Chapter 16- Palaces Tempering Part 1

"Uuhh… I am tired of this…"

I voiced my complaint to the air, which responded with a harsh reprimanding breeze. It's been almost 100 days since I started training in the glade. My daily routine consists of making and repairing armor and weapons in the morning. Followed by going hunting and gathering resources until midday. Then finishing my day with grueling meditation training and a bath. In these almost 100 days, I have been tireless in my pursuit of shoring up my foundation. Yet, that is not the worst of it.

Whenever I went out to hunt, I would always bump into the same Cheshire Panther…EVERY… DAMN… TIME!!! Its unnerving grin was pissing me off. I still remember one time during the first 20 days.

At the time, I was hunting Horny Hares, (yes, they are horned bunnies that fuck everything all the time) when I bumped into that bastard of a cat. Once seeing me, it used illusions to lure me into a monster cradle full of giant centipedes. The bastard laughed then ran off, while I had the fight of my life. After the first 50 days of hunting and training, I was fed up with the cat bastard and made it personal…

Yea… I still failed in catching it, but mark my words, I will capture that Cheshire d***!! Anyway, barring the distraction of that cat bitch, I continued to train my body and meditate until I was able to complete 100 circulations with mana manipulation within an hour.

Still, that was not enough. My aim is to have an immaculate body, or a near immaculate body before I begin the next step. Honestly, this is all so damn tiring, especially the vomiting bile. Even after I was able to complete 100 circulations for every hour I meditated, I would still puke large mouthfuls of bile. It's as if my body was soaking in filth for billions of years before now. (Maybe it was… I kinda was floating in the void for billions of years… just sayin…)

In the latter 50 or so days, I ran into death way too many times to count. Surprisingly, most of which had nothing to do with the loathsome cat. I will never forget during a week-long hunt, I had a dance with death. While hunting for more trying opponents, I overheard an unusual yelp of sorts.

Curious like a bunch of teens in a horror movie, I went to investigate. Once closer, I notice a scene straight out of said horror movie. A humanoid monster with ghastly pale glowing eyes, six arms, a spiked tail, and a human-like face filled with row after row of razor-sharp teeth.

The freak of unholy creations was leisurely eating another much larger monster headfirst. If I didn't know better, I would have thought this was the monster which supposedly imbodied a mental illness. Supposedly, that mental illness monster is from that one paranormal movie I refused to watch which ate some old lady headfirst. (Check it out for yourself, cause I'm a punk when it comes to those kinds of movies!!)

Terrified of being the creature's next meal, I tried to back away. My efforts were misplaced as I stepped on some leaves or branches or whatever. The crackling noise naturally grabbed the freakazoid's attention… (well… shiii…)

Releasing its current meal, the creature looked towards my direction, and I was granted a good look at it. Not only did it have all the features I just mentioned, in the center of its chest where a heart should be was a bloody hole with another human face inside. Only one creature matched this nerve wrecking description, wendigos!

(A wendigo was in the Emeraldshade forest, and no one knew about it!? This does not bode well.) Another name for this monstrosity is "Endless Hunger". These fuckers eat other magoi using creatures including other monsters.

The worst part though, members of the races are like their favorite delicacy. Noticing my stare, the wendigo released a ghastly howl, causing electromagnetic waves to radiate in all directions. Since I know for damn sure I can't fight this creature, I immediately started to run without a care for where I ran to. Anywhere was better than being near this freak!

Along the way, I even bumped into the Cheshire Panther. Yea... I didn't even bother to pay the cat any mind. Confused and annoyed by my lack of attention (very much like an annoying fucking cat), the cat was about to cast an illusion. that changed when it saw what I was running from. Letting out a frightened "Nyaaa", the feline started running directly behind me.

"Why are you running with me!? Are you trying to kill me!? Go somewhere else!" I yelled at the cat to which it replied,

"Meow! Meow mmmeow mow!" (Translation… The hell would I know! I don't speak cat!!)

As I and the feline ran like hell, I came up with an idea. The only way to get this monster off our backs, (great I'm even including the cat in my thoughts) an even deadlier monster is needed. Currently there are only 2 creatures that fit the bill. One is a parasitic plant, the other is the boss of the forest. Looking towards the Cheshire panther I asked,

"Hey, do you know where the Demon-faced Sire is?"

"Mrow?" It replied, appearing confused about what I was asking.

"Don't give me that look! It's a giant manticore with purple gaseous flames all over. Do you know where it is?"

"Mmmmow!" It seemed to nod "yes".

"Good! Lead me there, so the beast can eat the abomination following us!"

Nodding its head again, the cat began leading me to the current location of the Demon-Faced Sire. Of course, the wendigo was still following us. It looked like it was walking slowly, but the space around it was shifting very abnormally.

To think the monster was able to manipulate space, well damn… No matter how fast we ran, the wendigo was still inching closer, and closer. By the time we reached the Demon-Faced Sire in one of its hunting grounds, I readied myself since I might die at the hands of the manticore instead.

Seeing us approach, the sire roared in indignation as what it considered food was blatantly charging into its hunting grounds. As I drew closer to the beast, the Cheshire panther cast an illusion on it, causing the behemoth to stand on its hind legs while swatting the air. I was almost sent to heaven a few times from the swipes the beast let out.

In spite of me almost French kissing death, this illusion wasn't going to be enough. Charging forward, I jumped up brandishing uncle's sword in both hands, and slashed with my all at the beast's underbelly. The attack wasn't life threatening, but it left a bloody mess, nonetheless. Roaring as it entered a frenzied rage, the Sire prepared to release a breath attack.

Seeing the monster inhaling loads of air, the Cheshire panther and I ran in a completely different direction of the breath attack, which directly aimed at the now nearby wendigo. The bastard of a monster was not prepared for the blast as it ran directly into. As the wendigo drowned in the breath attack, it yelped in response to the poisonous fire sprayed engulfing it.

Once finished with its breath attack, the sire was no longer effected by the illusion. Still, the manticore was oozing killing intent all the same as it charged at the frightened wendigo. It would seem the Cheshire panther had created an illusion of the wendigo attacking the sire, causing it to want to kill the real wendigo even more, excellent job kitty!

I was not even concerned with the results of their fight. Everyone knows wendigos have an extremely high weakness to poison. It just so happens the sire being a literally walking vat of deathly poison. Now with death no longer looming over me, I decided it was time I head back to the glade and continue to develop my body. The Cheshire panther noticing me leaving, invited itself and followed.

At this point, I could care less about the asshole cat, so I just kept heading towards the glade. Once there, the feline decided to make its new home in one of the trees by the lake's shore. Well, I guess that's fine, since magic beasts are more prone to search for peaceful places, the Ancestral Glade being the most peaceful place despite being surrounded by monster cradles.

- End of Chapter