The sleek black adolescent Coeurl gave the two-legged creature who stank of dog a look of disdain as two bowls were placed into the animal's territory. It made no move to eat the glistening chunks of fatty meat, watching without blinking the two-legged creature as that attempted to coax it's nest mate into eating. Well, it had to be said about the two-legged creature, it was less offensive to the eye than some of the others that brought offerings of sustenance, despite its smell. Others looked upon it and the cub with unpleasant eyes as if seeking to either subdue them or befriend them as if they were pets or domestic beasts of burden. As if they were prey.
The two-legger sighed, ignored by the cub, who lingered within the bedding area and finally left their territory. Only then did the adolescent consume a mouthful of meat. It was juicy and without gristle, but still with enough bite for it to work it's teeth well. It swallowed contentedly, before glancing over to the sleeping place. There was a loud growl that suddenly emanated from it.
The Coeurl bent its neck once more into the bowl, while voicing its opinion; You still insist upon this foolishness? The cub said nothing, but its stomach roared once more. Was it not you that suggested to not eat and to be weak was pointless stubbornness?
I didn't say that, the cub retorted. Frankly, it didn't recall that day which the adolescent Coeurl was talking about. It's memories about that time were hazy, though it was vaguely aware that the older beast was not its natural nest mate. It sighed, it couldn't even recall the scents of its siblings anymore nor its mother.
You implied it. The cub refused to respond, so the adolescent did not bother to carry on the conversation, instead chewing on mouthful after mouthful of the piled meaty chunks. It licked it's lips from time to time as if to enhance the feeling of satisfaction it was receiving from having a full stomach and sure enough, that angry, uncontrolled growl sounded once more. Are you now going to come and get something to eat? The older Coeurl asked, slightly testily. Finally, the cub emerged from the sleeping space, looking down, its long whiskers drooping and dragging its paws, dramatically.
Indeed, although the two-legged persons had been worried about the cub not eating, in the wild it would have been trying to fend for itself by now and not necessarily succeeding. And in between good hunts, it would have been surviving upon the layer of fats it grew under the care of its mother. Only once those fats had been used up would it be in danger. At that time, it would have learned to become a great hunter or... while its mother was no longer around, the cub had still built up the layers while under the care of the two-legged persons. The older Coeurl had felt it's hidden weight when the cub curled up against it at night, thus it knew those creatures had fed the cub well.
The cub reached the bowl and poked out its pink tongue to lick the oil upon a particularly glossy chunk, but it still felt uninterested in the food. Just like that two-legger had been uninterested in it. The cub sighed and flopped down before the bowl, lazily chewing the one piece of meat in its mouth. The adolescent just rolled its eyes and proceeded to clean its paws instead of indulging the silly cub.
Suddenly, the cub's nose twitched, it's elongated whiskers began to wiggle about. It glanced upward and sniffed again. A shiver of excitement trembled through its body and it rose to its chubby paws. This movement caught the attention of the older Coeurl, who stopped its grooming to see what the cub was about this time. In unison, their large, rounded ears flickered back and forth as they heard the approach of the two legged creatures. There was definitely more than one, in fact the older Coeurl scented three distinct individuals.
The first was familiar, it respected that one as being more powerful than itself, yet that one did not abuse the fact and treated itself with courtesy. Therefore, the Coeurl found it allowable for it to approach its territory and would not chase it away. Unlike that other one with similar strength that attempted to separate it from the cub, indeed it was a risk to attack that one, but it needed to draw the line of what was acceptable. Taking away its nest mate was most assuredly not.
The second scent was not unfamiliar, yet it was troublesome. It had a flavour of weak catnip, one wanted to get close to it and savour it, yet ultimately did not mean it wouldn't be harmful in the end. That toy that the cub favoured so much carried the same scent, thus the Coeurl concluded that they were linked in some way.
The third scent... it did not know the third scent, but it smelled like a predator of its own standing. It would have to be cautious around that one.
