Starting Attunement

This wasn't some kind of game. Locke was in the real world, another real world, and these were real people. And guessing from what he just heard about 'life and death' comrades, they must've been really close. Getting caught in this mind-blowing torrent, he realized he had forgotten one of his rules.

Never kill without reason. It might seem simple, but it really wasn't. To say that it was what tied Locke to his humanity would be an exaggeration, but he still wasn't ruthless enough to kill whatever bothered him... yet.

He never really liked killing anyway, he liked fighting, but those two were completely different matters. "Leave it be; he didn't know. We've got to get back to the others."

Locke was brought out of his introspection by Eryx's sound and was slightly surprised by his tone. It was stiff and felt very unnatural, and he even thought he saw that everlasting smile crack a little. But then again, he hasn't known him for long, and it could just be Locke's mind playing tricks on him.

He had wanted to apologize but felt that the atmosphere was too strange and decided to break the ice with something else. Ignoring the dwarf, he caught up with Eryx and asked, "Uhh hey, what's up with these batches? If we're the first batch, then who are the rest? And what actually is this place?"

He fired question after question, realizing that the demon probably wouldn't give him a sufficient response. Eryx turned to him, and Locke realized that his smile was back, pristine and unbroken again, as if that crack never happened.

"Well- you've probably heard this since you're new, you know it's scarce that there's a new addition here, that this place is known to the ones who have caged us as, The Folter. It's sited on the remains of the escape of the demons, now known as The Dream Woodlands. Word is, you slowly crawl to insanity the longer you stay here, something 'bout the remnant auras of the demons affecting people."

At that point, they had reached a small forest. Locke stuck with them as the trio strolled through a grass-carpeted path that went deep into the woodlands. The leaves that tickled his feet and the mosquitos that buzzed past his ears irritated Locke, but the other two weren't bothered, apparently used to this.

Jumping over puddles that blocked their path, Locke asked Eryx to continue with his explanation. The boy was silent for a moment in thought before speaking, "Ah yes, the Batches. Hmm, so there are or were countless people kept prisoners in this wretched place. The Batches, obvious by the names, are the groups the multitudes are assorted to, usually in uneven and random numbers."

Locke's thoughts focused on one point especially. He cleared his throat and voiced out, "Uhm, why? Why uneven?"

`"Because they're here to see our suffering. This is not some competition where a winner gets something." There was a pause before Eryx responded, looking over at Locke from the corner of his sharpened eyes. "There is no winner in this hellhole. He who stands the test of time in this mess only suffers more."

His voice had turned into a growl at the end before he abruptly stopped talking and paced forward. The air was heavy as Noll and Locke followed in awkward silence; Locke wanted to apologize but didn't really know how to go about it.

They soon reached a clearing surrounded by tall trees, but Eryx and the dwarf showed no signs of stopping. Following them, Locke cautiously looked around as he was slightly puzzled; there was no direction to proceed from here other than to go through the thick greenery.

As they reached the center of the clearing, three colossal trees towered over the trio, seemingly bending slightly to wrap its branches around them, yet the only one panicking was Locke. He had come this far with them and had even fought alongside the other two, but that in no way meant that he completely trusted them.

His breath quickening, Locke got into position dragging his right leg back against the ground when Eryx raised his right hand. He folded all other fingers except for his pointing index finger; simultaneously, a branch extended from the tree, transforming into a woody hand. Its features seemed carved and were exquisite and were on the thinner side, the same as Eryx's hand.

Space seemed to warp in Locke's vision as the two fingers met, Eryx's finger being enveloped by an invisible wave. He couldn't see it yet at the same time he could, Eryx's finger distorting, going in a wave-like motion as their surroundings changed.

"Hehe, pretty dope, right?" Grinning, Eryx glanced back at him, seemingly proud of that eye-catching terrain change, that previous grave and somber growl long gone.

It was true. This ethereal, short feeling of going through space was somewhat intoxicating as Locke took in his surroundings. They seemed to be in a similar place from where he got to choose his weapon; a rocky dome lit by torches placed high and low.

A crowd in front of them buzzed around various weapons, and rough paper stuck together scattered around on makeshift shelves. No one seemed to mind the trio as they waded through the crowd. Locke counted at least 70 people in here as he noticed that even though everybody was bustling about, there was this gap that existed everywhere.

