Scene 3 - Beast Cultivation

Xue opened the Book of Beasts and started to skim through, 'This book covers how to learn the beast language, how to tame creatures, and even how to temporarily fuse a beast's characteristics into one's body.'

Xue sighed, feeling an aching pain in her head, ‘This book is too profound… I can only read the first section. Anything after that gives me a splitting headache.’

Having read all she could, Xue placed her hammer on her lap as she cultivated, following Master Mo's suggestion in order to better attune the weapon to her path of cultivation. Soon she fell into a trance, losing track of the passage of time...

The air flow suddenly grew savage, as if she was on a wind blown mountain top. Xue opened her eyes in fright, ‘What was that? Wait, where am I?’ The room she had been in previously had vanished without a trace, and instead she found herself surrounded by multicolored mist. The rusty orange, savage green, flickers of scarlet and faint specks of brown mist swirled around her unceasingly.

The floor glowed with strange patterns that were filled with wild intent. Just looking at them caused Xue to grow dizzy, so she turned her attention to the lone object within this strange realm: a gigantic metallic hammer framing a massive door. She walked closer, filled with curiosity, and noticed that the door was covered in beast claws of all shapes and sizes. At first, they seem to be placed in a rather disorganized random manner, but when taking a step back it was obvious that the claws made up various complex magical symbols.

Xue suddenly felt an inexplicable urge to open this unknown door, but when she pushed the desire away it only grew stronger. Clenching her teeth, Xue slowly moved to stand before the door and hesitantly reached out to pushed it open.

Yet the world within the hammer left her stunned and gaping in shock, ‘What is this?!’

The world within the hammer was vastly different from the colorful misty realm, containing only an enormous mountain that towered far above the clouds. The mountain, gigantic that stretched endlessly, suddenly shook as a bestial roar filled both of the strange realms, shaking Xue to the point that she had to cling to the door in order to remain standing.

Suddenly Xue's surroundings changed as she was ripped away from the door and her body shot uncontrollably through the air, heading straight towards the mountain

A sense of deadly crisis filled her entire being and she closed her eyes in fear, ‘I'm gonna die! I'm gonna be splatted on the mountainside and turned into a pancake!! I don't wanna die in such a pitiful waaaay!!!!

Alas, Xue was too weak to resist the force affecting her. She helplessly closed her eyes and screamed, “What a fucked up way to die!”

She crashed into the wall... or rather entered a massive cave opening and came to a sudden halt.

The sudden stop caused Xue to stagger as a sick feeling swam through her. She covered her mouth and crouched down, her thoughts slowly focusing and chasing her previous fear away, ‘Eh...? I’m not dead?’

She hesitantly opened her eyes to see a brightly lit cave littered with bones and walls covered in decorative leather. Yet the cave’s beauty didn’t move her in the least after she saw what lay at the center of the cavern.

A woman stood in front of Xue, no, not a woman but a terrifying beast!

A small giant with a height around twelve feet sat cross-legged on a prayer mat, wearing loose leather clothing full of trinkets that barely covered anything at all. Her skin, a mixture of light brown, seemed fused together in some parts with metallic tribal designs depicting a primitive yet elegant pattern that flowed into another, separate pattern full of sharp edges with smooth sides. This seemed especially so when looking at her hands that were covered in complex metallic designs leading up to her elbows and letting off a chilling light.

Many things about this small giant frightened Xue. The fangs hanging from her red lips; the messy brown hair tied up in a half-assed way while not allowing any wildness to be restrained, and most definitely the giant’s slitted forest green pupils that held a seething savage gaze that in comparison made Saren's demeanor seem like child’s play.

The bestial woman tilted her head slightly, gazing at Xue as if a passing meal and making the girl tremble inwardly in terror. Cracking a smirk that caused the woman’s large white canines to show, the giant let out a bestial growl of a voice, "So... We finally meet, Preyling. I am Mear, she who rules this land of beasts."

Despite the sudden turn of events Xue somehow managed to choke out a calm response even though her eyes shifted about with fear, “Who are you? Wait, are you the spirit Master Mo told us about? The one who inhabits my hammer?”

The towering woman nodded, quite pleased that the Preyling before her wasn’t as dumb as a box of rocks and even had a spine to talk to her, “Indeed. You take quickly to the changing winds as well. But now that we have met, let us talk. Come Preyling, sit with me and partake in drinks.”

The giant waved her hand and prayer mat appeared out of thin air before Xue, reminding her of how Vince and Rune took objects from their space rings. Xue moved neither too fast nor too slow to sit on the mat, facing the huge woman.

“Ah, how can drink if we can’t see eye to eye?”

Mear smiled at Xue’s remark and with a snap of her fingers, her body shrunk down to match Xue, “Is this better, Preyling? If so, then let us drink!”

“Eh?”

Mear pulled a large gourd and two large bowls from an unknown location and handed a bowl to Xue while snapping off the gourd's cap. A sweet smell immediately spread through the cave and made Xue’s blood boil as a golden red liquid was poured into her bowl.

After both their bowls were filled, the pair sat in silence. Xue seemed to be frozen, not daring to move and drink the tempting liquid the spirit had given her. Even if her whole body wished to consume the liquid Xue did not dare drink before the spirit.

‘Who knows, she could have-’

“Poisoned it? I assure you, Preyling, that this one would never stoop so low to kill one this one chose. But before we drink these bowls of ‘pact’, I have one request.”

Xue felt her mind spinning, thinking that this spirit was indeed weird, “Pact? Also, what request?”

Breathing out a deep sigh, Mear stared straight into Xue’s eyes, “The pact is one between those who train on the path of the beast, something of a formal matter. My request, however, will be simple, as long as you choose to accept it, Preyling. If you complete it this one will not try to change the Preyling’s mind and will even help full heartedly to train the Preyling.”

Xue craned her neck, confused the spirit’s actions, “And what is this... Request?”

The grin reappeared on Mear’s face, “Simple, Preyling. I wish for you to fill this mountain with countless beasts! It's boring when there is no prey to fight with and hunt.”

Feeling it was too easy of a request Xue asked, “Is that all?How many creatures will I need to gather?.”

Placing a finger upon her scarlet lips, Mear staring at the cave's ceiling that was decorated in various bone trophies in thought, “Hmmm... Before you breakthrough from the Earth Qi Solidification Realm, I expect at least one-thousand Heavenly Body Refinement creatures above the 8th realm, one hundred Sea Qi Formation creatures above the 6th realm, and ten Earth Qi Solidification creatures above the fourth realm. That number shouldn’t be too hard, right?”

Xue felt faint, almost swaying in her seat, ‘One thousand one hundred and ten beasts? What the hell does this spirit take me for? Some master hunter?!’

“Well, Preyling? Do you accept?”

Breathing a regretful sigh Xue slowly nodded, “I will do it on the condition you do not kill or heavily injure the creatures who live here.”

Mear smiled warmly and laughed heartily, “That’s all Preyling? Deal! Now let us drink to the ‘pact’!”