South Point (Dao of Chaos)- The Moon Gin Teahouse

Thorjen

One of the greatest pleasures Thorjen realized he relished in within this world was seeing the great expanse of the azure skies above him, whilst the warm air bathed against his entire body. He tended to find a nice breath of peace beneath the warm air and always found himself falling into the dreams of the past.

The days of his youth to be precise, where he spent long summer evenings being held by his small dainty hands by the Amazonian goddess that was his mother. Since his mother had retired as a famous knight once he was born, for the first 3 years of Thorjens life they rarely spent more than a few months in the same place before moving on elsewhere. Because of this, Thorjen crossed many different regions as a child and saw a lot of beautiful things. He didnt remember a lot of his childhood to be honest. Only a series of broken fragments that usually never really felt like his own memories.

His gaze lingered in the blanket of azure for a short while longer. He unearthed himself out from the shallow cave not too long ago, discovering a lightless stony path which led him towards an outdoor woodland covered in an array of various colored flowers and slenderly tall thick crowded trees. After he managed to rest somewhat he continued his directionless walk.

The entire atmosphere had placed him in a state of pensiveness for a short while. Relishing in the softer outdoor air which was a stark contrast to the thin and mucky kind he was constantly inhaling whilst he was sealed in that prison alongside the guardian of chaos.

There was a rustling sound crackling from the nearby slender trees which startled him free from his day dream. Thorjen tossed his eyes towards the eastward way as he noticed a slender ram with two curved horns and two clear and round doe eyes watching him carefully.

Thorjen felt his fingertips slightly twitch. But he didn’t move his body entirely, instead he almost felt something odd within himself, a sense of understanding running through his blood. As though his senses could feel the conflicted feelings of weariness and fear lingering within the animal. Thorjen stretched out his right hand slowly. The deer moved one of its hind legs readying for a fleeting retreat. But Thorjen could tell it wasn’t going to run, he could almost bet everything on that truth.

The animal was cautious but it was also intrigued choosing to continue to stare between it and the strange human.

‘Since...since when could I understand animals.’ He pondered to himself. He was assured there was a clear connection between him and the feelings of the beige furred ram right now. He never heard of being to understand the fates would lead to this? something told himself this was something different entirely.

Thorjen felt the connection intensifying the more he stared into the innocent eyes of the deer. Suddenly a nest of birds cried out, Thorjen tossed his gaze towards the heavens behind him. He saw a crowd of cyan feathered birds taking flight in a rush. Something caused a chill to crawl up his arms, and he narrowed his brows almost by instinct. His gaze trailed down towards the crowded forest in anticipation. A few moments passed by and Thorjen heard a low growl which sent all the hairs against his arm standing tall. Then there was a slight scuffle as though a boulder had been toppled over. Thorjen’s eyes widened feeling the once stable ground subtly quake beneath his feet.

'What the fuck was that!'

Thorjen gasped in shocked, he took a glance over his shoulder and saw the deer swiftly bouncing away back into the crowded woodland. ‘What are the chances I stumble across a disaster so quickly. Heh...Once a jynx always a jynx I guess.’ He lamented darkly to himself but still held no plans to stick around himself. Thorjen twisted quickly on his heels and darted towards the same place the Ram scurried off into.

He had no interest in finding out what was coming, all he could do now was curse his shitty luck and hope to find some place safe to hide. Thorjen's sudden dash didn’t last too long before an idea popped into his mind. He shifted his gaze towards the top of the trees, looking for somewhere relatively safe to act as a safe vantage point. His eyes scanned away at the helm of the tall trees, all the while he could hear and feel the presence of something enormous closing in.

Thorjen spotted a particular tree he felt looked high enough to give him a clear view across the woodland, whilst also carrying thick enough branches for him to stand on. Wasting no time he used his honed martial art body to swiftly scale up the tree, of course since he couldn’t use much Qi this was solely done using his own strength and precise skill. He just about found his footing on a slender branch before he quickly hugged the tree to stabilize himself. Beads of sweat dotted against his forehead as he finally could exhale a breath of relief.

