Conclave Of Tyrants: The Smoke That Thunders

Rat Attack

It had been about three and a half days ever since they set off, during these couple of days they had met one or two dangerous situations. In the first one, they had met at least one hundred tier-one demonic rats. Even though it was easy to deal with one demonic rat, the sheer number was enough to frighten any cultivator in the Zhanje level.

During these three and a half days Taku fumbled about trying to improve his strength, with little success. Here is what he understood so far.

Cultivation was a process whereby one senses natural energy also known as zesa and takes it into their own body, reinforcing one's powers and body.

The body's capacity to bear zesa could be increased with meditation but was dependent on two factors: talent and effort. Talent however was the dominant factor when it came to cultivation, and only a small percentage of the Gutu have the talent for cultivation.

Taku so far knew two levels of cultivation, each level containing 3 sub levels. These levels refer to the amount of zesa one, determining one's strength. The gap between each sublevel becomes higher the stronger one becomes.

The two levels Taku knew were the Pamamonya Level and the Kusakura level. The three sub levels in Pamamonya were: Tohwe, Zhanje and Tamba. For Kusakura the three sub levels were: Kudyara, Kurima and Kukohwa.

Taku had just started cultivation thus he was at the Tohwe level. Due to lack of experience, he could not measure how fast his speed in cultivation was, but he did know that his talent was quite above average.

The coachman was at the Zhanje level but previously he was at the peak of the Tamba level. He regressed due to depression, which was very uncommon but quite possible.

Those with a weak mental fortitude could have their zesa affected by their mental health. Similar to how someone with a heart condition could worsen if they became agitated. With his current skills Taku could take on tier 1 and some tier 2 beasts, but this was a conservative assumption from his end.

Most tier 2 demonic beasts would not pose any threat to most Zhanje level cultivators but these demonic rats were not only dangerous because of their sheer quantity but they also had slight intelligence. These tunnels were rarely used, so no one had ever really thought about eradicating these pesky rodents. In the carriage, Taku had an elated expression plastered all over his face. After three days of non-stop drawing he was finally able to draw a full bow and arrow using his soul power.

Even though he achieved such tremendous results in the soul manifestation art, his progress with the soul seals was nothing to be proud of. By now he was only able to draw half of the zesa amplification skill.

At some point, he had even thought about giving up and picking it up again after he had completed the mission. So he had to constantly remind himself that he did not have all the time in the world and he needed to use every minute like it was his last. After all, Taku was a soldier, who knew when he would face a dangerous situation?

He reached out his hand and smoke began to materialize from his hand and in a couple of breath's it had formed a longbow that was almost as tall as he was. The smile on his face widened almost reaching his ears, he just could not hide the joy that he felt from being able to create a weapon for himself.

He did not know how his weapon would be classified since it was not a weapon that came from a blacksmith, but one that was formed from part of his own soul. If anything ever happened to this weapon while he was using it, if it was ever destroyed, then he would ultimately lose part of his soul. This was an assumption he made on his part but he was confident of his conjecture.

He pulled the bowstring and poured his zesa into his hand and just as his zesa reached the bowstring, a glowing red arrow began to form from his hands. Just as he finished forming the arrow he breathed a sigh of relief because he was not too sure that it would work, and just as the arrow dematerialized, he was suddenly struck by a thought.