42 Rat Attack (1/2)
It had been about three and a half days ever since they set off, during these couple of days they had met one or two dangerous situations. In the first one they had met at least one hundred tear one demonic rats. Even though it was easy to deal with one demonic rat, the sheer number was enough to frighten any cultivator in the Zhanje level.
During these three and a half days Taku fumbled about trying to improve his strength, with little success. Here is what he understood so far.
Cultivation was a process whereby one senses natural energy also known as zesa and takes it into their own body, reinforcing one's powers and body.
The body's capacity to bear zesa could be increased with meditation, but was dependent on two factors: talent and effort. Talent however was the dominant factor when it came to cultivation, and only a small percentage of the Gutu have the talent for cultivation.
Taku so far knew two levels of cultivation, each level containing 3 sub levels. These levels refer to the amount of zesa one, determining one's strength. The gap between each sublevel becomes higher the stronger one becomes.
The two levels Taku knew were the Pamamonya Level and the Kusakura level. The three sub levels in Pamamonya were: Tohwe, Zhanje and Tamba. For Kusakura the three sub levels were: Kudyara, Kurima and Kukohwa.
Taku had just started cultivation thus he was at the Tohwe level. Due to lack of experience he could not measure how fast his speed in cultivation was, but he did know that his talent was quite above average.
The coachman was at the Zhanje level but previously he was at the peak of the Tamba level. He regressed due to depression, which was very uncommon but quite possible.
Those with a weak mental fortitude could have their zesa affected by their mental health. Similar to how someone with a heart condition could worsen if they became agitated. With his current skills Taku could take on tier 1 and some tier 2 beasts, but this was a conservative assumption from his end.
Most tier 2 demonic beasts would not pose any threat to most Zhanje level cultivators but these demonic rats were not only dangerous because of their sheer quantity but they also had slight intelligence. These tunnels were rarely used, so no one had ever really thought about eradicating these pesky rodents. In the carriage Taku had an elated expression plastered all over his face. After three days of non-stop drawing he was finally able to draw a full bow and arrow using his soul power.
Even though he achieved such tremendous results in the soul manifestation art, his progress with soul's seals was nothing to be proud of. By now he was only able to draw half of the zesa amplification skill.
At some point he had even thought about giving up and picking it up again after he had completed the mission. So he had to constantly remind himself that he did not have all the time in the world and he needed to use every minute like it was his last. After all Taku was a soldier, who knew when he would face a dangerous situation?
He reached out his hand and smoke began to materialize from his hand and in a couple of breath's it had formed a long bow that was almost as tall as he was. The smile on his face widened almost reaching his ears, he just could not hide the joy that he felt from being able to create a weapon for himself.
He did not know how his weapon would classified since it was not a weapon that came from a black smith, but one that was formed from part of his own soul. If anything ever happened to this weapon while he was using it, if it was ever destroyed, then he would ultimately lose part of his soul. This was an assumption he made on his part but he was confident of his conjecture.
He pulled the bow string and the poured his zesa into his hand and just as his zesa reached the bow string, a glowing red arrow began to form from his hands. Just as he finished forming the arrow he breathed a sigh of relief because he was not too sure that it would work, and just as the arrow dematerialized, he was suddenly struck by a thought.
Taku had formed an arrow that based off his fire affinity but then he remembered that he also had the thunder affinity inside his body as well because of his peculiar soul. He calmed himself down and placed his free hand on the bow string again and as he began pulling, a bright blue light began taking shape from the bow string.
This blue light formed an arrow that in terms of power was slightly lacking when compared to the arrow that was made from his fire attribute. Taku felt slightly more familiar with this arrow than he did with the previous one, it almost felt as if even without the soul tracking seal he would be able to control this arrow.
The advantage of archers in this world was that as long a their zesa did not get depleted, they would have an unlimited number of arrows. The only thing that they required from time to time would perhaps be a new bow. As Taku was basking in his triumph he suddenly heard an alarmed cry coming from the front of the carriage.
There were two other people with him in the carriage. These two were Tino and Nyasha and all three of them, including Taku at this moment jumped out of the carriage. As they landed close to where the coachman, Ranga and Tadi were sitting they could not help but freeze.
In front of them stood close to five hundred rats, this time it wasn't the sheer amount of rats that caused them to feel dejected but at least eighty percent of these demonic rats were of the second tier. The carriage came to a stop, as the coachman was afraid that these rats would immediately attack the horse that was pulling the carriage.
Taku looked around and in this pitch black tunnel the only light source they had was the torch that came from the carriage. So even though they could see five hundred rats thanks to this light, they were still worried that there could be more behind the curtain of light that the torch provided. Taku stood there in a daze because even though he was the leader he had no idea what to do at this point, he looked tohordes Ranga who was also a former leader of a different team.