13 Cursed Weapon (1/2)
Stigma looked again at the same spot, which had a familiar sensation he felt before.
An ominous presence was emitting from the end of the hole like a continuous but slow heartbeat, whispers of help and despair kept on repeating like a group was being tortured, trapped inside a prison unable to get out.
With the atmosphere, a dark opening with little light and the temperature was dropping in a rapid pace; anyone would feel anxiety and fear to run away.
Stigma was actually close to the entrance, so he had a chance and all the reason to run away.
However, for some reason he recognized the energy so he did not leave, in fact he was drawn towards it.
He had sensed this energy before, it had the similar sensation to 'Grudge Energy' then it only means, there is an earth bound nearby that Bell warned him about, but unlike before were only small black lights floating around.
They could be described as the annoying type of feeling, like a mosquito buzzing around.
Yet, it was a swarm of energy compared to before, this one before him was more abundant, sinister, and malevolent, they were endlessly cursing you from afar trying to cox him into anger making feel the need to commit a rash decision as he heard them.
To be sure he used 'Soul Eater' and then, he felt extreme nausea, comparing the Zen energy and the Grudge Energy, Zen felt like a warn feeling like sinking in warm water, but this felt like you were falling from a high building and you were sinking in a pool for a very long time.
To his understanding from Bell's explanations, the reason why most cultivators are taking ages to cultivate their Zen energy is due to the impurities they absorb as well.
They need to absorb energy then needs to be purified, if not, the body would either mutant or one's conscience will degrade or worse become retarded most of the time.
Grudge Energy however was the opposite; it had more impurities and had negative emotions that would infect the mental health of the person, eventually turning them insane.
In addition, if cultivators were to use such a power their bodies will slowly rot and turn them into the undead with a corrupted mind.
Bell explained, that Earth Bounds are souls who had energy once had pure energy which is keeping them alive, but if they are forcing the energy they have to strengthen themselves, then they are infecting the energy they have along with the surrounding energy adding more impurities in the atmosphere.
He used 'Essence Reader' and saw specters with a shade of black and purple at the end, all had wailing expressions each in pain, all trying to head towards his direction, he checked if he had any form of abnormalities in his status, only to be shocked.
The 'Grudge Energy' as well as 'True Energy' were increasing slowly at the same time he was gaining a headache.
He either had to get out of the hole and find a different resting place, but with the unknown dangers outside, he was not willing to gamble.
Therefore, his only choice is to bear with the pain, the entire night.
”I have to find out the source or else this will turn out bad.”
Bell had warned him about the dangers like absorbing this energy; they will be dangerous repercussion like gaining the hostility of all life forms even when there was no provocation, but if left alone the ground will breed a powerful curse and possess random beings, they will in turn get unimaginable power but at a price of losing their reason.
There was another reason why he did not easily leave, curiosity, one of the weaknesses of humans is discovering something, always make one want to do dangerous or insane things just to prove something.
Another was similar to greed for discovery, if he can get the source of all the energy, he will get some new power that no one has ever used.
It was his gamer instinct telling him to find the power and make it his, anyone would want power only he can use alone.
Making a name for himself, challenging unknown danger, gaining prestige, wealth and power, so he can live his life to the fullest.
Eventually after crawling to the narrow hole, he found the source of the where the dangerous feeling has been leaking at the end of the hole, a crack which was leaking out from a small tunnel the size of a worm.
His guess was that there use to be an animal living here, but because of the aura coming from the small hole it scared it away, hence the large hole with a small crack leaking.
He started digging the wall using his shovel, but because of the narrow entrance it was difficult, he was about to give up until he had an idea.
Dusk was capable in transforming into anything be it a large predators or small vermin, so why not cloak him or his hands to help him with the digging.
He mentally ordered Dusk to surround himself on him with an opening in the mouth, the sensation was thrilling like being bathed in cold water, but the cloak itself was beating like a heart, he would have stopped the process but he stayed strong.
Slowly Dusk transformed into a particles and started to latch on to him and sticking together like magnets, it first started out on his legs, then to his waist, slowly making its way towards his torso and eventually his head and arms.
He felt like he was wearing a jumpsuit that divers wear, he fasten a light stone on his head by tying a rag on his head.
With the preparations he started digging with his hands, unfortunately upon collision on the wall, his hands that was covered broke off.
Then he remembered Dusk's skill limitation on Mimicry, it depends on the body composition to transform, hence if the layer is thin then it would break.
Contrary to what he expected, Dusk was actually hollow his body was actually a shell and the inside was a cask, since he had focused on the body and the head, hence it took large portions of Dusk Body.
Then there was too little material to use, so he concentrated again and he focused on his hand, but it was not easy, when he focused more energy to his hands, he felt like they were going to a hand sized vise grip so he cancelled the order.
It appears that Dusk is relying on his master's guidance, so Dusk was not a perfect tool, he can only follow orders correctly if their not vague, he can only move if its ordered to, and he can only transform correctly based on his master's memory to fully form.
With all those adding up, it was clear that even if Dusk can kill other forms and make his master get stronger, his master is more likely to be an easy target for most cultivators, even if he can cultivate in a fast pace, he will lack experience in battles and life and death situation.
Relying on Dusk most of the time is a bad thing, that was the actual reason, why he needed a strong power for him to master.
'Gotta have a good image or my hands and body, would be crushed from a simple mistake.' It looks like he had to change his plans and train with Dusk than separately train each skill.
He closed his eyes and started forming Dusk's body to cover his hands slowly, he was starting to feel that his hands were being covered again only to feel the same sensation like before.