I Shall Devour Everything

Mei realized that Arion hadn't done it on purpose, but she couldn't help but feel like running away for making an indecent sound accidentally. 

Although she was inexperienced, she already had some awareness regarding the salacious matters between men and women.

But she couldn't help but wonder how a man's thing could be so vigorous like a beast.

And right now, her face was as red as an apple while Arion was too busy to notice such a beautiful sight since he was busy admonishing himself.

Mei cleared her throat and lowered down her bow before saying, "I guess that's enough teaching for today. I will go take a bath now."

The arrow disappeared just as she lowered her bow, and the bow turned into a flash of light before disappearing into her chest.

Arion scratched his head as he nodded with a silly smile, increasing the awkwardness in the air.

Mei quickly turned around, hoping that Arion didn't see how embarrassed she was, and walked away.

However, hearing her mention 'teaching', Arion called out, "Wait!"

Mei felt her heart slightly racing, wondering what he was about to ask, and turned around with a smile, "Hm?"

Arion asked earnestly, "Can you teach me how to use a bow and arrow?"

Mei forgot about everything else and asked in a surprised tone, "You really want to? Why?"

However, inwardly she was feeling happy that Arion asked to help him out.

Arion wondered why she seemed surprised but still answered, "I have seen people using it and felt that it is really a good weapon with many potential uses. I feel like those who use a bow and arrow can do a lot on the battlefield, especially against Dreadlings from afar while providing good support."

Mei nodded with a smile, "Hmm, you are right. Not only does that point hold, but also you can accurately target your enemies' weak points if you have a good aim. So, I will be happy to teach you only."

Arion felt thrilled hearing her answer as he couldn't think of a better teacher to teach him. However, he then thought about his training and asked, "But then what about Old Zi's training?" 

Mei put her finger up to her lips, "Ah, yea, right. But no need to worry. He would be teaching you how to perfectly connect to your prana for the most effective usage and also close combat fighting techniques, and that includes you needing to learn close-ranged weapons since a bow and arrow won't be feasible if your enemies get close to you."

She continued in a reassuring tone, "But no need to worry. I can teach you how to use a bow when you are done with his training every day. I am sure he won't be training you the whole day."

Arion said with glowing eyes, "That's perfect. But I am okay with learning any kind of close-range weapons, though not daggers since I feel that it's too short for my liking, especially when fighting against monsters."

"Actually, daggers are useful, especially when you are working with a team. Usually, people who are very fast and agile master the use of daggers since they could make critical, fast, and precise attacks when the enemy is distracted. But of course, you should learn what you are comfortable with if you want to develop a connection with your weapon," Mei pointed out.

"Connection? Do you mean like forming a connection with a pranic weapon to get a pranic mark? But why does our liking for a weapon affect the connection? Aren't we merely merging with a weapon or an item?" Arion asked with knitted brows.

Mei answered, "Actually, our universe was originally a dead place with no life according to myths. Then Goddess Alara, who descended from 'The Timeless Realms', which is a different plane than the one we are in, saw how dark and lifeless our plane was. So with her holy power, she breathed life into the universe along with our world. But what she breathed into our world was 'prana', the source of her power…a power that could do many amazing things, including the creation of life...a power that could continue to perpetually exist through the cycle of creation and destruction."

Arion's mouth parted a bit as he felt as if he learned a lot of things in a short span of time. But he still didn't get what point Mei was coming to an answer to his question.

He already had formed a lot of questions in his mind after hearing some new terms but decided to let her continue.

"But prana is not merely energy but has a will of its own. Why do you think we are 'connecting' or 'linking' to prana? It's because we are trying to converse with it, synchronize with it, and borrow its powers to use it as our own. Everything in this world contains some amount of prana, but most lifeless things have a negligible amount of them whereas living beings have them the most."

Arion asked with a clouded gaze feeling that he had gained a new perspective of prana, "So, are you saying that we have to connect with these pranic weapons or any pranic item to form a proper connection?"

Mei smiled as she gestured with her finger, "That's right. To use prana that is not originating from you, you need to earn its acknowledgment or form a bond with it to use its prana or power as your own. Otherwise, it will reject you, and you might only harm yourself if you forcefully try to use it or...it may be far less effective in giving you power."

"It's just like how you always ask for permission to use the belongings of others. But if you have a friendly relationship with that person, then you have more freedom to use their stuff."

"Wow...that makes sense. So are you telling me these pranic weapons have a life or a consciousness?" Arion asked in quite an amazement.

"Hmm, if they are man-made ones, then it mainly depends on how powerful the creator is since when someone creates a pranic item, they impart part of their spirit, emotions, and will into that item since they are using their prana to forge it. So that energy could give birth to a consciousness, and how strong that consciousness is would depend on the creator, as I said. As for naturally occurring pranic containers, they are very rare but might also provide other benefits."

"Whoa, I never thought this was how Dreadslayers store extra or artificial prana to use during battles. This sounds exciting but at the same time a bit scary, especially the whole merging part. So you are an Awakened Defier? I can brag about this to others," Arion said with a beaming smile.

Mei blushed and said, "There is nothing much to brag about. It's not like I am the only Awakened in the world."

Arion excitedly asked, "Say, you faced that Queen Jawfiend, and you used your bow. How many arrows would it take you to kill it?"

Arion already learned how big and terrifying the Queen Jawfiend was and when he learned that he was lying unconscious beside its corpse made them feel like he had a dance with death itself.

He didn't dare imagine what would have happened if he faced it for real.

Mei replied confidently, "Only one." 

Arion was astonished, "You mean like you will aim for its heart or something?"

Mei shook her head, "I don't have to. Just a single arrow of mine could slice its whole body into two halves. It would rather be overkill."

Although her words might seem arrogant, when she said it sounded as if it came from her pure confidence in her abilities, and the way she said it seemed like she was trying to answer as modestly as possible.

Even though this fact stunned Arion, he believed it since he always felt that Mei was kind of an expert in her own right.

"But don't go about telling others what I can do. I don't want anyone trying to recruit me to join their battles when I want to stay with and support you, hehe," Mei playfully said.

"Of course, I would never," Arion said with a chuckle.

'Why would I even let others know how a beauty like you is this powerful as well? Who knows how many might seek her out just for this fact alone,' Arion already solemnly swore inwardly to keep Mei as low-key as possible. Her halo as a Healifier coupled with her mesmerizing beauty was enough to cause chaos.

She then said in a tone of regret, "But I wish I was there with you when those Jawfiends attacked. It still pains me to think that I almost lost you."

Arion waved his hands and said as he gave her a comforting hug, "No need to think about things that already got over. Look at me now. Didn't something good happen because of it? It was all a blessing in disguise. Now I will be in the backyard for some fresh air while you can go take a bath, okay?"

Mei nodded with a soft smile while Arion felt his heart-melting by seeing her pure smile that seemed so elegant and graceful.

He coughed and quickly left since he felt that he might lose control again, especially considering that his lower part had started to misbehave recently.

However, the reason he wanted to go to the backyard was to test some things out he had been waiting to do for a while.