The Loose and the Lost

Chapter 23

The Loose and the Lost

Leo waited rather patiently, distancing himself from the candy by some twenty yards but not leaving. If he were prompted to leave, he most definitely would have, but as there were no signs of him needing to go, he elected to stay, being quite curious as to what would walk out from the darkness. 

Eventually, he got kind of bored and sat down, trying to meditate again. It was difficult--after all, it hadn't been that long since he came to this world, and though quite a few things about him were beginning to change from how he was on Earth, it wasn't as though he was a completely different person. Meditating was something that he used to relentlessly mock back on Earth, considering it nothing more than a 'hippie attention-seeking nonsense', never even giving it a chance. 

To then suddenly be able to sit calmly and empty his mind of all thoughts for longer than twenty seconds was difficult, if not outright impossible. Still, he managed to improve, if ever so slightly--when he first tried it, he only lasted 17 seconds. And now? Now he was up to whole 33 seconds! Kind of like--

A sudden sound startled him and pried his eyes open.

From the shadows, he saw a winged phantom appear; at first, he couldn't make out any distinct features, but as it approached, it began to more and more resemble something rather familiar... a crow. 

In fact, it was a crow.

Just a normal crow.

Unlike most other animals in the forest, it had no mutated features, no extra appendages, no addons, no strange doodads. It was just a normal-looking crow. Black feathers, sharp beak, normal size. It glided over to the ground and pecked open the leaf, staring gingerly at the candy on the floor. Rather than immediately eating it, it looked up at Leo. 

And though a terrifying wave washed over his soul, prompting him to break out into cold sweat immediately, it also calmed him down--evidently, it wasn't just a normal crow. He silently pondered what it meant for his psyche that he was happier that the crow was ubiquitously strange and eerie, just like every other animal, rather than entirely ordinary.

The crow looked away right after, and the feeling of a mountain on his soul vanished immediately after. Ignoring the soaked back and butt, Leo stared at the crow as it gaped its beak and picked up the candy. He worried quite a lot about one particular part: he'd forgotten he was making food for an animal. Even though he didn't know it was a crow, he should have taken into account the fact that the 'thing' that would be eating it was an animal. 

He didn't even know whether the 'bouncy' aspect of the candy would work since the crow's beak was so small. 

Wait, do... do crows have saliva? If the candy never got wet... it would never soften. And if that were the case, the crow would just be eating a rock... 

"O', revered... mighty Crow--" before he could explain himself, a slew of windows assailed his eyesight, distracting him.

['????????' is quite impressed with your unique concoction and praises your skills]

['????????' rewards you with 1x Sky-Tier Item, 'Wind-Thinning Necklace', and a Root-Washing Pill]

[Root-Washing Pill -- increases the tier of your Spiritual Roots. Cannot increase above the Sky Tier]

[Wind-Thinning Necklace -- consecutive strikes with a bladed weapon lower air resistance; channeling Qi into the bladed weapon procures slicing, thin vacuums]

['????????' informs you that they will always be interested in strange and new concoctions, but that you can only visit once every 30 days]

Two things magically appeared in front of Leo--a rather sleek, bejeweled necklace with a sapphire stone framed within silver casing, and a pebble-sized, white pill. He first inspected the necklace, fiddling with it for a moment before putting it on. As he didn't have a sword to test it out, he merely hoped he wouldn't forget it for the day he did get a sword.

He then picked up the pill, fiddled with it, too, for a moment, and decided against taking it. It wasn't that he didn't trust the crow, but that, per his 'knowledge' of cultivation, changing one's innate talents in these kinds of worlds was close to impossible. He, on one had, had a system--system which had already helped him increase his 'talents'. If the past were an indicator, there would be other ways to increase it. On the other hand, he could sell the pill to the outside world and perhaps even retire with the money he'd earn. 

Then again, there was also a chance that he was completely wrong--that evolving one's innate talents was as easy as breathing. It wouldn't be too late to swallow the pill then, though, so, ultimately, it did not matter. He stuffed it into his robes, pegging it to memory. 

