Teardrop

As the first light of the morning sun illuminated the surface of the rocks as Ezra woke up. He felt puzzled as he assessed his surroundings. I'm out. I'm no longer in that dark space. He was overjoyed by the revelation before noticing his cultivation, which made his eyes open in shock. Previously, he was at the early 9th layer of body refining, but after absorbing the body refining grass, he now found himself in the late first stage of spirit gathering. He had expected to transition to the spirit-gathering stage with the help of the body-refining grass during his cultivation after feeling whatever It was, he felt, but the leap from the early 9th stage of body refining to the late first stage of spirit-gathering still shocked him.

Ezra marveled at the remarkable increase in his cultivation. He could sense the powerful surge of spirit energy flowing through his body, filling him with a comforting warmth. It was akin to the satisfaction he felt after absorbing the red blood. As he closed his eyes, he focused on recalling the rock-shattering palm technique. Mastering a skill through reading was one thing, but applying it effectively in battle presented a distinct challenge. Calming his breath, he slowly changed his stance, opening his palm, and allowing the spirit energy to cover it before thrusting his palm at one of the rock walls in front of him.

As Ezra's palm hit the wall, it seemed to stop on the rock's surface before a loud cracking sound could be heard. A pattern resembling a spiderweb formed on the wall. Before bursting apart, what lay before him was a giant hole.

.... hahaha haha

Ezra's laughter echoed for over a mile as he marveled at his newfound strength. As he calmed down, he started to reflect. In the past, he was never able to learn skills this quickly nor comprehend them at such speed. It had taken him over 6 months to understand the last skill he learned fully, and about 5 months to master it in battle. Looking up at the sun in the sky, he estimated that he had been at the bottom of the cliff for about a week, and yet, in that short time, he had fully learned a new skill. He wondered if it was just his comprehension that had improved or if he had improved in every aspect. Pondering this, he took out the small dagger from the pouch on his waist.

The sound of wind being sliced through filled the air as Ezra gracefully executed a fundamental dagger technique. This was a skill he had gotten from his mother before her mysterious disappearance 8 years ago. The memory of her made Ezra feel a pang of sadness. She had taught him everything he knew. When he was a child, his mother had always praised him, calling him a genius. Even now, he could still hear her voice echoing in his mind: "My son, my beautiful baby boy." "No matter what, I will always be with you," she said, gazing lovingly at the infant in her arms.

Ezra came to a stop, his movements slowing as he carefully removed a necklace from around his neck. The pendant, which hung delicately from the chain, was a beautiful teardrop with the name Stella Sati elegantly engraved on its surface. Was it true, Mother, was I a genius, or did you just tell me that so I would feel better about myself?

As the sun set and darkness enveloped the surroundings, Ezra decided to take a break from practicing the fundamental dagger technique. He sat down, leaning against the wall, and reflected on his progress. "I can sense that I'm getting closer to mastering this technique," Despite having already perfected the skill, he had always felt that there was room for improvement. Now, he felt optimistic about finally uncovering that missing piece and achieving complete mastery.

"Seems like it's time to depart from this place," he mused as he gazed up the cliff. A sudden realization dawned on him - the books he had been engrossed in, testing his newfound strength. It hadn't occurred to him that the books were no longer in his possession. Scanning the area, he realized they were nowhere to be found. Frustrated, he punched the ground before another thought crossed his mind. "I wonder if they're still inside the dark space." This thought both angered and reassured him. If they were still in the empty space, they would be safe, and he wouldn't have to worry about them being stolen. However, he was frustrated by the fact that he still had no idea how to enter or exit that space. Both times, he had been transported in and out randomly. Ezra let out a sigh. "The good news is that I was able to at least learn one skill." Despite this, he remained curious about the Star Flowing Steps, but the reality was that he couldn't access it, open it, or read what was inside.

Instead of worrying about the books, Ezra focused on reaching the top of the cliff. With determination, he grabbed onto the rock wall and steadily pulled himself up. As he ascended, he was thrilled to notice a significant increase in his physical strength, feeling no signs of fatigue or breathlessness. Encouraged by this progress, Ezra decided to Test his new strength further by increasing his climbing speed.

