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79.81% Learning To Live As A Cultivator / Chapter 257: Chapter Fifty Seven - We are not doing so well

Chapter 257: Chapter Fifty Seven - We are not doing so well

Within the stadium, the cool, large mirrors, which hung together to create a decahedron floating in the arena's centre, offered images that were not reflections.  For five minutes, the audience filling the ascending seats circling the arena, could witness scenes from the other Realm and the team's involved in the challenge. As the sun reached a slightly higher point, this would change; the scenes would mostly focus upon the twenty teams led by the top Martial Artists in the Institute, each favoured with quarter of a shìchèn time before the images altered once more. After the audience had the chance to witness the achievements of all twenty teams, the mirrors would once more shuffle through the other forty, thus those supporting their scattered friends within other teams could see a little of their progress as well.

And so, considering the first mirror facing north was dedicated to Ari's team and as well as the eleventh placing person, Culven's team, then the sixth mirror counting left was for Pike for at least half an hour and Bowyer one more left next to his. This suited Sun, who felt he could support both his seniors this way. And Leon of course.

Currently on that sixth mirror flickered a darkened scene, with brightness appearing in one location. When one focused intently, one could hear sounds emanating from the mirror as part of the spell's magic. Right now, Sun could hear the heavy rush of water.

A small Mage globe appeared as if taken from inside a bag or clothing and a cool light filled the space, reflecting the damp rocks entwined with moss and algae. It also revealed two very weary, very wet bodies and a third less tired but equally as damp person. This person happened to be Troy, the other two were Leon and Roman.  As Caelus, Velana and her fox appeared from the larger light source, Leon tried in vain to wring the water from his heavy robes.  Pike appeared in the frame a few seconds later.

"Let's rest here for today."  Everyone heartily agreed with his words.

*****

Despite the initial flush of success that the team had experienced upon the first day, things had not been progressing so well following the forced abandonment of their first camp. They had hoped to follow the line of the shore, keeping reasonably close to the source of water while within the dubious shelter of the trees. Only, the undergrowth of shrubs, vines and tall grasses had thickened as they walked, forcing them to take a trail more in land.

Walking along the outskirts of the thickening growth had also them accidentally step into the territory of a dense nest of nibblets. These pests were not dangerous individually nor could they be considered much in small groups, but just as Earthlings would be wary of poking a wasp nest, Cultivators and mortals would evade disturbing a nibblet nest. The hairless, winged rodents all quickly grabbed sharp pebbles and thorny twigs to abuse them with, hundreds surrounding each Cultivator.

Pike had surrounded his hand axes in flames to help repel the pests, while Troy relied on his abilities twisting shadows to temporarily blind the nibblets while striking them down with his knives, protecting Caelus, who was chanting a spell beneath his breath. Velana had not caught up, thus there was less of a wall protecting the more powerless Roman and Leon and more gaps through which the persistent nibblets could slip through and attack them. Though the wounds were no more than bruises and scratches, none of them remained completely unscathed as they backed away, releasing abilities and spells upon the nibblets. Many small bodies littered the ground before the main nest decided to retreat.

Velana caught up with them to witness them checking over Roman, whose tall person had definitely been the target of the worst of it. Leon decided to give him a One Heart Pill to consume before they carried onwards. The dead nibblets were not really worth anything as either trophies or materials, so were left behind for scavengers.

This misadventure had given Leon pause for thought. Most pills were intended to support others, but there were also poisons and Trick pills that alchemists could use to protect themselves, such as those that the new Teacher Jian had lectured about. It was just that, apart from attending the one lecture, Leon had yet to give these things much thought, to busy making pills to sell and for this competition. Now he kind of wished that he'd paid more attention to Teacher Jian's lectures, at least long enough to create something perhaps like a smoke bomb he'd witnessed in the movies once or twice.

But hindsight was a wonderful thing, just not a useful one as proven when Leon fell down a natural pit caused by dry clay earth and the rotted roots of a large dead tree. Troy easily rescued him, but otherwise Leon had nothing to show for it but a twisted ankle. As the suns were beginning their long descent, Pike felt it was becoming more urgent to find a place to camp, so Leon was carried on the back of Roman rather than waste time searching his interspatial bag for a Blood Pill at this time. Fortunately for Roman, whose physique was not great, Leon was not heavy.

