Chapter 20: Arc 2: Chapter 2

When she woke up, Bianca felt her whole body aching and shivering. It was worse than anything she’d experienced from sleeping in the village, and the added feeling of dirt still covering much of her skin only made it worse.

She had always had rather sensitive skin, and now that she had slept out in the night cold and covered in grime, she was feeling especially uncomfortable. Most of her exposed skin itched rather badly, and she was sure that much of her skin had gone red. It was certain to bother her for the next few days, and it might well spread and grow more frustrating if she wasn’t able to take care of it any time soon, which, in a place she knew nothing about and struggled to navigate, might well be likely.

However, there were some fortunate news. Bianca wasn’t dead, and nobody and nothing had eaten some part of her body while she was asleep.

‘I hope I never have to sleep in a place like this again… but I don’t know of any settlements nearby, so I think I will have to… Ow, everything hurts…’ she began to rise, brushing away some of the leaves that had fallen upon her, ‘It’s a shame that there were no maps. I barely know how large the mountains are supposed to be – in terms of area, not height, obviously…’

When getting into her resting place the night before, she had been careful not to disturb her careful arrangement of branches, but now she just knocked them over and got up, stretching her poor body and rubbing her eyes, trying to recover from her poor sleep. It was a challenge, but with the added assistance from her planar energy, she managed to feel half-way decent, prompting her to look around and assess her situation.

There were no wild beasts or any significant changes to her surroundings, and the wolves she had heard in the night hadn’t left any marks here, even if they did pass through. So, she seemed to be safe enough to proceed however she wished.

Before that, though, she needed to fill herself with a little more food. She took out her glistening berries – she didn’t remember finding anything like them within the few books she had read in Xi Wu Lin’s home, so she had no clue what name to give them – and placed a few into her mouth, chewing on them and quickly swallowing their plentiful juices.

A drop spilled out of the corner of her mouth, and she made sure to intercept it with her finger so that none of it would go to waste. She wasn’t sure exactly where the planar energy and nutrients were within each berry, so she couldn’t allow any to get away from her.

As tasty and filling the berries turned out to be, they weren’t perfect nor as effective as eating a proper series of meals every single day. They weren’t enough to keep her going for many days, and the few that she had would run out within a day or two at most. This meant that she needed to space out her meals a little – and be careful not to sleep on the berries by accident, as that would crush them and ruin them completely.

‘I might need to hunt down an animal, which sounds easier said than done. I’ve never… well, I’ve never hunted an animal, so…’ she felt herself becoming sick again as her mind drifted to things it shouldn’t, “No, ignore that, focus on something else… relax… Fuck my life…”

 

The sun had assumed its position at the peak of the sky and shone straight down upon the two continents of the planar world. Bianca might have appreciated it in other circumstances, but at the moment, all she got was the sight of something she had never even assumed she’d see back in her life on Orbis.

Before her – or, more precisely, some hundred metres away, past a bunch of trees, bushes and plenty of tall grass – two animals were fighting.

One was a wolf, which might or might not have been a mountain wolf, depending on what those were supposed to be, and the other was something that wasn’t. The world was around a metre tall while standing on its four legs, with eyes that shone with a strange planar light, and dark spotted fur. Most likely, there were more details of note, but even when Bianca used the Demonic Tyrant to direct energy into her eyes, her gaze could only pick up so much at this distance.

The other was at least three metres tall, also standing on hour legs, but each limb ended with claws that dug into the earth, and at the front of the short, large body was a mouth that opened up into three sections, or four if one included the top. Teeth lined each mouth part, making it look especially concerning, and there were even spines atop the furred body, large spikes that followed the spine.

She wasn’t sure what the point of most of these features was, but it certainly looked intimidating, and she could feel a certain power from it that the wolf simply couldn’t match. Whether this was the result of planar energy or not, it was clear that the second beast had a massive advantage.

