Chapter 95: Monkey see, Monkey eat

Somewhere in the Tibetan Mountains

January 21st, 1066

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After three months in the region, Erik finally had gotten his hands in some information about vital energy manipulation. He had found it inside the treasury of one of the many small sects of the region. The sects were a gathering of like-minded people to train and share martial knowledge. Some of the most famous ones were a few generations old and had entire clans living inside them. That is when the sect didn't end up turning into a clan itself. With the reunion of so many 'talents', knowledge was bound to be gathered too, and taking advantage of this Erik would go to a stroll inside of their treasury and copy all the knowledge that he found was relevant, which means everything that he would lay his eyes on. Not that he didn't respect their privacy or anything, but these older sects were the main source of young masters too.

What he had found was an old book written in a journal-style that described the day-to-day training routine of a very talented martial artist. But while reading it, already at his home away from home, he noticed some points of it that seemed strange and, after a lot of more reading and pondering, Erik concluded that the person who had written the journal was not human.

When he showed it to Selena, pointing to her what he had found while reading and his line of thought, she agreed with him. The writer was not human.

And that was great, in Erik's opinion. Non-humans tended to have much more ease with their vital energy manipulation and had, too, an easy time explaining or writing it.

After completing the reading, Erik, finally, started to train and try to manipulate his vital energy. And Selena loved the process of it. Erik was training almost naked in their courtyard for extended periods for the delight of Selena's eyes. And it was during one of these sessions that Erik felt it for the first time. A huge well of energy lying deep inside his very being, slowly feeding his body and keeping him alive and healthy. But finding his vital energy is not the same as controlling it. His vital energy was resisting his pull. Very different from Erik's experience with his magical energy. It was like a stubborn donkey that would not move.

Erik persevered. He continued to try and control it while keeping up with his training. Erik had even managed to convince Selena to train with him and was guiding her in the process of locating her vital energy. Ultimately, Erik concluded that it had something to do with him being a High-Human but the 'why' he had no idea at the moment.

It was during one of their tours in one of the many mountains of Tibet that Erik smelled the fragrance of something sweet in the air. And it was mixed with alcohol. Curious to who was drinking in such a dangerous trail, Erik followed his nose to the origin of the scent with Selena right behind him. The couple became alert when they felt themselves passing a magic barrier. Selena looked at it for some instant before saying that it was a type of power barrier that blocked the passage of low-powered beings, like normal humans. Whoever was drinking on the mountain was from the supernatural world.

And they were right. After a little walk inside the barrier, in a little plateau of the mountain, the couple found who was drinking the fragrant alcoholic drink. Sitting on a stone while looking at the scenery in the distance while holding a gourd in one hand and a long pipe with the other was a small creature in height. It had a little more than a meter in height and fur over all its body that was in a brown golden color. But even being of small stature, his body radiated strength and by his side, resting on the boulder, was a red staff with golden caps at its ends. Erik had a very pretty idea of who they had just found.

Sun Wu Kong. A monkey youkai who was the first Monkey King. He was also known as The Great Victorious Fighting Buddha and the Great Sage Equaling Heaven. And it was their luck to find him… Or not. Whatever it was, Erik didn't want it to turn into the second option. Selena was going to say something, but Erik signaled her not to. But the place was a perfect one for some tea, and Erik could use that as some ice breaker. Sun Wukong was certainly the most knowledgeable person about the manipulation of vitality energy alive at the moment and he would be very lucky if he could learn something from the Monkey King.

Erik walked to the side of the little plateau with Selena, giving the old monkey his space, and snapped his fingers. In front of them, a two-people couch materialized together with a low round table. With another snap of fingers, a tea set appeared on the low round table. Conjuration and summoning were that useful, and no one could deny it. Selena took a seat on the couch while Erik started to prepare their tea using some of the leaves from their trees at home. They had found some good tea leaves in the area, but nothing until now was better than the leaves given by the seedling that Hestia had given Erik years ago as a birthday gift. The tea was poured and with a bit of honey later the couple was enjoying the scenery while sipping their tea in the company of one of the stronger martial artists to ever exist.

It hadn't taken long for the attention of the Monkey King to go to the couple. In the beginning, he was not really interested in them and since they left him alone to enjoy his wine, he would leave them alone too. But then, after they had started to drink tea, the man took out of a leathery bag a pot filled with some snacks. They were round, had a soft brown color, and smelled like honey. The smell! The smell alone was making his water mouth. Sun Wukong couldn't resist anymore.

"Will you not offer some snacks to an old monkey?"

Sun Wukong said while still enjoying the scenery in front of him. Erik smiled internally at that.

"I didn't want to interrupt your moment. You seemed to be really enjoying the scenery."

Erik said and snapped his fingers again for a comfortable armchair to appear near them. Another snap later another cup of tea had appeared on the low round table.

"Mister, would you like to have some tea and cookies with us?"

Erik said, inviting Sun Wukong seat with them. Before Erik could even blink, the Monkey King had appeared sitting on the armchair that Erik had conjured in an incredible feat of speed.

"I will accept your invitation."

Sun Wukong said and waited for Erik to serve him tea, which he did and offered the cup to him. His gourd with wine had at some point returned to his waist and the red staff with golden caps was now resting by the side of the conjured armchair. Sun Wukong sipped the tea and his eyes went wide.

"Good tea!"

He said loudly and sipped it again, enjoying the flavor of it.

"Good that you liked it. They are leaves raised at my home."

Erik said while sipping his tea. The trio stood in silence, enjoying the scenery and the tea. Sun wukong then started to 'attack' the honey cookies. The Monkey King almost let out a moan after the first bite. Luckily for him, he didn't.

