Primordial Sage: Plight of Immortality

Fortunately, his instinctive attack found its target, and the sound of cut flesh together with a miserable wail sounded out in the forest. But Stone too didn't come out of it unscathed. The impact was so strong that even the tree was damaged.

He felt as if his innards overturned and his bones shifted from their original place. The nausea hit him soon after as his head was spinning and his eyes blacked out not knowing up from down. But he knew that this weakness could be fatal in the fight so he forcefully calmed down.

Immediately after he took out his second axe and held it firmly in his hand. Then he assessed his injuries.

'Several broken bones cracked left shoulder blade and lightly cracked spine. My organs seem to shift a little which could be dangerous to fight with. I need to end...' Stone's thought process was interrupted as he felt the assault from the front. He swiftly dodged with pain on his face and counter-attacked with heavy attack as the muscles on his arms bulged.

During the attack, he, for the first time, could see his opponent fully and instantly knew who the enemy was. It was a tall man with a mad glint in his eyes. His entire body skin seemed to be flushed as if he was boiled in the water and his entire figure was gaunt. So gaunt that his ribs could be seen from his exposed chest.

The enemy was one of the members of Blood Crow Alliance!

'Looks like we lucked out. But I don't know which clan he is exactly from.' Stone thought as his axe was almost in contact with the man.
The assailant had a surprised expression since he didn't expect that the enemy would be still fit to fight after the impact. He was already injured and most importantly poisoned so he too wanted to end this battle as soon as possible. He redirected Stone's attack and kicked towards his legs trying to get him on the ground.

But Stone put his leg back easily evading the kick and kicked back at the stretched leg breaking it in the process.

"Agh!" The enemy grunted in pain again but this time instead of retreating he proceeded to attack Stone with the axe he threw out. Stone also didn't back down and wielded his second axe against the enemy.

Stone, who was still dizzy, knew it would be useless to try to fight with Finnese so he chose to evade only the attacks that could either hit his vitals or impair him.

Two axes clashed together, the opponents exchanged blows, and blood streaks were flying everywhere. It seemed as if two madmen fought each other not caring for their life. Unfortunately for the clansman, Stone had an insurmountable advantage in this matter and could fight like this for hours minimally.

His injuries from the impact slowly healed as his dizziness left him and could face his enemy with his all. On the other hand, the enemy who was already weakened long before the fight put his all into the first few attacks but got weaker and weaker as the battle continued. When it seemed that Stone would finally land the final blow the gust of wind blew in between them separating them.

"Well, that is enough. We will still need him for interrogation." Said Kaoran as he held the body of the clansman who had already fallen unconscious. Stone on the other hand had eyes opened wide. He almost forgot that Kaoran was with him and was just watching the entire fight!

"Hey, why didn't you help me? This was dangerous even with my regeneration." Stone said resentfully.

"Exactly for that reason. To show you how these guys are dangerous so you won't die unprepared later. This guy was probably unlucky and got poisoned by Uhera members else he would be even stronger." Kaoran explained this to him.

"I see. But then again why would he do this kind of shitty trap? He could easily go away."

"I probably already understand the reason why. In their belief, once they kill someone their bodies belong to the 'Lord' they worship. But since he was poisoned he couldn't safely bring their bodies. But he couldn't leave them here since there was a big chance they would be eaten. So he chose to make this trap as he probably waiting for other members of his clan. If someone takes the bait then it would be another sacrifice if not then he wouldn't have to fight. All in all, if he wasn't poisoned which influenced his thought process it could be a better trap."

Kaoran concluded as he saw the wound made by the poisoned spear. Then he gave him an antidote he just made.

While Stone and him fought each other he went stealthily to the bodies and checked out the poisons they used. This time it wasn't 'Green Dream' so he took his time to recognize it while making sure with side-eye that nobody died in the fight. Then he quickly made the antidote which was a little difficult to make without his tools but still doable.

Stone who heard this was relieved that most of the poisons can't affect him since they can completely neutralize even as strong a person as this one. Looking at the man in Kaoran's arms Stone couldn't help but furrow his brows. The man was as tall as Stone but he seemed to be half his weight. Yet he was stronger than him making him curious. Before he could ask Kaoranm who saw his expression, already started to answer.

"They practice some kind of forbidden technique giving them strength. It has probably something to do with that Blood Crow Lord of theirs."

"Why forbidden ?" Stone never heard about this type of technique.

"They are harmful to the user. And sometimes to people around violating the conduct of morality and ethnicity thus forbidding to use. By my understanding, this technique works somehow along the lines of 'Blood is nourished with the flesh of oneself giving it uncomparable strength'. But your vitality will be lost and they usually won't live over 50 years. On the other hand, they are not reliant on outside resources as our tribe." Kaoran said with a bitter expression.

"Interesting..." Mumbled Stone to himself. He wondered if this technique would harm his body permanently or not. If not it would be perfect for him! But as he thought about it Kaoran already stopped when he surmised this far it was enough and tied up the man prepared to interrogate him. He also gave him some kind of medicine he took out from his sack which surely wasn't an antidote...

Soon he woke him up with a few slaps on the face. The man who finally woke up opened his eyes violently as he started to cough. Soon this outpour stopped as the man's sluggish gaze looked around. He seemed confused as the drool was dripping from his mouth.

"You drugged him!" Stone was surprised to see Kaoran use the knowledge of medicine, which was meant to heal, to do such a thing.

"Yes, Stone, I did. There is nothing just black and white. No matter what tool or knowledge. All depends on how the user uses it." Then he turned around and started to talk to the man in a different language than the Theares language that the Bakur Tribe uses.