A sudden sense of danger crawled down his spine again. He swiftly shot his eyes back and couldn’t believe the sight of the creature before him.

The creature was covered in dark greyish fur and a large mane, likening it to some kind of leonine creature. It's entire body was incredibly large with two menacing horns protruding away from its head. And bolstering arms thrice the size of an ape’s own.

Thorjen observed the beast with a disturbed gaze. ‘What kind of unfair beast is that.’ Once the beast had emerged into his clear view, he only then got the real sense of his disastrously presence, he even noticed folded black wings against the creature's back. The beast seemed to be looking for something as it grunted a few times with its large leonine nostrils scanning the area.

Thorjens heart tightened, he should’ve run a little bit further he told himself. There was a feeling within his gut that the beast would find him shortly. And a few minutes later his fears became a reality, as both he and the creature finally locked eyes.

‘What sort of damned luck is this,’ A wry smile creased against his trembling lips. But just when Thorjen had poised himself for a drop, run and chase scenario he heard a second howl towards the heavens. Only this roar visibly shook the entire atmosphere around him. A strange darkness was roused within him. Thorjen clutched at his chest as he felt something baleful threatening to burst forth from his body.

‘Wh-wh-what the hell...is-going...on’

Darkness soon invaded his eye sight. And the last thing Thorjen recalled was the feeling of weightlessness whilst he tumbled down from the top of the tree.

As time passed on Thorjen’s eyes eventually flashed open. He was gazing at the partial blue skies again, partial since many tall trees were also in his vision. It took him a few moments to gather his bearings. He raised his torso and swiftly felt a rush of pain coursing through his helm.

‘Sigh...always waking up on the ground these days, since when was my life a cliché habit and how did I end up on the ground’ he thought massaging his temples.

“Auh!” a short gasp left his lips once he remembered the danger from earlier. He swiftly swiveled his head from left to right, but thankfully there were no signs of any large beast with horns and wings. And to this he sighed in relief before allowing his body to sink back down again. The forest surrounding had returned to its previous eerie quiet. It hadn't even been a day yet and dangers were already lurking.

Almost an hour passed whilst Thorjen remained lying against his back with his two arms sprawled against the ground. He wanted to make sure he wasn't dead. But he also understood something that big wouldn't have simply left him alone. 'Something or someone else is here.' After the time he spent with Mastramundus and the incident on the bridge that morning of his departure from the azure mountain, thorjen came to understand something very important. 'Everything happens for a reason.' He sighed again, knowing whomever it was watching him wasn't ready to reveal themselves.

Eventually he sat upright and looked down at his open palms. Against both of his wrists he noticed two carmine crosses marked against his skin. The corners of his mouth rose steadily as he remembered his time spent with the guardian of chaos. Thorjen closed his two eyes and shuffled his legs into the lotus position. It took him a few moments to clear his mind and his heart. He had an inkling to cultivate. For as far as he could tell, there was nothing to be fearful of right now.

Then he sunk into that familiar darkness. He found a tiny red bead dwelling deep into the dark sea of nothingness. Thorjen started to practice the cultivation methods he inherited from Mastramundus and began trying to send his own feint wisps of Qi towards it.

As he expected the red bead rejected his blueish and pale Qi which was so small he almost felt the bead laughing at his attempts. Just when he was poised to give up, he sensed something else within the darkness. A purple membrane had appeared. Thorjen’s brows furrowed as his face started to show discomfort. The membrane was beating just like a heart and when he tried to move it within the dark space he felt a violent pull from the unknown agent. The red bead started to shake and released spores of tiny carmine and golden dust. As soon as the crimson gas touched the purple membrane it’s violent rejection halted. And Thorjen was surprised to see the purple membrane swiftly being drained from its power and its life ****. His torso was covered in sweat whilst veins started to writhe beneath his skin.

Minutes passed on.

