Chapter 2

I sat up quickly, stifled a scream, drenched in cold sweat. I had a few nightmares about the apocalypse and my father, and just simply adjusting to this new environment has taken its toll on me. I swiped the moisture off my face, trying to get my breathing under control. It couldn't have been more than a couple hours since I went to sleep. Still shaking a bit, I opened the tent door and climbed out into the cold night.

I immediately met Tara's eyes as her head turned toward the sound of the rustling fabric. She followed me with her eyes as I made my way toward her and sat down not too far from her.

"Can I join you?" I asked awkwardly.

"Sure thing, have a seat."

"Thanks." I sat down not far from her, on a small boulder.

"Can't sleep?" she asked with a concerned face.

"I have a few things on my mind. But I think I'll be fine once I'm accustomed to this new environment."

"You'll get the hang of it, don't worry. But I have to tell you something: you leak a ridiculous amount of xin, which is dangerous and could attract beasts." I stared at her.

"What do you mean, leak? You guys told me that I leak yesterday as well." I was still confused.

"Well, every living organism has something called a xin crystal. It's an organ that collects ambient xin, and stores it to use your skills. If you don't control it, it will accumulate some xin, but it will leak out as well. Normally, you wouldn't leak more than you can accumulate, but in your case…"

"More is going out than coming in, I imagine?"

"Exactly," she agreed. "Soon, I don't know when, you will run out, and then you'll die. Nothing can survive without xin. You need to learn to control it if you want to live."

"Can you help me suppress my leakage or something, so it doesn't attract those beasts?" She looked at me with a soft face. She looked beautiful. Not in the way models or actresses are pretty, but like someone who worked and trained hard her entire life. She was dirty and tired, but still radiated an aura that couldn't be replicated with any makeup.

"No," she answered finally. "But I can help you learn the basics of xin control. Close your eyes, take a deep breath." I obeyed her every instruction, starting a really complex meditation sequence. After a few minutes I finished with the sequence and started repeating the steps to sustain the heightened state of mind. Nothing happened for about two hours except for my brain turning to mush.

I didn't give up though, and after a few more hours, something changed. Through my closed eyes, I saw white small particles of light, like the night sky filled with glittering stars. After a while, I could take out shapes and streams this white substance moved in. I looked down, eyes still closed, and I saw what Tara called my "crystal". It looked more like a marble, not much bigger than a baseball. It was white and glassy, and resembled those pools of oil that gather under cars, glints of every color shined under its surface. I remembered her words, describing it like a battery, storing xin inside it. It looked exactly like the meteors.

It absolutely did leak, however. White particles quickly escaped from my body and diffused into the surrounding air. I also started to feel the connection to this thing, like a long-lost organ I finally found again. This feeling was very strange, but somehow familiar. I tried stopping these quickly escaping streams of xin, but nothing happened, and my head wanted to explode at this point.

After a few more minutes of trying, I needed to take a break. My brain was throbbing, but after opening my eyes, a very faint sense remained, just like after looking at something bright then closing my eyes. I could still see the particles, although very faintly and the sense started fading away. I finally looked at Tara, and I could faintly take out her crystal as well, although I could only see a faint and fuzzy blob. Averting my eyes almost immediately, I got a bit embarrassed. I did not in fact want to stare at her chest.

"So, how's your progress?" Jumping a bit in my seat, she definitely saw that. I pulled myself together.

"Well, I think I was able to see xin, but haven't gotten closer to stopping my leaking," I admitted.

"That's decent progress anyway. After a bit of practice, you'll be able to control it and even replenish your reserves. You do that naturally of course, and normally that would be enough... But you leak much faster than collecting it from the atmosphere." As she was saying this, the white particles disappeared completely.

"Hmm... So, I better get this done quickly." I closed my eyes again and started the meditation cycle. It was a bit faster this time, and again, more clearly, I could see the particles. Following her advice, I started to command the xin around me to stop leaving me and go back in. And again, for a good while, nothing happened.

Then after a few more hours, when my brain almost completely turned to dust, they finally stopped, and turned around. My crystal started sucking back in the xin from the atmosphere, slowly filling it. It was like trying to flex and train a muscle that not only hasn't existed before, but it should've been impossible to in the first place.

