Corner of Tranquility

Chapter 79

Corner of Tranquility

Leo stretched lazily, petting the yawning Blackie and Milky who were curled up against his sides, lying close to the roaring fire. It was late at night, well past dinnertime, and he was the only one awake still. Lu Yang had retreated into his room soon after the dinner, and most of the animals had gone back into the longhouse as well. 

Though Leo kept the mud huts intact, only a few animals used them at this point; most turned to the massive building by the side, found a corner therein, and made it theirs. Per his rough estimates, he was currently housing just shy of sixty animals, a number large enough to bend his mind and yet... he didn't feel that odd.

It helped that the vast majority of the animals here seemed to have the courtesy of a person; whenever they had to do their... business, they left elsewhere, as Leo never found the longhouse to smell. If anything, it smelled like a proper time Spring, a rather relaxing and meditative scent that he couldn't for the life of him figure out where it was coming from.

He continued sitting by the flame long into the night, and, over time, was joined by other animals--some of the stragglers who showed up late, some who seldom came to the camp and were just passing by, and some who even left the longhouse. 

It wasn't long before he was decked out with tiny critters from head to toe, a new druid fashion of the forest, and though even he felt their weight, he didn't mind it. It was, after all, the weight of comfort and security. 

He thought back to when he broke through to the Core Formation Realm, and the litany of windows that appeared. 

Besides forming Primordial Core, whatever that was, and system's own Level Up, he got one more reward: a Dao Chant imprinted directly into his mind that was used to 'purify Souls'. Though he was uncertain as to what it precisely meant, he had an inkling, both toward the chant itself, but also his place in the forest and perhaps even this world. 

In what little he knew of the Eastern Mythology back on Earth, he was familiar with the notion that 'evil' spirits, omens, apparitions and such were oft born of overabundance of negative emotion. It was entirely possible that buried between the trees were the haunting remnants of something that he should use the chant itself to purify.

For now, though, it was just a theory.

He felt something nibble at his finger suddenly and glanced down only to see a stranger's face--the kitten that Gray helped him save had appeared out of nowhere, was fast asleep, and was sucking away at his thumb. His heart melted for a moment at the sight, though he worried that she, too, was a bit of a stray. 

The comforting part (if it could be called that) was that Gray and her seemed inseparable, and she was always with him, either riding his back or trying to keep up by his side. 

His mind, once more, drifted back to the rewards. 

He'd already tested what the system called 'Simulacrum', and it was precisely as advertised, if a bit underwhelming. While it was true that the 'mirror copy' performed the Martial Art to the perfection, it did so only to the point of Leo's understanding of that Art. It meant that if he couldn't quite grasp the complexities of whatever art he was learning, the function of the system wouldn't be able to simply show it to him. While a bit of a letdown, it still helped him already with some of the shortcomings he had especially with the footwork technique. 

The other two rewards were rather simple: he'd gotten another bulk of knowledge of this world, this time around mainly for flora and fauna rather than the cultivation system. Despite the fact that the names of thousands of animals and herbs and trees were shoved into his head, there was still a deathly number of them that he couldn't recognize in the forest. Most of his furry friends were still a 'blur', as it were, since they didn't seem to belong to any of the species. Similarly, though he could name most common trees and grass and flowers in the forest, none of the fruits or vegetables were part of the curriculum.

The last reward was a strange tablet that he'd shrouded inside his robes; the name that the system provided was The Origin Mandate, and though Leo was entirely incapable of deciphering the runes carved into its cold surface, he recognized them--they were of the same shape and make as the ones on steles near the Well, the ones he couldn't read. 

It seemed, bit by bit, that the system was pushing him towards solving the puzzle of the ancient make, and whether he wanted to or not, he was confident he would find himself entangled with the world's oldest mysteries, it seemed. 

For now, the tablet may as well be a cutting board, but in due time, he was likely to learn to read it. 

Sighing, he gazed back at the fading flames, once again wondering of his place in this world.

