The sound of flowing water was refreshing and relaxing, but Cana stood there, staring at the big chunk of flattened rock—terrified. She thought it was being used for sacrificing the living to some god.
Had she done something last night that made Erus decide to end her life? Was she wrong to look after him last night?
"Hey, what are you still doing? The rock won't lift you," Erus spoke behind her with his usual serious tone.
She was a bit startled by him.
"Are... Are you serious?" She stammered and was about to look back, but he stilled her head by putting the weight of his palm on her head.
"Just do as I say," Erus commanded.
Heavens! Why am I sent here if I'll just die anyway? Cana was silently questioning her existence in this other world. She was ready to accept and adjust here, but this was not the ending she wanted. She felt her feet were too heavy to lift and she wanted to cry right now.
Why did he even feed her breakfast if he would kill her now?
A tear fell from her eyes.
While Erus was baffled why Cana was not moving, he realized his palm was still on her head. He let go, but she remained still. He tried to peek at her face and saw her silently crying.
What? He was completely thrown by the scene. "Why the hell are you crying?" Was my force too much for her? He looked at the hand he used for pinning her head.
"I don't want to die yet," Cana cried.
"What!" Erus shouted because he was too startled she was dying. He even went in front of her just to make sure he was hearing her right.
"I mean... Please do it instantly without pain," Cana pleaded with Erus.
Erus' mind was in a daze. He did not understand what actually was going on in Cana's mind. Why did he feel like he was becoming the suspect of something he did not even intend to do?
"Lady, are you out of your mind?" Erus asked shifting in his soft low tone. He decided to untie her cupped hands from her back. It looked like he was hugging her. Her scent was something melting—he swallowed. "There," he said throwing the vine he used to tie her hands and kept a bit of distance. Then, he brought her hands with her palms opened to tap on his abs. "You can touch it as long as you want but I want to remind you not to go overboard."
Cana's brain just froze at what Erus did. Why was he letting her touch his abs in this moment? Was it something like the final goodbye? She stared at him with her mind in disarray.
"Happy?" Erus sarcastically asked. He was thinking, she was crying simply because he told her a while ago that he prohibits her from touching him or even staring at his naked abs. He did not expect her to take it to heart and cry like he stole her favorite candy.
Happy? What could she even be happy about in this situation? Holding abs while her life was on the line; she had some dignity!
She immediately pulled back her hands. Wiped her tears off her cheeks then, walked past Erus, brushing their arms. She stared at the stone with saddened expression. Wasn't it too late to pray this tragic end of her was all just a dream and she would be waking up soon? She climbed on that big flattened rock, against her will. She lied down without a word—her pose was like someone inside a coffin.
Erus was astonished by the way Cana pulled back and brushed him off. Then he turned around only to see Cana's current position on the rock. His brain cells died for a second.
What is she doing?
"Cana, you are not supposed to sleep. Sit down," Erus said.
"Why? What's the difference if it still means eternal slumber?"
"Eternal slumber?" Erus was like someone lost from the right path. He totally did not understand why Cana was speaking about dying and now eternal slumber. Did she have a power surge last night and it affected her brain?
Erus massaged his nape because he was nearing that stress-point level. He sighed deeply before going near her reaching his forehead and placing his palm on it to perform healing. He thought she was just undergoing a power surge side effect.
Cana abruptly closed her eyes and held her breath, upon feeling Erus' hands on her head; silently praying to never feel the pain of dying. She slowly felt the warmth. She was going to die, her hands turning into a fist.
After some minutes, Erus stopped healing Cana.
"Cana, how do you feel now?"
Cana was baffled. Why was Erus asking someone he killed how they felt? How could the corpse answer? Why am I even hearing him? She slowly opened her left eye just to peek. She saw Erus standing near her body, also looking at her.
"How do you feel?" Erus asked again.
How am I supposed to answer him?
"We are wasting too much time here. Are you okay or not?" Erus' irritation was clear.
"I'm n—." Cana stopped speaking when she heard her voice. Wait! I can speak? She opened both her eyes and looked at Erus, confused about what was going on. "What did you do to me?"
"I healed you. Why? Didn't it help?"
Help what? And heal her?
"You healed me? How? Weren't you supposed to kill me? Are you trying to torture me?"
"Stop!" Erus snapped, but his voice was not that loud, just enough to shut Cana. "Why were you talking about dying, eternal slumber, and now me—killing you? Torture you? Are we on the same page?"
Cana went timid for a while. If he wanted her dead, it was too easy to perform now, but why heal her instead? Though she had no injury, not even sick.
"Were you not trying to kill me as your sacrifice to some gods here?"
Erus stopped. He locked his gaze at Cana.
"You're mine. Why would I even sacrifice you to some useless occultic god? Tch!" He said straight out of pure frustration at the realization of their total misunderstanding. He didn't even weigh his words. "Didn't you hear me when I told you I'm going to teach you how to meditate while you were fixing my mark? Then, after you learned it, I'll teach you the first level of cultivation to enhance your newly discovered ability last night?"
"I heard it— but you did not tell me we were doing it soon." Cana's face was flustered red. It was not the sun's heat but Erus' words. He was not planning to sacrifice her at all. It was just a total misunderstanding.