Their camp was not as secure nor hidden as the night before. Roman set up temporary talismans, Pike created a rota that everyone had to participate in. Sleep was interrupted during the second watch with an attack of a skinny and very hungry Spiked Boar, who fought desperately. It was no match for Pike, who defeated it easily and then claimed its horns. However, there was no meat on its bones and it was also carrying disease from an infected wound, so it was buried some distance away. Sleep came uneasily after that.

The following days were just as filled with minor obstacles, not enough to be dangerously hindering, but enough to cause weariness to seep into muscles and bones. Naturally Roman and Leon were the first to be affected. And just when things could not seem much worse, the silver clouds that had formed over these days had come together and darkened to a steely grey then had shed their contents upon the ground below. It was persistent and unceasing to the point where even their water resistant cloaks could not shelter them from it and Caelus had to stop deflecting it with his spells or suffer from draining his innersea too much.

Just yesterday evening, in this rain, they had managed to find their way back to the lake and had come to realise just how lazy the map maker of this floating island had been.  This part of the 'lake' was more like a river, rapid and violent and several ten-chi wide and was fed by a tall and thunderous waterfall.  Thanks to the darkening sky, they couldn't explore nor wait to find a decent place to camp, could only miserably make shelter under a tree with wide leaves and huddle together.  Leon found it wasn't true that a fat man was warm like a wide heated stove.  Thanks to Caelus' preference for ice magic, his body leaned to being quite cool.

Having had little sleep, the team's moral was lacking, Pike knew it wasn't wise to push them too much at the moment, despite their lagging progress, so he waited until the sun rose before discussing plans around a feeble fire.  The rains had yet to cease so the heat, while welcome, did not do much to dry their already damp clothes.  It was fortunate that Cultivators tended to be slightly hardier than mortals or they likely would have fallen ill by now.  Leon was particularly weak against the cold and was currently nestling against the thick fur of the tri-coloured fox, despite the fur smelling similar to that of a wet dog.  Velana was on it's other side, brushing the half dry mud from its tails.

Pike still felt it would be best to find a more permanent camp so that they might rest well for at least a day and it was Caelus that happened to jokingly mention the cliché idea that waterfalls often hid caverns behind them.  As it happened, this time he was actually correct.


CREATORS' THOUGHTS
Ebonsolaris Ebonsolaris

Author’s note; shìchèn is two hours, so a quarter is 30 minutes. Chi (I don’t have the correct symbol for the ‘i’ on my keyboard) is roughly just over a foot, depending on era. So let’s assume 12inches in this realm for simplicity sake.

Chapter 258: Chapter Fifty Eight - He discovers some secrets

Since it was a cave hidden behind a torrent of falling water, it was naturally damp and cold.  But that was just the entrance of the cave for it was far deeper than expected.

Velana and her fox braved the elements to return with wood to burn, however the elements had been unkind these past few days so even though the canopy was thick, rain had eventually permeated to the ground below.  Caelus used his water abilities to drawn the moisture from the damp wood before Pike produced enough of a flame to light a fire.  The wood was decent, did not produce much smoke and the yellow flames danced over the wood, consuming it contentedly as the warmth from them began to fill the cave.

Everyone released a comfortable sigh.

Outer robes, tunics and even an inner robe or two were removed to dry with socks, Velana disappeared to change completely, while those with spare socks quickly wrapped their cold feet once more.  Blankets covered some shoulders, Pike remained shameless, naked of upper body and Caelus dried his own clothes with magic. Leon took out his stove and kettle to brew a warming tea with ginger and gingseng, while Roman examined the rocks of the cave for their worth.  It was not long before the scent of herbs was overwhelmed by the scent of braised meat.

The dried vegetables that he had packed had quickly been consumed by the hungry stomachs surrounding him, so he could only rely on that which was hunted by the others.  He wasn't sure what beast had been cut down to provide the juicy red meat within the pot and he didn't really care either, but his taste buds missed having variety.  Fortunately, for their health, he had found some common herbs that were not only useful in many common pills, but were also edible.  He tossed these into the bubbling stew without regard.

Once the stew was ready, Leon dished it out in the few bowls and cups they'd bought with them and Pike handed him a couple of dry biscuits in turn.  They scooped out the meat with their dried rations or simply drank directly from the container.  In fact, Leon had packed one bowl, one cup and a spoon, but Pike only had a waterskin, intending to live off of dried food or roasted meat, while Velana's bowl had originally been intended for her fox.  It was the first time that Pike realised that his leadership lacked proper logistics and resolved to rectify this in the future.

