Chapter 165: Awakening

Such manners of otherworldly possibilities were of little or no concern to Allan, who was currently in the process of undergoing a chaotic journey. A drastic path toward reality, in fact. The step to the portal was strange at that time. Unnatural discomfort spread from his core, the moment he stepped inside, his body convulsed and played some tricks on him too. He felt a coldness from the space travel and rising heat with each passing minute in his core. Traveling through the space portal was unlike what he was experienced with, so what was happening to him?

He didn't know, but he felt as if dozens of raging rivers were surrounding his body and mind. Confused, hurt, and the last hours of his journey in the Diary of the Body hit him up.

With a thud, he collapsed from the portal within the same valley, which held a swirling portal beside 36. He fell to the ground, shaking and tired behind his senses, right across sitting Sarey and 36's back.

“Allan! You alright? HEY!” Sarey shouted, surprised but prepared. Hurrying towards him, she found him in a strange condition and bloodied mess. “You! You are back rather early… What the hell happened!? 36!” Sarey quickly jumped up, worrying about the bloody wounds that were no longer contained by the soul fire. Allan was feeling strange as if the world turned upside down, and his body was like a fine furnace, but there was something else within him.

Pain.

There was an immense amount of it in his mind right now, with nothing good about it. Sometimes, the pain wasn't a bad thing, but this time, it was. Strange feelings spread around his body, as if something sizzled throughout his nerves, attacking him internally, or eating him from the inside out. It was trying to stop his body from something… or it was attacking it? He couldn't know it, since his mind stopped working.

The only reason he was even standing after the fight with Tenma, let alone finishing the Trial, was the soul fire, but he forgot about all of that.

Sarey tried to shake his shoulder, examining the wounds, but then she felt aghast and shocked. Blood dripped from the wounds in a dark color, and suddenly, a dust and intangible claw appeared from it, trying to grasp or clutch Sarey's throat. She couldn't understand what it was, but she knew the danger when she saw it. Backing away, the shadowy, and intangible claw was not physical and it couldn't hurt her, but it scared her for certain.

Attached to it, or within it was a poisonous effect of the Immortal practitioner of an unknown pathway. The pain and this hand were an aftereffect of the Spectral Hand, which was the case of a Death Element that Tenma had in her core. It was a screaming mess within Allan's wounds, causing his body to undergo pain so large, he passed out.

In Sarey's eyes, she viewed it as if were an illusion because her visions were something she never got accustomed to. Her back bumped to 36, and her mind and hands didn't know what to do. With those steps, her vision didn't return to normal and the claw dancing around Allan's shoulder and neck was still visible.

“Hey! What is going on? I can't see from back here,” 36 complained since he didn't face Allan's situation and by this point, the portal crumbled to nothingness.

“Allan? Allan is wounded, and not responding,” she explained, trying to come up to terms with what she should do. Forcing herself closer to him, she snapped her hand to Allan's tight convulsing chest. Checking the heart was the first step she thought of, and it was beating like crazy. It was almost vibrating and creating a sound hearable from the outside. It ticked, creating some resonating shimmering noise.

Across his shoulder were wounds. One was deep, and 2 others weren't that bad but not good either. The biggest had the clawed hand, but it didn't attack her this time around, allowing Sarey to get her courage up even further. 36 shouted his usual lunacy behind her back, but she ignored him.

Forcing Allan to a stable position, she was afraid of loss of blood, but his face wasn't that bad. The color of his face and his breathing were somewhat normal, albeit the convulsing never ceased.

“Fine… 36!” Sarey snapped, turning herself to 36 along with Allan's body. She was helpless in what to do since this wasn't some case of fever, shock, or anything normal. The shadowy hand was a clear indication that something was amiss and nothing but 36 should be able to help.

Noticing Allan's condition, and inability to move, 36 fell silent. After a dozen seconds of Sarey's stare, and his own inner questioning, he laughed instead. “This is tremendous as incredibly ravenous and… messy. No! A chance never comes in peace or safety! I was dumbfuck! I was, truly! This is great!”

“36!” Sarey snapped again, glaring at him unhappily.

“Alright, girl. Calm down. I see what is wrong with him, and it's surprising to me. A lot. Dangers… Pain. Opportunity. I didn't expect that, nor consider some things in my research since I was too overzealous with what is already written. It was inevitable, I suppose. Considering the lack of knowledge of the inner situation in the prison, and the lack of Wisher's words, this could've been the end of our paths, it seems.” 36 said, sounding convincing that it could've been the case. “Anyway, do you have your stuff? Those papers I gave you a long time ago, and your acupoint needles?”

