Old Beast
“Ah, damn it… It still hurts…”
Linfeng moved his shoulders, feeling a strong ache on one side where the mimicker had brutally slashed down before its demise. Even with his heightened regenerative powers and Yen'mila’s healing, the wound was still a severe one. The bones and muscles might have been mended, but the nerves remained sensitive, and these healed portions would remain more fragile than the rest for a while longer.
Even though he was supposed to be more receptive to her healing capabilities, it seemed like Yen'mila simply couldn’t yet compare to a great healer. Her way of healing was rough and unrefined. She just shoved healing spells toward the wound, and that was all. She had no medical knowledge or finer expertise.
It would be fine if she were a monstrously powerful healer, but healing was only an accessory to her cultivation due to her wielding nature energy. Her main focus was plant-based spells and the like.
Nonetheless, it was very good. Without her around, not only would he have struggled far more dearly to defeat the imitator, but he would have risked infections and bleeding out to death out in the middle of nowhere…
What was funniest about this whole ordeal was that it turns out that Mala was the most medically savvy out of them all, and he just knew how to properly clean a wound and wrap bandages... Or in their case, vines stretched and flattened to resemble bandages.
They emitted puffs of healing mist every now and then, helping him with the pain and the possible mess the wound could cause. After all, even if the wound had been shut, it was a pretty big deal what had happened to him. It was as if someone had swung a cleaver through his shoulder, but the cleaver was covered in monster saliva, and the edge was uneven.
Simply awful.
Regardless of the physical suffering, it was the mental suffering that troubled him the most. The mimicker hadn’t taken the approximate form of Edrick Lucien Anoteros for no reason. It had sourced it from Linfeng’s own mind. The monster had taken the appearance of what Linfeng feared the most.
The form was imperfect, and the creature lacked the actual memories, intellect, or techniques of the real Edrick. It could only make an approximate imitation of the Elt scion’s appearance… However, the creature had also known what Linfeng feared beyond the noble himself, and it had hurled these fears like projectiles during the fight.
Indeed, while Anoteros was indubitably a frightening opponent both in personal might and status, Linfeng didn’t truly fear him in this way. He wasn’t afraid of fighting even if it was doomed to be a losing battle. What he feared was what Edrick was capable of doing to Fingmi as he held her hostage.
Linfeng cared deeply for his Alrinir. She was the only family he had left, and the only person who had not looked down upon and mocked him back when he was still nought but a wretch of the cultivation world.
…He had heard clearly what he had threatened her with back then, barely a second before Linfeng had arrived and interrupted everything. He had threatened Fingmi with ‘breaking her in bed’ and ‘turning her into nothing but a breeding sow’.
The monster had learned of these fears and tried to use them to its advantage to destabilise Linfeng. It hadn’t worked at the time, but it definitely did have an effect over time. Linfeng didn’t decide to stay put and make camp in the forest because of his physical injuries. They were nothing to him, no matter how much they hurt... But he knew that he wouldn’t be at his best if he allowed his fears to consume him like this.
Thus, he meditated and meditated until his mind was clear... He spent some quality time with Mala and Yen'mila, using a bit of hedonism to cover up the open wound in his psyche. Just like it had been before, he pushed it all to a deep corner of his mind.
Thinking about this whilst he was unable to do anything about it was no good. He hated himself for being too weak to stand up to Anoteros, but the priority was to actually save Fingmi, and he couldn’t do so without enough strength–Especially since he would be putting her in danger by failing. Edrick wouldn’t hesitate to use her as a bargaining chip. Or worse, as a way to hurt Linfeng.
She was just an object to him, and he wouldn’t hesitate to tear her apart to watch the anguish on Linfeng’s face.
At least, that's how he viewed Anoteros following what he had learned about the man, and specifically his past. He was clearly an Agonist who revelled in the suffering of others. If Linfeng wasn’t fully prepared, Fingmi was likely to suffer dire consequences.
…Even though that was the best course of action available to him right now, it left a bad taste in his mouth. It was unlikely that Anoteros would refrain from doing anything to her at all whilst waiting for him to arrive… It was basically an impossibility. He wasn’t so kind…
After about a week of rest, the trio set back out to gather the ingredients necessary for the creation of the Body-Building Pill. They already had more Virile Tree Dust than necessary. However, the three other materials required all came directly from wild beasts. The blood of an Enraged Bull, the liver of a Banana Bat, and the heart of a Crusher Gorilla.
Yen'mila claimed to be ‘familiar’ with Enraged Bulls, and thus focused on finding one of those first–Also because they were the most common of the three creatures.
Though both Linfeng and Mala knew exactly what Yen'mila actually meant by ‘familiar’, they didn’t bring it up, lest Yen'mila started actually explaining in detail… The plant cultivator definitely thought that being ‘ridden’ by a wild beast was an achievement worth sharing, which was a sentiment only she had here.
True to her word, though, she eventually managed to find a trail, which took them to a Raging Bull after five days of searching. The beast was alone in a clearing, grazing on grass with a calmness that was unbefitting of its moniker…
“Looks like it's an old and strong one… It might be even more difficult to deal with than that mimic-thing”
Yen'mila was uncharacteristically serious as she spoke, and she was absolutely correct. Linfeng had read about the creatures from which the ingredients were harvested, and Raging Bulls are a bit of a special case. They aren’t a proper species per se. They are actually regular bulls who are infected with some form of disease called ‘The Rage’.
It kills most of the creatures it infects or turns them mad, but bulls have a chance of surviving the disease and actually grow more powerful thanks to it. The infected bulls leave for the wilds, and after presumably reproducing with runaway cows, it has led to quite a few bulls and cows wandering around, and it seems like the wild cattle have become more susceptible to the disease as well.
Thus, Raging Bulls weren’t exactly an uncommon sight. However, even if they survived, they usually remained hyper-aggressive... They would be unable to stand in place, charging anything that moved, and sometimes even trees or rocks.
A Raging Bull that was calm like this could be considered some sort of elite amongst its kind…