and wherever. Going around it was also not an option, basically meant returning to his lingering pursuers’ hands.

A ball of flames the size of two storeys building shot past him, the heat radiating from it burnt the skin on Zax’s right side. ‘That was too close; it looked like just an oversized fireball, but its temperature ... The intent is much fiercer than when that bird came after me’.

These were no longer attacks aim at a minuscule nuisance such as Zax was in the eyes of the two Overlords, no! The two top Deformed Beings were exhibiting the epitome of their caliber with the intent of validating their sovereignty over the domain of sky and sea. As for the repercussion on the planet, naturally, they each were aware and when one delivered an excessive strike onto the other’s turf, the latter nullified it before harm could be done.

Zax channeled, little by little, dark attribute energy through his physique, to test the two Overlords’ response to his daring presence. Fortunately, they were disinterested in him, which elevated a portion of the stress. Without dark attribute energy magnifying his physical capabilities, passing through the tempest would have been impossible.

Darting, he executed a set of bodily maneuvers. These were not the six sequences of six hundred and fifty bodily maneuvers Grandmaster Kartion created and his Master, Kartius, altered to fit his different physique, nor did they were Zax’s own take on said bodily maneuvers or the byproduct of bodily mastering he gained by practicing the bodily maneuvers.

In this moment of dire straits, where his reliance on the dark attribute regarded each step forward as escaping certain death, Zax felt his sense of comfort growing by less moving with accordance to what he was taught by Grandmaster Kartion’s creation and more by following the natural flow of the worldly dark attribute energy. The result was the first attempt of formulating the initial set of dark attribute maneuvers.

Sliding, kicking, swinging, flipping, ducking, stretching and more ... It was not like letting your body carry with the wind, kinetically, the dark attribute had its own unique nature. Every move that Zax performed felt like being painfully yanked by a multidirectional suction force from one position to another.

‘It meant to devour, compress and devour?’ Zax reflected on the little bit he knew about the dark attribute. ‘Am I supposed to compress myself? How am I supposed to do that?!’

Being the equivalent to a baby on this new frontier, advancement inevitable had to come in the appropriate pace. Moreover, Zax could not afford dividing his attention, the numerous worsening wounds he was receiving were the proof of that.

‘Concentrate, the other side of this tempest is within sight!’

It was not a long journey to take, but it sure was laborious one. Eventually, Zax managed to come through as he got out of the tempest’s range and weakly fell to the sea and rose above water, floating to whichever the waves would take him until he will regain some strength.

‘Beneath blue sky, atop blue sea... ‘ It was nice for a change to not worry about facing death at every turn of the way. Lifting his head up and watching the hazard zone getting farther and farther he felt relived for coming up with the idea of the dark attribute maneuvers, even if it was in its diapers.

‘If Martial brother Raroen had not been rush, this is the state he should have waited to grasp, instead of choosing an incorrect path. Master and Grandmaster, when I come back home, hopefully, will profit from my insights. And with the help of the dark attribute’s essence... ‘ He finished the thought with a scowl.

The injuries were bearable, but now that he was in the clear from all of those wanting to harm him, the feelings of embarrassment and indignation crept on him from the back of his mind, again forcing him to deal by pushing them aside.

It should be noted that the heart of a cultivator could sprout emotions much more intensely and less fickly than that of a non cultivator’s. It did not depend on age, but sole cultivation of the three aspects with which a cultivator’s experiences manifest increasingly richly. Prime examples of the effects of a cultivator’s heart typically seen in matters of love and hate. Though the differences between those at the Peak of the first realm and even those at the second realm and non cultivators are not that substantial, they are still there even in these stages. It is possible to examine through the lasting affection of cultivator companions and the extreme grudges of cultivator rivals, in comparison to similar situation relating to non cultivators.

Indeed, Zax’s current cultivation of the three aspects was disproportionate and his overall cultivation was still immature to be concerned with the consequences of rooting hatred. However, as he progresses on the Martial path he will someday have to arduously hone his heart to the state of rising above it or muster the dangerous resolve of following through his demoralizing feelings before they pollute him. Otherwise, should he succumb, recovering his serene and unwavering self will be costly, to say the least.

‘The Black Core is ahead of me by an undetermined distance ... I wonder if tracking it will really get me to the Eastern Continent, or maybe an island along the way?’ Zax was curious about the largest patch of land in Ercas Mir. In the Western Continent he barely covered the lower half, Selivereb, yet discovered the invaluable treasure that was God made dark attribute’s essence.

Having used so much dark attribute energy and straining himself to stay alive, Zax closed his eyes. He was tired and to a level of measurement, safe. He fell asleep.

...

‘Is that?’ The sky was dark when he woke up. The period of his sleep has ended after a day and a half in which he allowed himself to indulge in the solace of good rest. ‘Wild Beasts?’

The kind of creatures that were akin to non cultivator humans in beasts’ term were copiously swimming together or alone, deep or near the surface of the water, as far as his Soul Sense could explore.

‘Selivereb’s forests were mostly populated by Deformed Beings, maybe if I went to some of the tribes and clans I would have encountered Wild Beasts’. The sight of them brought back childhood’s memories of the first trip he took with his big sister Zetsa to Grandmaster Kartion’s cave.

Breathing out, his body has fully recovered. Changing to a seated position atop the water, with the aid of dark attribute energy, Zax stared down and observed with all of his sense.