I woke up before dawn the next morning. Despite only getting about four hours of sleep, I felt fully refreshed and invigorated. I listened to the silence of the predawn morning. I could hear crickets chirp and birds sing. The sky gradually lightening as it heralded the sun’s glorious rise into a new day.

No one else was awake in our cabin. I could hear a faint snoring through the walls but all else was silent. I took advantage of this peaceful moment to just breathe. I knew that once Rukia broke free of her chrysalis, we would make a mad dash for my home. We would be careful, of course, but we would make good speed from here on out. For now, though, nothing hurt. I had no aches or pains, my mind was calm and I felt a sense of peace, so I just breathed.

Ever since the world changed, I was reacting from one situation or another. I had to scramble to get a handle on all the craziness that came at the end of the world. This was the first truly peaceful moment I had felt since the world ended, and I didn’t want it to end just yet.

After a precious few moments, the urgency to act, to get home, rose again. It was the twelfth day since Initialization, twelve days my family had been on their own. With a deep sigh, I mentally clicked on my flashing prompts.

Congratulations Sapient,

After cleansing all eight Body Meridians, and expanding your Dantian, you have reached the second stage of your cultivation. Your health and stamina has increased.

Health points: 5/Constitution >> 10/Constitution

Stamina Points: 10/Endurance >> 20/Endurance

2 Meridians have been unlocked, Yin and Yang Meridians are now available to clear.

Expand and reinforce your Body Meridians and unblock your Energy Meridians to advance.

Well, I had already figured out that my health and stamina doubled, so no surprises there. The guidebook told me about the Energy Meridians, too.

Congratulations Sapient, you are among the first 20 Sapients on earth to reach the Energy Cultivation Stage on the Path of Ki.

You have received: +20% Ki control

So, less than twenty people in the entire world managed to advance their cultivation to the energy stage. I guess with it being less than two weeks, and most not having access to Essence Wellsprings or cultivation aids like the Meridian Cleansing pills or the Dantian Expansion pills, it’s not all that surprising. Settlements are springing up a lot more frequently now though, so people will have more access to the tools that will help them grow stronger. Getting stronger is the only way we can keep up with the increasing danger in the world. Not just people are growing in strength, the monsters are too. We have to keep ahead of the danger curve, or we will die like the rest.

Congratulations Sapient,

Your Bloodline ability Berserk has undergone an evolution.

Berserk has become Burning Rage.

Burning Rage

Through the combination of a Fire Elemental Body Refinement and the Jade Flame Elemental Ki, Berserk has become Burning Rage.

Burning Rage Bonuses: +3 Str, Con, End per cultivation rank. x3 Stamina Regeneration. Rapid healing: Restore 1hp/2 sec, injury Debuffs end after 2 seconds. Combat speed x3, +50% damage on all physical attacks. Essence around your skin ignites causing a burning aura that adds 50% fire damage to all attacks. Duration: 10 minutes

Burning Rage Fatigue: -50% combat speed for 1hr. -25% Damage on all Physical attacks for 1 hr. -1 Str, Con, End per body rank for 1hr. All healing effects reduced by 50% for 1hr. -50% stamina regeneration for 1hr

Now this is good news if I ever heard it. With advancing my cultivation stage, my bloodline advanced as well. I get more stats per cultivation rank; it lasts longer and I deal fire damage automatically. The penalties have drastically reduced as well. No more mental checks to avoid hurting my allies. All the penalties have reduced in potency and only last for one hour across the board.

It will still leave me hurting when it’s all over, but I won’t be nearly as debilitated as I was before. I won’t have to keep it as bottled up as much as before. I can let it out as needed now without as much fear of the consequences.

An incredibly loud crack of thunder shattered the quiet of the early morning. The windows of the cabin rattled; wind began howling outside. I leapt out of bed and dashed to the door. Well, I tried to dash to the door, but I moved quicker than I was expecting and slammed bodily into the wall before bouncing off and staggering towards the actual door.

