"Oh God…" Kai groaned. "What just happened to me… am I still alive?!"
He felt incredible pain all throughout his body, and his head throbbed violently. It was hard even to think. He began to check the sensations in his body and suddenly felt a faint, almost imperceptible aura. It was the same kind of aura he had felt from the dark sphere—except now it was coming from himself! But in the next moment it began to fade, and then disappeared completely…
"So it wasn't a dream?!" Kai exclaimed in shock.
I don't know what happened to me, but if I survive, I have to keep this a secret… No one can ever know about it… It felt like I was talking to the Universe itself! If I tell anyone, they'll think I've gone insane, Kai thought in stunned confusion.
In any case, I must never forget those laws… What I felt when I touched that sphere can't be described with words. It's definitely something that shouldn't exist in our world. Besides, I'm sure I just felt the sphere's aura enter my body… Kai pondered.
After thinking it over for a bit, he decided to focus on more pressing matters. If he died now, the mysteries of existence would hardly concern him. First, he had to survive…
Kai started looking around and slowly tried to stand up. Beside him was a forest and a rocky bank. On the other side was a fast mountain river.
"I have to get rid of the top part of my clothes and find some Healing Grass. My blood might attract wild beasts… The fact that I didn't die from the wound is just the beginning of survival," Kai said with difficulty.
Healing Grass grew in many places; it wasn't anything rare. At the orphanage, whenever someone got injured, they would grind it up in a mortar and apply it to the wound. It stank horribly, but it stopped bleeding quite well and numbed the pain. It also kept the wound from festering, especially if it was changed regularly.
Kai quickly took off his shirt and threw it into the river. Then, wearing only his pants, he slowly hobbled toward the forest. He was extremely cautious as he moved forward, constantly looking around and watching his step. He didn't dare go deep into the woods and walked only along the river. After a grueling half hour, he suddenly saw a clearing where Healing Grass was growing.
"The heavens are blessing me today!" he said, hurrying toward his medicine as fast as he could.
The grass was thin and about two handspans long. Kai quickly started tearing it up and gathering it into a pile. Only after about fifteen minutes did he have enough; he tied it all together with a vine he found on a nearby tree. He also made a smaller bundle that he intended to use right away.
Moving back toward the river, Kai sat down by a large boulder. Picking up a smaller stone, he began grinding the grass against another rock in front of him. He needed to turn it into a paste to generously coat his wounds with.
"Ugh! It stinks so damn much!" he cursed. Though Kai was still a small boy, he had already picked up some colorful language at the city market…
"Still, that's actually good… With a smell like this, it'll definitely drown out any trace of blood, and the beasts won't scent me," Kai muttered to himself.
"This is taking too long, I need to hurry…" he said, shoving some of the grass into his mouth and chewing it at the same time. He wanted to finish as fast as possible.
Once he had finally ground the grass, he went to the river. Grimacing and contorting his face, he rinsed his wound again, then began smearing the cut on his chest, making sure to cover the surrounding area as well.
Just in case, he rubbed the stinking juice of the grass all over his body. He understood that this way he was giving himself extra protection against possible wild beasts tracking him. After all, he was in a forest now—and one completely unfamiliar to him at that…
Taking a deep breath and slowly exhaling, he finally relaxed a little and wanted to rest. Kai immediately walked into the shade of a tree and sat down with his back against the trunk.
He closed his eyes and began to feel his wound go numb, and the aching in his body slowly recede. He realized that the juice of the Healing Grass was seeping into his wounds and numbing them. Sitting quietly and breathing steadily, he focused on the sounds around him and the sensation of the wind, which blew over him in a calming caress. Small rays of sunlight pierced through the leaves and occasionally fell on his body, bringing with them a gentle warmth.
But suddenly—
Kai felt as if there were something around him. As if there was something off about the wind and the sunlight! As though tiny particles were hidden within them… He hadn't noticed this strangeness before, since he had been too focused on simply staying alive. But now that he was resting, he realized that something unusual was happening…
Energy! That's energy! Kai suddenly understood.
Is this the energy that only Warriors are supposed to start sensing?! What kind of miracles are these?! he cried out inwardly in shock.
A few thoughts immediately flashed through his mind about what could have caused such drastic changes… That sphere and those experiences before he woke up were definitely not ordinary… If anything could have affected him, it was that!
Kai had no idea what to do with this energy or how Warriors used it. Until now he had only heard about it in stories… They said that the village chief had begun to sense it, but no one knew if it was true. He began slowly trying to interact with it somehow. At that moment, Kai was incredibly inspired!