Chương 65: A new cultivator

Ethan spat out a mouthful of sand, desperately wanting some water to rinse the remainder out. He dropped his helmet to the ground, along with his sword, and shook himself out. It turns out, one of the problems with his armor was that the vents he used to allow air flow also worked as a great way for sand to funnel into his armor. So now he was stuck with a mouthful of grit and the uncomfortable feeling of sand literally entering all his creases.

But as he looked over at the Alpha Sand Stalker, the uncomfortable feeling became a little more bearable.

"Oh thank god," Leah spoke up, pulling his attention to the side where she was standing. She didn't look too well, blood covered the front of her body, a dark red that had stained through her robes. All thought of uncomfortable sand vanished, Ethan moved over to her as fast as possible. She still held her sword in her hand, though the other one was clutching her stomach.

"Are you alright?" he asked, feeling stupid at his choice of words.

"I'm fine. Just a cut."

"Let me see," Ethan responded, already moving forward to get a better look. Leah removed her hand, revealing the wound. It was a clean cut, slipping underneath her breastplate and along her ribcage. Ethan forced himself to keep a straight face even as he realized the wound was reasonably deep. Though from experience he knew it wasn't life threatening. There was nothing important where she had been cut. Likely why the Broken Dawns had left that part of their armor without protection.

"You should sit. I'm going to need to stitch it," Ethan said, looking around to reorient himself. The basin where they had fought was a mess. Deep divots were ripped up and he could still see tracks from where the alpha went underground. But he quickly noticed the starting location of their battle. He guided Leah to sit.

"I'll be back. Just need to get our bags. Keep the fabric pressed tight onto the wound." Ethan moved, rushing across the sand and up the dune towards where they had left their gear before the fight. He threw both their bags over his shoulder and rushed back down the dune towards Leah. He came to a stop, kneeling beside her and rummaged through his bag, before pulling out their basic first aid kit. Ethan pulled some thread out and attached it to the needle.

"You know what you're doing, right?" Leah asked between breaths. Ethan nodded.

"Don't worry, this isn't the first time I've done it," he reassured her, even though in truth, it had been quite a while since he needed to stitch anyone. Most people normally had a healer with them or their own personal healing skill, much like Ethan. That thought soured his already depleting mood. If only he had a way to make [Aura Overload] heal others as well. Ethan tipped some disinfectant on the wound and grabbed the needle.

"Here goes," he said, before slipping the needle through her skin and out the other side of the wound.

"Fucking—shit," Leah hissed, her grip tightening in the sand. Ethan let out a quiet breath through his nose and kept working.

"You're fine," he said, not bothering to look up.

"Stop complaining." He kept working, stitch after stitch. Each one pulled the wound closed bit by bit, the clean line slowly tightening as he worked his way along it. Leah didn't say much after that. Just the occasional sharp breath, the tightening of her shoulders as he worked. Ethan finished the last stitch and tied it off, cutting the thread before reaching for the bandage. He wrapped it firmly around her torso, securing it in place and applying enough pressure to slow the bleeding.

When he finally sat back, his hands were covered in blood, and the bandage was already beginning to darken where it soaked through.

"You alright?" he questioned. Leah nodded and looked down at the wound. She winced.

"That looks worse than I thought."

"Yeah. It's a good one. Lucky it was over the ribs, so nothing important got damaged." Ethan pulled some water from his bag and pulled out the ward they had found back at the necromancer's base. He set it in the sand beside Leah and twisted the top. Immediately he felt the ambient mana stir and be pulled in like a vortex to the device. He felt the ward activate and let out a breath.

"Let's rest here for a moment. Try get yourself cleaned up. I'll harvest the Sand Stalker," Ethan said, as he rummaged through his bag again and pulled out a spare dagger. If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Leah nodded and grabbed her pack, removing a water bottle. Ethan stood up and left Leah to it. He moved over to the Sand Stalker and came to a stop. He closed his eyes and focused on sensing mana.

He could feel it all through the air but focused further, honing his senses to the alpha. There was a subtle flow of mana exiting its body. Ethan walked around it until the flow became far more noticeable. He stabbed into the alpha's stomach, the dagger punched through the weak side of its hide and he slid the blade up to its ribs. Ethan pulled the blade free and pushed his hand inside the monster. Feeling around until he found a solid sphere.

He pulled, feeling it come free from the alpha, until his hand exited the wound, along with its core. Ethan smiled as he took it in. Mana was pouring from it in waves. He looked back to Leah, she was still cleaning her arms. He wiped the blood from the core and moved back to her, before throwing it onto her lap.

"Here you go," he stated. She looked down at it.

"Is this a core?" she asked.

"I can feel the mana flowing from it."

"Yup," Ethan replied.

"You should use it before too much mana is wasted. It's time to awaken your cultivation." Leah picked it up, inspecting it.

"What about you?"

"What about me?"

"Can't you use it?" She followed up. Ethan shook his head.

