Body Cultivation Hurts - Chapter 7

A list popped up with a variety of options resembling many that he’d seen before he’d chosen his path. Most of them were Superhuman Options. At least at the top of the list.

~

Mind Flex – Cost 8,000 Points

Regeneration – Cost 10,000 Points

Strategist – Cost 10,000 Points

Super Speed – Cost 8,000 Points

Super Strength – Cost 8,000 Points

Eagle Eyes – 8,000 Points

Echolocation – 8,000 Points

Blood Scent – 8,000 Points

Poison Resistance – Cost 4,000 Points

Temperature Resilience – Cost 5,000 Points

…

~

The list it gave Nathan wasn’t as concise as he thought it might be. There were hundreds of options listed. The ones on top were considered the most popular. Were they what he was looking for, though? Maybe. Just like with his Path, he already had a few things in mind.

He had a limited amount of time, so he started listing the questions in his head that would give him the information he needed. He’d already asked about the best options, and it gave him too many to choose from.

What were the best options for Body Cultivators? The best for Toughness? Or did he need to focus on strength and speed now that he’d focused on Toughness? The system had made clear during his advancement that his Toughness focus wouldn’t limit his speed and strength necessarily. Then the perfect question came to him.

“What are the hardest options to upgrade later that would be of the greatest benefit to me?”

~

Organ Bolstering – Cost 10,000 Points

Sinew Reinforcement – Cost 10,000 Points

Nervous System Fortification – Cost 10,000 Points

Note: If all options are taken, a synergy is formed.

All systems of the body will improve as your cultivation advances. The mind, sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch will reach a high level naturally comparable to some of the upgrades you could purchase now. The internal systems also improve, but to a lesser extent due to the difficulty training them.

Choosing these upgrades will not only strengthen said systems but increase the degree to which they’ll improve with each advancement in your cultivation. Not only will they make you internally tougher, but they will improve your disease, poison, venom, acid, and parasite resistance. They will also grant basic internal regeneration to each system. With enough time, even limbs will grow back. This regeneration is inferior to the Regeneration upgrade in the Superhuman listings, but it improves with your cultivation, eventually becoming superior at the highest tiers.

Note: Organ Bolstering improves function of marrow in your bones, but the skeletal system can be further strengthened through training, upgrades, and advancement.

~

Seeing the three options cost as much as some of the most popular options, Nathan tried not to be disappointed. He’d hoped there would be something a little more fantastical, but after reading the description he already knew what he’d do.

He played around with the system a little longer, asking several more questions, but ultimately, he decided to purchase them. It would leave him with 17,000 points.

When he gave his answer to the system, he was already laying down and gritting his teeth. Instead of the expected pain, he started to itch. No matter how much he scratched, he couldn’t reach it. Every organ in his body felt like it was crawling with baby spiders with the excess energy of month-old puppies. The idea itself was freaky, but the reality was on a whole different level.

He couldn’t handle it any longer. He ran over to the shower and turn it to hot. He didn’t care if it burned him. The itching had to stop.

In the end, the water didn’t become hot enough to harm him. His physique had already advanced when choosing his path. He squirmed around on the floor for a while under the water until it finally stopped.

The next thing he knew he was running to the toilet. As soon as his stomach had emptied itself, he came back to the shower and took a proper one. There was a smell he could barely get to go away, and it wasn’t from his toilet visit. He was sweating out the nastiest sweat droplets ever conceived in the imagination of man.

“That sucked,” he mumbled when the smell was finally receding. He leaned his forehead against the wall and let the warm water run over his back. Pain was something he’d grown used to, but he still didn’t like it. Growing literally half a foot taller and his body’s transformation had helped.

“Is there anything essential I should spend my points on before going into town?”

The list of options came up one more time. He considered using the points to buy clothing or maybe a weapon, but he was already familiar with body cultivation. It was normally the slowest focus, but the body cultivators stronger than him hadn’t cultivated a weapon at all. Their bodies were their weapon. Now that he had rank S talent and he’d used fist weapons in his last life anyway, he already knew he should focus on the purest form. And so he would.

