Chapter 78

  Yaoguai Qūmóshī For Me

  There was an issue with my training to advance my Skills. Well, looking back there were multiple issues, that ultimately got me to the wrong correct ending.

  What do I mean? What is my main problem?

  “You managed to alter those Skills?” Mr. Yi asked in confusion as my glowing golden eyes and now glowing greenish golden blade extended out in front of me. There was more, a lot more as I now felt a slight fear while looking at Mr. Yi, but I tried to work my way past that bombshell as well, and focus on what exactly went wrong.

  “What? Isn’t that what you were trying to get her to do?” Markan asked. However, he seemed to miss what Mr. Yi noticed almost immediately, the fact that I had messed up in the way I had evolved my Skills. I had succeeded, but not the way Mr. Yi had apparently been instructing me.

  Even now I was confused, as I thought back to how this all began. Looking back, even the instructions given might have been part of the problem. A part of me wanted to blame Mr. Yi, to accuse him of tricking me. Even looking at him, I felt a slight shiver of revulsion running down my spine, but I choked that all down as I thought back to what ultimately led me here to this point.

  ***

  (Two Hours Ago)

  “Now I will show you how I generate these effects with both eyesight first and then with the sword,” Mr. Yi began. As he spoke, he clearly started with his core, then went down towards his kidneys and stomach, then wrapped its way up his spine and ultimately to his eyes. The moment he got to his eyes, was the moment his eyes started to glow a golden yellow color.

  “Now, the trick is to not flood your eyes with Holy energy, but to use just enough to be able to stare past any demonic illusionary barriers that exist, just as you would to see the spirit realm,” Mr. Yi did this for a moment and then paused before asking one of the most basic statements that would open a world of understanding for me. “Any questions?”

  I know that he was ultimately asking if I had any questions about the instructions that he had just given, but that wasn’t the case. At least not at the moment, as I was focused on something else entirely.

  “Actually, yes I do. What is the difference between Demons and Spirits?” I ask.

  Mr. Yi pauses and stares at me. Then with a scoff, he chides in his own language, one that is remarkably similar to Mandarin from my old world. While a few of the words have changed, the base structure is still there, and I can get a gist of what he is saying. Something along the lines of “how can a civilization steeped in hiding the truth from their children expect to survive.”

  There was more to it, maybe a regret in there, but I couldn’t get everything. Still, I did think I understood enough. Once again, I was glad to have known Grandma Chen from my past life, a person who immigrated in my past life and inspired me to become a nurse in the first place. Odd how I only remember her and events from my past life when there are clear ties to that life. Almost like it doesn’t exist, or that my mind tries to keep it separated from this life, until a connection like this to past knowledge is needed. Before I can get lost in that connection of how I partially knew Mandarin, or what I believed Mr. Yi was speaking in a moment ago, he speaks in the local dialect.

  “Fine, I will give you the basics, so you can know why this is important,” Mr. Yi began, though the way he positioned himself, sitting fully upright and staring at me let me know that this was going to be more of a story time than anything. “Long ago, it is said that the land was at peace, and that society was boundless. Then one day demons came, hiding in plain sight. Able to walk among the living as if they were humans, but they weren’t. Foul and twisted beings, but most could not identify them as monsters. In fact, only a few could. While those that could identify the demons tried to point them out, tried to show their monstrous forms, it was the visionaries, like me, who were ultimately kicked out and called crazy. That was how the demons got into power. Working their way deeper into government infrastructures and becoming influential aids to the various rulers. Then they struck, slowly at first, corrupting the ground with plans that would destroy the natural beauty of the land. Using tricks that would ultimately unlock magic, but that magic came with a cost. As it allowed the world to be corrupted. It allowed for even greater horrors than the demons themselves to be let loose on the lands.”

  As he spoke, I realized this was an equivalent of this world’s creation story, and for the first time, I wondered if this was my same world? But then I quickly dismissed that idea as this was similar, but there were too many obvious differences. For instance, if this was the same world then there would have been references to the various World Wars, but those are not covered. There are no religions, or at least none that I have been exposed to.

  As I was having these thoughts, Mr. Yi continued his story.

  “At first, those of us that saw the changes, rallied together, and fought back against the incursions. Some of us wanted to strike down the demons, the instigators of this very mess, but no one wanted to help at first. For the dangers were apparent, Spirits roaming the world. Spirits that could interact with and cause actual damage to the living. They were the first and most obvious consequence to be dealt with. Then came the evolution of monsters. While we scampered about taking down one set of monsters at a time, the demons were free to spread their corruption, both taking away the habitable land for us, and make it so even worse constructs could come.”

  “Like the Death Eaters?” I asked, trying to gauge the danger that allegedly awaited me. I wanted to believe all that Mr. Yi was saying, but at the moment it was sort of hard as he had taken on a religious zeal to his words.

  “The Death Eaters are at best the super soldiers for the army that the demons are creating,” Mr. Yi answered. Hearing him speak, I realized that I would likely need to get someone to vouch for him or confirm their own findings. While I believed that he believed everything he was saying, that didn’t necessarily mean that everything he was saying was in fact correct.

