Rebirth (7)

*BOOM!!*

Another fireball missed Neon as he was running from the infernal beast behind him. They left a trail of broken trees and scorched ground in the forest. It's already been half an hour since the pursuit started. Neon was already on his last leg, with numerous burning marks and open wounds it was a miracle he could still run. This was due to his strict training in his past life, how powerful the mental state of one of the most dangerous men on the planet must be? Despite the state of his body, he was calm. He learned long ago how to ignore the pain and the tiredness.

Still, the beast was getting closer and closer. Its stamina was higher than a human it was only a matter of time before it catches its prey. The shadow looking at the scene was amazed by the resilience of the youth. A normal human would have been killed by now. But this youth kept running and avoiding the devastating fireball of the grade one beast, the shadow was impressed. It wasn't in a hurry to help though as it wanted to see where the limits of this ordinary human being lied.

The beast was gaining ground, Neon could almost feel its breath on his neck. The wind rose behind him and without thinking twice he pivoted and got in a defensive stance.

'BAAAM'

The impact sent him sailing in the air before crashing heavily on the ground. Vomiting a mouthful of blood he tried to stand up to no avail. He could feel the weakness he had been resisting ever since the start of the run spreading in his body. Looking at the exhausted prey the beast reduced its speed and moved slowly toward him. He managed to get on his knees after many difficulties and look around. Without knowing they reached a cliff. Right now the edge was only a few meters from him. His mind spun rapidly. Thinking of numerous solutions to get himself out of this pinch and eliminate them one by one. Until only one was left, jumping out of the cliff into the abyss.

If people knew about this 'brilliant idea' of his they would be horrified after all this was the Endless Cliff. No one knew how deep this abyss was. If one fell from it, what was waiting for him was undoubtedly the most gruesome death. But Neon was thinking of jumping. It couldn't be helped though he calculated every possibility none had a chance of him surviving against this infernal creature. Steeling himself, he stood up and started backing up.

The beast just thought that its prey was filled with fear and didn't feel anything weird about his actions. The shadow observing from afar thought while looking at his actions.

'Surely not? no one is this crazy, especially a simple mortal, he wouldn't dare to do this right?'

Before the shadow could finish that thought, its pupils abruptly constricted, as it saw an absurd scene. A youth barely 14 years old jumped from the Endless Cliff to escape the pursuit of a beast. Before it could reach the youth, he had already disappeared in the darkness of the abyss.

Dark wings materialized behind the shadow, flapping softly, it disappeared before appearing before the still dumbfounded beast.

*sigh*

"Such a promising youth, the way he was moving was faster than a normal human and even his strength was above the norm. He could have been a heretic who hadn't awoken yet. Due to my carelessness, I missed such a talent." The shadow spoke regretfully.

Since the appearance of this man the infernal beast who had been rampaging was now extremely tame, it was even shaking with fear. At the end of his mumblings, the man looked at it.

The shadow's face was illuminated by the afternoon sun. He was a handsome man in his twenties going by his looks. He had incredibly dark hair and eyes. His face was pale accenting his delicate features. Looking at the beast who made him lose such a good sapling he pondered for a bit and pointed forward. There was no noise or special display of power. A hole appeared between the eyes of the beast and the light was snuff out of its eyes. Sighing again the man shook his head and disappeared from the Cliff.

At this moment Neon was falling speedily. He knew that if he continued like this he would surely die. As such he looked at his surroundings to see if he could find something to hold on to. Thankfully he found a lifeline in this dire situation. Using miraculous footsteps to slow down his fall, he managed to grab onto a branch of the tree he had noticed. The branch was tough enough to not break under his weight. With an agile movement, he jumped and landed softly standing on the branch. He breathed out in relief and looked curiously at the wondrous tree. He couldn't fathom why a tree would grow in this environment. Looking closely he saw that the tree was, in fact, growing out of a big hole.

With a few light steps, he arrived at the entrance. He stepped into the hole and realized that it was a naturally formed cave. Thirty meters inside he saw that the tree took root in a milk-like pond. The pond was emanating a heavenly scent that made all the pore on his body open. He felt an indescribable comfort just breathing in. The injuries he had sustained during the battle with the grade one magical beast were starting to heal.

"This should be a heavenly treasure !" he exclaimed in awe.

He wouldn't have thought that after escaping calamity he would find such serendipity. Thinking quickly he determined that bathing in this pond would allow him to rapidly condense his internal force stepping into his past life's previous peak. Excited, he didn't hesitate and took his bloody clothes off.

*SPLASH*

He jumped into the pond and his body started absorbing the milky essence crazily. If a Magician was there he would surely recognize this heavenly treasure. The milky substance was called Earth blood essence. An incredibly rare resource only forming after the earth mana condensed for 100000 years.

Just a few drops of it were capable of strengthening the human body to an incredible degree consumed raw. For magicians who focused heavily on their minds, it was an incredible opportunity to strengthen one physique and erase their natural weakness of having an average physique. They would spit blood in anger if they knew that a mere mortal without any chance to become a magician bathed in it.

Neon was unaware of the preciousness of this treasure, even if he did he wouldn't care, for him it was a heavenly opportunity to speed up his training.

A few hours went by.

Finally Neon felt like he couldn't absorb any more of the milky essence and he got out. His slim body was filled with overwhelming strength. He felt better than ever. His fine muscles were filled with explosive power. Clenching his fist he launches a punch. A violent wind was raised as the punch pressured the atmosphere.

Seeing the state of his physique, he knew he could finally condense his internal force. He sat naked on a nearby round rock. In the lotus position, he took the magical flower he had risked his life for.

With a slight smile, he decided to consume it as he felt an abundant amount of mana from it. With his cultivation method, he should be able to absorb it entirely. He put it in his mouth and swallowed. A powerful medicinal fragrance filled his nose, as the herb melted in his stomach.

Violent burning energy spread from his stomach to his entire body. His skin turned completely red and with his very breath was like hot vapor. Mist filled the entire cave provoking a weird scene. He activated his cultivation art and started to direct the berserk energy all around his body.