I can stop the Heart's blood from being absorbed?

Xing Kai stared wide eyed between the dead boar and the bloodied sword.

What does this mean

Xing Kai could hear the beast thundering towards him and took cover beside the carcass of the boar. With the dull smacking sound of body against body, Xing Kai and several boars sprawled through bushes and ferns. Xing Kai came to an abrupt stop as his whole body slapped against a gargantuan tree root.

With a gasp Xing Kai rolled underneath a fern.

Damn sword

Xing Kai's sword had been caught between the tree and his face, creating a cut on his brow. The boars were up and charging towards him.

Just when I stop taking in the Heart's blood I get injured...

Xing Kai got up, grabbing a thick handful of mud and slapped it over his brow. He winced as the mud mixed with his wound, but it cleared his eyes for a moment. Using all his strength Xing Kai threw himself to the side, and used the weaving roots of the trees to dodge their charges. Xing Kai tried to space the boars out as he dashed about between the trees.

This has gone on for long enough

Xing Kai dropped down onto a patch of dry, spacious ground with his knees bent and his sword raised. Ferns were being pushed apart furiously from 4 different direction all heading straight towards him.

Practise. This is practise. Do it just like the Captains do

Xing Kai growled and pushed his fear back as two boars burst through the foliage and charged straight towards him.

Xing Kai's heart pumped deeply and his muscles bunched together tightly.

He charged towards one of the boars, taller even than himself, and threw his sword straight into its skull. Immediately he lunged forwards, timing the fall of the defeated beast, to grab his sword and yank it free. Xing Kai twisted about to face the other beast.

Come on. Quickly

Xing Kai urged desperately in his heart as the Heart's Blood of the Late stage boar was refined and cycled directly to his injuries. In only a few moments his wounds were sealing.

Suddenly Xing Kai felt a heavy force impact him from the side, slamming him off his feet and over the bristly boar beside him. A sharp and cold pain lanced into his shoulder and neck, causing him to scream.

Xing Kai thrashed wildly, realising that a heavy, brown furred beast had latched onto him and was furiously tearing at his shoulder. But Xing Kai's muscles were thick and astonishingly dense, forcing the beast to retract its mouth quickly. And with a howl Xing Kai swung his fist over his back, striking the beast heavily.

A howling screeching sound was produced from the beast, and a hail of fists struck Xing Kai's head and chest.

Xing Kai rolled about, using his legs to clamp onto the beast and finally managed to get above it.

It was a monkey. It had 4 horribly long fangs which couldn't even naturally fit inside its mouth, giving it a constant look of aggression and violence.

Xing Kai didn't even spare a second to crush the monkey's throat using his thumb. He urged desperately to get the Heart's blood of the beast and cycle it around his fatal wound.

Damn it, only a Middle stage?

Xing Kai managed to regenerate a rough patch of skin to cover his wounded neck, but he didn't have enough to heal himself any further.

I could take one of these easily at the forest wall. This place is really too fearsome

Xing Kai grabbed his sword and looked everywhere fearfully. There was no movements, only the howls of monkeys and the squeals of the boars in the distance.

I'm not turning back until I beat them

Xing Kai stubbornly stood up and climbed up a tree to swing his way to the commotion. His senses were tightly strained, his sword ready to meet any threat above or below him.

Quickly he arrived at the scene of several beasts facing off.

Ten monkeys...twelve? And some of them have black fur...

The boars were surrounded by the monkeys and were cornered against a thick mass of coiling roots. The boars were putting on a brave front, but there were far too many to face.

So even this is true

Xing Kai shivered as he quietly watched. His face was pale, but his eyes were wide open recording every detail before him.

The boars trembled and became more aggressive, displaying a threatening front to the gang before them. But the sharp screech from a black furred monkey, as big a full grown man with a tail that was almost as thick as an arm, silenced the boars. The monkeys clamoured and goaded the boars by throwing dirt and posturing before them.

The black furred ones, 5, gathered before the boars and sniffed them, inspecting them. Xing Kai who was watching above was astounded, but secretly preparing his sword. There was a strange light in his eyes, and he cleared the mud off his brow.

This many...I want to see what happens if I fight this many

Xing Kai's heart hammered and he could feel a rush in his blood and an itch in his bones.

Just as the 5 monkeys finished their inspection, Xing Kai was aligned directly above them.

I need more experience, more of a challenge

Xing Kai tightened his grip on his sword to the point that he felt the wooden hilt cracking and splitting.

Just as the 5 were returning casually to their gang, one of the younger boars could tolerate it no longer and prodded the Late stage monkey with his tusk. Before the monkeys could even cry out in outrage, Xing Kai dropped down from above silently...and spiked one of the boars in the head with his sword and gauged the eyes of another boar.

Hoping for an instant of confusion to continue his surprise attack, he pounced at the 5 monkeys. But he failed.

The monkeys were quick to react, and backed off rapidly while the other monkeys rushed him and the boars.

Xing Kai roared with a maniacal grin and exchanged fists and kicks with the monkeys. Unfortunately, although the boars were outraged to the extreme, only the blinded boar involved itself in the brawl while the other two simply escaped.

