"Focus." Ren's voice resonated in Yanda's mind as he sat in a water bubble deep down in the Shert River. He was concentrating on keeping it up while the currents flowed speedily past him. "The pressure you are feeling now is nothing. You just need to push back harder! Use the currents and feel them. The energy running through your body is acting the same way. You have a natural gift; use it!"

  "It's hard to not be swept away by the river…" Yanda groaned, gritting his teeth. "Not to mention… synching up with… it?"

  "So? You want to give up?" Ren chuckled, sending her voice over while she was floating above the running water.

  The outside world was just as turbulent, as a wild storm raged in the region, lightning fshing incessantly and wind blowing so hard that ordinary people couldn't stand up straight. Under Ren, the Shert River was rumbling and roaring like an enraged dragon.

  "No…" Yanda's reply came through gritted teeth as Ren just chuckled.

  "Then grit your teeth harder! This is the best opportunity for you. Tune yourself into the raging river. Look at it like your energy channels. You are born mixed, Yanda. You are a bridge between two races! On one side, you have a natural affinity with water, such a mastery that others could only achieve after stepping onto the next level. On the other side, this is also your weakness. Your energy flows just like this river now, rampaging, destroying everything that gets in its way. What you feel now is how your energy points feel when they are bsted with your inborn gift. You need to strengthen yourself and bring up your human side to the same level."

  “I’ll… do it…” He answered with a heavy voice as he was trying to sit still and keep himself steady underwater.

  "Better be! There are no alternatives here. You either succeed or you die," Ren answered him calmly.

  “That’s… motivating…” He chuckled a little, and that was followed by his Master's cheeky ugh.

  "I know. But you can do it. I have trust in my disciples!"

  Once again, Yanda focused on keeping his body firm and the bubble around him strong and stable to resist the raging river. As he concentrated, his Master's words echoed inside his mind again and again. Soon, a new idea formed in his head. Slowly, he began to absorb the water energies within his sphere of protection, letting the river wash through it, always letting in a little more... then more... It was a risky move because if the violent currents tore open his protection, he would get swept away immediately. Maybe even torn to shreds like a ragdoll, as nature's wild power was not something a cultivator in the body refinement realm could withstand for long.

  "Finally..." Ren smiled, watching from above. "You do get it!"

  As Yanda slowly harmonized with the river, it became easier and easier to absorb its energy. He was letting it flow through not just his sphere but through his body, strengthening it, and after a few minutes, he found himself in a strange, meditative state. The deafening noise from the currents ceased to exist, and only calm, strangely satisfying feelings remained.

  "Welcome to the 8th stage." Ren nodded, slowly looking away, watching the rumbling storm above her that still ravaged the region. "You are going to be fine now, and you are only a step away from the st stage. Try to maximize this storm for myself... Heh! Maybe you breeze through it, straight onto the 9th stage. That would be the best outcome," she whispered before she fshed away, following a blue lightning in the sky, almost as if she was racing against it.

  Not that far away, at an uninhabited part of the shore, the storm was raging even more, hitting it especially violently, and the real cause of it was no other than Kyu. She was in her true form, standing still, roaring towards the sky as lightning occasionally struck down, hitting her right on the head. It was striking Kyu down into the earth, bsting rocks and mud everywhere before she struggled to stand back up and continue to absorb the bolts inside her body.

  "How's she doing?" Ren arrived, standing next to Poli and Emi, who were here from the start.

  "Pretty good." Emi nodded. "But I am surprised; it's her third tribution only, yet it is this strong!"

  "She consumed a ton of different energies." Ren looked on as Kyu was bombarded with differently colored lightning strikes from the Sky. "The glutton can only bme herself..."

  "Is she in any danger?" Poli asked, a bit worried, looking to Emi for an answer, since she was the most experienced here, having already gone through 8 simir tributions.

  "Yes. Every tribution is dangerous." The foxgirl nodded, "It is stupid to even ask!"

  "Hey, you know how I meant it!" He rolled his eyes, flicking her ear.

  "Ouch! You-!" She elbowed back, but Ren just spped both of their butts with such force that both of them jumped up high.

  "Stop it! Flirt when you are alone!"

  "It wasn't flirting!" Emi protested while Poli took a completely different route.

  "You always do it with Leinor too, Master!"

  "Kyu is going to be fine." Ren continued, ignoring the two. "Your Queen… how many did she take?"

  "It's different for everybody as no one demon is the same," Emi said, dodging her question.

  "It's not a secret." Aerthus's voice arrived, appearing next to them, watching Kyu with great interest in his eyes. "She had exactly 20."

  "How do you know?" Emi asked with surprise in her voice, looking at him suspiciously.

  "We talked about it. I visit her frequently." He smiled, "She is a good friend, and we both benefited from each other's company." His words immediately drew redness onto Emi's face that did not escape Aerthus's eyes. "What are you thinking about? Heh, young ones!"

