Chapter 8

"What the fuck just happened?! What did you do??" I'm losing it, the cultivation stuff seemed fantasy enough for me but what was that?! Magic? There wasn't any magic mentioned in the brief that I read, though the thought occurs that maybe the information wasn't as thorough as I was hoping because that sadistic star does not give a flying fuck about my survival.

"What do you mean Qiao Ai, what just happened? I don't understand, you'll need to specify." Maverick seems bewildered with my outburst, but I'm not in any state to coherently help him figure out my psyche. "The, the floating water! It was like it had its own mind, how freaky!"

"Oh, my cultivation element. Did I not remember to explain that to you with the rest of the cultivation basics? My bad." He calms down pretty much immediately, and while I'm still frozen, stuttering, he puts the meat in his arms back into the container and scoots right next to me, taking this opportunity to lay his head on my lap like the sneaky cat he is. "That's a part of my cultivation. You'll have one too now that you've started. I'll show you how to figure out what it is and the basics of using it tomorrow."

This lovely new gem of information crashes down on me, and I'm not even sure why this of all things is what seems like such a big deal. Maybe this was what really made it hit home that this is a totally different world, with different rules and new experiences. It made me slightly uncomfortable with the thoughts of the world and the life I left behind, but at the same time, I was filled with an excitement for adventure. It was strange, and I felt dazed the rest of the night, all through making the wooden lid, washing my hands with more water Maverick made for me after he used some to wash the meat residue off of himself, and crawling between his arms before shifting and falling straight to sleep. Maybe the long day took it's toll on me.

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When I woke up, my mind had finally cleared. After crawling out from the heap of Mavie's body and cleaning myself up, I focused myself on the breakfast in front of me. A piece of unidentified smoked meat, some miscellaneous berries and a glass of ice cold water. It tasted great. Maverick was just waking up when I was finishing eating, so I did him a huge favour and grabbed him some meat. He grunted, probably his sleepy way of saying thanks, and scarfed the meat down all at once.

I sat right in front of him, waiting until he was awake enough to give me the explanation about the magic water and what magic thingy I have. I must have looked as eager as I felt, because Maverick sighed super deeply before getting up.

"Let me finish my morning business first Qiao Ai. While I'm out, can you get the dried hides from the rocks? They've been out long enough." He padded out after saying his piece, giving me no room to complain before he was gone. I grumbled a bit as I got up, but went out to get the hides. What are we going to use them for anyways? Oh wait, am I finally going to get clothes?! My atmosphere shifts from gloomy to super upbeat in a split second, and I almost skip inside.

When Mavie came back, he was staying near the doorway, obviously wary of my abrupt change in mood. I roll my eyes at him. "Are you coming in to talk to me or not? You look dumb just standing in the doorway. Also, the hides are over there in the corner." I pointed to my right, and Maverick looks over and nods as he slowly walks in. He doesn't bother shifting to human, and instead shoves his big furry face into my lap as he lays down in front of me.

"Every beast awakens an element when they start cultivating. It's the second part of their vitality's power, with the first being physical enhancements. All beasts start with just one element, though some may awaken more in later stages of their cultivation."

"Is it random which element you get?"

"No. You need an affinity. Whether that affinity be your vitality leaning towards that element, your personality, or your clan. For example, I'm a snow guardian, that's my clan, so my first affinity is water and by extension ice. You're a many-tailed fox, so your affinity will almost certainly be illusion."

…Illusion? That isn't an element. Aren't the element like, water, fire, earth, wind, wood and lightning? You know, that kind of thing? What the hell is Illusion?

"Is illusion an element?"

Mavie's face isn't visible to me in my lap, but I can feel his confusion from the head tilt. "I don't know what you're thinking, but an element can be anything. I once knew a guy who's element was turning things to stone. Most element's aren't really useful for survival and hunting anyways. I mean, all mines good for is moving snow out of the way, cleaning and making drinking water in summer." I have a clearer picture now of what elements are, they're not the same kind of element as I know it, but also what Mavie just said doesn't seem right. If one properly practises and gets a high level of control it seems like elements could be incredibly powerful? Maybe getting precise control is harder then I think, but Mavie seemed to have amazing control over the water he made, and yet he almost never uses it apparently. Maybe I should dig into this.

"Mavie, how exactly does your element work? Do you have to create water or ice to be able to use it, or can you use existing water sources?" He blinks at the unexpected question, before thinking and replying, "I can use any water, ice, or snow, not just what I make." Okay, that's one thing down. This is sounding pretty overpowered right now. "Then, can you change existing water into ice, or ice into water? What about changing the waters temperature? Like, making cold water hot. Can you do that?" Hearing how serious my voice is, he raises his head from my lap and sits up facing me. "I've never tried doing any of that. How would I even go about it? I didn't think about how much exactly I can do with my element."

That confirms it. He has no idea exactly how powerful of a tool he has at his disposal and is leaving it in a corner to gather dust. Are the rest of beasts like this too? If so, then this is an underdeveloped society full of potential to become just as great in humans, but developing in a totally different direction. Oh, how exciting! "We're testing out the limits of your power for the next while. It could end up being super helpful and strong, and you never knew this whole time!"

"We should figure out your element first, Qiao Ai. Then we can test them both together at the same time, as well as improving your cultivation, because improving element proficiency improves your cultivation too. It's the manifestation of your vitality, so it collects nearby vitality as well."

Ah yes, that does make sense. I was so caught up in the potential of Maverick's element I forgot about my own! "How do I figure out what my element is?"

"Go to your core, and try clumping together the vitality so that it's solid. Like taking snow, and pushing it tightly together to make a solid shape. When it gets solid it'll become your element and what that element is and how to use it will suddenly appear in your head." Seems weird, but sure whatever.

Closing my eyes, my awareness quickly descended down my spine to my core. It was glowing as before, and while I hadn't gone inside it before, I dived in now.

The inside of my core somehow felt heavier, like I'm wading through a swamp in hot thick air, even though I'm not actually there, and as such it shouldn't be possible to 'feel' anything. It's slightly uncomfortable. Maybe it's just the high concentration of vitality, because when I say the stuff is packed in here, man it is packed! I try grabbing a bunch of the constantly moving vitality, and when I finally get it to listen to me and stop, I press it into itself, like I'm making a densely packed snowball. It takes a while as it's hard work, but eventually the vitality gets so densely packed it solidifies, just for a moment, before my control slips and it runs away to join the rest of the vortex. That moment, however, is all I needed as the information appears in my head.

My element is indeed illusion, just as Maverick predicted. There are some instructions on how you'd use illusions, but, how do I say this... it's really just a bare minimum explanation.

"Illusion. Creates fake sensory stimulation, like sights that aren't really there."

That's it. I doubt the beasts here know what sensory stimulations even mean, so they probably just go with the one example and take that as all the elements good for. Mavie also said that most clans have inherited elements, so they probably get told from a young age that it's useless and can only do that one thing. Generally, if you grow up believing something, you won't question it unless you find a contradiction. There wouldn't be anything like that, so I guess this is just how they've ended up. I can't wait to change it!

I open my eyes and split into a grin so wide it makes Maverick shudder, in anticipation or fear will be known only to him. "It's illusion, let's start having some fun." Mavie shifts into human form and grimaces.

"We still need to remember to do our chores, but as soon as that's done sure, I'm all yours."