The burden of freedom

ON THE SEVENTH LEVEL UNDER NEVER CANYON

Kuk was walking in circles, his mind wandering, anticipation was written on his perfect face.

-"When do you think we will be out, Master?" A shadowy smoke was wrapping around him, whispering to his ears.

-"Hehe, soon Darky, soon! Since you are here with me, it's much more fun, don't you think so? It was a good decision to transfer your sentience back toward your original body, what do you say?"

The god of Darkness Kuk was playfully passing his finger in the thin tendril as if caressing a beloved. His eyes look elsewhere tho, thinking of his soon to be freedom.

-"Speaking of my previous host, where is he now? It was such a wondrous one, making me gain sentience this quickly, I wonder how he did it!!"

-"Hehe, this devil? It's been a long time since he escaped from this canyon! He killed all my little creatures, can you believe it? He ate them all as if they were the best delicacies in the world! Well, it's true I let him a little strain on food when I gently deposed him at my door..."

-"Master, you're truly mean! You actually let him out when there was nothing to eat for him anymore, and you even remove me and the other bloody one from him, he was lucky to escape alive, I say!" The Darkness Emanation forms a face out of thin air as if talking with its master;

-"Ohoh, you don't know all the ins and outs, my little friend... His meeting with me was probably one of his luckiest he could have. Not only did I not killed him but I also helped him remove your consciousness and the Blood Emanation's one! To do so is to save his life, and probably to let him grow stronger in the future."

Kuk walks in his dark corridor, his eyes looking around him in search of something.

-"What do you mean by this, Master? How could removing us from his body actually let him grow stronger? The smoky darkness made a little pondering face floating in the air.

-"Although you are also an Emanation, your memory seems a little blurred, probably coming from my extraction. Normally your kind receives memories from your ancestors when gaining sentience..."

-"I know it already, stop rubbing salt in my wound..."

-" Well, his body already hosted two Primal Emanations, quite a feat I would say. But without my intervention, he would have probably ended up completely consumed by it. Now, I removed the Blood Emanation but his body is already used to it. And having already gained it once, it will be incredibly easier for him to gain it again! Probably in a few years, he would possed two mighty Emanations, allowing him this time to use them to open a powerful Door, and not to be used by them as previously!"

-"Oh, I knew my Master was a gracious one, but your mercy is without bound! But what if he contracted sooner?"

The new sentient of his Darkness Emanation was a little irritating sometimes, trying to flatter him at any moment. "It was said the character of an Emanation came from its host, this young man should have been quite proud..."

-"Hehe, few years is already inconceivable, he would be a genius greater than all the other gods I know if he could do it! And do you think the conditions allowing to create an Emanation, even more, a Primal one, are this easy to come by? My canyon is a peculiar place, I don't think there are others like it close by! But even if he did end up awakening the Blood Emanation sooner, he would end up consumed like previously, unfortunately...To use Emanation without being at least at the Solid Level would be suicide!"

-"Such a caring mind...And my previous Emanation, you don't seem to worry about it...?"

-"The Darkness one? This one is the true gift I gave him! Having transferred your sentience, it would not develop another one before he wants it! He will probably be able to use it easily as if he tamed it. Now you understand I never took something for free, what I gave him was sufficient to compensate for what I took, even if I push him in a difficult situation. Easy times doesn't make you stronger!"

Kuk answers without truly looking at the smiling face on his shoulder. He was gazing at the engraved stones before him, full of complex matrixes, indecipherable for mortal people. It actually depicts a seal, a powerful one which prevents Kuk from escaping from this place.

Lines were running across the rocks, crossing each other in a strange pattern. Looking from afar, it strangely looked like a cross on a falling "8", beautifully depicting is meaning. That was the mark of a true Art Master. They didn't just build a construct to answer a problem, their solution was beautiful in itself, following, as they say, the Nature Codex.

Deep in thought, Kuk was smirking while looking at this construct, knowing it by heart, having already deciphered it in the thousands of years it had prevented him from going out.

-"Is the Blood Emanation ready ?"

-"Yes Master, it's already full of Darkness energy, probably at its limit before it blew up!"

-"Fine, I just have to swallow it for a few months and it will take my place in this hell of a canyon! Hehe, luckily for me, these gods put protections in place just against my Darkness Emanation. Having wiped out its sentience didn't suffice them, they had to be sure I couldn't produce another one! Such a shame for them, to prevent other kinds of Primal Emanation was truly costly! They couldn't seal every energy forever! This young man sure helped me a lot hehe!"

__________

TELLAMA FOREST

Running through the forest, a red bolt was shuffling between the trees. Red aura was covering Alix's body, breaking tree's trunk, slashing startled beasts, a death path was quickly formed piercing the forest.

At brisk speed, he passed before the high wall of Tellama village, letting it disappear behind his back as he goes through the wilderness surrounding it.

The landscape looks steeper and the vegetation rarer as he began climbing Tellama mountain. It was a dangerous area, full of powerful beasts where people usually don't go too in its depth fearing for their life. Even the attraction of reaping a little dew in the morning was not sufficient for most to explore the area.