The wolf was injured, the other thing wasn’t. The wolf was small, the other thing wasn’t. The wolf-

In one swift movement, the thing rushed forward and crashed into the wolf, knocking it down onto the ground and bit into it. The crunching of bones and the tearing of flesh entered her ears soon after, making her cringe as she ducked back behind the tree she’d been using as cover. Considering the sheer power of the beast, she was concerned that she would get turned into mush if she was noticed and attacked.

As unpleasant as events had been within this world, she wasn’t eager on departing it in such a manner, even if her brain might get smashed before she had a moment to process the pain.

‘Well… no way I’m hunting the big thing, and I’m not sure I want to touch anything it leaves from the wolf… Do I even know which parts of a wolf – or any other animal – are edible? I know some edible parts of a chicken, but I doubt I’ll find one at random around here,’ Bianca looked around, just in case, ‘Nothing, so… I need to get out of here somehow.’

She considered trying to sneak away somehow, but a quick thought made her decide against it. She wasn’t especially skilled at moving quietly, so in a place like the forest, which was full of branches and leaves and other things that could make plenty of noise as she walked, against a beast that might well have excellent hearing, would put her into an extreme amount of risk. Her breath wasn’t catching its attention, so she thought herself to be safe and chose to wait out the threat for until it was sorted out, hopefully by the beast running to the other side of the world and taking the rest of the hostile wildlife with it.

‘I might be here a while, though…’ she sighed, hearing the faint yet still awfully loud noises of crunching and chewing as the beast ate the wolf it had hunted.

 

“Elder, I have sighted a crimson glow from Xi Village. If I am not mistaken, that is the calling stone that had been left for them to be used in times of emergency,” a disciple spoke as he kneeled at the entrance of his elder’s chamber, his head lowered to the ground in a sign of utmost respect.

He was only an outer disciple, a cultivator in the second realm, and the person he addressed was among the top of the sect’s numbers, a mighty elder in the Marked Core realm. Although such displays of respect were not usually necessary – a low standing bow was usually sufficient even for the Sect Master, not to mention the elders – the one he spoke to was a talented, young, and most importantly, fierce woman that had little tolerance for wrongdoing and demonic ways.

Since there were few emergencies that the small village to the south could face, the presence of a demonic cultivator was likely. And since that was the case…

“So, those beasts have chosen to target that village!” a hand slammed into the armrest of the elder’s seat, “Disciple, rise. I know my reputation among the younger generations, but I would not fall to the level of my foes out of anger.”

Reluctantly, he rose to his feet but kept his back bowed, only glancing at the elder.

She sat on a gorgeous seat decorated with rubies, made of a dark wood that was a third realm material and thus sturdy enough to survive the occasional bursts of energy produced from her anger. In a smaller, weaker sect, her chair might have been likened to a throne, and her presence would have made most recognise her as a leader, but here her presence was far, far inferior to the Sect Master.

Even her gorgeous garb, a crimson dress with wavy black patterns across it, was only seen as somewhat fancy and regal, much to the joy of certain female – and male – disciples.

However, the elder herself had a certain beauty that always drew the eye, and yet was almost always covered up by a veil that she wore for most of her waking hours. The story was no secret, and yet most feared mentioning it.

“If a demon came to Xi Village and threatened that ripe ground of disciples for our sect – our sects, I should say – then we must send a force right this very moment. They know how to torment innocent souls and do unto them unfathomable horrors, and they cannot be permitted to continue in their ways!” she proclaimed, conjuring flame within her hand before she crushed it in one powerful motion, “I can feel those burns upon my flesh once more. The heavens send me this sign, and I shall not miss it!”

She raised her hand to the right side of her face, though it lingered a hair’s width from her veil and even further from her skin. To a clueless observer, it might seem odd, but the disciple knew of this elder’s history.

The burns she had been afflicted with by a person she thought to be her friend, perhaps even her lover, though she certainly wouldn’t admit such a thing, and then betrayed her in a most heinous manner. She survived, and years later, her burns had been healed, but it seemed that the pain could never fade. Thereafter, the zeal with which she sought to hunt the demons of the world became famous to the Blazing Skies Sect, and many respected it, though some were concerned about the extent of it.