"If you've got an enemy, he won't give you a heads up when he's going to attack your domain." Erus sounded like he was training someone and would later send them to battle. "How long are you planning to lie down there? Are you still waiting for me to turn you into a sacrifice for myself?"
Cana immediately rose while shaking her head. She was just saved from their epic misunderstanding.
"No. I still want to live, please."
"Silly." He flicked his finger on her forehead, but it was light. "I just told you, and here you are being dramatic again. Fix yourself and we will start now." He also easily climbed onto the flat stone without stepping on the layers below just to reach the top.
The stone's size was perfect for two people sitting side by side.
"Our weight won't crush the stone, right?" Cana's concern turned a bit left.
"I could not consider your weight to even make the slightest crack on this stone."
Cana's face turned sour as he had just told her she was too weak. Compared to someone shivering from a fever, she thought. She gave him a malicious look.
"Just staring at me will not make you learn the right way to meditate. Follow what I'm about to do and please sit straight. Your bones are still young, not some old fossils."
Cana was about to retort but she stopped when Erus stared at her. She gave him a forced smile—looking like a mad dog.
Erus didn't flinch. His eyes turned serious, sending the vibe that he was done joking.
Cana shut up and did what he told her.
"You're breathing through your chest," Erus barked when he noticed Cana's chest and shoulders going up and down.
She opened her eyes, confused.
"Where else do I breathe if I don't use my chest?" She complained. She thought the chest was where air passed through.
Erus turned toward her. He didn't hesitate. He pressed his palm against her belly, and the sudden hit made Cana's breathing stop. She froze. The warmth from his hand was steady—it was actually comforting.
That reaction did not escape his eyes.
"Breathe using your belly. Breathe in," he instructed slowly in his low tone.
Cana followed then held her breath again. When Erus didn't do a follow up, she looked at him, eyes wide—she was running out of air!
"Breathe out. Do it again, slowly."
Cana did as he said while Erus fought the urge to laugh at Cana's expression giving him a wide-eye.
"Close your eyes now and feel your surroundings. Think as if I don't exist here," he added and heard no protest from her. Only then he pulled his hand and went back to his previous position. Before continuing his cultivation, he observed Cana for a while. She was doing good.
Uruja stood under the shadow of a large tree, watching from a distance. She had followed them out of concern for Cana. She had even been there when Erus tied the girl's hands to stop her from touching him.
Watching the scene play out, Uruja realized her son was changing. Seeing him work side-by-side with a girl he had only known for a few days was a good sign; he wasn't a total loner. Cana clicked with him. It was a strange shift, given that Erus had been distant toward women since he was seven years old.
It was fate that brought her here, Uruja thought. She wasn't entirely sure who Cana was, but she wanted to trust her gut. The girl wasn't a threat to her son—she was exactly what he needed.
While Cana was trying to focus on her meditation exercise, the longer she stayed, the noisier it became. She could hear almost everything. The flow of the water with different currents. The gushing of the wind. The rustling of leaves on the trees. The tweeting of birds. The breathing of other living things around her. Most of all, Erus' heart was too noisy, like the sound of hammering a drum. His breathing was in chaos too; he sounded like he was struggling with something.
Cana opened her eyes, glancing at Erus who was now in the deep focus of his cultivation. His hands were in a different pattern from hers. She could see red and yellow aura swirling around him. His hands were holding a ball of blue energy. It was fantastic for her to see such a high fantasy scene she had only watched before on television in the human realm.
Thinking Erus' posture was amazing, she tried imitating everything. The way his hands moved with such a pattern was easy to follow and memorize.
After some time, she closed her eyes again, imagining what she learned from what she thought was Erus' way of meditation. She also wanted that kind of effect to swirl around her. It looked really majestic.
She started performing the same hand movements from Erus. Her first try had emitted a small lightning effect on her hands, but she did not feel it. She continued doing the hand pattern over and over again until she felt the familiar warmth within her body. This was the same feeling from her last night's attempt to make the water lukewarm to treat Erus' fever. But this time, she could feel the energy flowing fast in her veins. Within her subconscious, she could see how it traveled through her every nerve ending like a flood. She could see random colors of light racing inside her. Then, she felt tickling on her hands.
Was it okay to open her eyes now?
Though hesitating, Cana was also excited to see the result of her work. She opened her eyes only to be terrified at what she was holding. She immediately threw it into the river.
BOOM!!!
SPLASSSHHH!
Cana was too stunned to speak or move after what she just did. The impact of that energy she created almost dried the river pool. And she was soaking wet as the water poured down like heavy rain.
She was slow to remember the man beside her. When she looked at Erus he was shocked, fully drenched and without any idea about what happened. His cultivation was totally interrupted.
Her face showed who the culprit was. But Erus didn't bother asking. His eyes landed right on the river pool where a visible streak of lightning could be seen on the water. Then, he turned his eyes on Cana and noticed her hands were emitting a white aura. He suddenly grabbed her pulse to check only to find out she had gone to a crazy level.
"Weren't you just meditating? How did you end up in the third phase of cultivation?" He asked her, baffled. This was his first time seeing someone jump a crazy level in cultivation. It took him a month to reach that phase three. How come someone who was just learning the proper meditation technique jumped levels this crazy?
Cana was clueless looking at Erus.
While Uruja who watched the entire scene dropped to her knees, covering her mouth. She was more shocked than Erus.