24 The Prep for an Adventure (Part 2)

Wolf bond was attractive but with my corpse golems I would be able to have someone with me at all times so that one was put to the side until I had more repair points. Plus that would hinder my progress of getting beast cores as I would have to feed them to the beast if I wanted it to grow. Reading what I had about wolves a singular wolf wouldn't be that powerful, plus I had my corpse golems, and the golem I came to call Lilith as the first female golem I created. This would be the first I will save up for again, as it worked well with what I was already doing.

Murderous aura seemed like something that would get rid of weaker monsters, or bluffing but I couldn't be sure they wouldn't just attack all out thinking that they had been cornered by some strong beast. Plus I wanted to kill them stealthily, this would be very useful when I was around humans.

Pressing on the blessing of nature, I felt a connection to everything around me. The connection was weak right now, but I could almost sense the stone around me. I institually knew that this feeling of familiarity to nature would be stronger once I wasn't surrounded by man made objects.

The actual upgrade was harder to choose, but with the huge boon I felt like I could take a risk with the choosing of my upgrade. So the strongest for him right now was ruled out as he could get that later, muscle density.

Considering I planned on being behind my weapons when they fought only the extra flexibility would shine for now. Plus I feared that the drawback might have me heal a bit slower once my muscles went up a notch in density.

That left breathing and mental potential which I immediately chose breathing. The choice was simple at this point, I was training to be an assassin like existence. If I could control my breathing better that meant that I could make less sound, less chance of being discovered and more than likely have an easier time running away.

Unlike what one would expect, my next to upgrade would be mental potential. This would not only help with gaining more demonic spells, but probably allow me to control my emotions more which was in turmoil right now.

As I breathed in, an unexpected result happened. There is a reason that many martial arts books start the main character off with breathing exercises. It is to build the foundation but also to start the body into the process of bad and good breath.

Bring in nutrients, air, and the energy of the world in with a single breath deep to fill the lungs and enrich them, then a deep breath out to expel poisons, sickness, and carbon monoxide. This is the reason that martial artists have a tendency to live longer even if they don't train their body.

This simple unique aspect allows energy to flow more freely through your body, and now instead of needing years of training my body did it on instinct. Spread the air to every point of the lungs, strengthening them, then allow the body time to collect the bad and breathe it out from the bottom up.

Leaning over I started coughing, brownish black blobs like mucus come from my lungs going across the floor. I had no clue what they were but I could breath better after they were cleared from my lungs. Every few breaths another glob of the stuff would be coughed out until an hour later I felt refreshed.

This was what people considered a cleansing of the body, from the lungs to the blood as I could feel my heartbeat stronger, my mind more focused and clear. Like someone who had been mildly asleep before, but finally awake after years. My first thought was those commercials for allergy meds, where you were going through life with a filter for so long only for it to be removed.

Now that I understood the importance of breathing, I could only look at martial artists from my own world in a new light. Who knew such subtle changes to one aspect of your body to produce such magical results?

'Body has reached first refinement level!'

'What is the first refinement level?' I tilted my head.

'Unlike people of your small kingdom, many other societies have unlocked the potential of the human body. The first three stages are about purifying the body of all impurities, and refining the body with nutrients that do not appear naturally in the human body. Many societies have called this different things, but the most common is called blood mana. The stronger the creature's body the more blood mana can be collected.

The only body refinement the user knows currently is Glutton's Defense which will increase the body's three points of defense. Flexibility against blunt shock, toughness against piercing and slashing, and mana coating which reduces the influence of mana. Eating vast quantities of food also has the side effect of healing wounds. If other substances are consumed it might also have other side effects.'

'Wow, that's a lot of information. Thanks system!'

'System suggests that user increase competence by going through info himself, this is all explained in the information given by the Demon King.'

I flinched at the backhanded remark, shaking my head a bit. Maybe I was relying on the system too much, but a sword not used will rust and I'd be utilizing it as much as I can.

As Jade walked in, her eyes looked over me briefly with a look that I couldn't quite place. A warm tub was carried by five men, water splashing on the inside. Grabbing a bag of herbs I threw it in, taking off my tunic making Jade look away with a red face. With a slight chuckle I went into the water to soak, "I just made tea, now the question is, am I the main ingredient or am I just the stick that stirs it?"

I used the spell of gluttony and slipped under the water to soak my whole body. This herbal bath was supposed to strengthen the blood flow of the person inside of it so that their body could recover faster. Half of the stuff seemed to be superstitious, but with the power of gluttony my body just absorbs the benefits of the herbal bath I'm in. It doesn't increase my defense at all but I do feel something slowly change inside of me. Closing my eyes I let the waters swirl around me, costly supplying me with fresh herbal water.

As the water swirled, Jade stared wide eyed at the swirling vortex of energy I had become. She could feel mana flowing past her as if caused by a light breeze, gentle against her skin. Inside the bath my body was glowing, refining, washing separating itself from impurities. The mana flowing past my skin made similar motions throughout my body making me sweat.

Jade watched as the liquid turned from a greenish tint, to clear, before turning greyish brown. Bubbles started appearing in the water as the headstones were being drained, the boiling hot mana raising the temperature of the water by several times. This continued until before her crimson face only I was sitting there in the tub. Not a drop of water around me as curling tails of smoke rose off my skin.

My eyes slowly opened as I took a deep breath, letting it linger before blowing it out, "Hungry, bring two.. no at least five boars!" There was something in my eyes when I looked to Jade that made her step back, then run quickly to fulfill my order like her life depended on it.

As soon as Jade left my room, she let out a deep breath, "He looked like he wanted to eat me, rip me to shreds. Maybe…" She thought of a possibility that made even her ears turn a deep red. "Maybe he's finally getting to that age? Maybe I should send a letter to his father so they can discuss the carps and the streams?"