17 Awakening

In the middle of the pile of bodies laid the body of a boy. One of the boy's arms had two deep wounds within his arm and his hand had many deep cuts on them too.

Suddenly, the body of the boy jumped up, gasping for air!

"GASP"

The boy was breathing heavily as he looked around, his eyes showing a look of confusion. The boy then said out, weakly.

"I-I did this...?" The boy placed his hand onto face, before suddenly feeling pain shoot from his hand. The boy flinched from this pain. The boy then sat up and looked at his wounds. There were two wounds deep cuts on his right hand and another two deep cuts on his arm. These cuts were slowly releasing small amounts of blood every second and if he didn't get treated, he'd most likely die.

Aloph slowly got to his feet and made his ways to the village. Soon, people began to notice him and even recognized him! These people were quick to notify his parents who were quick to reach him.

"'Cedric!"' Both the mother and father yelled upon seeing him. They even got into a big hug which then prompted Aloph to flinch in pain but endured it so they could enjoy this moment.

"Hi, mom, hi dad." Aloph smiled as he hugged them in return, making sure he didn't provoke his wounds too much.

As the three were hugging, the little sister noticed the blood that was leaking from Aloph's wounds.

"Big bro, what's that red stuff!" The sister pointed to the wounds on his arm and hand.

The father and mother pulled away from the hug after hearing her words and realized their son was wounded and bleeding!

"Cedric! What happened!? Never mind! We need to treat your wounds!" The father yelled out as he suddenly grabbed Aloph and carried him to the infirmary that was in the village. At the infirmary, his wounds were treated with medicine to avoid infection and given stitches to close the wound. To top it all off, bandages to protect the wound even further. Afterward, he went home with his 'family' and was sent to his room to rest, whereupon fully recuperating would they talk.

When Aloph was alone, he took this chance to look at his notifications which gave him quite the surprise!

[Ding! You have several notifications. They will be displayed below.

►You have killed Bandit Leader of the First Realm, middle stage. 1000 Exp Rewarded.

►You have killed 20 bandits. 100x20 = 2000 Exp Rewarded.

►You have unlocked a new skill. [Killing Intent! Level, MAX.]

►You have unlocked a new skill. [Weapon Mastery, Level 1/10]

►You have crafted a variant of [Rudimentary Knife]. Bone Dagger!

►Memories from past unlocked.]

Yes, he remembered his past very fondly now. He remembered the face of the one who killed him and his mother. Thick killing intent filled the room, before quickly dispersing.

"I really need to get the hang of this, skill. Anyways, I have 3k exp. That means I'll only need 7k more before I can unlock the manual. What should I do to gain more Exp?"

Aloph thought for a bit before coming to a conclusion.

"Bandits, they will be the subjects of my Exp farming. At least they would be doing a good deed for once in their lives by giving me Exp."

An eerie smile crept onto Aloph's face for a bit before Aloph shook his head roughly.

"Where did that come from? Am I seeing people as just containers of Exp now?" This put Aloph in a dilemma. If he just saw people as mere objects to farm Exp for, then he'd just end up becoming numb to killing and might even become the very person he despised! He couldn't let this happen!

"I'll instead just take the bandits out, yeah, that's a better idea than just farming them for Exp! But, I'll have to rest and recuperate before doing so, or I'll just end up getting killed. For now, I'll just train this killing intent skill."

Aloph then proceeded to lift his hand in the direction of the wall before thinking of releasing his killing intent. This, of course, didn't work out as planned. Only a weak killing intent came out from his hand. Disappointed, he tried again and again and again.

Only after three hours of hard work did he succeed in his goal. He managed to release his full killing intent towards the wall from his hand. Aloph, with his sweaty face, smiled at this achievement.

"With this, I have a trump card against my enemies!" Aloph smiled when he thought of all the potential applications of this new skill of his. But, that would be for another time. It was time for sleep.

Aloph got into bed, closed the curtains that were beside his bed, pulled the blanket over his body and closed his eyes. Soon, he fell asleep and experienced a nice dream. A dream of him and his mother, enjoying their time within the Sect. She would help him whenever he needed help, and she would enjoy teaching him. One day, she was teaching him about which realm meant.

"Aloph, I'm sure you know the names of the first three realms, right?" His mother asked him which Aloph responded with a cheerful smile!

"Yes! The first is Spirit Enlightenment, Second is Spirit Refinement and the third is Spirit Ascension!"

His mother smiled in response. "Yes, very good. Do you know what those three realms signify?"

Aloph shook his head which was followed by his Mother explaining.

"First off, Spirit Enlightenment is the entrance point for cultivation and is also the most important. If you just rush through the first stages then your speed in the later stages will significantly slow down. You might not even be able to reach the mid realms, so Aloph. It is very important you never rush through the first three stages. Do you understand." His mother looked down at him to see if he understood.

Aloph nodded.

After seeing him nod, his mother continued. "Spirit Enlightenment is obviously about enlightenment. Your enlightenment can be about anything. Fire, water, anything. The following two realms will follow the choice you make. Spirit Refinement is to refine your understanding of the subject you chose. If you chose fire. You would refine your understanding of the concept called, "Fire"."

His mother stopped for a moment to allow Aloph to understand what she just said. After seeing him think about what she said, a smile appeared on her face. Only after seeing his attention go back to her did she continue.

"The last realm of the first stage of cultivation is Spirit Ascension which leads into The Three Godly Attributes, but we won't talk about those today. Spirit Ascension is to take your understanding of a concept to a whole new level, and this is where you will experience tribulation."

"Tribulation?" Aloph asked confused at what she meant by tribulation.

His mother nodded. "Yes, tribulation. Aloph, the very act of cultivating is going against nature and the heavens will try to stop this from happening. They'll allow people to cultivate the first two stages, but if you try to ascend your understanding of a concept, then you'll receive a tribulation from the heavens. Lighting clouds will cover the skies for miles and send downlighting to the cultivator. If you can survive nine strikes then you will have considered having passed the Tribulation. Also, depending on the concept you're trying to understand, the tribulation will either be tougher or weaker. For example, if you tried to learn the concept, [Destruction] then you will receive twice as many strikes from the heavens."

The mother let out a sigh before smiling towards Aloph. "That shall be all for today, and but before you go, do you have any questions?"

Aloph began thinking for a minute before asking, "What if someone practiced [I̓̾͏͔͈͉̯m̸̗̠̎ͮ͋ͫͪͣ̍ͧ͝m̴̛͍̮̹̖ͪ̾͌̂̒̈́ͩŏ̧̼̩͓͇̘͓̹̥̑̚ṙ͂̈͌͐̐҉̥̘̭̤̝t̯̦̜̩͋ͭ͢á̾͏҉̝̫̟͘l̴̢̤͎̺͎ͩ͗ͫ͊̈͡i̶̗̖̯͕̤͉̜͖̓͠͠t̷̛̻̎ͯ͛y̛̭͔̤̻͚̗͔ͦ̆͗̾̓͜ͅͅ?]"

His mother's face grew fearful. "Don't ever say that again, Aloph. It's a taboo subject."

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Aloph sprang upright in bed, his head bursting with pain. Aloph gently caressed his forehead as he whispered quietly. "Mother..."