But now I at least knew where those nonexistent muscles were and how to use them. I was so excited I jumped up and almost shouted. Tara looked at me, and I could almost take out a faint smile hiding in the corner of her mouth. As soon as I broke the immense concentration, the xin turned around yet again and seeped out of my crystal.

"Good job! It's a bit slow but you'll get better with practice."

"Thanks! You helped me a bunch, and... wait. Did you see it?"

"Sure. You will be able to as well, to a certain extent, as I said, with more practice."

She said my strength should come back after filling it back up a bit, but I couldn't feel basically anything. If my xin-battery-crystal was so awesome, it probably needed a lot more juice before I stopped feeling like absolute crap. But at least, my head hurt now as well. The aching from being defrosted went away almost completely by now, and it was confusingly fast. Could this xin power heal me to some extent?

"Can I ask you something?" I started forming the question I had in mind since dinner.

"Shoot."

"How did you guys find me? I understand I'm leaking or whatever, but I was pretty deep underground." She cleared her throat and looked like a child that got caught stealing cookies.

"Well, we used the heightened vision you get when you meditate to check for large xin signatures that could be a threat." She sounded more confident with each word, as if she was trying to convince herself of this, as well as me.

"Uh-huh. I don't imagine you expected to find me down there."

"Oh yeah of course not. You know, we were looking for the cause after discovering your signature. These guys were pretty scared the closer we got to you and the stronger we felt your xin." Now this was a genuine smile, she almost chuckled at the memory.

"I don't know, I don't feel like I did anything outstanding to deserve this "magnificent" power. But at least it helped to lead you guys to me, and you saved me. So that's something."

"In my opinion, as soon as you gain full control of it, you will be unstoppable." I started to think about what that would entail.

I was jerked out of my daydreaming by a sharp cracking sound, as a twig not fifteen meters away snapped. Tara was already on her feet, a flame dancing in both her hands, by the time I put two and two together. My stomach sank in record breaking speed, as I realized there could be enemies nearby, which was probably my fault.

I distracted our watch, not even considering my stupid leaking probably attracted whatever monsters were out there.

Another set of rustling leaves here, a twig breaking there, and it was abundantly clear, we were completely surrounded. At least five, maybe ten beasts now started growling at us. Tara suddenly shouted into the cold night.

"We got company!" Realizing I've been standing still, completely frozen from shock, I started to look around and evaluate our situation. I've been meditating for so long, the sun started to rise. The soft dawn light illuminated the beasts around us, and I almost fell back to my seat.

They were massive, hideous creatures, some as tall as two meters. They probably started out as some kind of wolf creatures but evolved or mutated to almost beyond recognition. Antlers protruded from their misshapen skulls, their eyes a watery color, with a menacing glint in them. Some of them had 4 legs, sometimes splitting into more feet at the ankle or knee, as an unnatural root system.

The biggest one in front of us, almost three meters tall, let out an ear-ripping howl. Looking into its gaping maw, the beast's teeth were arranged in a circular pattern, every side of its mouth filled with needle-like teeth in multiple layers, like a shark's. Then they attacked. The alpha, seeing as if it was probably the leader of this cursed pack, immediately pounced toward Tara, covering almost fifteen meters in one terrifying leap. She stepped to the side, narrowly avoiding a direct hit, and sent a blazing ball of fire in its direction. The flames licked her arms and sleeve, but it didn't seem to bother her. Swinging her arms so fast I almost couldn't follow with my eyes, she sent small blazing orbs to the side of the beast, leaving a streak of scorched hide, but otherwise the slight smoke rising from its grey fur, not much damage has been done.

With another blow she blinded the massive beast, and like a flamethrower, spewed out scorching hot fire from both of her arms, which hit two of the nearby enemies. They wallowed and growled in pain as the fire consumed their fur, skin, and burned them to a crisp in a matter of seconds. She really was scary.

Picking up a larger stick to hopefully assist her somewhat in stalling for the others, I looked at two wolf-beasts slowly approaching me. According to Tara and the two guys, you can use xin to strengthen your body. I tried to make that happen, concentrating on the feeling I got when trying to influence xin in my body. I felt resistance, but I knew it was at least there. I tried to command it to spread around my body, into my muscles and bones. Of course, nothing happened.