  After that, I think we both agreed to end our impromptu history lesson for how the world got screwed over. From there, I just focused on moving my mana the way Mr. Yi had instructed and tried finding the golden yellow particles within my core. To my surprise they were not with the earthen fragments, which made them somewhat harder to find. Instead, the golden motes of mana had seemingly been absorbed into my body, sifted out like gold flakes in a river. Honestly, I was not quite certain what to make of this finding about myself, but I just pushed through and found that if I focused, I could stir up the thicker particles, the same way one would awaken a snow globe by shaking it and causing all the flakes to rise up and slowly start to fall. While the motes did fall slowly, the fact that they were in fact falling was not lost on me, and I did not know what to do with this development.

  Everything else had been relatively easy, even separating my earth mana from my healing motes of mana had been far easier in comparison to what I was now experiencing. As this wasn’t just a matter of moving mana, but of stirring mana up and trying to get it to change from a solid form to at least a liquid form, and ideally a gaseous form.

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  I was lost in deep meditations trying to circulate the golden flakes of calcified mana, when finally, Markan arrived.

  “I’m back!” Markan exclaimed, a note of joviality in his voice. While I was just thankful for something to help me take my mind off of what was happening, which was absolutely nothing at the moment. Despite how much I tried to focus away from the odd story about demons and corruption and focus on the altering of my MAXED out Skills to get them to now be usable with mana, I was completely lost. Especially as stirring up and forcing the congealed flakes into movement was far more taxing on me than I was used to at the moment.

  As Markan entered the courtyard, I could see that he had a giant satchel on his back. A satchel that was instantly recognizable, as it had been the same one that Mr. Karl had been holding for us all this time. Even the bulge was the same.

  “I’ve brought gifts,” Markan exclaimed as he turned the satchel upside down and began pouring out its contents. With that comment, close to half a dozen cores poured out, all glowing and glittering in the afternoon light. However, these had clearly been modified as they were not the pristine cores with spikes that I had been expecting.

  “I took it upon myself to do the cutting and dispersing these into usable parts. Most of the carvings were made in the carriage, so I apologize if there are any issues. But Christoph and Vivienne both have opted to take a few experience crystals as their cut. Meaning that we have the chance to choose from the rest.” Markan noted.

  As he spoke, I did see that there were odd, jagged lines that seemed to appear at the end of the otherwise perfectly shaped cones. Almost as if the cones had been ripped off a circular base and not quite fully polished. Brandishing the different crystals, Markan began sorting them into different piles.

  “Now again, the three main types of crystals available are the Experience crystals, these shorter and stubbier versions. Then the Enhancement crystals, these medium sized bulky ones, and finally the Skill crystals, these longer skinny ones,” Markan described as he pointed out each pile that he had created.

  “What about the circles?” I asked, confused about the actual core part.

  “Those? Those are the cores, so far, we have not been able to find anything to do with them up to this point,” Markan admitted, as he held up the round ball that had served as an anchor point, but now was not smooth as gouges from where the various cone types had been ripped off were visible.

  “There are looting rules that go into these types of crystals. Experience are generally easier to sell, but also more abundant making them worth one point each. The enhancement crystals are slightly rarer and worth two points each, or two experience crystals. While the Skill Crystals can be anywhere from three to six crystals depending on what Skills are offered,” Markan noted, again pointing out each stack of crystals as he spoke. While he did, I saw that we still had seven experience crystals, four enhancement crystals, and three Skill crystals.

  “Now this is your first haul, and we generally go in a round robin approach until all crystals are taken, but we will let you go twice. Taking any two of the Enhancement crystals,” Markan stated, pointing to the pile of medium sized glowing cone shaped crystals.

  “This is as much a test on your ability to choose correctly for yourself, as it is to reward you for your contributions during the rift closing,” Mr. Yi added, I was glad to have him once again focused on our training, versus metaphysical creation stories.

  It’s not that I dislike creation stories, but Mr. Yi speaks with a form of zealotry that comes across as a bit too fanatical for my tastes. Still, I do as I am told and feel my way through the stack of Enhancement crystals. Two flash a golden yellow at my touch, and I almost wonder if they are related to ones that Mr. Yi killed, as if somehow his finishing blow had any direct impact on the makeup of these crystals. By comparison one of the Skill Crystals glows a faint greenish color, making me think that I might be able to resonate with that crystal as well. Still that is a lot, and based on the point systems noted, that one Skill crystal might be worth as much as both of these medium sized Enhancement crystals.

  Not wanting to go too deep into this, I grab two of the golden glowing crystals and gesture to Markan that they are the ones I chose. Markan gives a slight look of being impressed, along with a subtle head nod to show he approves of my choices.

  “Okay, now is the time when you synergize your energy with the energy bound within the crystal. The easiest way to do this is by having a medium of your body’s fluids to help directly transmit the energy held within the crystal directly into your body.” Mr. Yi begins.

  I look at him, and am about to ask what he is talking about, but Markan cuts in.

  “For Enhancement crystals and Skill Crystals, you need to create a stronger bond between yourself and the crystal. The easiest way to do this is to prick your skin and allow a dollop of blood that you press the crystal against,” Markan asks.

