Edwin had become strong, but he was strong enough to slaughter a couple of wild beasts of a certain size. An aberrant couldn't be compared to wolves, hyenas, and other wild beasts he had been fighting.
A single aberrant could slaughter an entire household of common villagers. By now Edwin had noticed that an awakened seeker wasn't that different from a mundane human. An awakened was just a mortal man with a single magic‑like ability, nothing else. He had to train hard to gain physical prowess, though some paths had abilities to do that; it was still limited to a certain period of time.
Edwin had understood: the true prowess of a seeker begins at Kindled. That's where a seeker differs from a mortal man in many aspects.
After the aberrant finished chewing his whole fish, it beat its four arms on its chest. It roared, pouncing at Edwin.
"Fuck." He took out his dagger in one arm and the spear in another. He took a step forward.
The aberrant had already closed in. It didn't attack. It stopped. The aberrant was running and acting like a human except it roared like a wild beast. Edwin stopped and roared at the aberrant, imitating it.
Suddenly his brain and his whole body tightened as his feet left the ground. A heavy clawed-palm had landed on his right face-side. Both the dagger and the spear slipped off his hands as if his hands had stopped working. His guts were blown. He smashed into the rocky river sand along the stream.
Thoughts came back to his mind; his brain had regained itself.
A tall, dark‑haired boy with dark eyes that seemed to change color when you looked, and a missing chunk of flesh on his left cheek, had received the most devastating slap in both of his lives back on earth and in this world.
He stood up, his legs trembling. He forced himself into a stance, preparing for hand‑to‑hand combat.
The aberrant surged toward him.
As the aberrant was three steps away from Edwin, it slipped; its whole weight sank into the rocky sand.
As he grabbed the dagger, the aberrant was already on its feet. It lunged at Edwin. He tried to use Mischief again; only a minor stumble happened; the aberrant was still on its feet. Blood trickled down Edwin's nose. He used his hand to wipe the blood off.
He had reached a balancing point: use Mischief again and he would die of Myrr exhaustion. Only one option remained.
"Kelo! Kelo!" Edwin screamed.
He slashed his dagger at the aberrant. It blocked the attack, sacrificing its arm, and the other punched Edwin's chest. Edwin flew five steps back, landing on a nearby bush. He coughed out a mouthful of blood.
In a breath, the aberrant had arrived. Its arms protruding from the abdomen grabbed Edwin; his bones crackled as it squeezed him. It turned Edwin horizontal, his head near the abdomen mouth.
A disgusting smell assaulted Edwin's nose; he couldn't take it. The abdomen mouth widened as Edwin's head entered.
Edwin vomited into its mouth. The inside was worse; worms were swimming in its walls.
The dirty yellow razor‑sharp teeth moved to snap Edwin's neck. At that moment, the aberrant dropped Edwin down. A python with two arms and feathers on both sides of its head had passed a spear through the aberrant's abdomen mouth, stabbing its throat. The aberrant's arm gripped the spear. Edwin dropped near the python. He jumped.
"Human, run!" the python screamed as it shifted back into a fierce tiger with feathered ears.
Edwin ran for his life; his thoughts only screamed of safety and survival.
After running for over an hour, he stopped and climbed a tree branch. He gasped for air.
Terror struck every inch of his existence.
"Filthy human, what are you scared of?" It was Kelo; she had Edwin's dagger clenched between her fangs. Edwin slid off the tree onto the ground.
"Is it coming?" Edwin was scared.
"Hahaha," Kelo spat the dagger down. "Don't wet yourself, human. It's gone."
"Gone? Just like that? It had me… it almost…" He couldn't finish the sentence.
Edwin picked up his dagger and returned it to his belt.
After Edwin calmed down, he said to Kelo, "Let's hunt something on our way back." They started moving back to the cave, but they did not move straight; they coiled to ward off any followers.
---
Inside the cave, Azazel prepared the rabbits Kelo had hunted on their way back.
"Old man, you really know your way with food." Edwin took his seat at the fire pit.
"Did nobody teach you about the value of nourishment? Ah, even an abnormal person with madness knows their way with food." Azazel was busy roasting the rabbits.
"Old man, how does one start resonating with the cinder?" Edwin asked.
"Boy, you lack patience." Azazel continued roasting the rabbits. The smell filled the whole room.
"Old man, just say it. How can I resonate with the cinder?" Edwin pushed.
"Human, didn't Master already tell you?" Kelo asked.
"Defining what resonance is doesn't count as explaining how to resonate," Edwin stated.
"You're really stubborn for someone who would have been a corpse by now," Azazel mocked.
"Keep this in mind," he turned the rabbits to the other side. "You only resonate when full resonance is achieved."
"Attaining assimilation involves mastering something so that it can be done even without thinking." He took a breath. "Resonance is like moving a rock several times your size."
"If you make sure to give it your all and move an inch every day, you're sure to get there and attain resonance–having your soul resonate with the cinder." He glanced at Edwin.
"Some days you'll move it an inch, some days you'll just hold it in place. That's still progress."
"I can't quite describe how, but you throw your will on the cinder, overriding its own will."
"..." Edwin blinked.
"Patience, brat. Let's get you started on resonance tomorrow." Azezel said.
"Human, because of me saving you, you will have another chance of dreaming this night." Kelo said.
"Dreams are useless to me." Edwin paused. "I don't remember anything after the dream ends."
His whole life Sundiata Tewodros never knew what it felt like to recall your night fantasies.
"What?" Kelo asked in surprise.
"Brat, as of now, focus on yourself. Look back at your past actions and decisions," Azazel jumped into their small conversation.
"Today you gained a lot, yet you lost everything." He took another prepared rabbit to roast it. "If you had settled for the fish, you couldn't be at risk of being a corpse today." Azazel warned.