NOVEL NEXT Chapter 47 - Only Death or Rebirth
Next morning as the last rabbits hop off Jason wakes up from his introspective meditation. Relief flows through him as while his concept of blood being wrong he wasn't completely blind. Breaking it into the game's terms, most of his cultivation technique is all right. It is only the ability of "Blood is Life and the Heart it's throne" that rings false. The description of his skill is mostly fluff so while the skill will need to be broken he won't be starting over from scratch. Shaking his head as there isn't much he can do Jason packs up his camp before heading out.
"With this new knowledge I have to change how I am cultivating. The training trip can still continue but I need to focus on discovering myself. At this point I don't even know how having the magic bones will affect me let alone what I need to do with my cultivation. Now that I think about it, I didn't feel those bones in me. Sure when that warped panther savaged my arm the bone was visible, but that doesn't mean much." Then Jason smacks himself and shakes his head. "No, stop trying to go down another rabbit hole. We will get to it when we get to it. First and foremost I need to train my punch during the day and self-discovery at night. This might slow me down but I need it. Oh, and while I am planning this out maybe some Strength training? That stat has barely gotten above base. I can see why people rarely get any growth even for stats they don't put points into." With a final shake of his head he sets off back into the wasteland.
Back out among the spires he continues his travels. Avoiding groups of monsters while training his punching skill on those that are alone or in pairs. A swift strike from the shadows is enough to remove an enemy from the fight and so his time isn't too stressful. Though this does translate to almost no stat growth. Gaining only a single point in Toughness simply because he never stopped. Finally, about 4 hours before sunset he heads back into the plains.
On the way he grabs a large rock. Once settled down and with his camp set out this rock becomes an impromptu weight, he uses it in between intense sessions of punching. This boosts Blast Punch up two levels and nets him +2 Strength. Decent gains though likely only so good as it is his first day of this training. After cooling off and eating dinner he settles down for his mediation.
The night passes but the vital threads in his body still escape his grasp. He even stops all his cultivation besides the purification to further his grasp on his body. The surrounding rabbits couldn't be happier as he puts off more and more loose energy for them to rank up with. Next day as he comes to he doesn't even pay attention to a few rabbit stragglers. He collects up his camp in a daze before dragging the rock back into the wasteland.
This cycle continues and the days pass him by until a week and a day later it happens. During his mediation the flow of blood goes away, his veins disappear, and his heart becomes silent. All that is left in his mind's eye are nearly invisible filaments. Many times smaller than he saw in that hunters film. They are spread throughout his body. Way too many are caught up in the shape of his imaginary circulatory system with a knot of them where his heart was. This differs completely from what he saw in the high level monster's body. There the threads were spread out and evenly distributed except around areas of interest like natural weapons. Satisfied with this Jason ponders on what his next step needs to be.
"I can't keep them bound up in their current form. These threads must be important and I can't have them tied up in a mockery of life. It even seems like threads in the heart's knot are getting stiff. If I continued to cultivate as I was there would come a point that things would become permanent. I can't be the first person to be unsatisfied with how a skill works so there should be some method to change it. First though let's see how far I have progressed this past few days." Then he says aloud, "System Show Character Sheet and Display Changes since last Viewed"
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Basic Info
</td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p><span style="font-weight: 400">Normal </span><span style="font-weight: 400">Stats</span></p> <div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto">
<p><span style="font-weight: 400">Auxiliary </span><span style="font-weight: 400">Stats</span></p> <div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto">
</td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p><span style="font-weight: 400">Bonuses</span></p> <div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto">
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</td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p><span style="font-weight: 400">Organizations</span></p> <div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto">
</td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p><span style="font-weight: 400">Skills</span></p> <div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto">
<div style="max-width: 100%; overflow:auto">
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</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> "Nice to see my level is getting up there. Though the cultivation skill is as slow as ever. Knowing what is up with it now this isn't a bad thing for me. Too quickly and I wouldn't be able to fix it. However, looking at my sheet reminds me. I have a magic item taking the place of my 'bones' at the moment. Problem is I don't have bones. Didn't feel them earlier when I was checking my internals so where are they?" After thinking about his bones for a while Jason just sighs and shakes his head. "No point in worrying about it. Since I can't sense my bones they shouldn't interfere with what I want to do. Guess it is time to restructure my insides." Goal in mind Jason sinks back into meditation. The filaments now standing out starkly against everything else in his body. As he sits there letting the local energy flow through he tries to move the weakest of the filaments. Through will alone a lonely thread at the end of his pinky toe twitches. Not enough though to make any permanent changes. In fact, if a sensitive enough healer had observed they would have seen a blood vessel burst there, though quickly healed by his natural regen. Experiments, one right after another. Jason sits there lost in the process. Finally, after a day and a night passes him by, a breakthrough happens. When using his Energy with his will the filaments can be scattered. It isn't quite a purposeful movement but in Jason's deep meditative state he notices something. While the filaments do randomly scatter, they keep moving till they fall into a new order. Proceeding along his toes he continues to break up his cardiovascular system. Once he reaches the foot proper though, he takes a hit of damage. Despite the veins being false the System still counts them as vitals. At a deep level Jason now understands how hard this will be. As his HP heals the filaments in not only his foot but the toes as well return to the old positions. He needs to change things quickly and not die from literally destroying his own heart. In fact, if he dies there is a chance that it will lock his system down. Deciding not to rush into things Jason takes the time to slowly go over every vein in his body. Two more days pass as he is familiarizing himself with his internals. Then he is ready. Like a bomb going off in his chest Jason detangles his heart threads and instantly takes 5 damage. Using the force of this energy release he continues through the rest of his chest and down to his waist as another 4 damage ticks away. Splitting his focus now he has the process travel up his limbs. Like a string of firecrackers, blood is bursting out all over his body and is now working its way down his arms and legs. Another 6 damage ticks away, both from the damage and the bleeding. Completing his feet and hands brings him down another 7. On the last bit he works his way up his neck as another 3 HP flies away. Finally, all at once he scrambles his head losing 4 HP and his thoughts become blurry. Through sheer will alone, he stays awake long enough to see his work complete. However, one last HP bleeds away. Now dying he forces himself to stabilize. Seconds pass by and become minutes as he lays there half dead at zero HP. |