Thinking over this third point, the Coeurl grabbed the cub by its scruff and dragged it to a position where it could defend against hostile intruders. The cub whined and struggled, but could not fight against the older Male, so could only pout.
Finally the three, two-legged persons came into view. Really couldn't tell one two-legger from the other, but the one with the addictive scent happened to remind the older Coeurl of the cub for some unknown reason. Perhaps it was due to the yin yang mane upon the person resembling the cub's yin yang stripes. The predator had a look of disdain in its black eyes. Disdain! How dare it look down upon this honourable Coeurl like that!
The cub struggled once more against the older coeurl's hold. This time, the cub freed itself while its nest mate was distracted and pounded over towards the one that smelled like its treasure. This is the two-legger it wanted to scent that time! It's whiskers shivered as it jumped upon its hind legs against the sticks outlining its space and it yowled unashamedly.
"As I thought," one with the silver mane said, "this little one has chosen you."
"B-but why?" The nice one asked. It's roar sounded funny, jumpy and stilted, but the little cub didn't really care. "I'm n-not a b-b-Beast t-tamer!"
"The closest bonds are ones which the Beast formed, rather than those forced upon the Beast," Silver mused. "All that's left is for you to accept it. Well you do have the choice to reject, but I really think you shouldn't wave away this fortune."
The nice one turned to speak to the scary one behind it. Actually, although it was scary, the cub did vaguely recall that it had been the one to give it the treasure. Plus it smelled like the nice one's close nest mate, so it couldn't be all that bad! "What d-d-do you think?"
"Tch, do as you please," came the response. "It seems that it and I had a fate between us after all." That last part was spoken with some strange inflection. Whatever! The Cub didn't care and yowled for attention as the yummy scented one turned back to peer down at it and then the sticks moved away, the barrier came down and the cub barrelled into the two-legged person it liked. It made a noise of amusement as the cub nestled against its touch and purred loudly.
The Adolescent looked upon this scene with some discomfort. Was its nest mate going to leave it and going to go away with the predator's mate? Would that stinky two-legger treat the cub well considering it was bonding with its mate? The Adolescent thought for a bit and then shrugged inwardly as if it had no choice. It gracefully walked over to where the cub played with its person and sat upon the predator's feet, ignoring the grunt that person made of discomfort. Instead it glanced up at the sneering person with a sneer of its own. Don't think you have any choice, it muttered.
Volun looked a bit amused, but on the whole he was satisfied with this arrangement. At least now the other Teachers would give up on plans to hand the Coeurls over to the Lord Garius.
A couple of weeks later, the Coeurls settled into their new nest, part of a courtyard style property, some thirty minutes west of the outer alchemist school. It was built beside an old hut that was filled with fond memories of a youth, who just happened to be learning to live as a cultivator.
And that is volume one of LTLAC finished! I will be back in the new year with volume two, named; Still Learning to Live as a Cultivator. It will continue in this book, no need to add another!
In the meantime, I may add a few more chapters of CiaZA this week.
Happy Holidays!
Cultivation and Levels of Cultivation
Cultivating is usually performed meditating in a specific way. There are many methods of Cultivation. Those that are suited for some people are not always suitable for others.
A person must have an awakened root in order to cultivate, but a person who does have an awakened root still may not have the ability. If one is not determined, patient and have the time to cultivate, one should not try to step on the path. If one has physical problems such as blocked meridians or a damaged innersea, one will have no ability to cultivate.
A dormant root is not necessarily an obstacle as there are pills that can awaken them. It is not recommended that children over the age of ten attempt to awaken their roots. The older a person is, the more likely they are to fail. Failure will damage the root and shrink the meridians making it nearly impossible to fix. Life expectancy may also be reduced as well as overall physical health.
There is often a bottleneck between stages.
Core Formation Stage
Core formation the time a Cultivator forms his inner core. Peak stage simply means the Cultivator is soon to advance. Some Cultivators do not recognise those that have not formed their core as being Cultivators.
