It took Ben a while to digest all the information. Now he had one more thing in his list. But this time he was genuinely stuck. This was because he did not know which one to prioritize, cultivation technique or martial technique. He had to start on either one of these. Ben decided to ask Mahaansh about it.
They w Ben was t in the new camp inside the cave. Although it was spacious & the inside was lit, Ben still felt stuffy. Ben decided to have a bath & clean himself up thoroughly. While he was washing, Ben saw his shamanic script. It had become more pronounced & big, occupying the entire arm & extended a bit to forearm & shoulder. His body had become stronger & more muscular. But he was not bulky. It was the ideal shape for combat. After freshening up Ben slept for some time.
When he woke up, he could hear Mahaansh, Vishok & the grunts & growls of Azurbaan. So he went to them. Seeing him Mahaansh & Vishok smiled. Azurbaan behaved with him like a typical household ' feline' nudging him and rubbing itself on him. He sat down with them.
Mahaansh: "So, how are you?"
Ben: Good. I can feel that I am getting better.
Vishok: (Patting him) "Man, you are getting better & better. You fought with someone experienced & even killed him."
Mahaansh: "Oh yeah, that was your first kill. How did it feel?"
Vishok: (Annoyingly) "Way to go dude. You have soured the mood."
Ben had not addressed that issue yet. He was not very comfortable about it. The feeling of guilt could not be erased fully. After all it was a fellow person.
Vishok: (Turning to Ben) "Don't think about it for the time being. You will get over it."
Mahaansh: "No. It is an issue that needs to be addressed."
Vishok glared at Mahaansh. To him, Ben was just a 17 year old boy. To him he was not ready for this. But Mahaansh did not share that opinion. He turned to Ben.
Mahaansh: "Ben, it is very difficult to not feel guilty. It means you have a consciousness.
Ben: I just feel really uncomfortable. It does not sit well with me.
Mahaansh: Those are all normal feelings that happens when you kill for the first time. That guilt is also necessary so that you don't become a killing machine or a psychopath. The situation was to kill or be killed. You're not to blame here. Be conscious of your actions & your mindset. If you become complacent or in despair you won't be able to rise up. This is also a situation that you will face in the future. You are not just going to hunt animals or plants or resources and have practice sessions for improvement. Marthyas, Naturas and Metallas will come for you. May it is for your life or the resources that you have. But most often, you will be forces to kill them. At that time hesitation is not than option. Even the slightest delay will decide the outcome of battle. So you must adjust your mentality. You need to uphold principles, but those principles should not consume you.
Ben just nodded. Mahaansh decided it was better for Ben himself to contemplate about it.
Ben: "Yeah. I read through the material you gave me. The main question that I have is whether I should go for cultivation technique first or for martial technique. Honestly, I am stuck.
Mahaansh: Now that you have an innate technique from your meridian seed, you can slightly delay your martial technique.
Vishok: I think it should be the other way around.
Mahaansh: (slightly smiling) Are you trying to get back at me? If you are I can take you on at any time.
Vishok: Oh please. Stop behaving like small children. This is serious.
Mahaansh: (chuckles) Well, I don't think you will joke about such things. So tell us why you think so?"
Ben also wanted to know the difference. He also remembered about the peculiarities of shamanic meridian seeds. He assumed it was something about that.
Vishok: " Well, Shamanic meridian wielders often have it easy when it comes to figuring out their cultivation techniques, due to their connection with life itself. Also, ,mostly for them, the technique will have some connection to their shamanic object, like if it is sword, the cultivation technique will have some connection to sword in some way, if it is a machine or a vehicle it will have some connection to the vehicle and so on.
Ben: So my shamanic object is the aether lupis and so my cultivation technique will have some connection with the species. Is that what you mean.
Vishok: Yes. That is true in most of the cases. In your case it is the aether lupis. So it could be connected to it. But animals do not have any cultivation method specifically. It does so innately.
Mahaansh: Well, just because there is a precedence one must not assume things.
Vishok: The precedence is for almost everyone wielding shamanic meridian seeds. Percentage wise it would be more than 90%.
Ben: Well, the aether lupis has spatial affinity right. So what if my cultivation method is connected to the space or the cosmos.
Vishok: Yes, that is also a possibility.
Mahaansh: Yes, I agree with that. But how do you find it?
Vishok: Well, during your time here try to figure something out. After all these battles, some thing might come out of your shamanic inscription.
Mahaansh: (turning to Ben) Do you have any ideas?
Ben: I have a few. I will try my best.
Vishok: The greatest test for the effectiveness of a cultivation technique is resonance. If you achieve that, it means you have succeeded."