Sarey gave him a simple nod, holding Allan's shoulders and trying to calm his convulsing self. It wasn't working.

“Then take them, fool!” 36 shouted. “This kid broke through the Sparkling bottleneck! Energy will soon start to tick in his body, creating the first speck of a vortex, but it's destabilizing because of this Death Element that he took from some source. That isn't that dangerous, as it can eat people alive, but this seems weak as if it is an Element of a person on a brink of death. Hm… Anyway. Use diagram number 14, and act carefully! Allan is unconscious because of natural reasons of the forming Sparkling and this Death Element traveling through his body along with surging energy. I bet this is also a situation that could work in supporting its creation, but it seems that my calculations regarding the specific acupoint diagrams worked instead. This is huge! Diagrams of acupoints worked. Everything I made you do, worked! It just needed a proper punch. This could mean a completely new way of creating the Sparkling Pathway under reasonable conditions!”

“You call this a reasonable condition? Those bloody wounds!?” Sarey voiced, hurrying to her bag where she took her needles along with her papers. She always kept them close, since it was an important piece of her future. “You are kidding… You madman.”

“Think whatever you want, girl.” 36 said, unbothered by her remark. “I speak what I can, and Sparkling isn't a bad thing but the Death could be. Though, the Sparkling needs another stabilizing, otherwise, it would create a mess in Allan's body. He can't do it himself because of the Death Element, so let's do it instead in this way. Uncover his body and work with that diagram. The best stable position would be a relaxed lotus position, but his back facing the sky will have to do.”

Unfortunately, he was right. Allan was unable to wake up, move, or speak. The pain was eating him from the inside out, and a raging current of warmth, along with some deal of shimmering energy was taking shape in Allan's core. It was happening in the heart. An important organ for any living human, and it was the place where the Immortals awakened the Spark the most. Its position could change from person to person, but it's rare to see a Spark outside of the heart.

Dancing shivers of lines lined behind the flames. Soul Fire was also there, resisting the Death Element under its guiding rules that this was an enemy. No enemy should pain his home. It was a common sense of any Soul Fire and this one wasn't any different, albeit it was, in some sense.

None should be inside a human, let alone in a heart along with the forming Sparkling, or Spark itself. It was unnatural.

Inside the heart, Soul Fire watched the shimmering energy with some hesitation, eyeing those lines as if they were an enemy, but it shouldn't be the case. It was its hunch, as well as an instinct that stemmed from its core. The energy was an encompassing thing in the universe, and in a sense, it made up Soul Fire's body. The only difference was, it had a fiery, fierce, and dense one instead.

Those shimmering specks were small, almost like strands of hair and they didn't hold any element, or something unique. They were ordinary glisters of energy, quivering, and forming a mess without any care or order.

One would need to cycle it or get this thing under the control, but it wasn't a rare thing. Sparkling wasn't like the Spark, where the energy of heaven and earth can manifest into the body, creating the opportunity to start the cultivation of the Immortal technique. Sparkling worked with the energy that was already in the body and cycling it was like breathing – poorly said, that is. That was its premise, which 36 was trying to create because it was quite a strange thing that he found thanks for being a freaking prisoner. It was funny to him, more than anything, but he welcomed it without any hesitation.

Outside, Sarey was beginning her acupoint diagram.

Soul Fire let tinges of its energy fly and travel from the heart, reaching the corners of Allan's body so the Death Element wouldn't endanger itself, or his body. Though it was its instinct, and the byproduct was Allan's relative safety. That also depended on the Death Element too, however.

36 was half right. Tenma's Death Element wasn't strong, but it was more than enough to endanger Allan's life. Coincidently, 36 was sure that it wouldn't endanger him, and it won't do so for the time being, but it all depended on the Soul Fire and nothing else. In this sense,

36 was naive, and overworked with the case of successful Sparkling. Even the Sparkling won't be enough to deal with this sort of thing, since Immortal energy was attacking a mere pre-spark body. The prerequisite to such an idea was a simple death, while the usual thing would be a painful hope to die instead. Death Element was painful, after all.

Although Allan was the one who killed Tenma in the end, it was anything but a wild situation where Allan forced himself to not die. It made sense since he did the same thing to the northern soldier at his own home. He didn't want to die, so he killed so he could live.

That was the surprising truth, and it sounded so simple, yet it was hiding hidden truths that were as good as hideous. Killing can have many justifications. One would say, that killing a nation that was endangering many lives under their ruler's decision was justified. Killing even children, and adult farmers that did nothing but live peacefully? Would it be fair to kill them along with the whole nation? That was the complicated truth and side of an extreme, but it happened a lot in the Immortal realms, and much more frequently on the mortal planets.