That still left 17,000 points for him to play with. He even found the option to modify the shape of his fists to give his claws or spiked knuckles. He considered choosing some kind of mental or soul defense, but those would come with his cultivation. It was a common misconception that body cultivators were weak to such attacks, but it was just the opposite. In order for a mental or spiritual attack to have any effect, it had to enter his body. In order to do that when his body itself was filled with highly compress qi, it was very difficult to penetrate it even if he had his guard down.

Should he invest in a martial technique then? Their cost wouldn’t change once his bodies primed state for enhancement had faded. There was no hurry. Besides, there were already a number of martial techniques he knew. Buying a manual with points wouldn’t help him. Purchasing higher tier techniques would benefit him, but to purchase those he’d need more points than he’d started out with. The time for that would come.

He then realized that he already had all of his bases covered. With the added resist from the synergy, the rest would come with time and practice. That meant he had 17,000 points to spend on whatever he wanted to.

He ruled out getting a mind enhancement. That would come as he progressed. Even Strength and speed would do the same, although having an extra bonus at the beginning would be nice. Cultivators were above average at the beginning, but certainly not the strongest. More exotic upgrades really didn’t appeal to him. The best ones like teleport, flying, etc. were no longer available either. Besides, his gut told him to double down on toughness. It was still possible to die despite all that he’d achieved so early. His high talent didn’t make him more powerful than cultivators at the same rank. It simply spoke to how quickly he would progress.

What he needed was a toughness upgrade that could grow as his cultivation did, but nothing seemed to fit. If that wasn’t going to work, then maybe a different approach? “Are there any enhancements that could help me advance quicker?

He wasn’t interested in pills, resources, or treasures. He could always buy them. He was looking for actual physique upgrades that would act like his high rank talent. What came up on the top of the list didn’t sound like what he was looking for, but he read the description anyway.

~

Blood Essence Enhancement

Cost: 10,000

Purchasing this upgrade will increase your blood essence, giving you greater vitality, and a longer life. You will heal quicker, and your blood will absorb qi much faster.

Note: This will speed cultivation during the Blood Realm. It will have no effect on your cultivation while you’re still in the Body Realm.

~

Even if he did have to wait until the next major realm, or rank, to make use of it, it would still be a huge help with his overall advancement speed. The other benefits weren’t to be looked down upon either. It was the kind of upgrade that would also improve with him as he advanced. The more blood essence you had, the longer your lifespan. As you progressed to higher realms, your body made more efficient use of what it had, so if he ended up living a thousand years because of his cultivation rank, more blood essence would increase the time even further.

So he decided. It would leave him with 7,000 points remaining. There were very few upgrades for such a small amount that would make much difference. Even after everything he’d gained, he still found it difficult to just pick something because he liked the idea of it. In the end, he chose Poison Resistance. It was what he was the most vulnerable against this early on. His synergy would help, but further resistance would alleviate his main worries. There were monsters that the resistance would help against for venom were included, but they weren’t what he was worried about. It would leave him with 3,000 points left. It would be more than enough to get buy on in case he wanted to buy different clothing or something special to eat.

His Personal Chambers would keep him fed with all the basic nutrition he needed. It didn’t provide vice, however, even to the smallest degree.

Announcing to the system what he had chosen, the was lying down again, but this time there was no itching or pain. He just started to sweat from internal heat. It even energized him quite a bit. Why couldn’t every enhancement be this easy?

Half an hour later, his physique’s enhancement had ended. He’d spent all of the points he could given the situation. Requesting the time, he’d been able to pull everything off within twenty-four hours of entering the initiation. He’d gotten far less in his first life and had taken twice as long. His timing was good. Much of it had been the length it had taken for the system to help his evolution.

Stretching himself, he looked across the room and considered giving the heavy bag a hit, but there was something better for him to test himself on. Something he had to take care of anyway, and the longer he waited the more people would be harmed.

“System, port me to the western gate. I’m going hunting.”

***

He and Bryson had been enemies before all this, but somehow, they’d both had the same idea. Juan and his people partnered with Bryson and his. They’d all taken care of the Contact System trial right away and had slowly gotten in touch with each other over the first half the day in this tower place. They’d always been rivals. Grown up running in two different gangs. Except for a few beatings, blood had never been shed between them, so this partnership wasn’t as insane as it sounded. Their suppliers were at peace, which meant they never had to cross that line.