The sound of crashing in the other rooms told me the others were also staggering out of bed and rushing to see what was going on. I tore open the front door and rushed outside. When I felt my skin being pelted by grit and pebbles, I realized I had run out in only my pants. Disregarding that realization, I looked around and saw a small tornado near one of the fire pits. Purple lightning arced through the funnel and debris. I recognized that shade of lightning as the kind Magnus conjured on his weapon during combat.

Kiara, Cody and Rowan stumbled out of the cabin behind me. I glanced over and saw Rowan’s telltale flash of colored light across his fingers as he started one of his summoning spells. He seemed to have forgotten his staff in the rush, but had managed to don his mage robe.

“It’s ok, looks like Magnus broke through to Energy stage too,” I said. The others slumped in relief. Rowan canceled his spell, and the brothers went back inside. Kiara looked on with interest. We stood in silence for close to twenty minutes as he underwent his change.

Gradually the wind died down, and the purple lightning grew smaller and less frequent. As the wind vanished, Magnus collapsed to the ground, his chain mail armor still sparking with random arcs of purple electricity.

Magnus groaned on the ground as he tried to move.

“Dude, you alright?” I asked.

Magnus gasped like a fish. He tried to expand his chest and take a breath, but his perfectly fitting armor seemed to be too tight now. I reached out to help him pull it off. The moment my fingers got within a couple of inches, the purple lighting arced out and struck my hand.

I yelped in pain as it knocked my hand back like someone had hit it with a baseball bat and went that extremely annoying tingly numb you get when your hand was asleep.

Kiara was reaching out too until she saw me get shocked hard. She withdrew her hand and looked at Magnus in concern.

“What can we do? Magnus is still sparking like crazy. We can’t touch him without being thrown back.” Kiara said, worry in her eyes.

With a long breathless groan, magnus reached up to the collar of his Ki enhanced steel chain mail armor. With a substantial amount of effort, he tore the armor open, like Hulk Hogan on WrestleMania. The links snapped and Magnus took in a deep lungful of air, followed by a few more. Once he reassured himself that he could breathe freely again, he got slowly to his feet.

Once Magnus attained his full height, I noticed he grew a few inches and his chest was deeper and wider than it was before. He was as big as he was when using his Steel Titan technique. actually, with a closer look, he was slightly bigger than he was then.

“How does it feel to be an energy cultivator?” I asked.

“Damned good, bro. Getting my Steel Body was a pain in the ass, and I thought I would explode there for a minute after I expanded my Dantian for the last time. But now that it’s over,” Magnus gave a grin the size of Texas, “I feel strong.” Magnus then started flexing like Mr. Universe.

Kiara and I stared at him for a long moment as he went from one flexing pose to another, then we busted out laughing. I ended up laughing so hard I doubled over and fell to the ground. I rolled back and forth, arms wrapped around my stomach as I couldn’t contain it. If I was completely honest, there may have been a bit of hysteria thrown in there. All the stresses of the new world finding its vent and screaming out like a boiling teakettle.

Magnus started laughing along with me and Kiara. I couldn’t blame him for the ridiculous posing. It was something I would have done pre-apocalypse. We laughed like that for quite a while, eventually regaining control of ourselves.

I stood back up and dusted the dirt from my body. “Thanks, man. I think we all really needed that.”

“It’s all good, Brother. I couldn’t help myself.”

After looking over at him again, I asked a question. “Did you Reinforce your Muscle Meridian?”

“That obvious, is it? I’m guessin’ you reinforced your Bone Meridian with how quick you were moving around, trippin’ over your own feet.”

“Yeah, it increased my Agility to a whopping thirty-six. I have double the Agility of an Olympic Athlete now.”

“That’s awesome, bro. My Strength is now thirty-four, and my iron body increases my Strength based damage bonus by fifty percent. It upped my natural defense by fifty percent, too. Shame it doesn’t count armor, but my bloodline bonus counted. Without my armor, I have a defense of eighty-five now. It’s goin’ to take one hell of a blow to knock me down now.”