As though sensing his distress, several of the animals seemed to wake and snuggle even closer against him, until one (Milky) was pressing so hard into his rib cage that it kind of hurt. Alas, he seldom had the heart to shove the adorable furball away, so he suffered in silence.

The dawn came both slowly and quickly, and the waking animals dispersed to commence whatever their morning rituals were. Leo, too, finally had the space to stand up and stretch--his entire body boomed as though he hadn't moved for years, every bone in his body seemingly cracking. 

Following a quick bath, he began to prepare breakfast when Yu Lang, in accompaniment of several animals, walked out of the longhouse. Leo was still somewhat unaccustomed to the grand structure being there, and he could hardly wait to see Yue and Liang's reactions upon their return. 

"Good morning," Yu Lang greeted. "I didn't hear you come in."

"Slept outside," Leo replied. "Got swarmed."

"Ah."

"What's wrong?" he asked, sensing some level of awkwardness in the air.

"I was thinking about leaving the forest for a few days."

"Oh? What for?"

"Mostly to pick up on the chatter and see what is happening in the world," Lu Yang replied. "But also to resupply. Though I've given most of my possessions to my family, and had most of the rest stolen, I still have some remnants of the wealth in my Soul Ring. My Cultivation Method requires some external accessories, especially now that I've broken through." Leo was rather surprised to learn the man broke through, but held back any expression; the subtext was clear that he was supposed to already know. 

"That's quite alright," Leo said. 

"Even if I know that it matters not to you," Lu Yang said. "I swear an Oath of Soul to not divulge any detail, no matter how minor, of this place, even unto death." Leo felt rather strange, as it seemed everyone who came here was rather obsessed with swearing these oaths to keep him a secret... even though he never asked for it. "Do you need anything from the outside?"

"No," Leo replied simply. "Do you want me to prepare you meals and juice for the outside?"

"Hm? You would?"

"I did it for the pair of kids," Leo chuckled. "Though, by now, they must have chewed through it all. I don't mind." 

"Just juice, then," Lu Yang said. "One waterskin-worth is enough." 

Lu Yang departed for the garden following the breakfast while Leo stayed behind. Once again, he found himself with little else to do besides cultivate... or study martial arts. 

Feeling rather uninspired, he instead beelined toward the pit, accompanied by Gray, the kitten, and Hoot. The latter hung on his shoulder, while the former two trailed back, with the kitten riding the dog like a horse. It was quite an adorable sight, especially when it would meow and Gray would switch directions. 

He sat by the edge, staring into the depths of the pit where the pond of water still resided. This place was the same as he found it when he first came here, with quite a few familiar faces who come by the camp every few days for a meal or two before disappearing. 

A sudden screech alerted him as he looked to the side only to see a flash of red run him down and pin him to the ground. Just as he thought he'd die, he realized that the animal was rubbing its beak against his cheeks. The red feathers quickly formed the full body, and he realized it was the 'long-lost' Anuvar. 

He was the same as Leo remembered him, his body massive and as heavy as a mountain, three tails fluttering wildly behind him. Even though he was relatively cool to touch, the bird looked as though afire, and would likely illuminate the entire world in the dark.

"Ha ha ha," Leo laughed freely, running his fingers over the bird's neck and head gently. "I missed you too, buddy. Where have you been this entire time, huh?"

The bird stood up from him and began cawing and screeching, gesturing with its wings as though they were person's arms. Leo could only laugh at the side of a behemoth ten times his own size standing over the top of him and wildly gesturing with its wings, as though he were telling the world's greatest story. 

All the same, strangely, he looked to be beaming with pride, and Leo didn't want to stomp on that, so he encouraged. "Really?" and "That's amazing!" and "You're one of a kind!". 

Where and when else, he mused, would he be able to do this? Unlikely that there was another time or place, but this perfect coalescence of everything which allowed him to stare into the beady eyes of a burning star, and watch it buzz with excitement and joy.