“All due respects, Elder Shu, we only know they are looking for our attention. We cannot know their reasons.”

“Tsk. You’re right, but as short-lived as ordinary men may be, they ought to remember not to waste the light of that stone,” Shu Luo shook her head just a little bit, “Their worries shan’t be cared for if they call us for every little thing. Thus, if their demand for attention is worthwhile, there is only one foe they could be threatened by.”

“Yes, Elder Shu,” the disciple replied.

“Come now, calling me that simply makes me sound old. Your name… Rong Mu San, wasn’t it?”

“Yes, El- I mean…”

Shu Luo smiled, “No need to take me so seriously. The only time it matters, is… well, you know, don’t you? What topic demands absolute seriousness?”

“Demons.”

“Demons. The filth of the world. Scum without a chance for redemption. Come now, send a message for me. Get a team to head to Xi Village with utmost haste. Send back a report once the threat is identified. If there is a demon to be slaughtered… I will be there.”

 

Another hour passed – or somewhere around that time, since Bianca lacked access to a clock or watch – and she stumbled across another injured animal, but this one was alone and seemed to be tending to its wounds. It was a boar, with a number of bite marks upon its body, and Bianca thought she could take it on.

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Of course, she didn’t know for sure, but with one tusk gone and the other dulled, she thought she wouldn’t get a better chance.

‘Never hunted an animal before, and I only have a knife, which isn’t a hunting rifle… or even a spear, but I do have a cultivation… and that thing has it too, probably,’ she struggled to find a positive in this situation, so she instead placed a few more glistening berries into her mouth, ‘Well, at least the berries aren’t so shiny that they’re easily seen through my pants. That’s as good as I’m going to get, so… Sorry, boar. I need something to eat, and you look like my best choice… Don’t even know how to cook, but…’

She waved off that thought, as it was a matter to settle once she had something to cook, and one that couldn’t actually be that difficult to handle. So long as she discovered an edible part of the body and made a fire to cook it, she would have meal, and if she had something to flavour it, it might even taste fine.

Removing the kitchen knife from its place on her thigh, she gripped it tightly and breathed heavily, trying to gather her strength. This would be the first fight she would have in this world, and though she hoped it to be the last, she couldn’t be certain that she would get through the great Dragon’s Fangs mountains within the next day or two.

Bianca hadn’t kept track of the time, but eventually she stepped out, moving as quietly as she was able to. The closer she could get, the more of an advantage she would have, and if, by some miracle, she could close the gap completely, she might be able to take the boar down in one go.

A step, then another, brought her closer to the boar, all while she held her breath in the hopes that she could minimize the noise she made. It seemed to work at first, and she cleared at least a third of the distance without alerting the beast at all – or so she thought. She took just another step, and then it suddenly leapt up to its feet and turned towards her, glaring at her with its small eyes, growling at her.

She froze for a moment, and that gave it enough time to make a loud sound and charge at her, aiming its lone surviving tusk at her.

Light gathered within its legs, shining through its flesh, boosting its speed and allowing it to cross half the gap within a single breath, before Bianca could even consider dodging out of the way. Luckily, her self-preservation instincts hadn’t completely faded from her life in a modern city, so her body leapt out of the way the moment it could, evading the boar at the last moment.

It sprinted past her and brought itself to a halt quickly, though not before she was able to turn and direct her energy towards the knife in her hand. Crimson sparked within the metal, and the beast paused for just a moment, perhaps ascertaining the threat that she posed.

‘This is my chance!.. To do something, I guess,’ she hadn’t thought the encounter through at all, and thus she could only think of charging at the boar herself.

The gap between them was small, and thus she came enough to the beast to strike it before it could flee or attack her back. She went straight for the boar’s head, planning to hit one of the eyes, and the boar huffed and lunged towards her as well, energy manifesting around its head in a similar manner to Song Ming’s Eidolon Lunge.

