Chapter 406

Chapter 330: Spirit Sacrifice

In a forest somewhere in the New World.

Under the gray sky, white mist permeated the tranquil forest. Everything was peaceful and silent. Amidst the light fog, two figures walked through.

Both were young men with tanned skin. One had long black hair and wore disheveled clothes made of animal skins and thick fabrics. A feather from an eagle was attached to the headband he wore, and his face was painted with simple designs. This was Kapak of the Tupá tribe.

Next to him walked a young man around the same age, distinguished by his lack of a head ornament and much shorter hair. He wore a necklace made of animal fangs.

As they walked on the thick layer of fallen leaves, Kapak’s companion, who was slightly older, glanced around several times before turning to Kapak and speaking.

“Kapak, after this spirit sacrifice, your spirituality will be close to the level needed for promotion. After a few more experiences with soul vision, you’ll be able to see the Essence and Lord Black Hoof.”

Hearing this, Kapak smiled and replied respectfully.

“To be honest, Brother Banu, after the last spirit sacrifice, my spirituality was already enough for promotion. Just the other day, Teacher Uta performed a ceremony for me, officially making me a medium. I believe that when I go to perform this spirit sacrifice, I will truly meet Lord Black Hoof. I’ve been waiting for this day for a long time.”

Kapak said to his side, and Banu was surprised. After a moment of silence, he asked in astonishment.

“You have already become a medium? Impressive! Kapak, if I remember correctly, Lord Uta has only been your teacher for just over a month. You have already reached this level? That’s much faster than I did! How did you do it?”

Looking at Kapak, Banu said with surprise and amazement, and Kapak responded modestly with a smile.

“It’s nothing. It’s also thanks to your recent care, Banu brother, which helped me familiarize myself with the spirit sacrifice ritual, making my first attempt very successful.”

“Spirit sacrifice? Brother Kapak, don’t joke around. Even with the spirit sacrifice I led you through, the accumulation of spirituality would definitely not be enough to become a medium. Tell me honestly, did Lord Uta learn about other information from the Wilderness Spirit? Have you participated in other spirit sacrifices for the Wilderness Spirit and obtained spirituality from them?”

“No, no…”

Banu continued to question Kapak, and hearing Banu’s questions, Kapak responded with an ambiguous tone. Hearing Kapak’s tone, Banu believed that this young man must be performing spirit sacrifices with multiple Wilderness Spirits simultaneously, having sources of spirituality unknown to him.

“Hey, Brother Kapak, you’ve accumulated so much spirituality so quickly. It must be because Lord Uta told you the location of new Wilderness Spirits, right? Before, I led you in spirit sacrifices, now you should lead me to find the locations of other Wilderness Spirits. Did Lord Uta tell you to tell others?”

Banu asked eagerly, and Kapak explained.

“It’s not like that, Brother Banu. Our tribe only has Lord Black Hoof as the Wilderness Spirit. Teacher Uta and I don’t know of any other Wilderness Spirits nearby. The reason my spirituality accumulates so quickly is because I have a high affinity for spirituality. It’s easier for me to attract Essences during meditation and resonate with them, and most of my rapid accumulation of spirituality is due to the Essences.”

Kapak explained to Banu, who nodded silently and then spoke.

“Oh… I’ve heard my teacher say that some people naturally have stronger affinities for spirits, allowing them to accumulate spirituality quickly. But I’ve never seen it before. I didn’t expect you, Brother Kapak, to be one of those people. Today, I finally saw it. I’m really envious.”

Thinking, Banu said to Kapak, and Kapak responded with a smile.

“It’s nothing. I was also lucky to have the help of Teacher Uta and Brother Banu, which allowed me to advance smoothly…”

Thus, Kapak and Banu continued to talk as they walked forward, heading toward their usual place for spirit sacrifices.

Since the “Exorcism” incident, Kapak was taken in by the old shaman Uta of his tribe and formally taught the ways of the shaman. During this period, Uta taught Kapak traditional methods of accumulating spirituality and becoming a medium.

What is called the method of becoming a medium involves communicating and resonating with spirits to accumulate the spirituality of “Silence.” This usually requires offering tributes to the spirits, pleasing them, and then meditating and resonating with the spirits after they consume the offerings. In this resonance, the spirituality contained within the spirits flows into oneself.

In the wilderness of the New World, many humans or animals do not immediately dissipate after d*ath but transform into Essences wandering in the wilderness. Shamans need to carry tributes and venture into the wilderness at night, setting up altars facing the Essences, attracting them with tributes, and resonating with them while they feed. Through this resonance, they gain spirituality.

This is the basic application of the method of becoming a medium, which involves resonating with Essences to gain spirituality. However, the amount of spirituality gained this way is limited. Therefore, there are higher-level applications, such as praying to the Wilderness Spirits for resonance to obtain more spirituality.

The Wilderness Spirits are, in fact, more powerful and advanced Essences. In the New World, when a sufficiently powerful creature dies, its soul may become an Essence, and these become the Wilderness Spirits. The bodies of Wilderness Spirits are much stronger than ordinary Essences. Under environmental influence, they merge with the environment, becoming protectors and representatives of nature. In a sense, they can be considered the souls of the land.

Shamans can resonate with Essences and, of course, with Wilderness Spirits. The ritual of requesting spirituality from Wilderness Spirits is called “spirit sacrifice.” From the Wilderness Spirits, seekers of the shamanic path can obtain more spirituality than from ordinary Essences.

After becoming a shaman apprentice, Uta taught Kapak how to use the method of becoming a medium and then let him start accumulating spirituality. Besides sending Kapak out to communicate with Essences in the wilderness, Uta introduced him to apprentices from neighboring tribes, including Banu, and asked Banu to take Kapak to communicate with the Wilderness Spirits and perform spirit sacrifices.

Logically, Kapak had only learned the method of becoming a medium for just over a month and had only performed one spirit sacrifice, so the “Silence” spirituality he accumulated was not enough for promotion. However, apart from the method of becoming a medium, Kapak had another way to accumulate spirituality—by praying to the mysterious and powerful spirit known as Akka. Through Akka, he could receive additional spirituality.

Through the magical book given by Akka, Kapak could communicate with scholars of Akka, even those far away. These scholars would occasionally provide him with knowledge that made him dizzy, supposedly containing toxic spirituality. After reading this knowledge, the scholars instructed Kapak to pray to Akka, and the toxicity would be extracted as spirituality.

With this method and the accumulation from the method of becoming a medium, Kapak accumulated the necessary spirituality for promotion in less than half a month. However, considering the reaction of the old shaman Uta, to avoid overly stimulating his teacher, Kapak chose not to immediately tell him about this. Instead, he waited for over a month before confessing to the old shaman that his spirituality was full and requesting his help for promotion.

Of course, even after delaying for so long, the old shaman was still shocked when he heard that Kapak’s spirituality was sufficient. While smoking his pipe, he coughed so hard he almost couldn’t breathe. With Kapak’s help, he managed to catch his breath with great difficulty.

In Kapak’s explanation, he claimed that his rapid accumulation of spirituality was due to his affinity with spirits and gaining more spirituality during resonance. However, the old shaman did not believe him. He knew that Kapak was hosting a mysterious and powerful spirit, which provided him with knowledge and even protected him from poison. The main reason Uta took Kapak as a student was to closely monitor the mysterious spirit within Kapak to prevent it from doing anything harmful to the tribe. Kapak’s rapid accumulation of spirituality was certainly due to this spirit.