  "Ugh…" Emi flinched, wanting to bury herself immediately, and by reflex, she hid behind Poli.

  "How's the experiment?" Aerthus turned towards Ren in the end, ignoring Emi and Poli, who were now showing a thumbs up at him.

  "Going fine. After she overcomes this hurdle, I'll start feeding her specific demon cores I picked out. She is going in raw to see if she can utilize them! From the various hunting expeditions of disciples and the occasional conflicts between the Valley and more aggressive tribes, we have a rich collection of cores by now. Also…”

  "Are you sure you want to talk about this before me?" Emi cut in with furrowed brows.

  "Sure." The Master-Disciple duo answered at the same time, "Your Queen is the one who supplied us with a dozen high-level cores and gets every copy of our results in return in this experiment."

  "Anyway, I also devised a method with Shaman and Uncle Dermitos," Ren continued, "on how to melt down demonic cores and form a pill out of them with other herbs mixed in."

  "What are the effects?" Aerthus asked, and everyone's ears perked up, especially Emi's.

  "On humans? Violent. It gives such a big energy boost that taking it below the 8th stage of body refinement results in an instant explosion. Only give it to disciples if you want to murder them." Ren chuckled while expining, "I wouldn't want to give them to anyone weaker than me! Even if they are at the 9th stage... Too risky. Of course, in a life-or-death battle, it could serve as a limit breaker and may provide a chance to win from a defeated position. An empty vessel may fill up instantly after consuming it. Still! There is an 80% chance of going nova instead of winning." She shook her head while Poli had shivers all over his back.

  "You tested it?" Aerthus asked.

  "Yup." Ren nodded. "Took the first pill myself!"

  "You are crazy…" Emi murmured.

  "Ahaha, it was fine, it was fine!" She waved her hands. "True, it made me sick for a day, but it wasn't life-threatening. But it jumbled up my energy flow; I couldn't perform any spells decently for a whole day. It was a proper hindrance even for me until I sorted it out and assimited it down to the st drop. True, it was made from a high-level demon's core, which may have also had an effect on it... So, honestly, you should only take it if you are as dry as a desert. If not, get ready to feel like exploding."

  "So, for humans, it is not a really useful pill." Aerthus sighed, a bit disappointed.

  "Sadly, no, not really. But for demons…" crept up a grin on her face, looking at Emi. "Take one before a breakthrough, and it will boost your chances by Shaman's calcution... At least 50%. The higher the demon core it is made of, the higher the chances!"

  "You sure?" Emi blinked her eyes because this meant demons may have much smoother sailing in the future, as a lot of them die not because of wars or old age, but because of failing a tribution.

  "Yup! But don't be happy; making a pill is astronomically high-priced at the moment. The pnts needed to add to the mix are from the Ents' territory... Also, they are still just from the outskirts of their pce; I bet that deeper in, there are more efficient supplements to be found."

  Her words made Emi flinch, as it was already a big risk going that close to the 'living forest' to test out Shaman's new mix and collect some pnts. Going even deeper would be suicide.

  "How many pills are there?" Aerthus asked.

  "Only 4. The rest went up in smoke while working on the recipe. We can't make new ones for now... One is going to be sent to Lady Rumira," Ren expined. "One is going to Kyu, one for Emi, and the st one is to be kept for further study."

  "For me? Why?" Emi flinched, completely surprised.

  "Because you are getting close to a tribution, no?"

  “Eh… yes, but…”

  "Then perfect!" Ren cpped happily. "It is going to be the best experiment!"

  "Ugh…" Emi flinched as the final lightning bolt struck Kyu. She gave her st, angry roar before plopping down on the ground, breathing heavily.

  Of course, it was Ren who first nded next to her, rubbing Kyu's big head, electricity still fshing between her strands of wet and burnt fur.

  "Good job… You did well!" She whispered as an answer came from Kyu, making the others ugh.

  "Maaasteeer… Kyu is… stuffed! Tummy hurts... Uuuuuu..."

  "Now, those are some words I never imagined coming out of your mouth!" Ren ughed, scratching behind her ears. "Come, I'll take you back. You rest a little, and Master helps you digest it~!"

  "Mmm~" She nodded, but soon she just... fell asleep.

  "Well… she may be asleep for a week at least…" Rem shook her small head, appearing from nowhere, and she began examining Kyu, pstering her with different ointments at hand, ready to help if needed.

  "She won't be happy then," Ren chuckled as she lifted up the giant bear of hers. "Because I know some disciples paid in advance for her little service… they are going to demand refunds."

  "Hah!" Poli ughed. "Like if they have a backbone for that."

  "I hope they do." Aerthus spoke up with an expectant grin, "I don't want to raise cowards."

  "I agree." Ren nodded. "Let's see how this is going to py out~!"