Primary (a cultivator's first level after their roots awakened and they begin cultivating.)
Secondary
Tertiary
Body Tempering Phase
Body tempering is the transformation of the body, making it stronger, sturdier, physical impurities completely removed and ageing lessened considerably. Once this phase is complete, a cultivator can expect a very long life and no need to eat food, diamond like skin in both toughness and clarity. No longer likely to contract illness, plus all five senses greatly improved. Any physical impairment would also be fixed.
Each level has a low, mid and peak sub level. Each sub level is like reaching another initial level.
Quaternary
Quinary
Senary
Mind Tempering Phase
This is tempering of the mind; greater intelligence and reasoning, greater memory, much quicker of thought and greater mental senses; i.e. to danger, to atmospheric changes, to general moods. Any mental impairment, in theory, would also be fixed, but in Ren Zexian's world, this has yet to be proven.
Each level has five sub levels. We'll call them stars as this term is used in at least one of my favourite cultivation novels!
Septenary
Octonary
Nonary
Soul Tempering Phase
Soul Tempering Phase is considered the true path to immortality. In a middle realm, it is as rare as Phoenix teeth to reach this stage, however it is believed that there are those able to complete this path and reach the Heavens.
Each level has seven sub levels, making this the hardest phase to conquer.
Denary
Onodenary (this is made up, because apparently, an equivalent for eleven does not exist)
Duodenary (however, this word does exist!)
Who knows what, if anything, comes next!
Roots and levels of roots
Roots represent peoples abilities, so they are mostly elemental. The more roots a person has, the more difficult to tailor their needs with cultivation methods, plus their ability to advance is much slower, hence those with three roots are considered wastes.
Major Roots
Major roots have the most control over their elements and can 'create' their element from 'thin air'.
There are five major roots being Wood, Fire, Earth, Water and Metal.
Minor Roots
Minor roots are not as powerful as major roots, partially as they only encompass a part of the ability found in Major roots. They also are considered to derive from major roots. For example Water is the major root, Ice is a minor root. Water root owners can create and manipulate water including turning it to steam or ice. Ice root cannot control water, just manipulate it, but they can change existing water to either steam or ice. The name does not mean they can just deal with ice.
Examples of minor roots; Grounding(gravity), lightning, ice, sand, rock, air, plant, spirit, fog, sword, dark, light...
Body roots are often considered waste roots. Few established Cultivators will bother to train someone with either only this type of root or someone with lots of roots. These roots affect only the user. So the water equivalent of 'mist', their owners can perhaps breathe under water and not get wet in rain. Hence considered a bit useless.
Examples of body roots; Blessed, thunder, spark, smoke, diamond, curse, iron, mist, bone, feather, stone, star, lava...
There are naturally exceptions to the rules such as Jin Li's lightning, which is often seen as almost on par with a major root in many people's opinion and Leon's Star root, which actually does more than his own body and abilities.
There are mutated roots, but these are very rare and few and far between and even then it might not necessarily be a good thing to have.