Soul Fire was uncaring for the forming Sparkling, feeling that it was an expected thing as if it would be great for it too. However, it felt threatened by something. The flow of energy fastened, and the heart pounded faster. The Acupoints diagram worked, and inner energy seeped into the heart faster by an accumulation of fastening the bloodstream, which in turn, shook Allan's body, but not like it would do further harm. It would, but 36 didn't care for it, since the creation of the first Sparkling under his care was upon him.

Outside, Sarey was sweating and nervously paced the needless around Allan's skin. She took more time than ever before since 36 was constantly pressuring her to be calm, which in turn, made her nervous. She snapped at him from time to time, trying to get the gist of the diagram that she never performed. It formed a pattern around the spine like many times before, but this time, it was focusing on the bloodstream, and muscles surrounding the chest.

One round of needles was gone in a moment, before the 2nd one too. Sarey spend almost an hour catering to this diagram and Allan's body, unafraid of the swirling claw that danced from the wound. It winced from time to time, trying to clash against Sarey but it wasn't doing anything to her, as she figured.

“Good. Good.” 36 said. “Breathing is becoming more haggard. Face turned flushed red, and heartbeat… I can't hear it properly, but it should be fast like bees sizzling.”

“Blood flows stronger, and breath takes some toll too,” Sarey commented. “You are basically creating a complex threatening situation, where the blood and lungs could explode, aren't you!? It's dangerous, but stimulating…” she asked, glancing at 36 after securing the last needle.

“What if I do?” 36 chuckled. “Would you refuse if I told it sooner? Allan would die if it wouldn't happen, and this can create some trauma and injuries, but some rest and following Sparkling will work the rest. Alright?”

Sarey had some more suspicions since 36 was always one to have some problems, mistakes, and a lack of explanations. This time, he did tell some things but considering Allan's situation, Sarey was more than upset about it. Blood around his wounds stopped flowing by now, but not the Death Element in the shape of that claw.

“What now?” Sarey asked.

“Wait.” 36 replied, trying to remember the whole perception of figuring the Sparkling's creation out by countless notions. There were many years of research in the Diary of the Body, and nothing was intricate enough to be called a proper Immortal technique, or Cultivating technique. It was like an encyclopedia with details, hints, and countless methods surrounding the body forging and the body in general. Calling it the finest and most detailed book pertaining to the body wasn't an exaggeration.

After all, 36 was yet to uncover more than 25% of the Diary of the Body, since there was some section that talked about the higher stages. He had some intent to read it too, but not now when his time was limited.

Thus, the time at the valley turned grim. Sarey sat beside Allan, whose face was ashen, and his chest swayed and sweated as he lay on the cold ground. His mouth twitched in pain, and his insides weren't much better.

By now, the Soul Fire turned frantic, since the body of his home, was turning more and more chaotic. Shakings and unnatural pressure enveloped many paths that it protected, creating some troubles to it instead. The flow of the energy was steady, forming incredibly small steams of flowing dust. The energy was in every part of the human body, but those specks of energy were so small, that creating a Sparkling out of them wasn't simple, or known. It was taking a long time to focus all of them on the heart, under the guidance of this diagram that acted instead of Allan's care.

It took almost 2 hours, while the Soul Fire was dancing and eyeing the shimmering ball. It was swirling with bright color, around Soul Fire's own mass in this form. It was a thumb-sized core for the time being, revolving slowly, but it was dense enough and calm enough. The energy in the human body took the shape of a Sparkling and awakened.

Allan was unaware of it, but not like he would have a choice in this. In fact, he would welcome it and would do his best, since the energy was something he always found to be secretive and enticing.

Following the possibility that he would gain such energy that his father had, he wouldn't hesitate to perform any technique or diagram that 36 would force him to do. He would even argue with Sarey if she would stop him from doing that. Thankfully, he wasn't awake in this situation, nor did Sarey argue about it, but one of those can change soon.

In the hours that followed, Sarey ignored the things that she found on him – the 4 scrolls. The shattered stuff made it apparent that he met some dangers, but the 4 scrolls were interesting. Albeit, not interesting enough for her to stop caring for Allan's condition. One of them was her's, but she wasn't one to care about it.

36 insisted on Sarey looking at them, figuring that Allan's case in the Trials was useful, so it put him on the nervous edge of his seat. He wanted to know if Allan's accomplished results were great, but the Sparkling was equally enticing as that, so he was hesitant, and Sarey refused to care about it. So, without a choice, they were waiting for Allan to wake up, and see if the Sparkling will be stabilized enough, and then what?