"Ah… Thank you for the food!"

Sun Wukong said when he finished the cookies in the pot. Erik smiled at him and snapped his fingers again, making more cookies appear inside the pot.

"That's some neat magic that you have. Making delicious snacks appear whenever you want."

Sun Wukong said and restarted his attacks on the honey cookies. Erik shook his head at that.

"The cookies are already ready in another place. I just used my magic to bring them from there to here. We call it summoning."

Erik explained to Sun Wukong, who looked at the cookie that he had in his hand for a little while before taking a bite of it.

"So it's not the same as the chairs? I can feel that they are really not here."

Sun wukong said after eating the cookie. Erik nodded his head this time.

"Yes. The couch, the armchair, and the table are constructs made of magic and will disappear when the magic holding it together ends. We call in conjuration."

Erik said again, explaining a little more to the Monkey King, who nodded his head already with another cookie in his hand.

"I'm Sun Wukong, by the way."

The monkey king said, introducing himself to the couple.

"Nice to meet you, Sun Wukong. I am Erik Ravenclaw, and this beauty by my side is my wife, Selena Ravenclaw."

Erik replied, introducing him and Selena to the Monkey King. Selena smiled and bowed her head a little at Sun Wukong when Erik introduced her, and the Monkey King nodded his head in acknowledgment.

"I'm not going to lie to you, Sun Wukong, but we had a good idea of who you were when we first saw you."

Erik said. The Monkey King smiled at that.

"Oh? And what gave me away?"

Sun Wukong asked in an amused tone.

"The power radiating from your body and the staff."

Erik replied while pointing to the red staff with goldens caps with his eyes. The Monkey King smiled at that.

"The both of you are weak too. My instincts are telling that you both are strong on yourselves and I can feel my instincts warning me about you, young Erik. But I can't feel anything more than that."

Sun Wukong said. Erik smiled knowing that he could even escape the senses of someone like Sun Wukong but he knew that there was nothing that he could do about his instincts. The old monkey had millennia of experience ahead of him.

"And that's how we like to be, Sun Wukong. We are here to enjoy the place, and not to get in trouble."

Erik said, not explaining more about his way of hiding from Sun Wukong's senses. Selena let out a snort at that.

"You go and try to explain that to those 'young masters'."

Selena said with a scowl on her face. Erik sighed at that and Sun Wukong started to laugh.

*sigh*

"Hahahahaha! So you both already met the infamous young masters!"

Sun Wukong said after laughing for a while. Erik nodded his head weakly and the scowl at Selena's face got more pronounced.

"Hmph."

Selena harumphed and turned her head to the other side, making Sun Wukong laugh even more, to the point of making small beads of tears appear in the corner of his eyes.

"Yeah, we met some of them. The ones who kept their distance are okay, but the majority of them received their appropriate punishments."

Erik replied to Sun Wukong, who nodded his head in agreement. He was a very chill-out guy now that he was older. But if someone stepped on his toes after being warned not to, he would not lose his sleep over the punishment being given to them.

"So, aside from sightseeing, what are two westerners doing in these lands?"

Sun wukong then asked, curious about the couple's other motives.

"Nothing much. My wife is a magical researcher, so she likes to get knowledge from every side to broaden her horizons. Me, while I like to do my own research too, I came searching for a way to better train my body and learn how to manipulate my vital energy."

Erik replied to Sun Wukong. He felt that being honest with the old monkey turned Buddha was the best policy. And he was right at that. Sun Wukong would know if he was telling a lie or not. He nodded his head in understanding what Erik had said.

"And how are you doing with it?"

Sun wukong asked Erik and took another sip of the tea. Erik sighed at that.

*sigh*

"Not very well. I mean, I did find my well of vital energy but I can't manage to make it follow my instructions. It's like I'm talking to a deaf person while asking it to move."

Erik said in an exasperated tone. He was starting to get frustrated with his lack of improvements in that field. Sun Wukong nodded his head at that. The boy had some talent if he could already find his well of vital energy.

"And how are you going at it?"

Sun Wukong asked. He didn't mind giving Erik some pointers at his training since the tea and snacks offered to him were so delicious.

"Well…"

Erik then went in an explanation of all the steps that he had done in his training, and Sun Wukong, who was listening to it with a lot of attention. The method used by Erik was very similar to the one that he had used in his youth.

"And where did you learn this method from, young Erik?"

Sun Wukong asked with curiosity in his eyes.

"I read it from an old journal that I found. It was laying forgotten inside the treasury of a young master's sect."

Erik replied promptly. Sun Wukong's eyes went wide with that answer.

"Can I see this journal?"

Sun Wukong asked Erik, who shrugged and took the journal from inside his moke skin pouch and offered it to Sun Wukong. He didn't care that much about the journal because he had already decorated the entire thing. Sun Wukong took the journal in his hands still with wide eyes. He slowly opened it on the first page and caressed it gently.

"It has been so many years…"

He said in a low voice.

"This is my journal. I wrote it during the years that I was starting my training, but I had lost it some long time ago."

Sun Wukong said in a low voice while remembering his past.

"Thank you for bringing me back these memories, young Erik."

Sun Wukong said while turning to look at Erik. One could see that the old monkey was really happy about finding his lost journal.

"No problem at all, Sun Wukong."

Erik replied to the Monkey King, shrugging the loss of the training journal. Sun wukong then tucked the journal inside his robes and sipped his tea while thinking about something. After a while, he announced to the couple.

"I have reached a decision! I will train you with your vital energy manipulation, young Erik."

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