The net Tsem had just thrown flew wide of the ghalri raptor, an unexpected swerve towards a better source of sap throwing his aim off. It turned, drawn by net’s passage, its beak opening wide in fury.

  Tsem knew what was coming next and grabbed a second net, holding it in his left and his new spear in his right. The raptor streaked towards him, and he used the technique he’d been practicing throughout the day, whipping the net in front of him, opening it wide and stepping to the side.

  The blue and brown speckled monstrosity tore into the net, its wings catching, then its talons. Tsem pulled backwards though the beast still managed to hit him with one of its flailing wings. He changed his grip on the haft of the spear, gripping it with both hands and plunging downwards at the falling ghalri raptor. His blow struck home, quickly silencing the creature.

  Tsem grinned to himself. His strategy was paying off. This was the third raptor he’d manage to kill today. He’d had plenty of time to think on the long trip back to the city, and as soon as he’d finished regaling Valesin with all the information he’d gathered in the city, he’d set to work.

  It had been a simple matter to repurpose the formation he’d set up to track the now dead bladebear throughout its territory, exchanging the claw he had used with a ghalri raptor feather, and adjusting the appropriate lines on the three glyphs. With that in place, he’d been able to watch every blue sap tree inside the formation all at once.

  It was like night and day between what he could do before. In one day, he’d earned around 600 contribution points in the feathers he’d taken from his three kills. Perhaps more importantly though, he had the meat he would need to start cultivating.

  Tsem returned to the basilisk’s lair, a few hours later, the meat he would need properly prepared according to the instructions in the yang qi cultivation manual. The spiritual herbs were critical to the process, effectively rekindling some of the qi the demonic beast had held inside it while it was still alive.

  Tsem was feeling quite nervous about the next step. With the rekindled qi in place, the ghalri raptor’s remaining will would be dozens of times stronger than what he was used to. That was, in fact, why he was choosing to use ghalri raptor meat. Of all the demonic beast meat that he had eaten so far, its will had been the least difficult for him to stave off.

  Tsem settled into the most comfortable sitting position he could find in the metal lair and bit into his meal. Immediately, he lost track of who he was. He remembered the feeling of flying through the skies, he remembered racing between trees, tearing at flesh with his talons. No.

  Tsem strained his inner self, combating the overwhelming urges. He couldn’t feel his body, so strong was the force fighting against him, but he battled with everything he had, and eventually, he felt it begin to be pushed back. He could feel something of himself again, if only brief sensations of sweat coating his body and curled fingers, of sore back muscles.

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  The fight raged on, but Tsem, with some level of control, pushed his opponent, its qi moving in the way he wanted it to go. The inner raptor struggled, using its qi to bash anything and everything around it, glowing bright blue in Tsem’s mind. He thought about what he needed to do for his cultivation. His first task was removing impurities from his stomach. Once he did, he would be able to store qi of his own there. With that, he would have more than just his inner sense of self to fight back with. The thought spurred Tsem on, giving him the mental backing he needed to keep the raptor moving, inch by precious inch.

  Tsem could feel disgusting black sludge spilling out of his body. It smelled horrible. The moment of distraction at the realization almost cost him, the raptor moving towards his self, clawing its way back towards him. He pushed back again with everything he had, throwing it back into its corner and forcing it to clear all the impurities inside him. It roared back, a concept of qi, pulsing energy wildly. All it managed to do was clear more of the impurities.

  The duel lasted hours, each moment feeling like he was putting every fragment of himself, every inner muscle to work. The result though made everything worth it. By the time the raptor was gone, all the impurities from his stomach had been expelled. In their place was a small puddle, qi. Tsem stood up in a rush, realizing as he did that every muscle in his body was tensed and slightly sore from hours of clenching. He didn’t care; he’d done it. He wasn’t just a peasant anymore. He was a cultivator!

  The stench hit him like a truck all of the sudden, and Tsem ran for the stream. He whipped out of the lair, over the ridge, and dove right in. Fortunately, this part of the stream was particularly deep, so, he was able to fully submerge, the steady current carrying the impure sludge off him. He stayed down as long as he could, relishing in the liberating feeling. Eventually though, he pulled his way to the surface.

  He emerged just a little faster than he’d expected, and Tsem wondered at that for a moment, moving back and forth through the water. By his best estimate, he was maybe ten percent stronger than he had been before cultivating. It felt incredible. He knew he couldn’t expect that same kind of increase from cultivating every night, perhaps only when he finished purifying each meridian, but still, he felt incredible.

  Tsem let out a whoop without thinking, and then remembering where he was, raced back to Valesin’s lair before anything came after him. The evening wind against his face took on a whole new level than he was used to, pushing with a little more force. It felt fantastic. The only thing that would have made it better was if it reached through the feathers in his wings and…

  Tsem froze in the entrance to the lair. He wasn’t supposed to have thoughts like that. He didn’t have wings. He moved back into action, going for the cultivation manual he’d left behind. He scoured it, sure he’d read everything it had to say, and yet hoping for some insight on why he was having these thoughts intrude on him. In the end, just like he thought, there was nothing there. It was probably just because he’d finished cultivating. He’d been locked against the raptor’s thoughts for hours. It made sense that his own mind would conjure some of the experiences he’d known the raptor had felt. He was just overreacting after all.

  Tsem settled himself, attempting the breathing exercises denoted in the cultivation manual to move and cycle his qi. It was odd, the exercise requiring him to partially stop his breath at certain moments and speed it up in others. He wasn’t entirely successful, growing slightly frustrated as he kept trying. Even so, he persisted. This technique would eventually allow him to move qi throughout his meridians. It would be invaluable for his cultivation as well. He’d be contending with more raptor qi in the future, and he’d need to be able to guide it with his qi to clear his meridians.

  The manual instructed him to focus first on his stomach meridian. The stomach itself was already clear, but purifying the entire channel would give him another slight boost in strength and allow him to start burning qi. It would take multiple sessions to clear, no doubt, and the breathing technique could help him speed that process up.

  At the end of the day, the stronger he got, the more kinds of demonic beasts he would feel comfortable hunting. Perhaps someday he could even get strong enough to fly up the mountain. One step at a time. Tsem reminded himself. One step at a time.