Standing in the shadows outside the Staging Facility, the large city hub every player in the world was a part of, he waited in ambush for any players that happened to venture down this side trail. Exiting each gate was like entering a different world. To the north was a hilly country with mountains in the distance. To the east was dense forest. The south was plains country with golden waves of grain, creeks everywhere, and all that nonsense. Growing up in the inner city, that left only the western gate. As soon as you walked out, you’d found yourself in the ruins of an ancient city. These weren’t modern buildings either. We’re talking stone bricks as large as an engine block. The ruble was perfect for lying in wait.

He glanced over he saw Bryson. The man had chosen the Vampire path, which suited his often bloodthirsty personality. He’d led the preeminent black gang in the city. Instead of making the guy look pale like in the movies, he was now as black as night. His path was strong.

His new partner met his gaze before glancing back.

There was irony in what Juan had chosen. He just had to have picked the Werewolf path. He’d always thought they were superior monsters. They were loyal to one another and hunted in packs. Juan liked that. He also like being able to rage and transform. None of his guys had made the same choice, but it didn’t matter. They were family.

He tightened his grip on his Glock. The merchant had said that guns would be far less powerful compared to other weapons as people advanced, but the guy hadn’t said they couldn’t still kill. Especially now. They’d already ambushed one group without any strong bodied paths. It had been a slaughter. The points the people had been carrying didn’t transfer over, but went to the next of kin. Many people had used points on gear, however, so a few days of this and their gangs would be well supplied.

An oblivious white dude in short dirty blond hair and the newbie t-shirt, shorts, and sneakers was strolling down the path taking in the sights like a tourist. He wasn’t even carrying anything bought from the merchants. Not worth their time.

He then saw movement out of the corner of his eye. Bryson was pulling up his nine, and aimed one handed.

It was straight up murder. Waste of life. Juan despised waste, even if he didn’t care anything about the guy. There was no reason for killing him except for Bryson to get his kicks. He grit his teeth and didn’t say anything. There was strength in numbers, which was the only reason he’d agreed to partner with the guy in the first place.

When the gun went off, Juan didn’t even flick. He just shook his head.

***

The 9mm round slammed into Nathan’s chest. From the outside, no one would be the wiser, but internally he was reinforcing his body with every breath he took. Even though he was at the very beginning of his path, the body could still make use of the small amount of qi in the air with every breath.

As a body cultivator, he didn’t make use of qi in the same way an energy or soul cultivator did. He wouldn’t be able to create a defensive aura for another large realm. Even then, his would be inferior to the other paths. What he could do, however, is to push qi into his physical body and compress it. Normally, the body just held it, acting like a container. This contain used it contents to strengthen itself.

The gunshot hurt. It got him right under the pectoral muscle between two ribs. The bruising was immediate, but his weak regeneration was already kicking in.

After getting shot, he turned toward the gap between two sideways turned buildings and waited.

It didn’t take long before more gunshots rang out. It hurt, but he remembered exactly what kind of weapons they’d purchased. Handguns, all. In his first life, he’d run into this group a few days later. They’d killed a new acquaintance of his, while he’d barely survived. After retreating back to town, he made some noise, but no one seemed to care enough to do something about it. Thankfully, his friend had contacted his father’s war buddy. His father had died a few years before. The man wasn’t the kind to abandon the family of his comrades in arms.

They’d pitched together to buy the man a rifle. He was the inspiration for Nathan to face off against the zombie-demons before initiation. He hadn’t been a sniper, but he was a true marksman. Later, after they’d killed off the fools depraved enough to turn to murder right after initiation, they’d collected their goods and turned them in to points. He hoped the guy that had been murdered in his first life would make a difference this time around.

They missed as often as they hit. Even after being hit with more than twenty rounds, he didn’t move. He’d certainly need new clothing after this. One round hit him hard in the cheek. Even that tissue was bolstered enough to keep it from breaking the skin.

Crossing his arms, he called out. “I don’t think you have enough ammo.”

“Stop,” someone yelled. The firing ceased.

Out stepped a black guy in an overly larger shirt and skinny jeans. Nathan wanted to laugh knowing that the guy had had to go out of his way to purchase the outfit since the system would’ve provided something much simpler.

