Chapter 7: Ways of the Wild Territories
"It is ready!"
Even though the herbal stench was repulsive, there was an excited expression on Elias's face. He quickly disrobed and started to smear the solution all over his body. A burning sensation appeared on his skin, growing stronger moment by moment.
[Ding!]
[Strength+0.001]
[Dexterity+0.001]
[Constitution+0.001]
Despite the burning pain he felt, Elias was smiling. He finally was growing stronger! The notifications kept going off in his head, as his stats continued to grow. He kept reapplying the solution whenever the pain subsided. By the evening, Elias has managed to grow his stats by a whole three hundredths(0.03) of a unit, making his strength and constitution reach 0.83 and his dexterity reach 0.93. While not a big change, he could feel the difference already. Newfound strength seemed to add some spring to his steps as he was heading back to the village.
For the next several days, this kind of thing has become a part of his routine. Even though you can't say that the speed of his growth was high, it wasn't slow, and just in three days, he had managed to bring his dexterity to 1. It then took two more days to bring the other two physical stats to this level. When Elias tried to continue using the herbal solution, it technically worked, but the message from the system made him want to cry.
[Ding!]
[Strength+0.000001]
[Dexterity+0.000001]
[Constitution+0.000001]
It was practically useless to continue using it, so Elias had to give up on it.
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Life seemed to gradually become smoother, since he was no longer a complete weakling, and for some reason, no one was attempting to kill him anymore.
However one should understand that in a place like that, it was the power that ultimately ruled. The only reason why Elias was relatively safe was that he was weak and irrelevant, so the only ones who targeted him were most likely weak people like him who were trying to curry the favor with the new chief. Keeping up the facade until he can actually defend himself was extremely important. If a son of an old chief suddenly shows growth, he'd instantly be dealt with.
Come to think of it, the only reason Feron was spared back then was that not all of the elders were supporting Gaden. In fact, Gaden was rather unpopular and only three out of eight elders supported him, and only one of them was a Ferocious Warrior. Considering that there were three Ferocious Warriors among the elders that opposed Gaden, and the fact that Gaden was strong enough to take on two of them, one could say that both parties were balanced in power. However if Gaden attempted something like publicly killing a mentally impaired kid, he'd lose too much support in the tribe. After all if one can't trust and rely on his own tribe, how can one expect to survive in the Wild Territories?
This kind of cutthroat leadership would be acceptable in extremely poor tribes where food is worth its weight in gold, however Fierce Tiger Tribe was one of the strongest small tribes around here. They didn't lack food. What they lacked was strong people, and to nurture those, the entire tribe had to work as one.
In any case, for now, Elias was safe from being directly attacked by Gaden, and as long as he does not show off too much, he is going to be fine. The other option would be to find some backing that Gaden cannot overlook, but this option was on another level of complexity. It was also a gamble, because showing any kind of talent will simply provoke Gaden.
Elias took this issue seriously, that's why even though he has already accumulated enough CB to enter the Qi Condensation realm, he decided not to do that for the time being. The Immortal Cultivation path is famous for attracting tribulations during breakthroughs, and Elias simply was not sure if such a thing would happen when he tries to break through. Also, the idea of accumulating enough energy to break through more than once was a tempting one. It will also allow him to reach a level of strength he needed to feel safe in a short amount of time. As for right now, he had paralytic liquid for self defence. He could use the small ceramic knife he had for herb gathering as a means of delivering the poison.
Days continued to pass by. Elias was unable to find any good place that could serve him as a shelter, so instead he has set up several caches throughout the forest. The caches would usually consist of several jugs, either buried or hidden. These jugs were obviously filled with extracts of Blue Alacita, Bitter Falpon and Twisted Skunkweed. To get this many jugs, he had to trade with fellow tribe members. Thankfully, going a bit hungry was rather beneficial for him, so he had enough food to trade with. Luckily for him, no one really asked why he would go and trade for the jars.
*It is probably because I'm supposed to be an idiot...*
Anyways, it was worth the effort. He felt safer when he left for the forest knowing he had a place he could run to if he is chased or injured. As time went by, his level of mastery over the Basic Breathing Technique continued to grow, inching closer and closer to being complete. However, for some reason, the amount of energy that was absorbed, seemed to hit the wall.
[CB+0.069696969]
…
[CB+0.069696969]
*Just why isn't it growing?*
[Ding!]
[It is impossible to absorb what does not exist!]
*Hmm. Makes sense, but if that's the case I will have to go back to the mountain...*
Herbs that were growing on the mountain were generally more valuable and even grew faster. This meant that ambient energy there was denser. But Elias didn't want to go there for obvious reasons. Setting aside the fact that all his preparations would be useless just because his caches were in the forest, the mountain region was way more dangerous by itself. If forest was relatively safe because of it being between the village and tribe's military grounds, mountains were much more "wild". Predators generally didn't go to the forest because of constant human activity, but mountains weren't like that. Although it was rare, sometimes a tiger or a bear that was forced to leave by a stronger animal would come to the mountain's base and it would be usually chased away or hunted down after some people disappear.
And that wasn't all. Cliffy areas were dangerous by themselves without any animals there, and if those two from back then are still waiting for an opportunity… Wouldn't going to the mountain be just looking for trouble?
Elias looked at his CB counter. It read just over two hundred, so he could enter Qi Condensation right away.
*If I do it, would it bring any attention?*
After thinking hard for some time, he couldn't come up with a definite answer. After all, while getting stronger was his ultimate goal, currently, it was akin to gambling with his life. Thinking that a clear head in the morning might yield better results, he decided to hit the hay. The moment his body assumed horizontal position, he fell asleep.
When Elias woke up, he already knew what to do. A sense of clarity and determination welled up in him. He read enough stories in his past life to learn that fortune favors the bold, and that people will only treat him like they do now, if he himself allows it. He was getting tired of receiving disdainful looks even from the slaves, the lowest rung of society here. After all, he technically was the son of a previous chief, and if he goes against Gaden, the opposing faction is likely to support him. The only thing he needs right now is power. And without risk and effort it won't come to him.
If someone was still targeting him, it was only good for Elias, after all he still needed two blood samples to obtain. He couldn't even hope to get a sample from a tribe's warrior, but whoever was targeting him wasn't one, or else he would be already killed. That's why he was relatively confident in pulling off an ambush.
*Thanks to my memories as Feron, I have an advantage of territorial knowledge when it comes to the mountain… I should stop shaking in my boots and prepare an ambush, or I will have to live in fear for the rest of my life.*
According to Feron's memories, there were plenty of treacherous places on the mountain. After all, he almost died himself in one such place. So naturally, he already was considering several places for an ambush. And if he sits in the ambush long enough and no one comes. It means it is safe for him to attempt a breakthrough, since the mountain was a bit farther from the village.
The first thing that he did that day, was to go to the forest to retrieve the herbal liquids he prepared. Jugs weren't big so he could hide several in the herbal basket. Since there wasn't that much supervision, he could simply bring them home. After all, Yel did not really employ any heavy enforcement method, if you want to eat, you will come to him.
Night passed, and a new day came. It was time to lure out the would be tigers.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
MasterOfGainDomain
MasterOfGainDomain The voting is finally available! If you think that my work deserves it, I will gladly accept all the powerstones you can give me ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
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