As I stepped out of the void, the bright light of the sun blinded my eyes.
I was hit by nausea and vomited instantly.
My left shoulder was feeling empty.
When I tried to look at it,
I wished I could blind myself.
The skin was mangled and uneven, like a jagged outline of mountains. The bone was like a broken shaft, its pieces were lodged in my flesh.
Bleeding was still going on but the bone pieces had blocked most of the vessels.
Vapor rose from my arms as my skin bubbled and burned till it felt like it was getting seared.
Maybe it was CHI'... or hollow spear... anyhow it seems to help me.
As I moved my gaze away from the wound I literally felt like an insect.
I was in a little open area of grassland.
I could see large monolithic trees far away. They were surrounding the open field in every direction. The forest felt savage yet sentinel somehow.
The grasslands were nonetheless vicious.
Even a single strand of weed was almost my height,
and I was not anywhere near short.
The grasses were of all types from heavy groups of weeds to the grasses that bore humungous flowers.
I could easily sleep upon one of them.
*krr-all-ghh, krr-all-ghh, krr-all-ghh,...
What was that?
It sounded like a large bird's shriek.
It was awfully near, though wind might have carried it here.
In any case I was in a dire situation standing openly in an open grass field.
I wanted to move.
Staying still was eating at me, so I just followed my instinct.
As I moved forward I had to be careful not to step on various nests or thorny grasses.
I found myself near a lake, which was located at a corner of the grassland.
It was so big that it almost looked like an inland sea. On the other end the lake flowed into the forest and disappeared between the gnarly trees.
The air around the lake was frigid. It was so cold that the area around it was frozen
But the lake itself was clear. I could see its reefs, layers of grounds and rocks.
It had no reflection of the sky or environment.
It's depth was... obscured. Like it had no clear end. Something felt... sinister in there.
The lake was filled with various luminous objects floating around which almost made it feel alive.
I saw various different plant life in the lake. Some were floating on it others were crawling on the lake itself, with their large serpentine roots.
I could see many others inside the lake but I was afraid to go any closer to it.
Suddenly I noticed that there was no sound of movement. Just a stagnant silence. It felt wrong, even the wind was not carrying any sound.
I could feel unease crawling up my legs. Especially after hearing the bird's shriek.
It was still around midday but the wind had started to surge and clouds were gathering around the area.
They felt wrong...
as if they were made, not formed. I could see lightning strikes, that stretched for kilometers.
The weather is going to get worse. I must find a high ground.
I could follow the river up course into the forest. That would be my best chance of finding something.
But the forest was not looking any friendlier. But it felt better than sitting here like a duck.
As I was about to leave, I felt a sudden ringing in my left ear. Like something was banging on it.
And soon enough a foggy figure came out of it. It was my master...
who was also a bastard.
"Wait, little one. Where are you going?" He asked, frowning.
I had almost forgotten about his existence.
I was angry with him, as the god-figure had said my trial was his deed.
And how could he come out of my ear of all the places.
"Into the forest and I have a lot of questions for you, master." I said to him.
My voice had an odd ring of amusement in it after all,
our relationship now depended on his answers.
"Well, I think I know what you are going to ask but, I will hear it from your mouth" he said waiting.
"What did the god meant when he said ask your master if you wanna know about the trial?" I asked as my eyes narrowed to his.
"Hmm.... you know that you don't belong here and so even if you had passed the test you wouldn't get his blessing to survive the journey."
"So I asked him to give you a test he wished... instead of the original one. If he meets up to your expectation you should bless him." He replied.
"And what if I had not met up to his expectations" I asked, knowing what was coming.
"Well he said he would turn you into...
the most awful kind of slave" He said smacking his lips.
I was in utter shock. That hadn't crossed my mind.
"Now don't keep your mouth open or someone might go in there."
I gave him a death stare as soon as the words left his mouth.
He replied back with an eerie smile.
"Now moving forward little one. You were going to go into the forest, right?"
I nodded still uncertain to trust this guy.
How powerful was he before he got defeated that even a god listened to him.
And who was more powerful to defeat him.
"Well that would make sense if this world was a quiet little wonderland."
"Now since it isn't, you would die in 5 minutes if you go there now." He said like it wasn't his concern.
"What?"
My brows knitted together.
I looked at the forest. I can't deny it looked eldritch.
But...
dying in five minutes. That felt like an insult.
"My best advice for you is to find a shelter under one of these grasses."
His voice sounded like he wanted to ask me a question.
"So... what is the worst one?" I asked.
He gave a prideful smile.
"To train in the lashing Hämidi rain and become strong, little one."
As he said that word, I could feel the clouds respond to him.
They moved around until they completely swallowed the horizon.
I never thought clouds could get this dense.
"Are you serious I mean apart from the Hamidi rain thing, you want me to train" I asked, concerned if he wanted to kill me.
"Like I mean look at the weather. The wind is turning into a storm, and the sky is fully covered in dark clouds.
It feels like night in the middle of the day. I can't even see you properly.
And if I am not going to survive in the forest how can I survive here? That too while training."
I asked annoyed by his half answers.
"Surviving is your concern. My only work is to make sure you grow stronger. And by the way you have one day before you die, as you are poisoned by the Ati 'ushub... 'the herb of excess health'.
"But... how?" My face was feeling horrid.
"Well if someone strolls in an unknow area without any knowledge or preparation,
getting poisoned is the least thing that could happen."
"I didn't mean that?
I meant how do I take the poison out?" I asked him.
"Well there are two ways.
First amputating your both legs as it hasn't yet spread upwards from there,
because of your body.
Second method is to form an antrum in your heart,
then perform a bandha. After that you have to cultivate the poison into the antrum and store it there.
Simple."
I wanted to smack this old man down to his very bones.
My anger should have been very visible even in this darkness, as he continued to mock me.
"The chances of dying in both are ninety percent, though you would die from different pains." He said.
His face grew pensive.
This bastard...
Take a deep breath, I repeated to myself.
As monks used to say, "The dead fall once. The killer carries them thrice."
"Now I have already lost an arm so losing two more limbs is stupidity...
So—"
"You could grow back your arm or any part of the body for that matter,
as long as your mind is safe and sound... at least instinctively"
I was as happy as confused I was.
"How hard it would be?" I asked in return.
"Well long story short like killing 3 lions, climbing a mountain and feeling your body burned alive eight times" He looked at me like it was the least one can do.
I've already lost my sanity.
"And how hard is the second method?
and even more important,
what the hell it is about?"
"Well normally one would take 5 weeks just to learn how to cultivate and months to form an antrum. Since your body already knows how to cultivate, the task in hand is to form antrum."
"As for what it is—"
He paused for a long moment. And then,
"In simple terms, puncture your heart, like literally with CHI' with out dying or monsterifying,
then filling it with as much nature CHI' as possible and finally sealing the puncture by solidifying the CHI' that is present within one's body. And then—"
And that is in simple terms, I thought to myself.
Great. Just great.
"So let me get this straight. I have to do something I don't understand, that to in a day which normally takes... months while trying not to die." I said, my breathing heavy now.
"Yes, but you also have to remove the poison. " He said with a smirk.
I would rather carry the guilt then talk to this guy.
"How do I fucking do this?" I shouted out loud as I spread my hands in defeat.
"Oh... I already have a plan" The old man said.
"YOU—"
Deep breaths.
"You know what,
shit yourself"
"Can't do that. I am a soul, idiot" He replied, his eyes glistening with amusement.
"Somebody HELP ME!!"