But Stone didn't mind since he pondered the words of Kaoran. 'Nothing is innately evil then? Just bad people doing bad things, huh? Then forbidden techniques that lack morality are just normal techniques used or created by wrong hands then.' Many thoughts flashed through Stone's mind when screams echoed in the air.

Kaoran's integration went smoothly. With the help of drugs Kaoran could easily manipulate the man and get the information from his mouth. When he seemed to be hesitant the little shock of pain would make the hesitancy disappear and soon Kaoran got everything he got from the mind of the man. And so he quickly broke his neck swiftly ending his miserable life.

As the man fell with a twisted head on the ground Stone asked Kaoran. "Why didn't you guys interrogate them to tell them about that technique of theirs?" He was curious since Kaoran seemed to envy this kind of power technique that makes those clans so powerful.

But Kaoran shook his head as he explained." We tried. The techniques are too esoteric for the drugged clansmen to explain and if they are not they won't reveal anything. They are too fanatical for that. They would rather die than spill the beans and even torture wouldn't change their mind."

'Torture ?' Stone gulped. He saw many cruelties during the years but torture was new to him. Hopefully, he will not need to torture someone in the future. Or even worse being the receiver...

"What about the other corpses ?"

"I already purified them so let them be. Something will take care of them soon." Said Kaoran as he prepared to leave.

"Stone, let's go. We can't stay here since there is a chance that reinforcements will come." Kaoran said as he took in the hands the dead body of the clansman.

"Why are you taking him with us? Won't they pursue us if we take him? Because of that 'Lord'." Questioned Stone with a puzzled expression.

"We will just borrow him for a moment, ha ha ha. He is still useful. I want to show you what their body looks like from the inside since they practice that 'Blood Feeding Technique' which transforms them from the inside out. It will be a good experience for you. Aren't you happy I always think the best for you ?" Kaoran said lively as he quickly climbed onto the tree with one hand holding onto the man.

"Of course... Who wouldn't be happy to stick hands into the bodies of people they just killed..."

Stone had a blank expression as he realized that the guy would be abused even in his death. Shouldn't they rather hurry since he knows the place of their gathering?

'Wait... Did he even get that information ?' Stone suddenly realized that Kaoran didn't mention that at all!

"Old man, shouldn't we go to that camp? Or rather even if we go there they are too strong, no? Instead of playing with dead ones wouldn't it be better to try to solve the threat they pose to us ?" Stone who barely caught up with Kaoran asked him those questions. After all, this can affect the tribe.

"Don't worry I got all the information we need. They have camped deep in the Greythorn Forest and will stay there for at least a month before moving. The camp is made up of men from four clans and there are probably over 100 of them. So we will need to prepare for that."

Kaoran explained during the way.

"As for their strength... They are a little stronger on average than them. The reason why this one was so strong was because he was older and trained in their technique for a long time. Furthermore, their strength won't deteriorate as time passes but instead grow stronger until their death. Those 100 men are probably the elites of their clans so we will need to attack with full force."

In the end, they found an isolated place far from the place they left half an hour ago. They settled down in a small cave where the snow didn't reach and put the corpse in the center.

"I really wanted to show you this since even for me it is fascinating," Kaoran said as he pulled out the dagger. The dagger was small but sharp and with Kaoran's finnese he quickly sliced the clothes the man had on his torso and threw them away.

The chest of the man was exposed even before but now his entire upper body was seen. For Stone, it was unimaginable since the body seemed to be only skin and bones. He watched as Kaoran embedded the dagger right in the center of the chest, carefully to not damage any of the organs, and made a big incision which he then widened to make a hole.

That would be nothing surprising if not for the blood that started to vigorously flow out of the wound even after the death of the man.
"This is a phenomenon caused by that technique they practice. Because of that their blood is extremely vigorous and even after death, it seems that it still flows in large quantity. But look at this. While the blood is extremely enriched their organs are like dried fruits." Kaoran explained and then exposed the man's organs.

They were in a horrible state. It was as if the man was mummified alive despite the blood still flowing in his veins. Even the heart seemed to be just two-thirds of its original size!

"This happens when they start to practice it for years. It slowly sacrifices your own vitality to gain strength. And it seems that the source of that strength lies in their blood. Because of that, while superior in strength, they do not have that much of sturdy bodies. They are very vulnerable to sneak attacks and swift battles where the enemy attacks first. So if possible killing them as swiftly as possible is the most efficient way to fight them." Kaoran explained many things to Stone as he showed him the body.

Moreover thanks to the vigorous blood Kaoran could imitate the flow of the blood with little spiritual energy showing Stone for the first time how the body works when you are alive. Stone's knowledge deepened as he listened to the lesson Kaoran was explaining until he noticed something that didn't fit the body. It was a kind of lump of flesh seemingly fused with stomach.

"What is this ?" As he pointed at it Kaoran also looked at it. From his perspective he didn't immediately notice it and since he was focused on explaining he didn't examine the body in detail. But when he saw it he had little to no surprise in his expression. In the end, he still checked it and after a while, he answered.

"That is a tumor."

"Tumor ?"

"Yes. And it is one made from the uncontrollable growth of the cells in the body. It is a frequent disease that has many reasons to show up.

Actually, many of the clansmen I dissected had one or two tumors. It seems that the technique is the culprit. Once those cells grow and affect other body parts it is the end for them. With this tumor at this stage, he would be dead in a few months even without us killing him."

Explained Kaoran.

Stone was listening with rapt attention as he watched that tumor that had already grown into the stomach damaging it heavily. Kaoran explained to him how the cells divide and naturally die and this would happen if they grow uncontrollably. Seeing this he touched his chest.

He wondered if his regeneration would be able to heal this kind of disease.

Or if it the regeneration would actually make it much worse, turning him into an abomination of flesh and blood...