Thorjen’s eyes snapped open and he instantly felt an urge to puke. Trusting in the voices of his body he spat out a thick slimy black ooze against the floor. The black ooze started to corrode the ground in moments. Thorjen was slightly concerned looking at the badly smelling pool of bile, but then his eyes widened with understanding, suddenly he felt he knew what had just taken place.

‘N-no way. Don’t tell me I’ve advanced an entire cultivation level...j-just like that.’

He rethought all the things Mastramundus drilled into him. Since he had accepted the inheritance his own cultivation journey couldn’t be measured like everyone else's. Mastramundus had boasted to only learning a single martial art ‘The flow of 8 hells and the rivers in which surround them.’ Unfortunately the full art wasn’t written down so he couldn’t actually learn it in its entire form like Mastramundus did. But instead, he was taught the basic principles of the art and must now focus on merging it with his own unique fighting style. ‘I can’t cultivate from the breath of heaven and earth. And this technique doesn't use those powers to get stronger. He was right. I need to find my own path in order to master this cultivation technique.’ He had a lot to ponder on but realized this place was perhaps not the best spot to do that.

Thorjen picked himself up and continued his voyage.

He tried placing the odd encounter to the back of his mind for now, firstly he needed to find somewhere to drink and wash himself. Looking at his tattered garments he felt as though he hadn’t changed his clothes in almost up to a year.

Thorjen could only grimace whilst he observed the sorry state he was in.

‘Mother would scold me twice over if she saw me right now.’

His mother always hated it when he didn’t wash his hands before their meals, he could only imagine how livid she would be if she could see his current state. Thinking about his mother, Thorjen remembered her beautiful face, then he felt a deep chill of sadness gathering inside of his chest. ‘How long has it been. She must think I'm...’ He quickly shook his head from side to side to free himself from the woes swirling around his thoughts, then he slapped his two cheeks gently with his two palms. ‘I can’t afford to wallow in the bad things right now. I need to find a way to Lucien Kingdom. Mother...Threyja and Julien. They should all be there waiting for me.’ Thorjen steeled his resolve and found courage to keep moving forward.

His surroundings weren't familiar in the slightest. But he couldn’t deny that this forest was of a great marvel to him. There was a sense of openness he felt from being outdoors. A freedom which almost spoke to him in a language he couldn’t quite yet understand but felt it in the core of his bones. His mother once said that Elves were beings of the outdoors, how they were meant to live amongst the wild flowers and the Gods wood trees and rolling red hills.

‘I wonder if I'll eventually get to meet the Elves from the northern forests now I've left the azure mountain.’ There was a fascination he held towards the native Elves and the royal family especially. Many of the elders scrolls he was lucky enough to read on the mountain, contained the history of the Elven people, all their famous wars, their many great dynasties and the ways of their people and the bond with the ethereal spirits. The blessing ceremony was a practice passed down to the Elven sects directly from the royal family.

But then he was also part human. A wry smile creased against his lips. ‘Well perhaps id have a chance to understand my human side first.’

Thorjen slowly moved along the crunchy ground. He saw various animals observing him from a vantage point. Primates and odd furred short creatures with long tails. So far he didn’t come across anything worth being cautious of.

‘Wait? *Sniff-sniff-sniff* Thorjen smelt something strong in the air...his eyes were filled with a familiar curiosity. The smell was foreign but the scent was sweet. Drawn to the nature of a stand out smell wafting within the air, he tried to desperately follow it in hopes of discovering some form of life or most importantly. Water!

Thorjen soon found himself paying less attention to the woodland around him, as though he was being pulled by an invisible rope. His steps were guided by nothing but the strong scent reminding him of a familiar bitter-tasting drink Julien once stole from his father's cupboard.

He eventually felt the crowded forest turning sparse. And soon enough, after he walked through a small cover of trees he discovered an open valley with the bluest river his eyes had ever seen, slithering through a large field of luscious green.

Far out within the distance he could see tall white mountains hazily standing. And just beneath it, sitting on its lonesome in the middle of a spacious clearing of grass. A smoking chimney rising out from a homely looking cottage house.