As the growing planar head met with her knife, the energies behind both attacks clashed and exploded, a burst of crimson and amber flooding the forest. Bianca couldn’t identify the specifics, but she could tell that her attack had been the weaker one from the fact that she got thrown back, nearly crashing straight into a tree with her back, a scenario that might well have left her paralysed and at the mercy of the boar.

After a moment of recovery, the animal dug its feet into the ground and gathered its energy against, the glow greatly surpassing the previous level. It seemed to be building up to something big, most likely another charge, so she nearly began running before she glanced back, at the tree behind her.

‘Wait, if I time this correctly… Couldn’t I get it to hurt itself, or maybe even knock itself out, just with this?’ she felt as if a lightbulb lit up above her head, though the idea was hardly the most original or clever. Chances were high that it would just bust straight through the tree somehow, maybe even eat it and grow ten times in size for whatever reason.

Nevertheless, she had no better choice now, so she waited for the boar to move, and the very instant that it did, that energy burst from its limbs and it moved forward with great speed, she leapt aside, unconsciously using Demonic Tyrant to channel her energy throughout her own legs to accelerate her movement. It seemed to work well enough, as she was clear of the boar’s path with a second or two to spare.

It didn’t seem to have a method for stopping itself mid-charge, and thus it did strike the tree with its head, its only tusk clearly piercing the tree with an audible noise. The tree – a relatively small in comparison to others in the forest, only a metre in diameter at the base – shook and shifted, the earth around it moving as the roots moved with the trunk, but it remained still.

‘Now! Sorry, but I need food!’ she rushed to her feet, directed energy back into the kitchen knife, and gripped it with both hands before bringing it down onto the boar’s eye.

For some reason, moments before the tip of the blade hit the boar, the crimson within grew twice as bright and twice as mighty, and as it hit, that light surged into the boar’s skull, almost blinding her for a moment.

More importantly, the power of the stab tore through the boar’s head and outright detonated it, a mixture of blood, skull and brain exploding onto her and the surrounding grass. In an instant, she was covered in even more unpleasant stuff than before, and more importantly, she was hit with a horrible smell that made her gag from just an instant.

‘Goodness, I hadn’t expected… So disgusting, this…’

For a few moments, she tried to withstand this unpleasantness and keep all the berries she’d eaten within herself, but she failed. All of the gore on her shirt and pants only added to her disgust – she was lucky that her face mostly avoided the splashing blood and brain matter – and so she turned away and threw up, having enough sense not to spoil whatever remained of the boar with stomach acid and the remnants of glowing berries.

‘This place… I don’t think it’s going to be habitable for me, not while the stench lingers… Ugh, how do people do this on Orbis? I mean, they don’t explode the heads of their prey most of the time, but they do dissect them and all that… Fuck, I might throw up again…’

She knew she needed to depart as soon as possible, so she turned and assessed the state of the boar’s body. Other than the head, it looked to be intact, so she was bound to find something to eat in there.

It was necessary to carry the carcass away from here before doing anything else, but it was fortunately not too big, and therefore shouldn’t be too heavy. Desperately trying to hold back her dry heaving and discomfort, Bianca lifted the body with both hands, channelling energy to her arms to support the rather significant weight. As soon as she got a good grip on it, she departed from the scene, the knife returned to its place on her leg so as to not get in the way. Each step was rather challenging and caused blood to spill from the gaping hole that had once been the boar’s neck, but she pushed through, just barely.

 

‘That sound… water! Flowing water! Come on, Bianca, you can do this! Just a little longer!’ she exclaimed within her mind, feeling energy return to her body as she hastened towards the water that she couldn’t quite see just yet.

She had been walking for a few minutes, and her arms were starting to hurt quite a bit, but the faint sound of water invigorated her and made her feel the trip was worth it. Sure, she was still covered in all manner of gore, and the headless body in her hands may have left a vivid crimson trail of blood on the grass as she walked, but at least she would have a bath soon enough! It was all worth it, as far as she could tell.

The expectation made her feel like the journey took forever, but it only took another few dozen steps before she stepped onto the shore of a small river, where she dropped the boar’s corpse right away.

