The Human Path

"Koren, who performed the harmonization ceremony for you when you turned 10, was it Kafai" Asked Chief Ipnak, as the two were walking.

"Um yes." Replied Koren with some hesitation, he didn't like it when he had to lie to people who were good to him.

"Did he tell you why we attempt harmonization only after our 10th birthday?" asked Chief Ipnak as he came to a stop.

"No, Grandpa and I only trained in the basics." Said Koren as he remembered his grandfather. Koren was born with wind, not earth. His Grandfather tried his best to teach him, but it was very difficult for him to make progress, due to the lack of wind spirits in the desert.

"As you know, harmonization is the process when we are accepted by the spirits and we welcome the spirits into our Spiritual Core. The more spirits we can fuse, the higher our harmonization. Our spiritual cores are very fragile, and only when we turn 10 years old, are they mature enough to attempt fusion." Said Ipnak as he started walking again.

"But what is harmonization, why does it allow us to fight someone with a higher level. The truth is, harmonization increases our ability to control the elements, as well as our capacity to hold spiritual power. That is why someone who's level is higher will almost always win." Said Ipnak.

"We humans lack the proper resources to cultivate in the spiritual path, in the Raavi empire, children who cultivate the spiritual path have troves of spiritual shards at their disposal, they are able to cultivate faster than you can imagine." Said Ipnak in a pitiful tone.

"Harmonization provides balance and control, while level provides power and versatility. However, this only exists till level 10, because after reaching level 10, we get the opportunity to harmonize again. Our spiritual cores expand and transform, allowing us to reach the incarnation realm" said Ipnak, as his body started to grow, and his skin started to get a grainy texture, like sand.

"During the incarnation realm one must make a choice, and choose a spiritual beast shard. The shard is not used for cultivation but for fusion. It fuses with the spiritual core of the cultivator, allowing them to harness all of the spiritual beasts gifts as their own. I chose the sand badger, giving me a thick sand Armor, sharp claws, an extremely strong sense of smell underground, along with unrivaled speed in the sand." said the Chief as his whole body grew thicker, his nose elongated, and two dark streaks appeared over his eyes and cheeks.

Koren was shocked, the chief had completely transformed into a monster. Koren now understood why the chief brought him away from the others, such a sight would most likely frighten the faint of heart like Enri.

"The incarnation realm is not a secret, but it is rare in the Goliath desert. Your grandfather's incarnation was the iron scaled Mammoth, an extremely rare spiritual beast." Said chief Ipnak with clear regret in his eyes.

"However, 14 years ago, the sword keeper came to him for help. Me, the other chieftains and your grandfather decided to hide him from his enemy, but we failed. The enemy managed to track us down, and killed the sword keeper. However your grandfather managed to secure the sword, but he was severely injured, his incarnation collapsed. In the end we managed to kill the enemy, but one of the village chiefs also died." Said Chief Ipnak, his voice full of sorrow and regret.

"You managed to reach level 5 at such a young age, I have no doubt you will reach level 10 before Haruki, perhaps even earlier than Sappa." Said the village chief as he started to get smaller, and all the changes disappeared one by one, until he looked like a regular desert human.

Koren, had never seen a human transform like this, and the idea that his grandfather was also capable of a similar feat made him feel as if he didn't really know his grandfather all too well.

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"This makes sense, the spiritual path is like the worlds default cultivation system, mainly made for its spiritual beasts. If an intelligent creature like humans, Raavi or Draconian's want to practice it, they must rely on the Spiritual beasts in some way." Said Hope in an inquisitive manner.

"Why didn't grandfather tell me any of this, why are you telling me now Chief." Asked Koren.

"Your grandfather had his reasons, as for me, I don't want my new pupil to make a mistake in cultivation." Said Ipnak with a smile.

Koren understanding the chiefs meaning, immediately knelt down on one knee. "Teacher!!" shouted Koren.

************

Thousands of miles away, on an icy field stood a human woman, she had glistening silver hair, aqua blue eyes and pale skin. This woman wore a thick animal fur dress, she had an air about her, an air of someone wild and free.

This woman was staring straight ahead, her eyes were calm, but her stance was full of danger. Far into the distance on the opposite side of this field of ice stood her opponent. The woman had her sword out in her hand, thick frosty essence rolling off the blade.

"Ahhhh" Yelled the woman, her whole body started to undergo a transformation, gem-like icy scales appeared over her body, a tail appeared and her hands turned into claws. Two very distinct horns appeared over her head. If anyone else saw her at this time, they would mistake her form for a draconian.

The woman's opponent, was not a human, but a pure blood draconian, with thick dark azure scales, golden Armor with the insignia of a feathered snake swallowing its own tail. This was the Insignia of the Draco Kingdom, and gold could only be worn by royalty.

This was a battle between a human woman and a draconian royal.

The draconian royal blinked and the woman had already disappeared, his eyes turned into slits and he could see the woman sprinting towards him, everywhere she passed, the air itself would freeze. In but a single breaths time, she had managed to clear the distance of over a kilometer, and was squarely in front of the draconian royal.

"Argent Moon" shouted the woman as she reached her opponent and her sword came slashing down.

The draconian royal didn't dodge, he simply rolled his fist forward and screamed "Burn!!". His fist made contact with the sword and an explosion of fire and ice made both the woman and the draconian royal roll back.

The royal checked his fists and he could see a cut on his knuckles. He couldn't believe he had bled. "Ahhhh" he shouted as his body also started to undergo a transformation. His azure dark scales were now azure gold, he yanked his Armor off and wings sprouted from his back. A fire ejected from his nostrils, as he lunged forward slashing towards the human with his claws.

The woman was not flustered, her lustrous gem like figure kept dodging all of the draconian's attacks with ease. Every time she slashed with her sword, she would leave a bloody mark on the royals body.

The draconian royal was mad with rage, his two wings started to flap vigorously and his feet were lifted off the ground. He stared at the human from above, his golden pupils filled with not cruelty, but love. Yes love, because his human opponent was not his enemy, but someone he cared for immensely.

"Why must we do this, Ukara. You know how I feel about you. So what if you were born a human, your incarnation is the legendary frost dragon, while mine is the fire dragon, we were meant to be together."

"If you stay here, you will never reach the transformation realm. Your essence path has already reached its limit, join me and I will help you seek out the path artifact of Halfrist." yelled the draconian royal, his voice filled with rage and hope.

"You will leave, and never return. This is your final warning." Said the woman in an icy voice, her face, expressionless.

"Ukara, you are the lord of a great human city, if you continue to reject me, my forces will come with full force." Said the Draconian royal, his voice was calm, but his face was fully distorted.

"Crown Prince Elmar, you can try, I am not afraid of a fight. And just so you know, I am a human, and will never surrender my freedom to you or anyone else." said Ukara as her body started to get larger, and icy wings sprouted from her back. Her frame continued to get larger, until it dwarfed the transformed stage of the draconian crown prince.

"Y..y…you managed to reach the transformation realm. How is that possible?" shouted the prince in complete shock, as he stared at the massive and majestic frost dragon in front of him.

"Tell me prince, can you afford to lose your life here in the icy mountains" said Ukara, who had transformed into a giant frost dragon.

The prince, who had an ugly expression on his face, didn't reply, but simply turned around, and flew away at top speed.

The massive dragon started to shrink, its wings, scales, tail and claws all retreated, and once more a human woman was standing in the icy field, a thick icy mist surrounding her naked body. She waved her hand and a sword appeared with a bag tied to it. She took out some fur clothing from the bag and put it on, then she looked north and disappeared.