Alchemist Glossary
Healing Pills & Potions
One Heart Pill Helps heal external wounds
Blood Pill Helps heal internal wounds
Vital Essence Pill Helps regenerate blood
Soft Ice Pill reduces fevers and swellings
Bone Regrowth Pill Helps heal broken and fractured bones
False Recovery Pill Temporarily removes all pain
Still Mind Pill Calms inner sea after advancement during Core Formation Phase
Tranquil Mind Pill Calms inner sea after advancement during Body Tempering Phase
Enlightened Mine Pill Calms inner sea after advancement during Mind Tempering Phase
One Pulse Pill General regeneration Pill
Basic Purifying Potion removes low levels of impurities within the body
White Warming Potion promotes recovery during sickness
Fire Water Tonic heals chill effects such as frost bite
Gentle Snowflower Balm heals burns
Cultivation Pills
Root Origin Pill Awakens dormant roots
Clear Spiritual Pill Helps promote cultivation, only effective for Primary stage Cultivators
Cloudy Spiritual Pill Helps promote cultivation, only effective during second and third stages of Core Formation
Misty Spiritual Pill Helps promote cultivation, only effective during Body Tempering Stages
White Spiritual Pill Helps promote cultivation, only effective during Mind Tempering Stages
Light Chi Elixir herbal bath soak to help promote cultivation
Combat Pills & Potions
Burning Energy Pill Increases temporarily level of ability, only effective for primary stage Cultivators
Burning Blood Pill increases temporarily level of ability, only effective for second and third stages of Core Formation
Burning Heart Pill increases temporarily level of ability, only effective during body formation stages
False Root Pill randomly and temporarily gives the cultivator the abilities of another root, considered unreliable
Seven Steps Pill increases temporarily swiftness and agility, also considered an Enhancement Pill
Dark Flame Potion A flammable oil that happens to burst into flames once exposed to air
Root Nullifying Potion Prevents a person splashed with this poison from using their natural root abilities
Beast Pills & Potions
Beast Calming Pill A Pill that Calms the natural temperament of weak beasts, making them easier to tame
Beast Soothing Pill A Pill That Calms the natural temperament of low to average strength beasts, making them easier to tame
Hidden Mist Pill Reduces the scent of low level Cultivators
Dream Blossom Potion a sleeping potion that only works on beasts
Enhancement and Transformation Pills & Potions
Bone Strengthening Pill reduces risk of broken bones in combat
First Fortitude Pill weak defence pill
Vision at Midnight Pill Helps consumer see in the dark
Fasting Pill stops a consumer from feeling hungry and needing food
False Awakening Pill makes a weary body feel energetic temporarily
Seven Steps Pill as mentioned
Feather Fall Pill lightens a body and allows one to fall much slower
Feather Float Pill lightens a body and allows one to float midair
Feather Flight Pill lightens a body and allows one to fly
Elixir of the Sage Memory enhancement potion
Elixir of the Koi Allows one to breath under water
Cosmetic Pills & Potions
White Lotus Pill gives one the appearance of innocence
Mirage Pill prevents others from recalling how you appear
Still Waters Lotion whitens and smoothes skin
Peach Blossom Balm cleanses skin and removes blemishes
False Spring Elixir allows a person to retain a youthful appearance for longer
Leon's Improved/Variant Pills (there may be others I've forgotten or ones I haven't written about yet that he created when he was Leo)
Improved One Heart Pill
Improved Blood Pill
Improved Beast Calming Pill
Smouldering Energy Pill variant burning energy Pill, increases ability less for a longer time with less side effect.
Bursting Energy Pill variant burning energy Pill, increases ability much more for a short period of time, but with an increased side effect.
Smouldering Blood Pill
Bursting Blood Pill
Beast Glossary (written direct from notes, so I may need to alter this if I changed the description in the actual book)
Griffin
tiger body, brown fur with yellow or orange stripes. Eagle like head but beak is cut jagged. Four legs, three furred toes on each foot. Eccentric plumage on tail. Very large, the younglings are the size of elephants
Baku
elephant like head with tusks, but also buffalo horns and ears. Thick fur about the neck, thinning out on its more feline body. Powerful feline fore and aft legs, paws and a thick furred tail. About the size of a horse. Travels smoothly over forest and mountainous terrain. Intelligent, only allows riders it trusts upon its back.
Basilisk
long serpentine body with lizard head and numerous sharp teeth, has small legs, six in number and a long tail. An adult will have fans about its neck. The stronger the beast, the more effective its paralysis skill. Will only paralyse to escape or eat. A greater basilisk is large enough to eat (and does eat) humans. An elder basilisk in large enough to consume a griffin cub.
Fox Bear / Snow Fox Bear
a type of bear, but with the markings and colours of a Fox. It's nose is more vulpine than ursus as well. A snow fox bear has the colourings of an artic fox.