Kiara’s eyes bugged out of her head. “Is that your highest stat? that score is eight higher than my highest. Only my Intelligence and Wisdom are that high, the rest are in their mid-teens.”

Magnus looked embarrassed for a moment, but answered with a deep breath. “Except my intelligence, which is my lowest at eighteen, everything is at twenty and above… and my Constitution is at thirty.”

Kiara whipped around so quickly that her dreadlocks flung around in a wide arc. “And you?”

“My lowest stat is twenty-two. They range from twenty-two to twenty-seven except my Agility.”

Kiara slumped down and plopped onto one of the nearby logs. I could just make out her depressed sounding mutters. “I thought I was making good progress. I jumped so many levels in the last couple of days. I got my advanced class and everything.”

“It’s ok.” I said, trying to reassure her. “Magnus and I got lucky with some cultivation aids we found on the market, and one we got as a reward since we don’t get experience points. We could cultivate this high faster than just about anyone else. All you need to do to catch up is get some Xp. We will leave soon, and plan on traveling fast, but I can guarantee there will still be plenty of monsters we will need to destroy to keep moving. We will power level you and Rowan as we go. Cody will be the tricky one, though. Since it’s his actions that let him grow.”

She didn’t seem to listen to me. I looked at Magnus, but all I got was a shrug. I was saved from trying to cheer Kiara up again by Chris coming over with several garments slung over his arm. I walked over to meet with him.

“Here’s your order. Four kilts, two in brown, two in dark green, all four with a resistance to burning.” Chris said, pride in his work clear.

I picked up one kilt and looked it over. It was made in a modern design, instead of wrapping around several times, then over the shoulder and pinned in place. This one was wide enough to comfortably wrap around myself. The apron fastened with a pair of wooden toggles, which, while not traditional, did the job with what we had to work with.

I used my Identify to check out its stats

Glimmersilk Kilt

Quality: Exceptional

Rarity: Uncommon

Durability: 39/39

Defense: 0

Weight: 1lb

Traits: 50% fire resistance (Cloth only), +30% Mana conductivity

The durability wasn’t bad, especially for unenchanted cloth, it had a fifty percent fire resistance that wasn’t counted as a magic trait, so it should be pretty hard to burn, and the Mana conductivity should help improve the enchantments Rowan will put on them. I wrapped one around myself and checked the fit. It was good and snug, the top of the kilt resting just below my navel and the bottom just above my knees. It was sized perfectly, and I was satisfied. I took it off and stored it in my inventory for now.

I looked at Chris as I collected the other three and said, “Thank you. You have done an amazing job. I appreciate it and the rest of the clothes you made for us.”

“I appreciate the business. We all wish you would hang around, but we understand. I wish you all the best of luck on your journey.” Chris held out his hand, and we shook before parting ways. I checked on Rukia’s egg timer and saw we still had another three hours and thirty-eight minutes before she would come out of her shell. I went back to the cabin to check if Rowan was awake or if he went back to sleep.

Fortunately for me, Rowan was awake. I showed him the Kilts I had made and pulled out my shirts. “The shirts don’t have any fire resistance built into them and I’m afraid they might burn up since I have fire-based Ki now. Is there anything you can do for them? We have about three and a half hours left until Rukia is done.”

Rowan thought for a minute, then pulled out a notepad and started doing some strange math and sketching out a few diagrams before answering. “Since they are all exceptional in quality. I can enchant three effects into them. The Spider silk helps with that and increases the amount of mana I can invest in the enchantments and their effects.”

Rowan checked his notes again and continued, “For the shirts, I can do one of two things. I can enchant them to be more fire retardant, which will give a Bonus at least as good as the kilts have naturally, or I can enchant them to grant you fire resistance. They will resist fire and the resistance you get out of it. So not as much as enchanting the cloth not to burn, but still good. If you don’t want any other special effects, I can increase their durability, and give them self-mending so they last longer, or self-cleaning so they won’t get dirty.”

