Raven Black - 7

The star in the sky crested over the mountain, illuminated the sky with a warm orange glow that seemed to only hasten the drops of dew that landed over my fingers.

And as I descended, step after graceful step, among the seemingly endless stairs. 

I knew not how they had been hidden from my eyes, nor why they had done such an inane action. Only that my innate memories told of such steps. That would bring me forward and towards the base of the mountain. Whereupon I could spend the rest of the day amongst the warm embrace of my supposed home.

But as my eyes glazed over, a seemingly endless trance created for a single purpose, to pilot my body down those endless stairs. Another part of my mind began to categorize the sect that I had now found myself in.

All as my other hand raised towards the sky. The animal within, who had clutched himself upon my arm. In imitation of what would seem to be a bird, he used soft paws to pull himself towards my shoulder. 

A perch was found, and despite the warnings I had given, of the misgivings that the sect may have of such beasts. Another part of me found no problem with that warm embrace of his. 

How his sole tail curled around my neck, warmed it with the fluff and fur. And when I thought again towards the sect.

No longer was it filled with single purpose. But another. A sort of objective I had not been able to grasp. So engrossed within that rescue effort of mine, for now I had this beast… Okami, upon my shoulders.

Trust that should have taken days… weeks even, given only a few hours. We had become trusted companions. I saved him from the death that would come for him, even if it was unknown to Okami.

And he…

I blinked. For the stairs had ended. And I had not even begun to deconstruct the sect. To compare it to what I was used to.

Still, there was more to go. For this descent still had to be tempered by another ascent to the peaks of another mountain top.

Like all other sects, this one was no different. Their name, the White Rose sect. It signified their focus. Even their location.

I reached down, my hand lightly bumped against a thorned rose. It had petals that seemed to grow whiter and whiter until the edge was reached. Where it turned a burnt pink.

Nature. Where heavenly energy could flow freely, amongst dragon veins that pumped the life blood of the planet into the atmosphere.

This sect was perfectly placed. Yet as I tore the rose from the ground, I felt a slight sting. Crimson blood dripped down my finger. A yip came from Okami.

"Are-" I hushed him, a finger upon his lips and a wink from my eye. Either way he turned his snout down to my finger. A hesitant lick that placed saliva against the wound.

And miraculously, for if another was to see what had happened, then he would be taken, strung up for the resources he could give. My finger healed. Within seconds. Like some sort of elixir had been given.

Still I smiled.

"Thank you."

Just as I had said, sects were rarely seen without a sacred ground. And this group of mountains must have been their sacred ground. There must not have been even ten of these places within the world.

And for this tiny sect, with barely any power to their name. It begged the other sects, and it was certain that there were others, to come and take this place.

A click echoed within my mind. As the door opened and unleashed the warm air upon my face. Okami had already huddled against my neck, had warmed it with his fur. But my face was still cold.

A downside of such low cultivation. 

But as I closed the door, so that the warm air would not be let out, as I let Okami free from the grasp he had upon my neck. He seemed to perk up and started to roam the room just as I did.

My hand touched the surface of the counter.

"This is certainly…" I muttered to myself. Watched as the fridge was opened, an invention I had not expected within this small sect.

No, these had not been introduced until…

I shook my head, there was no need to think of the little details. For there were more important things to think about. Chief among them would be to gather information.

I had slight nuggets of info that gave me a general overview of what this sect looked like. How they operated and such.

But I had not the amount of knowledge I would have liked. Though that was not much of a problem. Already I had noticed the abundance of books within the other room. Just adjacent to the kitchen itself.

And so I made my way there. My finger roamed each book. Read the titles to myself until I was satisfied with the pile.

A quiet mutter of sacred words let me focus. A trick that I had learned. That most would learn. That being that cultivation techniques inherently gave increased concentration.

But if one were to allow themselves to truly understand their technique, then that was when this trick could be used.

Cultivation techniques were split into three parts. A reading of heavenly energies, where an interpretation of their origin and use within the body were given. 

The second was the conversion of heavenly energy, to turn it into that same visualization. And the third was a progression. Of course this was of the most basic techniques.

But it was in that second step that all was found. The conversion of heavenly energy took inhuman concentration and focus.

So if one were to say, exclusively channel that part of their technique, to ignore the heavenly energy that their body would instinctively try to convert.

Then would they not gain inhuman concentration.

Yes, that is exactly what would happen. Of course it was not as effective as when one entered a trance within their technique but it helped me to focus and digest the records within a quarter of the time it would take me to do so regularly.