Chapter 20 ( Drained )

  The high of not dying is great. I genuinely recommend it to everyone. The way your heart beats is like nothing else. Of course, getting in a position where you have to “not die" in the first place is ill-advised, but I'm just saying… if you ever end up in such a situation, enjoy it. Because if nothing else, this cursed valley has taught me that each new experience might be your last.

  I mean, just think, If that Shadow Jag, what I'm gonna call it from now on, had killed me… I'd be dead. And truthfully, I think I'd be pretty mad about being dead. But of course, none of that matters because I'm not dead. The Shadow Jag is dead, because I won. I beat my first creature with a green core, and it was probably like twenty times my size, and invisible at that.

  Despite all of that, I couldn't help but find it strange that I've encountered two creatures with the same gift as me. If it's so common, I hope I don't have to keep worrying about creatures attacking me from the shadows. I had named the Jaguar based on its skill, but also its coloration; that dark inky fur reflected the sun streaking through the canopy beautifully even as I cut it away to get to the core. It was so distracting that I cut a few patches away and stuffed them into my pack, it’s not just trophy-taking. The texture fascinates me; dark as shadow but softer than spider silk. Maybe later it’ll become something special. I was thinking maybe a cloak of some sort. Something to remember how close I came to disappearing forever.

  I wonder if its gift is something distinct to just the one before me and not the species as a whole, if so it would be a bit of a misnomer to put “shadow" in the name. I put a pause to those thoughts as I finally reached its core. I had to use both hands to pull it from the creature's body, and like every other core I've harvested, it was perfectly clean, not a speck of blood stained its surface. My hands, however, were a different story. I was covered in gore and felt absolutely disgusting, but it was unavoidable.

  I sat with the green core against the silky fur of the beast. "Let's try this again.” In my meditative position, I focus on my core first. I realize now that my first core is full of white, unrefined arc. A subtle tint of magma orange tinted red slowly starting to color the energy within. Like water in oil, the red energy sinks to the bottom as it's newly purified. It's interesting to watch but not my focus. I look deeper into my second core and see a similar process, less white sits within, making it unnoticeable as the orange ebbs and flickers with its power. I pull at this energy, urging it to flow, only to feel it slam to a halt against an unseen barrier within me.

  It’s a solid, unyielding wall where there should be an open channel. I try again, pushing harder, but the orange energy simply recoils. Confusion fogs my focus.

  "What now? It worked before. What’s different?" The thought echoes in my mind. I throw my hands up in the air and let out an annoyed groan. I feel my eyes start to well up and i drop my face into my hands, a bit of a mistake as im hit with the pungent metallic smell of blood. My groan then turns into an annoyed scream. I sit back and sigh, at the distinct feeling of blood on my face I let out a pout.

  "Get a grip Kaliah! Stop acting like a child..." The thought instantly made me laugh as i realized "Oh wait I am a child." I shook my head and took deep breaths to calm myself down and focus again.

  Getting myself back together I started to trace the steps of what had happened. While I was fighting the shadow jag, I emptied my core completely and, only then did the orange flowed.

  "Now…" I look inward again, at the turbulent, milky-white arc swirling in my primary core. It’s full. The raw, unrefined energy is choking the path. It seemed as though, I could only use my second core when my first core is emptied.

  At the time I thought it would be easy to empty my core. The first few days were a cycle of frustrating failure. I’d spend hours purifying a sliver of raw arc, only to stupidly expend it on an energy barrier to withstand the crushing density of the zone I was in. Every shield I raised, every small exertion, drained the tiny progress I’d made. The sheer size of my first core, combined with the slow burn of red-stage purification, felt like trying to empty an ocean with a thimble. After a week I realized This was going to be a long, grueling ordeal. I had to retreat, making camp further out, where the pressure was less severe but the creatures were more varied. For thirty long and painful days, I was forced to live without arc, relying on muscle and wit alone to hunt and survive.

  I have found that while they are dangerous to touch, being around beetle maples provide the best security in the valley. Creatures tend to avoid them because they know it's game over if they touch one. I sit beneath one now with a full core. knowing I need to release as much energy as I can quickly, I figure the absorbent properties of the tree's sap might help to some degree.

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  “Here goes nothing.” I channel my energy across my skin and my body takes on a furious red halo as my face strains, almost like I'm taking a dump, as I just force everything I can into the world around me. It takes about five minutes of this intentional effort before I feel my chest tighten and then the light of my body flickers from red to an almost yellow-orange.

  I sigh, catching my breath for just a moment before I pick up the green core I've been carrying with me. Holding it, I am finally able to push my energy out and send it inside. The energy burns and crackles like flames with gasoline splashed into them. I then essentially try to scoop out some of this energy and pull it with my own back into my core, a small sliver of what I would otherwise take all at once.