I thought for a few moments, weighing the pros and the cons. I didn’t really need any other special effects, at least none I could think of right at that moment. With four sets of kilts and two shirts to be enchanted, I had a couple of regular t-shirts still in my storage. If they all had self-mending, I wouldn’t need to worry about increased durability. I could change them and wait for them to repair themselves while wearing another set. It would be nice for my clothes to not reek of blood and sweat all the time.

As for the fire resistance options. Both kinds would reduce the damage the clothes took, and they would repair themselves. But if I increased my personal fire resistance, I would take less damage and I would increase the amount of Fire Essence I would take in to help advance my body. I nodded to myself and looked at Rowan.

“I will go with the lower fire resistance that also increases my resistance, self-mending and self-cleaning. In fact, lets to that with the kilts as well, if that works for you?” I asked.

“I won’t have time to enchant all of them for you. Each takes me at least an hour to do. I have nothing else to take care of before we leave, so I can get at least two pieces done, maybe three. What would you like?”

“In that case, enchant the blue shirt and a green kilt. If you have time, enchant a tan kilt next. If you are willing, we can enchant the rest when we make camp again.”

“Sounds fine. Each one gives me a bit more experience, so I’m that much closer to my next level.” Rowan said as he pulled out his enchanting tools and got to work inscribing the glyphs in a silver ink.

With that last bit squared away, I put the rest of my clothes back into my storage ring and took another look at my axes. I had advanced to the next realm in my cultivation and they should have improved along with me.

Dragon’s Fangs

Matched Set, Soul-Bound

Quality: Grand Masterwork

Rarity: Legendary

Durability: 315/315

Damage: 71

Weight: 2 lbs.

Traits: +3 Binding slot, Ki infused haft and head +150% durability, +170% Ki flow, +169% Material Ki Capacity, 46% fire resistance

Ki effects: any Ki technique passed through this Blade gains the Fire attribute and +66% effect.

Burning Blade: 1 Ki per 17 points of fire damage (+66% material effect)

Bindings: Sharpness +43% damage, Protection +43% Durability, Projection +43% damage and range, Storage Socket x2 +150 Ki pool, Ki Condenser x2 1 Ki regenerated per 2 minutes in normal Essence density area

Jade Flame Ki Pool: 197/385

Soul-Bond Traits: Returning, Twin Ki strike, +3 damage per body rank. Cannot be wielded by any but the Soul-Bonded

Wow, just wow. I was even more glad I had these soul-bound before I advanced. I wasn’t sure if they would have automatically improved to this level or not.

The quality increased to Grand Master. Even after an exhaustive search in the System Marketplace, I couldn’t find anything that exceeded that level of quality. Over three hundred durability, these had to be the next best thing to indestructible. The base damage jumped to seventy-one, the Ki pool increased as well. The most important thing was, it no longer used basic Ki. It instead contained my own Jade Flame Ki. I admit, I was concerned about pushing my more powerful Ki through the Dragon’s Fangs. I didn’t know if my more powerful Ki would overload the Bindings built for a lesser energy.

After sleeping for the rest of the night, about six hours, the axes managed to fill up a bit more than half of their Ki pools. It would take close to thirteen hours for them to fully recover on their own. But, since I had time, I could refill my pool and top these off. I hadn’t tried to cultivate my Elemental Ki before. I was interested in seeing if there were any differences.

* * *

There were differences, it turned out. Not only was my Dantian absolutely massive after the Lower and Middle Dantians merged, but I couldn’t directly create Jade Flame Ki. I had to absorb Essence as usual, which went quickly with all my bonuses, then convert the Essence to regular Ki. once I had enough regular Ki, I had to take the Ki and mix it with my elemental Ki. they didn’t want to mix at first, like honey and water, the elemental Ki just sank to the bottom. But if I surrounded the Ki with the elemental Ki, the regular Ki would slowly convert. It took about five points of Ki to create one point. There had to be a better way to create elemental Ki.

After an hour of slow progress, I managed to increase my elemental Ki volume by a whole thirty points. It was as effective as my axe’s regeneration speed. So, after that very frustrating hour, I pulled out my Energy Stage guide book and studied once again.