Slinging the log in my hand slowly and clumsily, I swung it at the first of the two wolves approaching me. It avoided the hit, caught the wood in its mouth, and shattered it to pieces with its thousand sharp teeth. I fell back from the impact, and tried again, now only trying to enhance my hand. This time, I could feel a slight warmth spreading to my right arm. I could feel the power in my withered muscles whirring and stirring, waiting for my command eagerly.

I swung at the beast with a speed that was hard to follow even for me. I put all my energy into the punch, and boy, was it powerful. As soon as my fist contacted with its ugly skull, it shattered, splattering blood everywhere. I felt a bit of accomplishment, immediately followed by excruciating pain in my right hand. I pulled it back from the destroyed corpse's head, spilling more blood. It was all limp, I managed to break every bone in my hand and my wrist.

Crying out a loud yelp of pain, I turned toward the second wolf, who stopped and stood confused for a few seconds, leapt at me with full speed, anger boiling in its eyes. I tried to sidestep the way Tara did a few moments earlier, but I wasn't as quick or skilled, and as a last attempt at protecting myself, I held up my broken arm and infused more xin into it, this time in my bones. The wolf knocked me over and stood on my chest. With my hand in its mouth, shredding the flesh and skin from it with every slight movement, it shook its head wildly, trying to bypass it to get to my throat, but my strengthened bones held out.

I picked up a larger rock with my free hand and started pounding its head with it, with little to no effect aside from angering it even more. It continued to tear and gnaw at my hand, spilling its disgusting drool mixed with my blood in my face. When the unimaginable pain grinding what's left of my right hand became almost unbearable, I felt a sudden pulse of energy behind me.

A large sword came down at the head of the beast, cutting it off cleanly. The monster's body fell to the ground, its head was still on my arm, hundreds of needle-like teeth stuck in my skin. Fighting to remain conscious, I peeled the remains of my hand out of its mouth. I've lost a lot of blood, my head spun, and I couldn't feel my arm. I stumbled toward the man with the sword who conjured a rectangular, transparent sheet between us and the beasts.

Finally, Patrik climbed out of his tent as well, only a few seconds after Tara shouted. Milo yelled something at him, but the roaring of the blood in my ears suppressed every other sound. Patrik kneeled next to me, his hand over the wreck of my right arm. Bone shone through the deep gashes and tears, the torn muscle fibers twitching uselessly. His hand started to glow, and power jumped from it to my wounds.

This pain was almost worse than the shredding itself. Millions of insects gnawed at every cell in my arm as the xin started to stitch together the fibers and heal my arm. I could see the muscles moving to their place, bones fusing back together, and finally my skin closing. I was on the edge of what I could possibly endure. Although the gashes and wounds have been closed, my blood was still mostly on the forest floor, a dark red puddle gathering under me and seeping into the soil below.

At my last moment of clearness, I saw Patrik rush over to Tara, who lay limp on the ground, next to most of the wild beasts' still smoldering bodies. Milo was a monster himself though, Shredding and tearing at every wolf he encountered. I saw a few bruises and flesh wounds on him as well, but he seemed fine. He charged again at the last wolf and smashed its skull in with a well-placed hammer strike. He hurried over to Tara, kneeling next to Patrik, and looking around for any more threats. That's when my body decided it was all it could do, and I slipped into unconsciousness.

~

When I woke up, the sun was already setting. Sitting up, the dizziness and pain in my arm hit me. I was afraid to look, but after turning my head, I found my hand mostly intact. A few scratches and light gashes in a spiraling pattern remained, but at least I could move it. This will definitely leave a scar, I thought. At least I was alive, probably thanks to Patrik.

After assessing my situation, I looked for the others, who I found pretty quickly. Patrik was lying down, sleeping, Tara next to him, unconscious. Milo noticed I awakened, and his gaze landed on me. I slowly got up, blood dripping from a freshly opened wound on my arm. The dead beasts lay in a circle around us, all of them had a deep, precise cut in their chests. One has been skinned and the meat cut off, Milo probably started to process it for food.

I walked up to them and started a conversation: "Will they make it?" He looked at me and nodded. Tara had a large cut on her stomach but it was almost completely healed already, probably thanks to Patrik. She had a few smaller hashes all around her body, but they weren't life threatening.

"Patrik is xin depleted, he won't wake up for another day or two. Tara was cut by the alpha pretty bad, but she will wake up tomorrow. They will be okay."

"That's good to hear. Sorry about all this, they came probably because of me."