“Iron skin?” The man said, sneering. “Won’t make any difference if I break you.”

In the most cringy way possible, the man drew up his lips and showed his fangs. He must have taken Nathan’s wince as fear, for he lowered his head and grinned.

“Idiot,” Nathan commended flippantly.

It seemed to piss the guy off, who sprinted right for him.

“So many weak cowards,” he said aloud with a yawn. In reality, vampire was one of the strongest starting paths a person could take. There were others, but this environment played to all of their strengths and none of their weaknesses. The man would be stronger and faster than he was.

With their boss getting ready to fight, fifteen more people stepped out of the shadows. He immediately noticed that more than half of their numbers had remained hidden. Were they cowards, or was something else going on? He’d deal with it when the time came.

The vampire telegraphed that he was going to attack with his right claws… His gun was still in his left.

Nathan internally sighed. Stronger and faster didn’t mean smarter.

As the guy’s weight transferred forward to plant his front foot to swipe his claws down from an overhand right, a foot was already there to meet his knee. He was using his newly improved speed. It was impossible to slow or retract his step. Instead of a bent knee, all his weight came down on a hyper extended one. With added pressure from the bulletproof guy’s kick, his knee bent the wrong way. His leg snapped.

He started to scream and thought of his gun. Then he saw his opponent’s expression. It was one of bored concentration. There was no fear, or excitement. It was like he was doing the dishes for the thousandth time. He wanted to cry out for them to retreat, but his scream of pain hadn’t even come out yet. He didn’t see it coming. Not a sound escaped his mouth as a fist caught his chin.

Against common sense, Nathan held his breath, and he struck out with a sharp right straight. Holding his breath would usually speed his fatigue, but now he was a cultivator. At the body realm, his body didn’t store qi in his blood stream or skeletal system. He relied on the qi in the air to energize him, bolster his body, but also strengthen his movements. Holding his breath forced the qi remaining in his lungs into his most active muscles and joints. As his fist reached its target, he tensed it. Qi flooded into the tissue of his hand making it firmer than flesh had any right to be.

Taking in a quick breath, he moved as the vampire fell. He held the gathered qi in his lungs, and launched a shin kick, brutalizing the guy in the side of the head as he fell. Vampire or not, the neck wasn’t meant to move like that. He proved once and for all that there was no such thing as the undead. The man had simply been a human genetically enhanced with a vampire-like skillset. Now he was dead.

Nathan felt his weakness. Compared to what he’d been, he was weakness incarnate, but once again he was a body cultivator. Even the smallest hint of qi beckoned to him. It was potential. Strength.

A Strength Enhancement path reached him. The man was a giant without the height. He also seemed to have boxing experience, for he circled throwing a jab.

He didn’t dodge the jab but headbutted it at full extension. As the man pulled back, Nathan was already jumping at him. Using the guy’s thigh as a steppingstone. He wrapped one leg over his waist and pulled the other over the guy’s head and over his chest. Then he grabbed the man’s repocketed arm by the wrist. Like a let loose spring, he straightened his entire body. He pulled the man’s arm out straight, used his pelvis as a fulcrum, and pushed against the front of his torso with both legs. His flying armbar was executed flawlessly. The ligaments gave before his arm broke, destroying it at the elbow.

Catching himself on the ground with both hands, he twisted and was on his feet in a crouch facing the guy.

The brute caught himself before he fell.

Nathan stayed low, skirting around to his flank, then drove up with his legs. Reaching his full height, he spun, smashing the guy in the back of the head with a qi enhanced blow.

The man’s eyes rolled, but he gave him a solid left to the chin to be safe.

Gunshots rang out, then they mobbed him. If he was anyone else, it would’ve been the right move, but he wasn’t what even then system thought he was.

They struck him from multiple directions, and he went down. Then they moved to kick him. Grabbing his first foot, he pulled the guy on top of him as a human shield. Only then did he execute his first leg lock and leave the man shrieking.

Another leg came and went.

An arm came next. He wrenched it into a kimura, and tore him apart.

More limbs came. Once he got ahold of a man’s head. He had no misgivings about using illegal techniques. Most of them weren’t strength or toughness types either. He put his hand over the guys mouth and nose as he choked him. He wasn’t trying to actually choke him off anyways, but as someone unexperienced with grappling, the guy panicked and gave him more of his neck. He passed out a moment later from the lack of blood to his brain. Then, he snapped the man’s neck.