Then, she came closer to the river and look into it, finding it to be rather deep despite not being that wide. It was filled with gravel at the bottom and at either shore, but the pebbles composing the gravel were quite large, each one being around the size of a human tooth – she wasn’t sure why that was the first thing to come to mind, but it was a good enough comparison.

Perhaps the pebbles wouldn’t make for the most comfortable beach of her life, but that hardly mattered. Without any hesitation – nor even the attempt to check the warmth of the water – she came to the water’s edge and leapt in, clothes and all, not caring for the consequences.

Cold covered her body in an instant, completely drenching all of her clothing and hair. The shock was quite significant, to the point that she nearly inhaled a large mouthful of incredibly cold water, but it was such a refreshing feeling that she didn’t feel her mood being negatively affected at all. On the contrary, it was as if the cool water cleansed her body and mind, letting her calm down and overcome some of the stress she’d been experiencing.

She came up to the surface and spat out the water that got into her mouth, coughing and desperately trying to inhale enough air to make up for the water that did enter her lungs.

‘It’s not salty, so that’s… good? I’m not sure breathing in air is ever good, but salt water would be worse,’ Bianca arrived at a satisfactory conclusion for herself and looked at the boar carcass lying a few metres away, ‘While I’m feeling alright, I should try and figure out how that happened. Old Man Song… he wasn’t hurt like this, and a single stage of cultivation progress shouldn’t matter that much.’

There was no obvious explanation that she could arrive at, other than the fact that she was actively willing to end the boar’s life. She wanted to kill it, hunt it for its meat, and unless there was something she missed, that might have boosted the strength of her attack to a massive extent.

On one hand, this was good. If she met other cultivators and got close to them, and then ended up in another stressful situation with a knife in her hand, then it would mean that she might be unable to kill them without proper intent. Now, the fact that the thought of being in that situation again even entered her mind indicated quite a bit, but she knew that she wasn’t some kind of murderous monster, so it was probably just a temporary thing.

On the other, it made her powers seem all the more threatening and… well, demonic. She did not want that.

‘However, when trying to learn stuff on my own, I absolutely suck. I can’t seem to influence my techniques either, which means that I get only what the Demonic Tyrant wants to give me, possibly only based on the type of technique that I pick up and read,’ Bianca analysed the previous actions of the strange panel that had twisted her path within this world, ‘I would have preferred it not to be tyrannical towards me, but I can’t really decide that stuff… I don’t even know why I’m here or why I ended up with it, after all.’

Simply thinking about the boar – and smelling the stench of blood emanating from it – made her unwell again, so she turned around and removed her clothing, throwing it onto the shore one by one. It was then that she realised that she had kept the knife on her leg.

Whatever kind of metal it was made from, it was probably vulnerable to rust, and she had no clue how to properly care for a weapon. In this regard, her knowledge was probably inferior to how to please a guy in bed, since she had seen some straight porn in her time on Orbis. Even without that, she knew that they had dicks, and those seemed to be straightforward enough.

‘Not sure why my brain is going in this direction, but… ew. Guys are just unpleasant. Shame the human race needs them to reproduce,’ she realised her brain was going in the completely wrong direction and quickly removed the knife from her side, tossing it and her undergarments onto the shore, ‘I’ll need to figure out a way to dry the knife, along with all of my stuff, and also do something with the boar… I’ll need a fire, won’t I? I think I could start one with some branches and a pair of sticks, or some stones… Then I’ll need to set up something to hold the boar above the fire, then some way to eat it… all while not being able to trim myself down there… Yay.’

As her hand glanced past her groin, she felt the bush that had grown there in her time on this world. It was yet another sign of the backwards word she had ended up in, and was making her rather uncomfortable. However, she would not trust herself to trim it using a kitchen knife – a big and scary one, at that – so she could do little more than complain to herself and the world around her.

After a while, though, complaining lost its charm and she moved onto something more useful, which was washing her hair and body to make up for the time she had not been able to bathe.

Just like that, time flew by.

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