Sighing, Leo straightened up. 

His back was wet as was the nape of his neck, and the cold wind chilled him further. There was something quite off about the crow, and that 'off' carried quite a lot of weight considering where he lived. He feared, in more ways than one, that the crow was more dangerous than all the other animals he'd met so far combined. Though, in fairness, short of the pair of boars, he'd never seen any other animal exhibit anything approaching 'hostile' behavior. 

He closed his eyes and imagined himself swinging a blade while the necklace helped him fire off arrays of wind--it was strange, imagining himself in a fight. The closest he ever got in his life on Earth was the scuffle he got into with Eddie Wringman in the 4th grade when the boy finally retaliated after weeks of bullying. That was the day Leo learned he was better off not going too far.

Deep down, though, he knew that he would have to fight--perhaps not tomorrow, or the next week, or even in years, but there would come a day in the future when he'd have to fight, if for nothing else but than to survive. And he wanted to be prepared for that day. His imagination, however, could only carry him so far. He seldom had confidence--after all, witnessing that boar had shattered what little faith he had in himself as the 'chosen one'. If all Demonic Beasts were like that or, worse yet, much stronger, he may take years before being ready to face one.

Though he saw Song and Lya fight, it was far from enough for him to draw any conclusions. Besides, for most of the fight, he was shaking in his boots at the sight of the behemoth of a boar, and thus retained rather little of the entire fight. Lya and Song fought in extremely different ways as well, ways that he couldn't emulate even a little bit. 

Song was quick and nimble, darting about and thrusting the thin sword at the speeds that Leo couldn't replicate no matter how much he tried.

Lya, on the other hand, fought like a magician--she stayed back and conjured currents of lightning, something he most definitely could not replicate.

Ultimately, if he was forced to fight, the best he could do what was what he did with the first boar--sneak attack into 'sensitive' areas and pray for the best. 

"No, no, that's all wrong! Fight? No, I'll just have to find some gullible cultivators, feed them some nice stuff, and have them fight for me!" 

Happy with the future plans, he sped up back home. Surprisingly, he didn't come across a single animal--it was as though the forest was stripped of all life, and he became worried. It wasn't impossible that some evil spirit had come to the forest and killed all of his friends, even if it was unlikely. 

He decided not to panic, however, until he at least returned back home--and his decision turned out to be perfect, as they were all there. Some were loosely sprawled on the ground, some were hanging from the trees, some were sleeping on them, he caught a few doing things in the bushes, and there were, as always, quite a few populating the rooftops of the mud huts. Strangely, they did not touch the medicinal hall at all. 

Just as he was about to call out to them, he paused--caught between them, and shaking visibly on the ground, was a human. She looked to be in her early twenties at the latest, wearing tattered and bloodied robes. Her black hair was quite disheveled, and the pair of green eyes was teary with dread. She'd curled up against a small boulder, her eyes darting back and forth between the animals. 

"Eh?" he exclaimed softly, drawing attention to himself--both of the animals as well as the young girl. The terror in her eyes faded for a moment, replaced by hope. It didn't last long, however; probably just long enough for her to determine how weak Leo was, he guessed. "Guys, did you do that to her?" he asked the animals in a rather stern tone.

The first to respond were the monkey and the owl, both of which jumped onto his shoulder and began hooting and hollering while gesturing with their arms and wings. Though they were singing in a language Leo couldn't understand, he broadly guessed that the general answer was--no, they were not the ones who'd harmed her. 

"Ah!" he exclaimed, guessing from the owl's gesturing. "You found her wounded and brought her here? Good job!" while he chatted nonchalantly with his buddies, he glanced to the side and noticed the girl gawking at him as though he were the greatest monstrosity of all. Feeling a bit hurt, he coughed and walked forward, dipping into one of the mud huts and taking out one of the pre-made jugs of fruit juice. "Here," he said. "Drink. It'll make you feel better."