Only when most of them were on the ground screaming or trying to hop away did the rest of them realize it wasn’t going as planned.

Without anymore people trying to grab, beat, or shoot him, he maneuvered out from under the bodies he’d purposely place on top of himself and came to his feet.

Seeing one guy on the ground arching his back as he grabbed at his leg, Nathan walked over to the elfish looking man, leaned over and grabbed him by the neck.

The man panicked, tried to kick him off with his good leg and grabbed ahold of his arm with both of his own.

Giving the man a grin, Nathan lifted him off the ground until he dangled over his head. All that man had to do was let go, but he was desperately holding on, so Nathan slammed him. The man’s head collided with the ground with a sickening smack.

In his past life, these monsters had killed dozens if not hundreds of people in the first few days after the initiation. This time he’d end their reign of terror early.

Some of the men who had tried to mob him were starting to run.

“We can’t have that.”

Thankfully, they didn’t have paths with good movement abilities. He was fast on the ground, but teleports, speed, and flying types could still get away from him if they wanted. He chased those down that he could. Killing them wasn’t his goal. He broken them first. Torture wasn’t his goal. Without martial techniques which wouldn’t come into pay until the next major realm, he had no way to kill them quickly. In the end, two got away.

Finding a handgun, he slowly went through the mess, collected any decent beginning gear they had and finished them with a shot to the head. It wouldn’t have worked on the vampire guy, but he expected most of them were beginning mages. They were the most popular paths, after all.

Once he was done, he wondered what the him from his first life would’ve thought of what he just did. There was justice to be had inside the Staging Facility, or the massive city that the world’s peoples would share while in the tower. The system was more thorough and fairer than most judicial systems back on Earth, but out here in the hunting areas there was no justice. If he didn’t stop these thugs, then no one else would until they’d done enough damages for people to have enough.

He took stock of his injuries. Each fresh breath of qi-filled air energized him to do more, but there was almost nothing that didn’t hurt. He wasn’t bruised. He was a bruise. A giant bruise monsters with out a shirt. Well, technically he still wore a shirt, but there were more holes and rips than there was shirt. He just ripped it in the front the rest of the way and tossed it to the side. There was plenty of clothing he could collect from his would be thieves, but they had the same style as the gangster vampire guy. He’d rather walk around in his boxers.

Only after he had all the decent gear in a pile did he call out. “Come out, or I’m coming in.”

A few hushed voices sounded, but he saw no movement. He was about to head toward the whispering, when a short Hispanic guy about his age stepped out. With his head cocked back and to the side, the guy threw out his hands. Only then did the rest of the guy’s crew come out. Those close to him filed in behind him.

Nathan didn’t miss the handgun. These guys had similar style to the first group, but their clothes fit better.

“We’re not afraid of you homes,” the man announced as if saying it would make it true. Many of the people with him agreed.

“You’re not? What about him,” Nathan said, pointing to a random guy. “Or him.”

Each person he pointed to squirmed but didn’t back down.

Then he saw something he hadn’t expected. The guy that was the first to step out placed himself in front of one of the men he picked out of the crowd.

He might be a thief and a murderer, but at least he was a good leader, Nathan scoffed to himself.

“Why didn’t you join your buddies in attacking me?”

The leader snickered. “Buddies?” He was shaking his head. “Nah. The man was a killer. You don’t even have gear, so what’s the point?”

Nathan wasn’t sure if it was some kind of ploy to paint them in a superior picture than the first group, or it was something the man was proud of. Regardless, he was sure it was an ego play.

“You’re laughing at me? You’re a bigger idiot than Mr. Fangs.” He looked around the pile of bodies around him before shrugging. “Well, he’s lying around here somewhere.”

Seeing their leader tense his jaw and swaying back and forth, he knew he’d hit a nerve. The rest of his men stepped forward like they were actually going to do something about it.

“Don’t you get it? You’re hustles gone. Status? No one has it. Everything has changed. Who’s rich here? Who has power? Two weeks from now, almost everyone you run across, billions of people, will have armor that handgun calibers can’t penetrate. And that’s the lowest level gear. Two months, most strength and toughness paths will be bulletproof without it.

