Insight

I squinted in confusion.

"Ember... what does it mean when it says to the point of madness? Will I go insane because I accepted the inheritance?"

I could almost feel the disappointment that emanated from Ember's voice, something I'd never heard before.

"Madness... Master was not driven to insanity. What she possessed was an ambition like no other, and to many, that is so much more frightening."

Ember did not continue speaking after that so I stopped to ponder on what was just said. I have something that needs to be done that will drive me crazy if I can't do it as well. I need to get back to my village to see what remains and figure out who attacked us, and why.

I could feel my heart start to pick up the pace once more. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath trying to collect my thoughts. There were so many more questions to ask but Ember was right, I have to move forward.

"One last thing before I proceed and run into some unknown monstrosity that will kill me in one slash, how do I regenerate my demonic energy? I've noticed that it's gone back up to 18.1 in the minute or so that has passed while finding out about my individuality but is there a faster or more consistent way of accumulation?"

The disappointing tone from before was gone without a trace when Ember spoke once more.

"If you focus your attention on your dantian you should feel the energy from before starting to circulate. Instead of letting it permeate throughout your body, use your will to have it continue to accumulate in the dantian until it reaches capacity. Also, you will most likely not die from the creatures on the first level in 1 strike with the amount of health and vitality you possess. Let's just hope they don't outsmart you with that atrocious intelligence stat..."

I don't know why but I'm getting the sneaking suspicion that Ember is becoming ... more human-like the more we communicate... or demon-like? For some reason, I didn't mind the comment at the end as much as the previous ones and proceeded to ask more about the dantian.

"What do you mean by my will? I thought you were a will ?" 

There was an unexpected long pause before Ember spoke again.

"Correct and incorrect. You can consider a will as the manifestation of desires hidden within the depths of one's soul transmuted alongside various energies depending on the user and type of will being constructed. I was made with specific intentions and countless forms of energy, therefore my purpose is beyond mundane comprehension. The will you are trying to produce, however, does not need to be able to affect the physical realm. Focus on why you need to accumulate the energy in the first place, the purpose it will be used for, and the feeling of it permeating your dantian. Once you have a grip on that sensation don't let go."

I let the words echo through my head whilst focusing deeply on my naval. I could feel the slow rhythmic beat begin to bolster the dantian. The energy began to swell to the point that it felt like it would start to spread throughout my body once again. Images of my parents being skewered, burning buildings, and my friends butchered flashed through my mind. I need strength more than anything else at the moment, the strength to survive and persevere through the ordeal that is about to pass. The energy that felt like it would slip away began to circulate forming a rotating sphere. I tried to memorize the flow of energy and maintain it until the sweat started to drip from my chin. I opened my eyes and checked my individuality to see if my demonic energy had gone back to 20.0. My eyes opened wide when I saw the number displayed.

Demonic Energy: 50.0/50.0

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It increased from 20 to 50! It looks like I found a solution to meet the second requirement of my evolution. Ember must have noticed my delight as the voice interjected my thoughts at the perfect time.

"Congratulations on truly beginning on the path of cultivation. When you focus on accumulating the energy rather than consuming it, the dantian will slowly expand allowing more energy to be contained within. You only gained 30 points so easily because your dantian wasn't completely formed yet. Thankfully now that your dantian has solidified into a core, you now meet the standards expected of even the weakest of demons. "

It felt like something clicked again and I focused on how my body was feeling at the moment. The sea of consciousness, body, and dantian are all interconnected, amplifying one another while maintaining a distinct harmony. Focusing on my sea of consciousness the translucent scarlet-tinged bubble came into frame. The bubble seemed slightly larger than before and the inside looked more vivid, booming with luster. Bringing my attention back to my body I opened and closed my fists a few times. I feel stronger and have more clarity after reaching 50.0 demonic energy. Looking at the display of my individuality I noticed that I'm currently level 0 with 45 exp. I didn't need to ask this time before Ember started speaking.

"Experience is practical to contact with and observation of facts or events. Before the inheritance, you've had no basic training so being at level 0 with 0 exp is a given. Experience can be gained through combat, accumulating excess energy, or gaining some type of knowledge through insight. Earlier when you felt something click into place the first time, you didn't focus on it trying to acquire critical insight. That yielded 5 exp while the insight you did gain granted 10 exp instead. 30 exp was gained through the combination of you accumulating excess energy and procuring additional insight regarding your dantian. "

I paused for a moment before turning my attention toward the huge hole at the opposite end of the cave. This time there was no compelling feeling and the runes were faint, but they still oscillated as proof of existence.