Once bellies were full, they looked for the driest spots to rest, cultivate or sleep for a while.  Troy pulled on his boots to explore deeper into the cave for a while and Pike rested, but with a vigilant eye, by the cave mouth.  Fortunately, it would be tricky for most beasts to traverse along the narrow ledge that they had carefully slid along to discover this place, so for a good while they would all rest in peace.

The cave they rested in was the largest of the network with only the entrance being wide enough for a man like Caelus and tall enough for a man like Pike. But Troy was neither thick of waist nor blessed with height and could easily navigate the narrow cracks and small holes leading from one cavern to the next, all of which eventually drew him back in an interesting and not without dead-ends route back to that first cavern. He excitedly held a few items of intrigue in his bag, but as there was limited space in his pouch, it was not as much as he'd seen.

Roman was quickly drawn to the unusual stones and lone crystal, while Leon noticed and identified the mushroom.  His lips formed a slight curve and his eyes softened.  It was thanks to this valuable blue mushroom that he'd once hunted high and low for that he had been swept up into the drama that was Jin Li.  He couldn't really regret it now though, even if during that first meeting and for a short while after, he really had!

"D-did you find it b-b-by a sp-spring?" Leon asked and Troy nodded in agreement. 

"How did you know?"  Troy asked as a couple of others looked intrigued, others only frowned; wasn't it just a mushroom. 

This mushroom was sought, purchased and placed upon the dining tables of the wealthy or cooked and eaten by foodies experienced in foraging.  It was a high value, quality item with a firm yet silken texture and a flavour all of its own.  Their group was from mixed backgrounds so only half of them had even heard of this resource and only one had had the fortune to taste it.  Leon could only admit he'd harvested them before, but at that time, he hadn't known their value.

It was decided to harvest more, keeping most while tasting the delicacy at least once while they had the chance.  They weren't all foodies, but didn't mean they weren't willing to lose a few points for the pleasure of eating it now.  Besides, it had many nutritional benefits that could strengthen their health during this tough challenge.

As for the rocks, most were just pretty to look at, nothing special not worth anything more than toys for children.  The crystal happened to be a quartz called ametrine, a naturally occurring phenomenon in which amethyst and citrine formed as one. The crystal with its mixed shades of yellow and purple was lovely and might be worth a little money if nothing else, so it was not an uninteresting find. Definitely worth the time to lightly mine some more.

Otherwise there were two unassuming stones, one was a dark grey without any reflective qualities, while the other was as black as midnight, yet it reacted to the heat of Roman's fingers becoming a soft lemon-white with a smoky patterning. Troy took it back and the stone plunged back into its midnight state. "How strange," Roman's fingers twitched in excitement; he'd not come across such a crystal and was definitely interested in its properties. He gingerly claimed it back, holding it to his chest as the half-palm sized stone once more changed colour.

Intuitively, he encouraged Pike to hold it in the next breath. Pike took it between finger and thumb uncertainly and the rock became a bright mix of orange and yellow, with patterns that imitated flames. Roman laughed out loud, startling his comrades, who'd never heard more than a breathy chuckle from the unassuming man. "I think it actually reacts to our spiritual roots!" He was delighted, making them hold it each in turn.

As Velana held it, it turned an ethereal azure blue, while for Leon it once again was black, but coated in a miniature galaxy. Roman wanted to ask what their roots were, but understood that this would be impolite. Velana did volunteer that her roots were spirit roots, something particularly favoured by Beast Tamers and not looked down upon amongst Scholars either, though Leon remained nervously quiet. Then Caelus took it and the stone became a beautiful ocean blue, yet also had faint swirling patterns cast over it in lines of white, revealing a truth that he usual kept hidden; his root was not purely water.

He grumbled something about it being a silly toy, tossing it back to Roman who panicked as he almost fumbled catching it and held it close to himself for a minute afterwards, no longer willing to share. But the team would not fight him for it once they'd finished the challenge, so he reluctantly allowed them to put it into the team's interdimensional bag along with the mushroom and ametrine.

As for the dark grey rock, this really was the most surprising find of all...


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