The sound of rushing wind could be heard as two figures dressed in white robes appeared near the cliff's edge. So, Marcus, tell me again, why did we come here so late? I would much rather be in bed asleep, dreaming about.

Smack!

"Ouch, what was that for? We came here to look for the treasure, Zeek. Don't you remember anything I told you? Huh, treasure, I must have been asleep for that part. All I remember was you pulling me out of bed and telling me to follow you. Unbelievable, you are truly unbelievable. We are here because this is where the purple light fell," Marcus replied.

"Right, and how does that help us?" Zeek asked, still confused.

"OMG, don't you remember anything? Ok, I will tell you one more time, and that's it," Marcus answered.

"Remember that light that shined in the sky a little over a week ago?" Marcus asked, looking at Zeek.

"Yes," Zeek replied.

"Good. At least you managed to remember something anyway. Apparently, Braidan, you know, the top inner core disciple in our Clan, was chasing a person through this forest and the person managed to not only block Braidan's attack but stand up again."

"Wow! He actually took an attack from Braidan," Zeek exclaimed, astonished. "Being able to withstand an attack from Braidan means this person must be at least at the 8th level of spirit gathering, right?"

"Well, that's the thing," Marcus replied. "From what I overheard, this person was at the same level as me."

Zeek, already shocked, couldn't help but almost fall over at the mere thought that an early 9th-stage body refiner could make Braidan the top genius of the Inner Court. Leave the forest without anything.

That's not all either; apparently, the person threw himself off the cliff along with the body reefing grass that he had asked my father to get for me. Marcus said, looking into the starry sky

==-

"Huh, body-refining grass. Why would you need that? You already have body-refining grass?" Marcus ignored the question and continued speaking. "Furthermore, I heard that after this person threw themselves off the cliff, a purple light went below the cliff. Also, apparently, the light it radiated was strong enough to break through Braidan's Spirit Energy."

"A light that strong must come from a powerful skill, weapon, or maybe an attribute awakener stone. While finding a good skill or weapon was appealing, the true treasure would be finding an Attribute Awakener Stone. Usually, people would have to wait until they reached the late spirit master stage to awaken their attributes. However, people who had an attribute awakener stone could awaken their attributes early. The only requirement for using such an item was that you needed to be at least at the first level of the spirit gathering stage."

"Earth to Marcus." Marcus, who had been absorbed in thoughts of finding an attribute awakening stone, didn't realize Zeek had been calling and waving his hand in front of his face. "Quit it," Marcus said as he swatted Zeek's hand away. "Sorry, but I've been asking you the same question repeatedly, and you never answered. And that question is," Marcus said, looking at Zeek with a curious expression, "oh right, what was the name of the person Braidan had been chasing?"

A long pause fell before Marcus Spoke, Ezra the person's name was Ezra.

 Ezra, you don't think it could be? Zeek didn't even get the chance to finish before Marcus put up his hand as if to stop him from speaking any further. His face was not that of sadness or happiness, just expressionless. Even still, in the depth of his eyes, a small glint could be seen.

"By now, both Marcus and Zeek had reached the edge of the cliff and were looking down, trying to spot the light. However, only darkness met their eyes. 'That's it? We risked getting caught leaving the clan in the dead of night for this?' Zeek said, thinking about how he risked getting in trouble for leaving the clan in the middle of the night just to find something that wasn't there. He couldn't help but feel annoyed at being woken up.

Marcus, seemingly understanding Zeek's change in mood, couldn't help but feel a little guilty. As he looked back down the cliff, he was about to motion for them to leave when the sounds of rocks falling caught their attention. Both Marcus and Zeek perked up, looking towards the noise. After a few minutes, Zeek spoke, "Okay, I'm done here, Marcus. You brought me all the way here just to hear some rocks fall. What an adventure. Now it's time for the real adventure - the journey back, so I can go to sleep in my nice warm bed."

"I guess you are right. Sorry for bringing you out here for nothing," Marcus said.

"Yeah, whatever. Now, let's leave this place."

As the two silhouettes disappeared into the darkness, they didn't see the two eyes watching them from the edge of the cliff.