  In this, I feel the emblem on my chest glow with warmth before my mind is taken into the memory I extracted. I am a Jaguar, sitting in a tree high up in the forest, my tail swinging beneath me as I rest, enjoying the rays of the sun across my inky gold fur. And in the next instant, I'm pulled back to reality. More than ever before, I can feel the connection between my gift and my core. If the path before could be compared to a foggy road, it's now a clear sunny day.

  “So my gift is more like a wireless signal…” A Bluetooth signal connecting the two. With this new bit of information, I can better feel how to send my energy into my gift, circumventing having to go through my red core altogether. I feel my chest surge with energy as my emblem blooms, and I once again focus on the orb I hold. I start pulling at its energy and I feel it just as eagerly leap for my core. The sensation is like no other; my eyes widen and my lips stretch into a smile as bliss washes over me. My fatigue and pains are washed away with the wave of pleasure, and I'm left lying on my back as the core disperses into white specks back to the world.

  “Holy…” I sigh, lying on my back. I hadn't realized it until now, but the beetle maples are surging with red and orange as swarms of the Maple beetles walk up and down their trunks, glowing with the same symphony of colors. That was the last I saw before my eyes were forced shut.

  I sit among the branches of a massive and ancient tree, a spot where the sun touches and I can feel its warmth absorbing into my inky black fur. It is bliss in my forest, the sounds of birds chirping and flying among the canopy, and the singing of leaves as gentle breezes pass through their groupings. From here I can see all that there is to see.

  There are budding crystals that line the ground glowing with their own vibrant light, the colors ranging from red to violet. There are spiders that stand taller than me and yet we do not clash, the other disgusting crawling insects, and then everything else which is like a buffet for me to pick from.

  Feeling well and rested, I stretch out my paws, my claws extending as I rake them across the bark of the tree, the scratching sensation calms me so. Feeling a bit thirsty, I descend from my treetop throne and start walking to the river's bank. It's a long walk but worth it for as good as the water is. As I stand over the bank, I see my reflection…

  “I see my reflection?” The thought slams into me, as I stare into the rushing water.

  “Am… I?”

  "Who am I?”

  "Is this really me?”

  "I don't… I'm not a beast…"

  “I am human… I am… Kaliah.”

  The world flickers and it's as if reality itself began to fall apart. Trees and the ground and everything around me began to take on an orange-yellow tint. I growl, confused, as I back up, now suddenly in a clearing. A girl is walking in front of me…

  “I know her?"

  In the next moment we are fighting. It's fun to fight her. fighting this creature is unlike anything I've ever fought before. She can tell where i am even when I hide myself. This frustrates me, but I am excited by it too. My eyes dredge into hers as I stalk her. As I move in my concealed state, her eyes track me with freakish focus. "I am going to kill her."

  I leap for a blow and she conters the glowing stick she holds proves stronger than I would've expected. My green claws ignite as I slash at her, dropping my barrier for the energy boost in need. We continue till she's bleeding and tired breathing heavily it's been fun playing around but it's time to end this.

  “STOP!" a voice echoes in my mind. I scream out in Frustration in my hidden form I Pounce and then there is simply nothing.

  The world around me vanishes and it's just me, not in any form or body, it's just me, my mind clear now, free of the animalistic mentality and way of thinking. If I could sigh like this, I probably would. I take a second to calm myself, feeling as though I was going to lose myself, before I start to focus on my core and the new energy I'd pulled into myself.

  The Jaguar’s life was so clear, more so than any I'd experienced before. I felt as though I'd lived its entire life. I felt as if I were the Jaguar. Like I had no control over anything else. That wasn't true though. I was neither some Jaguar nor without control. I was starting to understand why it would be so dangerous to absorb another person's core... but it also made me wonder how useful the experience could be. I shook my head clear of those thoughts lest I start to become some sort of grim reaper.

  I think because the Jaguar's core was green, it held more information within than any other I've absorbed before. I mean, I could feel its energy flowing through it. Its body was fundamentally different from my own, but functionally similar. I held onto that movement of energy, the flow of it and even just thinking about it, I felt myself moving my energy the same way it did. Despite having spent two Months on trying to form a barrier to resist, the high density, I finally figured it out. And I can't lie... I hate myself.

  Having absorbed the core completely, my own was refilled. A blessing considering how long it took to purify before. I took my time to try out what I'd learned from my Felinid friend. I take my energy from my core and force it outwards forming my barrier. I then take more energy, and add that to my barrier and I see it visibly darken. I do this a few more times and then have to stop to prevent using too much.

  “That's it?" The answer for how to improve my energy barrier Is incredibly anticlimactic, and I hate myself for how simple it was. I had over complicated everything, when all I needed was the equivalent of " Just add more."

  If nothing else I did gain a lot from the Shadow Jag. The fact that giant spiders roamed the forest with legs so tall they looked like tree trunks. That there are beautiful glowing crystals humming with Arc. That all Shadow jags have the same concealment Ability like I was wondering about. As well as the fact that they're aren't to many of them.

  With most of the Shadow Jags knowledge now my own, I feel a bit better equiped to deal with this deadly place. More than anything, I want to get my hands onto one of those crystals.