I was still studying two and a half hours later, working out the hints, tips and tricks. I was in the middle of deciphering a rather obtuse passage when I felt something strange. Something inside of me, but apart… quivered. Something I couldn’t quite reach itched, then aches. Pressure built up from within, but with a quick look in my Ki system, I saw nothing changed from my last attempt at making Elemental Ki faster.

I still felt something building pressure. It was like a balloon filling up, not inside of me exactly, but almost? like it was half a step in a non-direction away, overlapping me and not at the same time. With a sudden burst of recognition, I realized it was very similar to how the Soul-Binding ritual felt when I was connected with the Dragon’s Fangs. That ethereal sensation was my connection to my soul. It felt closer than it did during the ritual, but I had also advanced since then.

There were only two outside connections to my soul, and my axes were being quiet at my side. “Rukia!” I exclaimed. I dropped my cultivation guide into my inventory, jumped to my feet, and ran outside. Almost before I could blink, I was beside Rukia’s chrysalis. It was shifting slightly as my girl moved around inside. I could feel her waking up. The shifting became rocking, and it increased in tempo. Hairline fractures formed on the hard material. I felt a surge of arctic Ki and, with a sense of danger, I leapt back.

Foot-thick spikes of ice erupted from all over the shell-like material, thick cracks spider webbing between each puncture hole. The spikes vanished into an icy mist and dense fog rolled out from the holes.

The chrysalis shook violently and exploded. Fragments flew in all directions, each piece breaking down int tiny fragments that evaporated into Essence.

Billowing fog, more dense than I had ever seen before, obscured my vision for a moment until two icy blue lights pierced through.

As though I was in some kind of dramatic anime, the wind kicked up and swirled the fog. It cleared from the ground up. I first saw four white paws, each as big as my splayed hand. There was a gust of wind that blew the rest of the fog away, revealing Rukia.

She stood just over five feet tall at the shoulder, nearly seven feet long from rump to nose. Her black and white fur took on glacier blue highlights. And the most stunning thing I noticed about her were her eyes. Gone were the white sclera, blue iris and black pupil. What stared back at me were solid orbs of ice, back lit with a radiant blue-white glow. Those icy blue eyes locked onto mine, and that swelling, aching sensation within my soul burst.

Rukia leapt onto me, so fast and unexpected that I couldn’t dodge even with my thirty-six agility. She slammed to the ground with her massive paws pressed into my chest.

-10

I took ten damage from the impact, but I barely noticed. Through our bond, which used to be as thin as a strand of spider silk, an absolute flood of powerful emotions swept through me. I tried to sort through the torrent cascading into me, but the absolutely massive tongue that covered my entire face with each rapid lick distracted me. It was like being suffocated by a wheel of wet hand towels that had been soaked in ice water and spinning fast enough to constantly slap me in the face with the speed of a machine gun.

It took quite a lot more effort than I would have liked, but I managed to get Rukia to shift off of me and let me up to my feet. With my face and beard no longer under ice-sault, and giving her as vigorous of a scratching as I could manage through her even thicker fur than before, I could finally start sorting out the emotions flooding from her and into me.

The connection went from being a hair thick to a firehose. I could feel a mountain of anxiety from her, stemming from when she was trapped in the dark and couldn’t find me. Jubilation at finally seeing and feeling me again, excitement that she was free and could run again, and hunger after not eating for a full day and going through so many changes. Beneath all of that though, as deep and as vast as the ocean, her love for me and her complete trust in her master.

Even with her increased Intelligence and Wisdom, her love and devotion to me did not abate. If anything, it grew stronger and deeper. With the size and depth of our bond, now that the flood of raw emotions passed, I could even pick out images along with the feelings she sent me. She couldn’t speak in words, even with her advancement, but I could understand her intent even more. She missed her pack. She wanted to smell her brother again, play with her boy, and cuddle with her master’s mate.

I sent back to her as clearly as I could. “We are going back very soon. We are going home.”