“The craziest thing about what your doing is that the system is on our side. Not some government, or people group. You can have everything. You like violence? There’s an endless supply and when you need a break, you have a safe place to return to. You in it for the thrill? Go kill and rob monsters. You can’t imagine the things that some of them hold. Like a challenge… And at the end of the day, you can earn real status. Go ahead. Get good at violence. I mean really good at it, and just see how others treat you. Use the system. You can literally have it all. Fear, respect, love. And yet you’re out here, a breath away from losing your life.

“Not afraid?” He spit. “If I wanted you dead, how many of you do you think could get away? And if you did, if we met in the future, do you really think you’ll grow stronger than I will?”

A random question flew his way. “You special forces?”

He was about to deny it, but, as a ranker in his last life, that was about as accurate as any description as you could give it. “Yes.”

Another man cursed. “No wonder.”

“We haven’t gotten the same opportunities that you have,” their leader replied.

“Just twenty-four hours ago, there were people in this world that were so malnourished that their organs were hanging out of their bodies. Then magically, they were restored, and now capable of things no living human being has ever been able to do. We are the privileged generation. You are the ones choosing to stay the same.”

He saw them look at one another. At least, they were thinking. If he could kill them all without any getting away, that was probably the wisest decision, but it was likely many would get away if they all ran for it. He didn’t like it, but he came to a decision.

“This will be the one and only chance that I’ll give you. Place your guns and anything you’ve taken from others in the pile, then go.

“But if I hear of something like this happening again, I will find you, and I promise I won’t kill you. There are paths that on the human body. Those that have chosen this path, but are unwilling to harm the undeserving will be rewarded once the human justice system is set up. What do you think they will do with criminals?”

He was stretching the truth. A lot. There certainly were paths that could feed on the human body to grow stronger, but they weren’t limited to humans. He couldn’t help but to remember one ranker, however, who had done just that in secret, for years. She had even killed her own husband when trying to escape.

There was no movement from the group to do as he asked, but he saw their leader’s turned down expression. The man glanced back. He seemed to be looking from person to person to gauge what they were thinking.

When he turned back, he was struggling with something. Then he took the first step. His pace was painfully slow and his people didn’t seem exactly excited about what he was doing, but eventually he ended up standing before the pile. Holding out his handgun, it fell. There was also a dagger he took out from his back and tossed it as well. Taking a step back, he stood there, and his people came.

The first group had sixteen in total, but, including their leader, this one had thirty three. It was definitely too many to catch if they decided to run away.

The approach of many of them was like they were approaching a grave. It’s like they were saying goodbye to someone.

Nathan awaited, as did their leader. They stood directly across from one another, meeting each other’s stare. When the last of the man’s people were finished, he backed away.

“What’s your name?” Nathan asked.

Stopping, he answered. “Juan. You?”

“Nathan. Show me that the choice I made today was the right one.”

The man looked away, but slowly nodded. He started to leave, when Nathan stopped him. “What path have you chosen?” He was just curious.

When the man hesitated, he added. “I’m a body cultivator.”

“Werewolf,” Juan admitted. “And a regeneration enhancement.”

He raised a brow. “Good synergy. Most don’t think to boost their strengths, only cover their weaknesses. You’d probably be one of the hardest people to kill in the entire world at the moment. And if you focus on it, your regeneration will only get stronger. Training your body will let you get fair stronger than average because of your recovery rate. If you do the work, you could push your high-tier path to a top-tier one through sheer effort.”

The looked he was given him was a disturbed one. “How do you know so much?”

“Everything has a cost. Going back to robbing people. Changing your ways. Becoming truly strong. Knowledge that no one else has… I’ve paid the price. And I’m still paying.”

Swallowing, Juan turned to leave, but looked back one last time. “Thank you.”

Once they were gone, he looked down at the pile of stuff. “How exactly am I going to carry all this junk…”

With a shrug, he pulled a few of the overly baggy shirts off the dead thugs, tied the bottom, and started to fill them like bags. Two of the shirts were full when he left. Only a dagger did he take and strap to his waist. Sometimes you just needed a good blade.

And so he began walking back to the western gate.