Chapter 2

Once Owen put the ring on, he felt a wave of energy course through his body, and the apparition of Eagle disappeared as well. Owen then heard Eagle's voice in his head.

"Now that I'm your new Master, I will tell you more about the ring you just put on. This ring contains my spirit and also functions as a storage ring. Through it, we can communicate in your mind, and I can transfer techniques directly to your mind as well. Now, tell me what training you have been doing to become a Bounty Hunter," demanded Master Owen.

"Growing up, I helped the Village by hunting. They didn't let me hunt monsters, so I helped hunt deer for meat, as well as rabbits and anything else I could find like berries and mushrooms. After I came of age, I left the Village to apply to be a Bounty Hunter. I haven't had any official training yet." replied Owen.

Speaking of training, Owen remembered that he still had to complete his Bounty Hunter Master's mission. Besides surviving in the wilderness, he also had to hunt an unranked monster. Unranked monsters are monsters too week to have a star rating but still considered to be monsters. An example would be a cursed boar, which is just a boar with more strength than usual but has a monster core. But first, I need to get out of this hole, thought Owen.

"Can you help us get out of here, Master Eagle?"

"What's the rush, my young disciple?"

"I have a mission I need to be doing. I have to hunt an unranked monster."After explaining what his mission was, Eagle responded with, "If there's no time limit, let's use this opportunity to teach you a cultivation method."

"What's that? Can I use it to get stronger?"

"Exactly! First, I need you to follow my directions precisely. Firstly, take off all your clothes and equipment."

"What! Hold on!"

"It's nothing weird! Trust me! You're going to thank me later."

Master Eagle directed Owen on how to get into a meditative position after Owen took off his clothes. Then Eagle transferred a technique directly into Owens's mind. It is called the Soaring Eagle technique, and it has 20 stages in its complete form. Eagle only unlocked the first three stages for Owen to study. Since the method was transferred directly into Owen's mind, all he had to do was concentrate, and he can see the directions of the first stage in his mind.

When Eagle first entered Owen's mind, he sent his spiritual energy through his student's body to see what cultivation technique would suit him the most. Eagle was surprised to see that Owen was perfectly suited to cultivate in his very own technique. Owen was smaller than kids his age, but hunting all his life made him light-footed and agile. Perfect for Soaring Eagle, which enhances the agility and speed of its user.

Under Eagle's guidance, Owen went into a meditative trance. Following the directions, Owen was able to "see" inside his own body. He saw what the cultivation method called meridians. He knew he had to take energy from nature and start gathering it into his body and through his meridians. The Soaring Eagle method also dictated how he circulated the energy and which meridians he had to open in order. Once Owen opened all his meridians, he had to cycle the spiritual power through them to strengthen and widen his meridians.

Owen could feel the spiritual energy fill his body and felt that the energy couldn't fill it up anymore. With this, he decided to stop for now.

"How was your first meditation?" asked Eagle.

"It was amazing! I've never felt anything like that before! Ugh, what's that smell?" asked Owen as he looked down and saw himself covered in a layer of black slime. "What did you do while I was meditating?!"

"Haha, that's the impurities that every mortal body has. That's why I told you to take your clothes off. Aren't you happy? I saved you from having to travel with clothes that are covered in that stuff."

"Well, I guess your right," said Owen as he tried to wipe the slime off of his body with limited success.

"I suggest you put your clothes in the ring and get out to look for a stream or something," advised Eagle as he appeared in front of Owen. "All you have to do is Invision your clothes going into the ring."

Owen tried what Eagle said, and to his surprise, his clothes and equipment disappeared.

"How much can this ring hold?" asked Owen

"It's tied to the cultivator, so it depends on how strong you are," Answered Eagle. "The more you advance in the Soaring Eagle method, the more you can hold. For now, it seems you have just entered rank one, so you will not be able to carry more than a backpack."

"Now that you are rank one, however, I can impart to you a movement technique. I wasn't able to before because you didn't have spiritual energy. Take a look at this." said Eagle as he transferred the Eagle's Wind movement technique. The Eagle's Wind had several levels like a cultivation technique. The more levels, the more powerful and rare the method was. For Example, Eagle's Wind has five Levels. The first allowed a cultivator to increase their speed and jumping capabilities for a short time.

Since Owen's eyes had adjusted to the lighting in the cave and there seemed to be light coming from above as well. Owen started practicing using the technique to try to get out of the hole. He struggled because he had to use the spiritual energy in his body and strangely regulate his breathing. Once Owen felt he got the hang of it, Eagle stopped him.

"That will do for getting out of this cave, I believe. Though you still have a ways to go in mastering the first grade. You're using way too much spiritual energy. You must control every movement and usage of spiritual energy to increase the efficiency." instructed Eagle while stroking his beard.

"Yes Master, I'll continue to work on it!"

"Good response. Now try to get out of here."

Eagle disappeared, and Owen was left alone to try to escape. It took him several tries, but he finally could use Eagle's Wind to jump from one cave wall to another to wedge himself close to the top. The closer to the top of the hole, the narrower the cave was. This allowed Owen to use his strength to climb out into the forest.