chapter 5 - the secret of the lake

It had been three days and Ryan was hungry. He had packed for two days at best and while there was still food left because he had been rationing himself he was worried for the future. Thankfully the lake water had been good for his wounds so they weren't looking too bad.

though the last few days, he was slowly sinking himself deeper and deeper into the pool. He wanted to go straight to the bottom because the qi got denser as he went down but it was not so easy. the qi was full of a bestial aura that would tear him apart if he went to fast. As he absorbed the qi in the water he also absorbed the aura building his resistance to it.

*Gasp* Ryan broke through to the top of the water, slowly swimming to the edge. as he pulled himself up he took a look at his body. overall, if you ignore the missing body parts, he was looking good. everything seemed healthier then it was before. This was because of the aura in the pool.

When cultivating qi, at least at Ryan's level, qi was used to purify the body not strengthen it. Of course, a purer body was stronger but that was more of a consequence than the focus. the beastly aura, on the other hand, attacked the body if too much was ingested but if assimilated would strengthen the body. that was why Ryan didn't just cultivate constantly, thus lowering his need for food.

Yet despite all of that Ryan was determined to make it to the bottom soon. He was going to break through to the 6th attunement soon and knew that he would be able to assimilate more beastly aura during the process. So Ryan lay down to sleep, hoping to be in his best shape to challenge the aura.

when he awoke he ate the rest of his food hoping that it would help him. He took a deep breath held it then dived in. as if it knew he was challenging it the aura in the water seemed to roar as it pounced onto him. never had the assault been this intense, and it hurt. it felt like many small needles stabbing his pores.

Yet he held on, for he could feel his breakthrough looming ever closer. as he dived further then ever before, slowly the light got more intense as the base shape of the source started to come through. the light came from a large feline skeleton sitting majestically at the bottom of the pool. even in death, the corpse radiated a royal yet beastly aura.

Ryan had a weird look on his face.

[why is it always cats?] he thought to himself, but quickly pushed it to the back of his mind. his breakthrough was almost there.

as he got nearer to the corpse the pain got worse and worse. like the needles were slowly sinking further and further into his body. it felt like the course was warning him to go no closer. But Ryan would not be denied.

[Dammit, a stupid cat isn't going to tell me no!] then Ryan pushed through and reached the corpse, but that wasn't the end. weather it was because he felt it was the densest place of the aura or out of spite, either way, he unexpectedly climbed into its rib cage!

the aura seemed to be shocked and then offended.

[this brat doesn't even have a core, yet dares to disrespect my corpse!?]

But Ryan was no longer paying attention to the outside world. he was focused on his breakthrough and nothing else.

suddenly a voice rang out from the bones! "fine kid! if you want to try and take my aura then why don't you just try to take it all! Good luck, I might just help you out if you live!"

then the bones began to go brighter than ever before, but the light did not spread like before. instead, it all focused on Ryan in the middle.

poor Ryan didn't see any of this. he was just focusing on his breakthrough when a huge amount of qi and aura forced its way into his body. Instantly the pain he was in more than doubled! it felt like he was burning up from the inside. The pain was so much any normal person would instantly pass out, hell that's just what his body wanted to do. It was too much it just wanted the pain to stop. But... his soul disagreed. There was so much power in his body! and it was all offering its self up to him.

Thus Ryan reached a strange equilibrium. his body went into a sort of hibernation. this dulled its reaction to the pain but also did not allow it to absorb any of the aura. Yet his soul came in and acted as a middle man to allow the body to absorb and assimilate the power.

thus like this Ryan sat with no sense of time. soon a minute passed, then an hour, then a day, finally a week passed and something changed. the light that had come from the bones gave one last burst of light as a glowing orb struck Ryans head. then the bones dimed and started to fall apart till the were just a lot of dust that settled on the pool floor. Ryan then started to slowly float to the top until he broke the surface.

as soon as he met air, Ryan's eyes snapped open and he let out a lions roar! A wild yet regal aura burst from his body and seemed to press the world beneath its weight. as clarity returned to his eyes the aura retracted most of its weight, but not all. he then swam back to the shore, the swim seemed easier than ever before.

when he reached the shore he stood up and started to do some stretches. his body felt amazing! his muscles were stronger and more defined, while he felt more flexible than ever before, even his breathing felt stronger. it wasn't until he began his fifth stretch that he realized something else had changed. he was standing on two feet!

he looked down and sure enough, his foot was back! but that wasn't all, as he looked down he caught a look at his reflection.

"What the fuck happened to my eyes!" he screamed.

'well, I can explain that. also about the foot to'

!!!!!