The First Cultivator - Changing Existence

Along with his feeling of release, he felt anger. This anger was directed at Skymender. Even after paying the price of such a short life, most likely to die before thirty, he still couldn't be the best.

Charles had a lot he wanted to say, but didn't say anything. Rather than wasting further time here, it was better to prepare for the next test. Skymender didn't bother to say goodbye as Charles turned around and left.

Skymender continued to focus on the book in his hands. As he read, he felt enlightenment. He instantly left for the herb shop. Gathering what had popped into his mind after weeks of research, he headed to the poison room, herbs in hand.

He barely greeted Master Chef Garb as he walked down the stairs, ignoring the person eating.

Skymender started the heat and began to mix things together. He chopped some things, slightly burnt others, and simply threw most inside of the pot whole.

He began to stir the pot and control the heat. Having experience, he did it well.

After a while, an undetectable smell wafted up. Skymender could not sense it at all, but suddenly, the hair on his arms stood on end. He backed away, but he had already been affected by the poison.

He felt as if his heart had begun to slow down. Skymender put his hand on his chest, and felt as if the area around his heart was turning cold. He knocked the pot over and stepped out of the room. He could only climb up a few of the stairs as he fell, coughing. He took off his mask and took out a vial from his waist. He broke the vial and inhaled some of the poison from it.

He found that this sometimes had magical effects. However, all it did was calm his coughing. Nothing stopped the coldness in his heart from spreading.

He couldn't move. He could only stare at the upward stairs as his vision faded and his heart slowly stopped. Suddenly, his arm jerked. Using the last of his strength and will, he pulled out another vial. 

This one was double sided. He smashed it onto himself.

Immense pain flooded into his body, but he could now somewhat move due to the adrenaline flowing through him. He stayed still as the corrosive poison, which he had smashed onto his chest, worked its way through his body. He had positioned it perfectly, at an area with no vital organs that would kill him to lose. It was extremely close to his heart, however, and a single inch of miscalculation could lead to his death.

He was still in extreme pain every second, even worse than when he put his hand into the corrosive poison. This was despite the resistance he had built up after so much time.

The corrosive poison burnt a hole through his chest, leaking out of the other side. It was a pain that could not be described in words. Simply unimaginable.

Despite everything happening, his heart had not for a second stopped turning cold. Therefore, the second part of the plan took action. 

He moved his arm and reached his hand into the hole in his chest. Bearing the inhuman pain of reaching inside his own body, and found his heart. Carefully, he began to squeeze it. The coldness did not disperse, but lessened and stopped growing. 

Major damage had been done to his heart, but if he could survive it would not matter.

Everytime he squeezed his own heart, he felt a pain worse than anything else he had ever felt before. 

Yet somehow, he willed himself on. The only other option was death.

Skymender struggled to live, alone, at the bottom of a stairwell.

His intelligence, his growth, his strength, his family, the Imperial Scholar Camp, the study of poison, all of it went away as a single thought filled his mind. It was a thought filled with pure selfishness. If his family, or the most innocent, cute animal was in front of him right now, he would kill any of them to survive at this moment.

He was not scared of death, but what use was their lives if he was dead. All past emotions seemed to become a mere joke in front of this feeling. 

What Eldest Sister? What mother? What father? None of it mattered in the slightest compared to his life.

As he laid there, pumping his own heart, enduring unimaginable pain, his mind slowly began to change. His heart, which had literally turned cold, began to metaphorically turn cold.

Time passed by quickly in this situation. He did not know how much time had passed, when he heard steps up above. At this point, there wasn't much pain. Well, he was actually feeling a more horrifying pain than that which most would ever experience in their lives, but to him, it was negligible compared to before.

Skymender, still pumping his own heart, stared above coldly. A familiar face looked at Skymender.

For just a split second, as if curious as to what it would see, the gaze was filled with interest. However, in just a single half of a second, it transformed into horror.

Master Chef Garb stared at Skymender, unable to think for a moment. The scene in front of him was beyond horrifying.

Below, Skymender's skin was entirely white, as if drained of blood. Dried blood covered his chest and formed a puddle beneath him. His hand was shoved into his chest, which had a hole in it. Dried blood made the scene only slightly less horrifying.

As if he didn't know what to do, Master Chef Garb rushed out, leaving the stairs.

A few minutes later, another familiar face came walking down the stairs.

"So, Skymender. You're facing death, it seems." The Imperial Scholar said.

Although his voice was calm, as he looked at Skymender, his eyes were unable to hide the shock. It had been described to him, but this... He had seen such a horrifying scene only a few other times in his life, but all of those had involved the dead, not the living.