Cooshee
long rabbit ears, four eyes, two large and two tiny which are closure to the centre of its canine nose. It has a fluffy wolf like form and as an adult can shift from its adult form back into its cute, puppy form. Has a large wispy tail that fluffs out with long fur.
Faerie Dragon
about the size of a mouse, it's opalescent scales body is long and slender and its nose is also long. It has butterfly like wings and four legs. It's long tongue sucks out honey from beehives, but it also eats meat from fresh corpses and fruits.
Cockatrice
feathered serpent with a bird shaped head, fangs like a snake. Very poisonous. Adults have wings that they can use to fly.
Dream Hare
long colourful ears, large powder puff tail, small rodent body, twitching rabbit nose and large black eyes. Has the ability to cause weak predators to fall asleep. Very popular with female beast tamers.
Dire Beasts
stronger versions of wild animals, such as rats, wolves, tigers and much less tameable.
Sky Koi
fish like spirit creature that swims through mist and fog
Chimera
twin headed lion with goat horns and scales. One half is mostly white with black scales and the other is mostly black with white scales. Only born when Yin and Yang lions come together.
Mesmyr
horse like creature, males have a crown of horns. They have six eyes and are all black. They have thin, whip like tail and a carapace along their backs. Can be ridden, but usually only by one person in their lifetimes that they have shown loyalty to.
Lightning Fox
white or yellow vulpine with a white or blue mane and a squirrel like tail. They are just a little smaller than a regular fox and have lightning abilities, which vary with strength and age.
Garuda
ape like body with feathered wings attached to their arms and a beak upon its face. It's feet have talons rather than toes. It is about the size of a small gorilla
Worgen
a cross between a feline and a canine, it has the facial features of a wolf, but cat like eyes that slit and sharp fangs. It's forebody is broad and often striped like a tabby, but it's tail is prehensile. It has cat like grace, can climb sturdy trees, but in lives in packs and has an affinity to the moon.
Coeurl
feline in shape, but covered in scales (unless it is a cub, which still has fluffy fur). It's whiskers are like long, thin cat tails though it's actual tail is more like that of a lizard. Can be ridden and is a favourite war steed. Has stubby car ears or has large, almost bat like ears. Feline eyes and facial features.
Green Spirit Deer
like sky koi, are spiritual creatures. Jade green in colour with antlers that resemble blossoming tree branches.
Alicorn
not a horse, actually a type of small deer with no antlers, but a single long horn just above it's nose. White in colouring, usually found in cold climates.
Nibblet
hairless gerbil like rodent with sharp teeth, small wings. Loves fruit and is protective of its territory. Lives in large family groups.
Antlion
giant predatory insect, lives in sand dune traps
Zebra Elk
black and white patterned elk like creature with either black ebony or ivory white antlers. Also has a long thick furred tail and it's mane stretches from the top of its head to the base of its spine.
Pixiu
miniature feline creature with a webbed mane, spines and other varying features. Although they are omnivores, they are not savage animals, will happily consume beetles, berries and small fish.
Longnecked Deer
shaped like a deer, but with a long twisting neck and small antlers. Also is long furred.
Feng Huang
there is only one Feng Huang (Phoenix) however there are lesser breeds;
Lava Cranes
shaped like a crane, but their shaggy red fur and feathers seems to cover their bodies like dripping molten lava. Lives in volcanic areas and feeds off molten beetles, which live in pools of lava
Red Sparrows
small versions of Feng Huang about the size of a normal sparrow, but with the stunning red plumage of its ancestor. Has no abilities.
Flame Wisps
looks like a hummingbird, but has flame coloured wings. Can actually spit burning fire embers when frightened.
Qilin
more equine than feline in shape, it has a dragon like face and scales that run down its back. It's main is multicoloured and it's tail short and curled towards its spine. It is highly intelligent and cannot be tamed or ridden. Solitary creature, does not run in herds.
Bifang
Tanuki
Equine
much like a horse, but more intelligent and proud.
Author's note; this is only what I have invented so far and not the be all and end all of information. I will likely introduce new things when I feel like it!
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