[ So, what now? ]
I asked while already approaching the bear to eat it still fresh, my stomach growling so loudly it sounded like an independent beast.
However, Euphy's eyes widened and she immediately ran toward me.
[ No, no-no-no-no! ]
She instantly placed herself between me and the bear.
[ What? Why? ]
[ This here is for the ritual! ]
I grunted in dissatisfaction as the black hole inside me seemed to devour me whole.
My mutation was taking its toll and I needed to pay no matter what.
For a moment, I even thought of attacking Euphy who was between me and my food.
Or even eating her…
[ Don't look at me like that! ]
She growled back, noticing the drool dripping as I stared at meat and nothing else, and then she pulled a cloth bag from her waist and from it retrieved a pill that she tossed at me.
[ Eat! ]
Despite the suspicious act, without thinking much, I devoured the pill without question…
I ate a strange pill without questioning it.
I ate a pill…
That wasn't food, it was some kind of drug!
'Shit! But what the hell?!'
Suddenly, my mind seemed to shut off as shocks coursed through my entire body.
Pure energy was released by the pill and forcibly injected into every cell of my body all at once while somehow making me witness the phenomenon from the front row.
It was clear why my mind shut down!
It was too much information!
Even my neurons were penetrated by this foreign energy.
I could feel every individual cell being filled.
Simultaneously, I could perceive energy entering and leaving my body in the smallest details.
Before I realized it, everything was over.
Once again, I was in the forest with Euphy. My body still a bit hazy, not knowing what to say about that experience.
[ So, how was it? ]
Euphy asked me with a mischievous smile that never seemed to leave her face.
I looked at her still in shock as my hunger died instantly.
However, I cared little about hunger!
I want more of that!
I feel like I can learn something important, that I'm on the verge of a discovery!
Euphy laughed as if reading my thoughts.
[ Just one more, otherwise your body will explode from so much energy. ]
I nodded in agreement before switching with my legacy consciousness. My main consciousness becoming a passive observer of the real world.
[ Here comes the next one! ]
Euphy threw another pill which was immediately devoured, the euphoric sensation once again taking over my being.
However, this time I could perfectly observe the phenomenon.
I saw energy enter, saw it travel through every corner of my body individually while small parts of it dissolved along the way and were wasted.
I saw that energy enter my cells and energize them directly and soon after I could see the same energy leaving my body.
In that tiny fraction of time, many changes occurred, but one thing was clear to me.
My chest rose and fell as dictated by the breathing technique, each minimal change in my breathing provoking changes in that entire system.
Speeding it up and then slowing it down.
The energy that seemed to escape now remained trapped in the body and accumulated in various random parts.
The circulation technique circulated something and that something was energy!
Each breath forced that circuit to accelerate even more while simultaneously closing the exit like a valve and increasing the pressure.
Like a liquid, energy circulated through my body at every instant, but more important than circulating, was the exit.
A large amount of energy left through my pores at all times, the same energy that could keep my body functioning was escaping.
And then the effects passed once more. Again, I commanded my main consciousness to take control of the body.
Soon, I faced Euphy who was just a few centimeters from my face, studying me with a wide smile and a curious expression.
[ How was it? ]
[ Strange… this isn't addictive, is it? ]
She immediately laughed in amusement.
[ No, although it has that mind-blowing effect during the first times, the body gets used to it quickly. ]
[ Understood, but what is this made of? Alcohol? Some kind of magic mushroom? Something illegal? ]
She laughed softly.
[ Rabbits, lots of whole rabbits compacted into a single pill. ]
I was astonished for a moment.
[ To be more specific, myriad rabbit, you've already met this evolutionary variant and I think you can imagine what that would do with rabbits that already multiply quickly. To say the least, it's a good way to solve food problems. ]
I nodded still perplexed, that experience had just changed my life and it was only rabbits.
We talked for a few minutes while I recovered. Euphy was in no hurry to pull me out of that mental state.