Time limit? He didn't care about his summoning time, and nothing happened either.

After the 4th hour, Allan's body shook.

It was like waves of choking, making Sarey nervous so she jumped at his side, holding him on the ground. “36!” she shouted.

“Is this it? Finishing line? I can't feel a thing, but energy should be in the inner heart, so it's not like it can create anything from the outside like the regular Spark. It goes along with the research. Alright.” 36 though out loud. “Fine. Get rid of the needles, and force him to a sitting position. Slap him if he won't work willingly, or something. I don't know. He needs to wake up too, and tell things that matter. It's impossible to know the situation in his body from this perspective. The body is shocked one way or another.”

Sarey grunted, forcing the needles gently out of his back, but it was a bit hard to do with Allan's current condition. It took her almost 20 minutes to draw all the needles away, and forcing Allan's body to a sitting position wasn't easy too. She forced him up, hugging his back as she sat there with him on the ground, his back resting on her front, while the shadowy hand was anything but a small distraction.

“Now what?!” she barked at 36.

“More waiting, or slapping…”

“I won't slap a damn person who would've died without… whatever you made me do,” Sarey said, jolting her arms to feel Allan's shoulder and chest as she sat. Firm muscles in his body felt warm and sweaty, but she didn't mind it. Breathing wasn't calm, and Allan still felt the pain, but he was returning from the pain, back to reality.

“Hey… Allan.” Sarey whispered to his ears and ignored his shaking. “Will you wake up? I am worried, and so is… never mind.” she didn't want to consider 36's involvement at all.

She was whispering for a good while until Allan's body stopped shaking, as if the shock that was upon him, halted, or was better because of something. Soon, his face turned serene and started to move. Allan woke up from the travel into the distant world of the Diary, and his unknowing success of reaching the Sparkling stage of his cultivation.

He grunted, finding the sudden voices intriguing enough to wake him up. “Voice… Sarey?” he asked, unable to lift a finger, but enough to talk.

“Yes?” she replied softly. “Do you feel alright?”

There was still the lingering Death Element on his shoulder, but Allan didn't seem to be affected by this at all.

“What is happening… I stepped out of that place, feeling great before, but then, something hit me like a hammer. It was terrifying. Is this portal traveling normal? Is it a time of pain, confusion, and cold warmth? You travel through these things a lot, mister 36, so tell me… are you there? Did he already leave?” Allan asked gripping his fist and trying to move it more. It didn't work all that great, since he felt the same confusion and tingling pain around his chest, and neck.

The wound on his shoulder was still none of his concerns because he felt like shit one way or another. He even forgot his stuff, his journey to the Diary of the Body, or the precious things that he successfully achieved thanks to his Wisher's help.

Unfortunately for him, he was feeling mild to insane levels of pain throughout his body, which made many things impossible to do.

He felt a touch of hands around his chest and Sarey behind his head. Her slight breath and heartbeat were something he noticed right away since she was pressing against him, in fear of something, or anything.

“Boy is awake. Good!” 36 cheered. “You took some damned time, kid.”

“Well, did I? How long have I been away for?” Allan asked. “And, where are the things? Scrolls! I manage quite well! Why am I almost naked?”

His mind returned to some clarity, and his body tried to wince away, trying to find the scrolls, but Sarey firmly shook him to the ground, forcing his front to hers.

A palm struck right across his cheeks, jolting his mind from Sarey's quite accurate strikes.

“You are bloody wounded, idiot,” she said and took a better look at his wounds which returned to dripping some blood. Weirdly enough, the claw seemed to reduce in size, before disappearing completely inside.

What sounded next was only 36's hilarious laugh, who found this situation as hilarious as one Immortal would.

“Oh… Did I deserve that?” Allan felt some sting on his cheek, but it was nothing worse than the pain throughout his body. “I know I got wounded. I know it, but it seems the soul fire wasn't up to it. Are my neck and shoulder that bad? I feel the blood, and immense pain, so…” he answered after feeling Sarey's clear worry and words.

“Save it for later. You went through a lot right now, or before, but you were away for about 10 minutes, so I suppose the time is indeed twisted over there. 36 didn't lie. How surprising and nice… isn't it?” she gave 36 a tough look, but cared for Allan much more.

Before Allan had a chance to reconcile in his mind, he felt Sarey's grip around his body again. “Now, time to solve this, so sit straight. I will at least bandage you up, along with the dissipating Death,” she ordered, not giving Allan time to talk back.