"Using cores to cultivate isn't the best idea. The mana inside them is normally aligned with the monster it came from. When you mix them, it can ruin your cultivation."

"And you want me to use it?"

"Yeah, well you haven't awakened yet. All that will happen is the mana in it will influence your core when it's created," Ethan answered.

"Okay, so isn't that kind of a big deal?" she asked. Ethan snorted.

"You don't have to use it. I'm not going to pretend I know everything about cultivation or core awakenings. But from what I understand, awakening your core using a monster's mana isn't a bad thing. They have normally specialized in a magic, so you get to piggyback on their success." Leah shook her head.

"No, I want to. Just.. what do you think it will do to my awakened core?" she asked. Ethan rubbed his chin in thought, before pausing and looking at his bloodied hand.

"This one seemed to have some kind of area attack, where it could loosen and shift the ground. So I'd assume you'd awaken something that aligns with earth or sand." Leah looked back at the core in her hand.

"And what if I awaken my core without it?"

"I'd say you'd get more of a basic core. Though it's hard to tell."

"Okay. I'll do it," she answered.

"Is it safe here?" Ethan nodded. Glad she was going to go through with it.

"I've set up the Harry Potter cloak. Nothing will find us here." Leah gave a resolute nod and closed her eyes. Ethan watched for a moment before addressing the notifications waiting for him. Skill leveled [Steadfast Lv. 13] Skill leveled [Steadfast Lv. 14] Skill leveled [Keen Sense Lv. 11] Skill leveled [Mana Infusion Lv. 7] Skill leveled [Aura Field Lv. 3] You have defeated [Alpha Sand Stalker Lv. 30] Congratulations! you are now [Knight Lv. 25] Str +2, End +2, Ag +1, Per +1, Will +2 Ethan nodded to himself and dismissed the notifications. It was good progress. Especially for [Steadfast], but considering how much he had needed to rely on it during the fight, it made sense. Ethan pulled up the rest of his stat sheet, looking over everything and making sure he was heading in the right direction.

Name: Ethan Carter Level: 25 Class: [Knight] Cultivation: • Core — [Molten] • Body — [Poisonous] Attributes: • Strength: 56 (5) • Endurance: 47 (10) • Agility: 35 • Perception: 37 • Willpower: 44 Skills: (7/10) • Steadfast Lv. 14 (Common) • Advanced Sword Mastery Lv. 13 (Uncommon) • Keen Sense Lv. 11 (Common) • Oath Lv. 5 (Rare) • Mana Infusion Lv. 7 (Uncommon) • Aura Overload Lv. 1 (Uncommon) • Aura Field Lv. 3 (Rare) Overall, Ethan was happy. He was tracking well.

He had a few skills he wanted to evolve sooner than later. Especially [Keen Sense] and [Steadfast]. Both of them were staples to his build and he was eager to see what advancement options he would be given. He had also gained some levels into [Oath] after completing the guild war, bringing it up to level five. But he still hadn't used it again. During their travels, he had tested the skill further, seeing if he could use his oath for any number of things. But so far nothing stuck.

Things like him saying he would win a fight or kill a monster, didn't seem to give him any boost. In fact the skill didn't activate at all. It needed more testing but so far it felt like if he wanted an oath to work, there had to be significant intent behind it. Something that he felt extremely passionate about. This was all speculation but he would figure out more as time went on. Still, it was good to see how quickly it was leveling when he did use it. In fact all his skills were.

The only skill that hadn't seen any action or levels was [Aura Overload], for the simple fact he hadn't gotten injured. With his armor and high endurance, it was becoming difficult for things to actually damage him on this level. After all, he'd just defeated a level thirty monster, with relative ease. Ethan paused in his musing and twisted back to look at Leah. Mana was funneling out of the core and pulling into her like a vortex. Ethan could feel it building, about to reach the threshold.

Dark sludge began to seep from her pores, Ethan took a step back and took their bags with him. She was in the final stages of her condensation. All the toxins were being pushed from her body. The smell started to mix with the dead Sand Stalkers. Ethan moved away from them all, searching through her bag for a fresh outfit and removing his water purifier for her to clean up afterwards. He looked back at her as the core's mana stopped being siphoned and started releasing into the surroundings once more. Ethan sighed.

It was quite the waste. But he had no idea how he could preserve it. Perhaps if he had a storage item that had a stasis in it. But as it was, by the time he reached anywhere that could use it, the core would be useless. And he sure as hell wasn't going to mix that mana with his own. It likely held a completely different aspect. So, he watched it dissipate and kept his attention on Leah. Her face was scrunched up, in the midst of forming her core.

It took another hour of Ethan watching over her, before finally something changed. There wasn't any wave of power that swept out from her or anything like that. Instead, she cracked her eyes open, the gunk holding them shut. She reached up, wiping them away. Ethan extended his senses and could feel her core radiating power. He smiled, as she opened her eyes and looked his way.

"You did it," he stated.

"Welcome to the ranks of cultivation."