Xing Kai faltered as he noticed the boars retreating instead of fighting, and received a vicious fist to the cheek in return. However, he was already cycling the blood of several monkeys and the Middle stage boar, so was packed full of fighting energy. With fists that lashed out and legs that had unstoppable strength, he killed one after another.

This. This. This is it

Xing Kai couldn't stop himself from howling in pleasure and excitement.

His back, his stomach, his head. He was struck viciously everywhere.

But Xing Kai was unconcerned. He relished in exchanging a fist for a kick, a punch for a punch.

The twelve were reduced to under half thanks to the blind boar's charging and Xing Kai's fighting.

The 5 black monkeys were incensed and went straight to clamp down on him with their finger sized fangs.

Xing Kai spun his legs, waved his arms, blocking from all sides and fighting equally with the beasts.

One kill, two...three. Xing Kai found a natural rhythm with which to move. There were only 2 black furs left and 5 battered brown furs, and after a few more exchanges they fled, leaving the dying boar alone with Kai.

...so...free...

Xing Kai felt his vision was throbbing. His ears were filled with a sharp sound that deafened him to even his own breathing. He slowly looked down at his hands; many fingers were dislocated.

Ohh

Xing Kai wobbled slowly in place as the world began to stabilise again, the high pitched scream leaving his ears, and sensation returning to his body.

Xing Kai felt his cheeks wet with tears, and could finally hear himself sobbing.

............

There was a crowd.

It had gathered by a small stream, used to be a deep brook from its appearance, where the forest neared their homes. Although judging from their clothes it didn't appear that their homes were in all that great of a shape. Much like the stream, the people were weak but there was still traces of their better past.

"How did...what's all this meat?" cried one of the elders. Heaped before them was several dead beasts, mostly boars and monkeys, which one of the children of the slums had noticed.

"A boy was gathering all of this, dragging them out of the forest and piling them here" shouted a small girl. The crowd of adults, youths, and elders became very wide eyed. They all turned to look towards a certain little girl who was currently bravely examining the bodies herself. She was even tasting a few strange mushrooms.

"Xiao Lan..." said one of the older girls. The curious little girl turned around and shook her head, as if already knowing what was being asked.

This made the crowd even more astounded. They discussed with themselves for a long time under the sun, and eventually everyone of the slums had gathered at the mild stream.

Unlike the stream however, the people were beginning to stir...beginning to show some strength.

.........

Xing Kai blew his nose, and cleaned his hands in the small stream beside him creating many little ripples.

Need to buy more parchment too. I'll just have to write in the dirt until then I guess...

Xing Kai got up, and climbed back up the roots, into the far reaching branches above. He travelled slowly, making sure to keep a special eye out for the monkeys. It was their territory after all.

And perhaps I should get gloves too...

He looked down towards his sword.

I need to practise with this...but not with beasts. They don't fight like people do

He continued, reaching a full kilometre into the forest without encountering any beasts or any markers. The beasts had indeed marked their territories widely. However after a full kilometre there were obvious signs everywhere. Fruit seeds and cores could be seen everywhere, while old nests of leaves and branches could also be seen occasionally.

Xing Kai eventually came across a small group of black furs, and followed them. Very quickly Xing Kai arrived at a beautiful complex web of roots, and twisting trees and hanging vines. Below all this was a considerable sized pond...blue like the sky even though there was no clear patch of sky above.

In fact, Xing Kai was fairly certain that the water was not even reflecting the shadows of the black furs gathered about it.

A special pool

Xing Kai quickly backed away and made sure he was concealed from all angles.

That much...and it's even more magical than the village healer's one

Xing Kai contained the pang inside his heart and eyed the settlement warily. There were many black furs, but some seemed more dominant than others directly barging past the fellow black furs aggressively. There were 4 of these dominant appearing ones, although none of them were as domineering around a certain black furred monkey.

It was this particular monkey, with a hairless tail, which gathered the attention of the congregated beasts. Xing Kai was single-mindedly focused, almost wishing he could speak in the tongue of the monkeys. As they all settled, with 4 dominant and 15 black furs, the hairless-tailed monkey began throwing odd items into the pool and in turn the other monkeys followed. They didn't seem particularly concerned about the process and just threw items into the magical pond with no ceremony or order.

Those are beach larvae...some blue veined rose stems...

Xing Kai listed all the things that he could see being added with an increasingly shallow breath. By the end, even some blood and meat was added to this blue pond...but just as it didn't show any reflections, it didn't show any changes upon having all these things added to it.

Suddenly the monkeys were screaming and shouting, as another monkey appeared from deep within the knot of roots.

Xing Kai froze and felt his heart lurch sickeningly.

I didn't see it coming?

This monkey was very different from all the others. It was silver furred and very muscular, appearing more like an ape. It wore leather around it's upper chest, shoulders and arms similar to the armour worn by some militiamen, and on it's waist was a belt and sword.

As it sauntered through the gathering, it glared at everyone before it dropped a head into the pond and then walked away.

Xing Kai's eyes were pinpricks as he watched the head tumble down into the pool...

It was one of the mercenaries who attacked his village.