This settlement was located at the center of the dome as the outer space seemed to have been left alone; they had even directly teleported to the center. Locke could see the roof curve down and extend past the borders visible from where he was standing.

Soon after, they reached a crude stall which was basically just a thick table, and on it lay these wads of papers that Locke properly examined. There were some in good enough conditions to have actual book covers and were gray with thick, horizontal, black stripes near the spine.

He reached out for one when a rough and thick hand snapped at him, causing him to pull his own back. Noll brushed past him and went around the stall while ignoring Locke's glare before bending down and pulling another dwarf up.

And unlike Noll's face half-covered by his bushy beard and thick eyebrows, this one had a clean face with huge eyes and also bushy eyebrows. He would've looked cute but, all that was drowned by his weary eyes almost completely closed, lines on his face that told of his exhaustion, and the huge bottle of what Locke assumed to be alcohol with 'Spirityus' written on it in bold letters.

"No-Hic-olll, they- they're alll gonee..." He hiccuped, slumping onto a disgruntled Noll, drooling over him while the empty alcohol bottle fell down and rolled away. Noll's rough mug softened while a bitter smile appeared for a bit before he lightly tapped his face waking him.

"This here is Bamur, a Forgemaster prodigy ya know? Even created ripe Discipline weapons at his young age. Now he's stuck with us, also got nabbed, by the way." Eryx dutifully introduced the wasted Bamur, who was now rubbing his eyes.

Light seeped into his eyes when he caught sight of Locke's weapon as he groggily walked over and around, inspecting him and the weapon lying on his shoulder, occasionally hmm-ing and scratching his head.

"Ah! A kindred soul in the fascination of weapons, eh? By Igni, If that ain't an outlandish one, I dunno wha' is hmm." Unlike Eryx's cheerful yet mature voice, Bamur had a squeaky voice in contrast to his pudgy form, which brought forth an image in Locke's mind of a chubby young kid in a tight school uniform.

He politely nodded and muttered, "Locke" in response when a voice abruptly spoke in his head.

{It would be wise to start your attunement as the system is... going to take a while}.

Taking a good moment, Locke asked back. 'So what? Should I just ask them about it?'

{Yes. Attunement is basically coming to touch with Creatrix Energy and start on the path of familiarising yourself with it before even cultivating}.

The three had started conversing on their own when they noticed Locke had gone silent. Eryx and Noll had noticed it when they met him that he suddenly just stopped talking and had a face of pure focus. Heck, he had even gotten out of breath and started sweating once.

Locke coughed loud enough for the trio to glance over at him as he slightly raised his hand and asked, "Umm, can you teach me how to attune to uhh Creatrix energy?"

They blankly stared back at him as an awkward silence settled in, while Locke looked pretty dumb just standing there with his hand raised.

"Pfft." Eryx was the first to break as he chuckled before grabbing a book near the one Locke had reached out for and chucked it at him. The book hit him in the chest as he grasped it with both hands before taking a peep at it; the title read 'Cultivation: Starting Attunement' as the attunement part was torn off.

"That's it?" He didn't know what to expect, but Locke sure was disappointed as all he needed for attunement was apparently a wrinkled, torn, and common book.

{Please, in theory, anybody can start attunement, but not anyone can become a cultivator. What if you don't have any talent? I don't even know why they chose you}.

'Fuck' Locke cursed under his breath, 'I should just focus on this and try and get it started.'

Freeing his mind from the conversation with the demon and the slight disregard for the tattered old book, Locke suddenly found himself, slightly panting and sweating.

'Huh? Why am I sweating?' He scratched his head before putting that out of his mind, too; he would think about it later. Locke wanted to actually ask the demon, but the demon always had a way with words that irritated him, and he had apparently no intention to help in any way.

Taking a gander, Locke noticed that both Noll and Bamur had disappeared with just Eryx sitting on the huge table with his legs crossed and swaying. Without Locke even asking, Eryx slid off the table, dusting his backside as he motioned at Locke to follow him.

Locke was right behind him as Eryx walked around the huge table, opened a trap door, and disappeared inside. Adjusting his eyes to the sudden brightness, Locke rubbed them for a good moment before peeking around.

They were in a well-lit, brown cubicle with a crude cavernous appeal, reeking of the scent of weapons. Eryx pointed to the center of the room and gestured at Locke to sit down there. Once properly seated, Locke brought out the book, laying it on the floor as he muttered,

"Let's get this started with, shall we?"