[ What you saw is called Primordial Force, it is the most basic energy produced by all living beings and is basically what dictates life expectancy. ]
Once again, Euphy expanded my horizons as I remembered my fight against the myriad wolves, or rather, the myriad wolf.
As I later came to understand, the king possibly used the ability of a single wolf to create an army which he then injected with his own aura.
At that time, I endured fighting for days on end while being attacked from all sides and still had the breath to fight.
The culprit of this was the Primordial Force, which thanks to the breathing technique, got trapped in my body and continued circulating, replenishing my energy and keeping me in battle.
Extending life expectancy and extending battle time were two extremely useful uses.
However, I questioned Euphy why I couldn't close the energy exit completely.
Even with the technique, energy still escaped in large quantities and I couldn't guide it properly, resulting in it spreading through the body and accumulating in random corners.
[ The answer is simple! Breathing is the first stage of a circulation technique, but the entire body must collaborate to guide that energy. ]
[ Just as breathing opens and closes channels, certain movements also do that. ]
She then grabbed a stick nearby to demonstrate.
I watched her closely as she assumed a familiar swordsman stance.
[ This is a normal attack. ]
She then struck the first time toward a rock.
WOOSH
The strike sounded like a whip, leaving no scratches.
[ This is an attack with Primordial Force. ]
She then took a deep breath as her stomach pulled inward and stiffened.
Her posture shifted as her muscles tensed and her eyes sharpened.
Then something flowed through her hand, a substance that resembled steam but clung firmly to her hand.
So firmly that Euphy seemed to struggle to get it onto the stick.
However, when she did—
BANG
She struck, breaking the rock in front of her with the same damp stick as before.
She then wiped the sweat from her face before turning to me.
[ It was exhausting, but I think you got the idea. ]
I nodded in agreement, but found myself feeling somewhat limited.
Without that sensation caused by the pill, I wouldn't be able to visualize the channels again.
Again, she laughed, anticipating my thoughts.
[ You don't need to see or feel the Primordial Force, it will always be released the right way as long as you move the right way. ]
Suddenly, a light bulb lit up over my head as I analyzed Euphy's movements once more.
While the first was merely a clumsy strike, the second resembled a practiced technique that utilized the strength of the entire body perfectly.
Therefore, just like breathing, each and every movement made by the body guides the flow of Primordial Force.
In a way, a perfect punch was one that inevitably utilized Primordial Force.
Similarly, one could say that Primordial Force was escaping from my body, because I was breathing incorrectly, walking incorrectly, blinking incorrectly and so on.
It even sounded like my doctor talking.
So to correct this, all that was needed was to become more aware of body movements and correct them based on one's own anatomy.
In this way, moving perfectly.
[ It should take some time for me to get the hang of it. ]
[ Of course, but don't worry about that. Generally people learn this after evolving to the next rank, receiving knowledge instinctively. ]
I nodded already expecting it could be that way, after all, evolution allows the unlocking of unique powers and of course these need fuel.
However…
[ Primordial Force is what fuels the body, so… using it in my abilities, isn't that the same as sacrificing life expectancy? ]
Euphy laughed before scratching her head.
[ Bingo… your expectancy increases so that you can spend it… it's an annoying trade-off, but it ends up being worth it, after all, it would naturally be wasted anyway, but now there's a purpose behind it. ]
She then coughed before walking to the bear's body and lifting it.
[ Carry this. ]
She said and then threw the bear onto my back, its crushing weight knocking all the air out of my lungs.
[ He is the sacrifice we will use for the ritual. ]
She grabbed its head from the ground and turned it from side to side, analyzing it.
[ Sacrifice? Like, sacrificing something to a deity, certainly not a benevolent one? ]
Euphy approached me smiling.
[ Depends on who asks, if I were a Sinner, I would certainly be afraid to see her. ]
[ What do you mean see her? We're not summoning an evil deity, right? ]
[ Of course not, I'm just kidding silly! hahaha … or not… ]