The Blood Emanation was soon confronted by powerful creatures, which it killed with the same easiness, drying them of their life force, eating to its heart content.

The night was already here when it finally calmed itself, sleeping in the middle of a clearing, not worried about possible aggressors. It knew it was one of the creatures at the apex here. When morning came, a lot of pure dew was pearling on Alix's body, sparkling in the few rays of lights piercing the clouds.

The dew was instantly swallowed by the skin, entering the pore of his body and flowing through the different organs. Spontaneously, the green energy which had disappeared after its desperate battle to maintain a moment of lucidity when fighting again the Misty Emanation was stimulated.

It was refined by this mystical dew, removing little impurities incorporated by abyss creatures when they concentrated this weird force. The green blood shined brighter and brighter, gaining strength and attacking again the Blood Emanation controlling Alix's body. The fight was intense but with the help of the Darkness one who was attacking the body blindly, the Blood Emanation emerged victorious once again.

The days passed and repeat themselves. It would hunt, kill, and eat several beasts, then sleep on the mountain steep. At each morning, dew would be absorbed by the body, letting the green energy tried to gain the upper hand in its fight, slowly beginning to last longer against its powerful foe.

It was a week after entering the mountain that the green energy finally won against the Blood Emanation, pushing it out of Alix's core body, just under his skin where Darkness Emanation was already dwelling.

The battle continued nonetheless each morning, the Blood Emanation not letting its chance passed by. It wasn't before the morning of the fourth day that the green force gains definitely the control of the body with the help of a curious event.

The greenstone Alix bought at the market was still in his pocket since the day he cut his palm with it. It suddenly shined with a mysterious green light on this day, stimulating the green energy, even more, allowing a complete victory and the soon-to-be return of Alix's awareness.

Emerging from a powerful dream, Alix was groggy once again, the fight between the three kinds of energies having taken its toll on his body. Memories came in a flood, overwhelming his mind. He had to rest for a few hours before understanding what was going on.

"I let the Blood Emanation take over my body to help them... anyway, with the Darkness one awakened by the stimulation of the circumstances, I couldn't truly maintain my consciousness..."

Alix was massaging his wrist and several painful areas on his body. When he wasn't in control, his body had suffered many traumas, even his sturdiness couldn't completely resist the awful treatment the Blood Emanation in control had done.

"Fortunately the green energy once again protect my mind and even battle against the Emanations. It was probably because I develop it a bit more than previously when cultivating...Right, I should probably breakthrough to the first transition step, it would increase my chance to not fall in a similar situation anymore."

Looking through his body, he could feel no trace anymore of the green energy, as always, it was hidden from his mind. The two Emanations could clearly be felt, probably a proof of their lesser level of existence compared to the green one.

Ready to mobilized the Darkness energy, Alix stop right in his track, two questions emerging in his mind.

"What step should I go for, I already fed the nerve cells, I should probably go for ones who will impact my strength, right? And should I try to feed them with the Blood energy instead of the Darkness one? I don't know what it could achieve..."

Unsure of what to do, he spends a few hours contemplating his choices. Erik had already taught him a few lessons but he still lacks a lot of knowledge.

"I can't return here, Erik will probably try to kill me... It 's my fault for hiding my weird situation from them, perhaps they could have help? I put them in danger, luckily the green energy answer to my call to hinder the Blood Emanation..."

While being deep in his thought, he was actually also trying to mobilize the Blood energy as to know if it could be used. Sitting alone in the little clearing, the day passed without him having done his choice. When dark came again, Alix suddenly lifts himself and began to walk in the forest.

"I better not remain here for too long, I'm not as strong as the Blood Emanation and some creatures could try to obtain revenge... Fortunately, I don't have to eat with all the food it hunts previously, I should be fine for a day!"

Running in the forest, he continues trying to come with a good plan for his cultivation but too much freedom made the choices particularly difficult.

"What if..? To increase my strength quickly should come by feeding my muscles cells, joints, bones or blood. Coincidently I have Blood Emanation from which I can extract Blood energy as with the Darkness one I think. The name coinciding makes me want to try to feed my blood cells with it...But if I begin to change the energy with each step, will I have to do it for each grand level?

The idea seems quite ridiculous to Alix, knowing his strength clearly.

"Do I have to find five other Emanations? Seem a bit unlikely, all the more at my present level...And even if I find them, nothing says I could tame them, two is already incredibly difficult...Without this green energy, I wouldn't be able to do it, probably finishing like Erik's son. But my body is actually quite sturdy and I truly want to try it, nothing comes without trying after all...."

Alix was quite a sight at this time, his black body was now covered with red tendrils, except for his head which was colored a terrifying dark red. People seeing him would probably run away without asking anything before this threatening look.

Pondering some more, he finally took a decision, a firm resolve forming in his mind. Clenching his fist, he looks toward the sky, his green eyes shining like never before.