85 Meditation (2/2)
”Spoken like someone who isn't in the trade,” said Li. ”Some herbs are easier to find in the night. They glow only in the dark. And I also have to get her acclimated to the woods.”
Li stepped aside to reveal the wyrm more clearly. She hissed at Launcelot before hiding behind Li's legs again.
”Hoh, I did hear from Triple Threat that you had found the Lerneas's egg.” Launcelot smiled. ”To think that such a mighty creature starts off so small. Well, good sir, I do not have any doubts that a master beast tamer such as yourself can handle it. If you could subdue that monstrously powerful ant, then nothing should be beyond your limits.”
He nodded to Iona. ”It is also heartening to know that that your capable expertise will keep the lady safe.” He smiled before he made a fist and pounded it against his breastplate. ”I would like to chat further, but alas, it is time to go. Good luck in your endeavors, my friends!”
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Li sat cross-legged in a meditative pose, his back posture straight and his hands laid atop his knees. The soil felt chilly, Winterwoods and all, but that helped him focus even better. Today's training was specialized entirely for him to improve his spiritual hearing. Night had set in fully by this point, layering the already gloomy woods over in a thick blanket of darkness.
Li sat in the middle of a clearing fairly deep in the forest, deep enough that the leafy treetop canopy overhead blotted out the moon and stars. He sat there, still as a rock, eyes closed as he honed his spiritual hearing.
Iona sat atop an actual rock, her thin and pale fingers leafing through a new book, its leatherbound cover spelling out the lengthy title The Art of Trade: Chronicles from the Top Trader of Trieste.
The training today was hands off. All Li had to do was try and focus on the forest around him, trying to pick out the individual songs of grasses or trees or flowers or herbs among the ocean of noise generated from the forest environment.
This way, he trained to sharpen his spiritual hearing, or, more accurately, regain what he already had.
It had now been two hours since they had entered the forest, but only an hour since Li had started meditating. The first hour, right after Iona found this clearing to meditate on, Li had helped the wyrm to hunt.
The wyrm had initially been terrified of this vastly unknown environment, feeling instinctive danger from it, but if Li followed her around, she could muster enough courage to explore. It was remarkable, actually, at how quickly she could find courage, and not twenty minutes had passed before she had spotted a rabbit and her predatory instincts kicked in, causing her to try and chase the creature down.
The rabbits this deep in the Winterwoods were far more agile than the average kind, and so the wyrm mostly spent her time chasing rabbits and small critters to no avail. Even now, the wyrm was prancing about nearby with seemingly boundless energy.
But Li did not expect the wyrm to catch anything. The main purpose of this trip was to get her out of the peaceful farm and get her used to the unknown wild.
Perhaps tomorrow, Li would come back and try to have her hunt for real. In the outskirts of the woods, where the prey was slower.
For now, though, Li focused on his meditation.
”I can pick up specific songs now,” said Li to Iona. She raised her head from the book. ”I know how to listen for wintergrass or celandine or the average oak. But this isn't anything like when I'm in my real form. I get everything then, the songs of every single living thing just come pouring into my head, and I just know what all of them are immediately. Like instinct. Strange the knowledge just doesn't transfer over, as if it just disappears from my head when I put my human form back on.”
”Of course, yes,” said Iona. ”Your human disguise is one of the most complex I have ever laid eyes upon. It is an almost perfect replication of a mortal body, far more intricate than a mere avatar or vessel. Your mind, too, becomes mortal in scope, and a mere human mind simply cannot intake the songs of thousands upon thousands of living creatures. It does not have the capacity.”
”I'm somewhat tempted to transform back to get a sense of that complete hearing again. Maybe I'll manage to retain some of it if it's fresh in my mind.”
Iona shook her head, closing the book and laying it on the rock beside her. ”I would not advise it, no. It is far better to slowly work up to that level, to expand the boundaries of your mortal mind little by little such that it will feel natural to assume your divine form.
Too suddenly assuming your divine mind may risk washing away your humanity and personality entirely.”
”Isn't that what you wanted, though?” said Li. He did not mean to accuse her of anything. He fully knew that was where he was headed, too, and he was more just curious of what she thought.
”It was, once, yes.” Iona nodded. ”But now, I am not so sure. I feel that something precious will be lost should the you of now be erased entirely. I still wish for you to be a guardian, but at the same time, I do not want you to become a stranger, either.”
A piercing, animalistic screech pierced through the forest. Li could instantly recognize it was the wyrm's. He motioned for Iona to follow as he stood up, practically gliding through the forest as he headed to the wyrm's location.
Li found her backed up against the trunk of a thick oak, her fangs bared. A bite mark stood out against her front leg, cracking through the thin layer of scales and gouging out shallow chunks of flesh.
Several meters in front of the wyrm, a dire wolf stood, its fangs also bared. Its fur was snowy white like the rest of the wolves afflicted with the dire curse, but it was distinguishable by a patch of black fur at its chest.