  I open my mouth, trying to see if they are messing with me, but they both appear to be completely open and honest.

  “Here, I’ll show you,” Markan state, reaching down into the stack of two remaining Enhancement crystals, where he removes one and waves it towards Mr. Yi.

  “That’s two of my points,” Markan begins, Mr. Yi nods in agreement. Then afterwards, I watch as Markan takes the pointy end of the cone and jabs it into his finger, drawing blood, but more importantly, he continues to press the cone into the wound, where I watch as the earthen energy of the cone begins to pour out seemingly going directly into Markan’s finger. “Now the trick with this is, that you need to have the Skill you want to enhance in your mind. The energy from the crystal will pour into your body and you need to direct it as quickly as possible to your Skills that you wish to Enhance.”

  As he speaks, Markan’s eyes flash a bright brownish color, before reverting back to their native blue.

  “Then you take your Skill, and make sure to push the newly linked energy into the Skill solidifying the change and making it so the Skill is forever linked to the power. As you can see I chose an crystal that would enhance one of my Skills with an earth affinity. As you correctly chose, your two crystals will infuse a skill with Holy energy. The same energy you will need, if you wish to go down the path of a Yaoguai Qūmóshī.” Markan spoke.

  As he did, I did as instructed, by taking one of the glowing golden cones, and jabbing it into my finger. It hurt, but my pain was clearly not enough, as I failed to pierce my skin on my first attempt.

  “Yeah, you can’t hesitate either, otherwise you just end up jabbing yourself a few dozen times for no real result,” Markan stated.

  Hearing his criticism I just nodded. Then I shook my finger, a finger that I opted to avoid healing for a moment, before focusing on actually puncturing my finger. Then I did something absolutely stupid, I willingly stabbed myself with a sharp pointed object.

  A burst of light erupted behind my eyes, letting me know that I had been successful with my attempt. Then remembering the instructions given, I focus on activating my vision Skill, and remembering the movement that Mr. Yi claimed his mana took to enter his eyes. I did the same, only realizing slightly belatedly that Mr. Yi was showing me how to activate a bloodline Skill of his. When I attempted to do the same, I found myself activating my own bloodline linked Skill, Soul Sight. There was of course just one problem with my attempt, as the golden energy that I had been circulating with my body, grabbed hold of those densely packed golden flakes that I had been trying to stir about and activate earlier, causing the flakes to crash into my Soul Sight Skill. At which point, I felt a slight change and altering of the Skill. The same way my Class had subtly changed my other mana based Skills to use Life mana. This time, it was the same but different. Mana was still being used to activate and generate the changes going within my body, but it was somehow different. Or at least, this felt different as my eyes began to burn from the change.

  I closed my eyes and almost reached up to rub at the offending eyes, only to realize that I was still busy. My hands were both still in use. One being stabbed, the other performing the stabbing. At the same time, Markan spoke.

  “Good, you’re almost there. Now don’t fight it, but rather let it in, accept the energy into your eyes.”

  “I think I messed up,” I replied, wanting to say that I didn’t think I was using my Eagle Eyed Skill, but my bloodline one. Something I didn’t know was possible.

  “No, you are fine, just stay with it, keep pushing and cycling the energy within your body. Then focus everything on your eyes.” Markan continued to give out instructions and I followed trying to listen to the someone who clearly knew what they were talking about.

  “All right, that is all of the energy in that crystal, you should feel the surge of energy in your body slowing down a bit, just keep cycling it, and keep focusing on moving your Holy energy through your body and towards your eyes.” Markan continued to explain.

  I was panting, as it both burned and tingled a lot. I kept the empty cone within my hands if for no other reason than for me to try to avoid rubbing my eyes.

  “Good, you look done, now once your eyes stop tingling open your eyes, and tell me what you see,” Mr. Yi cut back in. His voice close, a welcoming anchor that my mind clung to. I could feel changes happening to me, ones that I could no doubt read right now if I wanted to.

  “Don’t read your changes, at least try to avoid doing so if you can,” Mr. Yi declared. Again, this seemed to be more of that hoodoo voodoo stuff that Madame Bloom encouraged. Thoughts that if I somehow looked at my status now, I would lock in a change. I hated it, but at the same time, I could not refute the effects from earlier as I had gained what was apparently an amazing Class with great perks. If that was the price to pay, a bit of superstition and a chance to focus, then I would take it. I nodded.

  “Good, now open your eyes and tell me what you see?” Mr. Yi spoke, with his deep cultured voice. A voice that spoke of confidence and a devil may care attitude. Yet, hearing his words this time, I could almost hear a slight note of something else, a sort of deep acceptance.

  Opening my eyes, I felt the distinct burn of golden energy causing everything to glow with a slightly golden hue. I was about to ask Mr. Yi what he meant, as I would clearly see him. But only after I fully opened my eyes and the blurriness of my vision managed to focus did I truly understand what Mr. Yi was asking me to look at. For there right in front of me was a monster, well half of one wearing Mr. Yi’s face.

  “EEP!” Was the involuntary response that I made, when I finally managed to see what Mr. Yi had wanted me to see.