Chapter 2

It was a silk peach, and it would restore a sizable portion of his cultivation.

He warily looked around. A treasure like this would have a guardian, and a heavenly fruit would have an immensely powerful beast guarding it. Lo and behold, a monkey appeared. It was small, petite, but was not to be under-estimated. This was a fire monkey, one that could evolve into a fire gold monkey, a rarity even in the heavens.

Aeger looked at the monkey's head. Seeing that there was only a single horn and a quite small one at that, he could judge that it was a quite young beast. If he had the opportunity to tame it, then he would have a really reliable ally as he recovered. But, he was not it's opponent yet. After all, he had just descended and had very little power in him. Maybe after a month, he could come back and try his luck.

Aeger returned to the town gates at the nick of time. The guard chided him for arriving so late, cautioning him against doing the same next time. The forest was especially dangerous at night, and the guard was oblivious to Aeger's power.

He sold his game to a butcher and used the money to get a pair of clothes, a week at the inn, and a nice hot meal. He rested for the day, satisfied. He was finally going to have some fun.

The next day, he went out again, hunting more wild game, and returned late in the morning. After selling the meat, he wandered around the market, hoping for a nice catch that everyone else missed. Then the noise from the centre drew his attention. He glanced at those gathering at the centre. It appeared as though some ritual, or awakening to be more precise, was taking place. This was another gift that Aeger had given the mortals.

There were three children, a boy and two girls. They were of appreciable age, ten, maybe eleven years old. They were standing on a platform along with a priest chanting a few scriptures, drawing runes on the faces of the children. The children were still, not daring to move even a muscle. It was one of the most important days of their lives. It decided if they would continue their lives as mere mortals, or become cultivators, and live the lives they read about in epics.