Chapter 9: Spirit Spring

It was painful. Everything. His whole body, from head to toe, was in pain when he woke up from the large fall. It was only thanks to his landing on the Tiger’s corpse that Kanan was able to survive the fall, and even then, his body was a mess.

"Nnnnghhhh! Arghh!" He couldn’t move a muscle without experiencing some sort of discomfort or pain. He couldn’t feel his right arm, his left leg was bent out of place, and his head was throbbing even worse than before.

’Yup, I’ve decided. When I get out of here, I’m going to kill Terin.’ And that was only if he managed to make it out alive.

Looking up, Kanan saw that he was inside a cave, as the ceiling had a hole in it where he and the tiger had fallen.

Around him was a pool of clear, cool water that soothed his body and kept the pain from feeling too intense.

On the bright side, he had water to drink. The only downside was that he couldn’t turn his head to drink it.

While his neck wasn’t broken, moving his body was too painful, even if it was the subtle movements of his neck.

[Registering Spiritual Phenomenon - Spirit Spring. The host will now absorb its properties.]

’Huh? Spirit Spring? What’s that?’

[Description - A spirit spring is when concentrated spirit energy forms into a liquid. This liquid can heal the body, make it stronger, and aid in treating sicknesses.]

’Whaatt?! This is a treasure trove! I-If the village learns of this, then it can help our people! Maybe even break the curse!’

[The curse cannot be broken by the spirit spring. Giving spirit water to infants can make them stronger, and they will be less prone to getting sick.]

’Oh, dang, okay. But this can still help the village. Once I’m healed up, I will tell them about this.’

[That won’t be necessary.]

"Huh? Why? Nngh!" It hurt just to speak.

[The Spirit Spring has been registered in the system. Once the system fully activates, it will be able to be built.]

’I don’t really understand what that means, but what you’re saying is that I will be able to use the Spirit Spring because of the system, right?’

[Affirmative.]

’That’s great! Is there any other spirit spring thingies I should know about?’

[Spirit Stones and Spirit Mist. For further details, please locate Spirit Stones and Mist.]

’Welp, I’ll have to come back to that later.’

Since Kanan couldn’t really do anything, he just closed his eyes and rested as his body healed from the Spirit Water.

---

Hours had passed, and it was now midday. Kanan, who had been asleep this whole time, woke up, his eyes blinded by the bright sunlight that poured through the hole in the cave ceiling.

"Wow, I feel great." There was still a bit of soreness that spread throughout his body, but there was no pain, no uncomfortable feeling, and he could finally move his body once again.

"I don’t know when I’ll be able to build a spirit spring, but I need to do that the moment I’m able to. Until then, I can just use this one for the time...being." Kanan had nothing something weird.

Getting up didn’t make any splashing sounds, his feet didn’t slosh in water, and he felt no resistance when he walked. And it all made sense, considering that there was no more spirit water in the cave.

"S-System! What happened to the spirit water?!"

[The contents of the spirit spring have been fully absorbed into the host’s body. The host is now very strong.]

"W-What?! Then, when I build my own spirit spring, will it disappear like this when someone else uses it?"

[Negative. This spirit spring was fully absorbed into the host thanks to the system.]

"Oh, I see." That was a relief. "Wait, how strong am I now? My muscles aren’t bigger."

[The host’s mind can process information more easily, has stronger and denser bones, has enhanced senses, and all basic stats have been improved.]

"Basic stats?"

[Strength, Stamina, Agility, Intelligence, and Durability.]

"I-I see. How can I test these out, besides punching a wall?"

[It seems that the host’s intelligence didn’t increase much.]

"Fuck you!" Kanan decided not to think of anything too crazy and started off with something simple: a jump.

The hole in the cave ceiling was very far up, so he wouldn’t have been able to reach it unless he climbed. So, after putting the tiger in his inventory, Kanan jumped as hard as he could, rocketing out of the cave.

"ARGHHHHHHH—OOOOOOOF!" He slammed into a large rock that cracked on impact. Surprisingly, he didn’t get hurt at all.

"Woah. This is amazing! I feel so much stronger. I thought that people only became stronger after the blessing ceremony."

[Spirit Springs only draw out the natural strength every being has.]

"So this is just my normal self but better."

[Correct.]

"Sweet."

---

By the time Kanan arrived at the base of the mountain and made it to the spot where he and Terin had encountered the tiger, Terin was gone.

Kanan expected this. He actually hoped that Terin had left and returned to the village to call for help, maybe.

However, something caught his attention on a nearby tree. It was a mark, a direction. Clearly carved with a purpose and not something a monster could do.

"So he marked his location and the direction he traveled. Smart." Kanan followed the markings, going around part of the forest and base of the mountain for a whole hour before he spotted a campfire at a distance.

The smoke was clearly visible when looking up, but the fire was too small to notice. But thanks to the spirit spring, Kanan’s vision improved so much that he could not only see the campfire, but Terin sitting at it.

"Hugh, there we go." He took out the tiger, carried it over his back, and made his way to Terin.

The look on Terin’s face when Kanan arrived with a large beast over his shoulders made him wish cameras existed.

"Y-You’re alive! I’ve been searching for you for the past few hours! A-And the tiger is dead!?"

Kanan set the beast down and took a seat on a log. "Yeah. It was thanks to you piercing its heart."

"No, it was you who killed it." Terin didn’t want the credit.

"Don’t be so humble, friend. You pierced its heart, and the tiger had one last spurt of energy before throwing itself off the mountain peak...with me in its mouth, of course."

"Heh. Y-Yeah, thanks."

"No problem. Ready to go back home?"

"Yeah! Let’s go."

"Oh, by the way, I’m still going to kill you later."

Terin froze, then busted out laughing, Kanan doing the same as they headed back to the village.