"Nah, don't sweat it. These are dangerous parts after all, we have to deal with these kinds of situations often. You don't have anything besides your clothes, right? I'll give you some basic survival equipment, one sec." He climbed inside his tent and searched for some stuff for me. A bag, a nice knife with a flint rod to make sparks with, some dried meat and a water pouch. He tossed a small orb to me; made of the same milky glass material he conjured in battle. A xin crystal, I recognized. "This came from the beast you killed, so it's yours." I caught it and looked at it closely.

"Thanks." It would be indeed difficult to survive without anything, so I was grateful. The knife was an awesome piece as well, a simple blade made of black steel, with a wooden and leather handle. I put it all in a leather backpack and kept it close.

"I saw you tried to use some body augmentation earlier. I can teach you some basic stuff, I'm pretty good at manipulating mana." He said a bit shyly.

"That would be awesome, thanks! I'm pretty beat up though, is that okay?" I was a bit worried he'd make me train when my arm was one step away from being ground meat.

"Don't worry, I'll just teach you the very basics first, you don't even have to move a muscle." He assured me.

"Alrighty then, teach." I smiled at him weakly. He seemed like a kind man despite his enormous build.

He talked me through all the xin manipulation basics, how I can maximize my attack, how to allocate the xin properly, stuff like that. It was a bit hard at first, but after a while I was getting quite good at prolonged enhancement. I could hold it for almost a minute without much difficulty. Xin moved a bit sluggishly in my body, and he said I'll soon develop channels like veins to guide it more easily.

I was getting more and more tired, and Milo started to cook up some dinner after it got completely dark. I was still running on a basically empty stomach, and I had to eat the meat slowly and steadily not to throw up again. My stomach churned and complained again, but it finally accepted that I needed to eat for me to survive, and I felt satisfied for the first time I woke up. When I was as full as I dared to fill my stomach, a comfortable tiredness took over me. I asked Milo if it was okay if I went to rest, he said he'd watch over the camp for the night. He must have been tired as well, but I had to rest.

I had a good night's sleep, and woke up to the sound of birds chirping happily. One of them was screeching loudly and I had to get up to check what the source of the sound was. When I climbed out of my tent, I looked up, and saw a giant eagle lazily drawing circles above us. It was far up, but its loud screams pierced my ears. When I looked around, I saw Tara sitting next to the smoldering fire pit.

"Hey! Are you alright?" I asked her as I walked closer.

"Morning. Yeah, I guess I'll live," her voice was grouchy, she was most likely in a lot of pain. "I heard Milo started teaching you some stuff?" she asked with a bit more enthusiasm.

"Yeah, basic xin control, body augmentation and he even suggested me a workout routine so I can gain some muscle." He really was kind, and I desperately needed all this information so I absorbed it all like a dry sponge.

"Good. Since he's sleeping right now, I can help you. But first, let's have breakfast." She pointed to the metal pot that sat in the middle of the smoldering coals left from the fire. An amazing smell was coming from it.

"Thanks." I sat down next to her and started eating. She updated me on things while I stuffed my head with the meaty soup. Patrik was still out, but his xin levels looked better, Milo was exhausted for not sleeping for 24 hours, and so when Tara awoke, she took over the watch.

"Poor Patrik. Can't we give some of our own xin to boost his levels and wake him up quicker?" I asked.

"Nah, unfortunately, when you absorb xin, your body purifies it to your bodies wavelength, or your signature. It's fine when you use it and it gets absorbed back into the atmosphere, but when giving it to another person who has to purify it and align it with their signature, you get almost nothing transferred." So that's why he's just left there out in the open to slowly charge up.

"That's a shame. What about the beast cores then?" I wondered, since it was the same process, converting from one signature to another.

"Yes, it's the same thing. We can only gather a small fraction of the xin stored within a beast, but when you pull xin from a crystal, you basically destroy it, and that releases so much power that the small fraction is still a significant amount. So, if you want to destroy your core, feel free to give it to Patrik."

"No thanks, I think I'll pass on that one."

Suddenly another screech came, and this one was much louder. The eagle beast was close. I looked up, but it was too late, it was right above me, and came at us at a speed even Tara couldn't match. It wrapped its massive sharp claws around my torso and lifted me up. In a heartbeat, we were so far away from the camp I couldn't even take out the shape of the tents anymore.