Chapter 4: Beneath the Cinders
After the long painful battle. Xing Yan leaned against the wall, lungs burning, arm twitching from exhaustion. His crude pickaxe is now chipped. Beside him is Foreman Tie laying on the floor.
Foreman Tie coughed hard, spit mixed with blood. "You alright, kid?"
"You need to ask yourself." Xing Yan groaned.
"People like me don't die that easily." Foreman Tie commented.
They both sat in silence for a moment, the eerie kind that follows after surviving something you absolutely shouldn't have.
Suddenly a bunch of footsteps quickly approached them from afar.
It was the miners who came out from hiding after confirming the Savage Beast has been defeated.
When Mo Lin saw the bloody Xing Yan, she immediately rushed out.
"Xing Yan! Are you okay?" Mo Lin worryingly said as if she's Xing Yan's mother.
"Who are you? My mother?" Xing Yan jokingly replied.
When Mo Lin realized what she just did, a strike of red blushed appeared on her face.
"Idiot. The White Vein Warg should've killed you." Mo Lin cursed.
Xing Yan was dumbfounded. What the f*ck? I just went to a life threatening situation ok? And you wished for me to die.
Is what he would've said, but then-
"I'm glad you're okay."
He heard Mo Lin whispered underneath her breath.
That phrase just send shivers to his spine. His mind started creating scenarios such as him and Mo Lin getting married, having a child, and lived a happy life.
'Stupid teen pheromones!' Xing Yan shouted in his mind while slapping his face left and right. He needs to remind himself that this is not a romance novel that he reincarnated.
Looking at the flustered Xing Yan slapping himself, the other miners laughed. Ending the intense atmosphere in the bloody battlefield.
---
While walking back at the camp, some of the young miners threw one question after another.
"Foreman Tie, that thing… is it really a White Vein Warg?"
"It almost killed me," Foreman Tie spat. "Of course it is."
A gasp rippled through the crowd.
"Aren't those Intermediate-Spirit Rank Savage Beasts?"
"Yeah, we were all hiding! This kid fought it one-on-one?"
"I swear I saw his pickaxe glow at the end… was that… some kind of Battle Skill?"
"He's only been here for two weeks! What the hell has he been eating?"
The murmurs got louder. Some were in awe, some in disbelief, and a few with jealousy tucked behind their eyes.
Xing Yan didn't respond to their chatter. He kept his head down, clutching the chipped pickaxe in his hand. He still can't believe he survived that fight, what happened earlier made him realized an important lesson in this world–the strong devours the weak. If he's not strong, he'll lose his life again, maybe worst than being eaten alive by a furnace.
Speaking of furnace, this damn monster of a furnace is still a lingering question in his mind.
'I need to investigate this thing later.'
"Oi, kid." Foreman Tie's voice snapped him out of his thoughts.
"Yeah?"
"Quit spacing out. You're scaring the greenhorns."
Xing Yan looked up. Sure enough, a few of the younger miners were giving him weird looks—half reverence, half fear.
Mo Lin stood a little farther away, arms folded. She was watching him too, but her expression was different. Not scared. Just… thoughtful.
After a minute of walking they finally arived back at their camp.
Foreman Tie stepped up on a rough looking rock and shouted,
"Today has been a very interesting day, a rabid dog almost took everyone's life." He stopped and took a quick glance at Xing Yan.
Then he continued, "But that doesn't mean the trial will be stop. Tomorrow's test is the real challenge. Rest well today, you'll need all your strength for tomorrow's event."
---
Later that night…
Xing Yan sat alone in the far end of the sleeping cavern. Most of the others were passed out, snoring or murmuring in their dreams. A few kept to themselves, practicing on swinging their pickaxe, or sharpening their tools.
He stared into the faint embers of the campfire, chipped pickaxe across his lap.
The furnace inside him rumbled again, faint but constant, like a sleeping dragon shifting in its bed.
Then he remembered the Core of the White Vein Warg he slip in his satchel.
He hold it in the palm of his hand, and sure enough lines of information appeared.
> Intermediate-Spirit Savage Beast Core
Soul Essence: 348
Effect: When consumed, it slightly enhance the body's Soul Essence control.
- White Vein Wargs are creatures born from veins of an unstable spirit ore. Territorial, cruel, and considered as the smartest of all the Savage Beast in its level. Its core is a helpful elixir that enhances the body's control over Soul Essence.
(Absorbable)
Huh. The more he looks at it, the more he realized how awesome this thing is.
While fighting the White Vein Warg, he realized how hard to control the Soul Essence, especially if you tried to focus it on a part of your body or weapon. He only did it earlier because of the help of the Primordial Forge, if this thing did not reacted, he might've became a dog food in that battle.
And being able to improve the Soul Essence circulation, will certainly help him in the future.
Under his breath he murmured, "Absorb." and a chime bell sounded in his mind.
>Absorption Initiated...
(5%....40%.....90%.....)
[Absorption Complete!]
The Core vanished from Xing Yan's hand, and a ray of light seeped through his body. He can't get enough of this feeling.
"Hu.... Let's see how faster the circulation have become."
A strange energy flowed in Xing Yan's veins as he concentrated and circulate his Soul Essence.
It only took Xing Yan 3 whole seconds to circulate the Soul Essence in his body!
Xing Yan gasped as he felt the Soul Essence illuminating his whole body.
"Hiss... It improved this much?!" Xing Yan commented, dumbfounded.
In the battle earlier, it took him a total of 6 seconds trying to circulate the Soul Essence in his whole body, it was even longer when he channel it only in the tip of his pickaxe.
Xing Yan clicked his tongue.
If this one core improved the circulation this much, how quick would it be if he consumed one or two more of this?
But Xing Yan immediately gave up that idea. He almost died fighting for this thing. It would be impossible to collect more of this for now, not yet.
Not until he's stronger...
Sensing this, the Primordial Forge grumble in his mind like a hungry beast. Maybe supporting the goal of Xing Yan.
'Right, I have this thing. Maybe getting stronger is not just a dream.' Xing Yan thought.
Back on Earth, he'd spent years studying real forges. He'd seen old, creaking furnaces roar to life with bellows and blackened coal. But this one… it was alive. Not just metal and fire, but something more. Something ancient. Every time it lit up, he felt like someone was watching him through the flames.
"What are you exactly? What's your purpose? And why are you... with me..." Xing Yan stopped mid sentence, he might've gone insane trying to talk with a furnace.
Suddenly, lines of information appeared infront of him.
>Flames begin with friction, while air helps the fire to exist. I am only a fuel that will help your flames ignite.
As if it heard him, the Primordial Forge answered his questions.
"Heh. So you're helping me then? That's good to know."