How to Cultivate a Game

From 'it' to 'him', the Crocodilian was slowly but surely recognizing his abstract soul… bit by bit… It was a delicate process, which had rendered his current cultivation insignificant if compared to the greater whole.

Immersed in his own world, the Crocodilian searched for the soul inside him with a calm spirit. The Crocodilian's inner world was that of a marsh, a place he was too familiar with in his youth. In this place, he fought his inner demons and overcame the obstacles that hindered his way.

"GET OUT OF MY WAY!!" The Crocodilian roared with his immense amount of qi. Barring his path were human cultivators who once invaded his homeland. It was a terrible memory for him, which transformed into his own inner demons.

Inside his own mental world, the Crocodilian battled! This was necessary for him to advance to the next stage. The Soul Recognition realm was the stage where an individual must rediscover themselves so that they would know their true shape. This stage also known as the 5th stage represented one of the Three Cosmic Elements which was the soul.

Groooar!

The Crocodilian rampaged into his Mental World, destroying everything on his path. His jaws crushed the phantom images that attacked him. His mental demons were suppressed without mercy, and bit by bit, he advanced.

Defeating these demons was just but one of the few trials for him to overcome in the process of breaking through the 5th stage.

It was a very delicate process, and the Crocodilian didn't want to mess with his chances.

The rise to the 5th stage was a test of self, a question of existence, in which the practitioner could only find the answer within. This was the reason why this stage was called the Soul Recognition realm in the first place.

Souls were said to be the centerpiece of a creature's existence, representing the self. The question was… What was the shape of the self? Of the soul? There were many mysteries that surrounded the soul. What came first? The body or the soul? What was exactly a soul? Did ghosts have souls?

Some suggest that it was the exterior appearance that determined what is inside, like how monkeys have a monkey's soul, how humans have a human's soul, and so on… Meaning that the body came first before the soul.

According to the contrarian, however, it was the interior that determined what the outside would become, like how an old man carried his wisdom, how a scholar conveyed his knowledge, etcetera… Suggesting that the soul came first before the body.

Though they were clearly divergent from each other, the Crocodilian believed in both theories. On the outside, he was a mighty and fierce beast, while inside, he was a cunning and cautious schemer. Roughly, he believed that the soul and his body were simultaneously existing at the same time. The other didn't shape the other, or vice versa. They were like two separate organs similar to the brain and the heart.

The Crocodilian journeyed within his Mental World and went deeper, and deeper. 

Finally, after an unknown time of tedious work, the Crocodilian had finally reached his destination— surrounded by infinite darkness, an enormous ball of light presented itself to him— it was his soul. To be more specific, the ball of light was symbolically his soul. 

Light was an existence that had existed since a time too ancient no one remembered it anymore. In mystic studies, the symbolism it carried had been profound, and interpreted in various ways that the Crocodilian subconsciously had interpreted the image of his soul as a ball of light.

"Finally," The Crocodilian trembled. "The 5th stage!"

He was about to touch it.

When.

Too abruptly.

The inner world, his Mental World, shattered.

"What was happening?" The Crocodilian was on the verge of awakening his soul as he watched the metaphysical world twist and bend at unnatural angles.

Just like pieces of glass shattering, the inner world crumbled into nothingness. With the darkness unveiled, the Crocodilian was then met with an abrupt blinding white light of pure destruction.

*PZzZWwWWwWWwWWWWIIIiiiiIIIIiiiiiiiiiiinnnngg…

With blurry eyes and impaired hearing, the Crocodilian found itself back in the world of flesh... and pain.

The Crocodilian's consciousness finally returned to his mortal flesh.

Only now did the Crocodilian feel something pierced into his left eye, leaving the big reptilian monster in excruciating pain. With his charred hide that extended from his back, the Crocodilian roared in fury.

"WHO DARED ATTACK ME!?"

"KYU!" | 'I did, whatchu gonna do?'

The Crocodilian looked down and saw a familiar white fur ball, a little rabbit. The Crocodilian remembered a particular dumb fox that wanted to cushy with this great Crocodilian. "You... It was you... That funny little rabbit..." 

"Kyu!" The little rabbit raised its weapon, a seemingly tiny spear perfectly proportional to the little creature.

Strangely, the Crocodilian felt the little creature mocking his reptilian pride. "I remember you, funny little one…"

"Kyu?" |  'Really? Who are you then? Name?'

Beasts could communicate almost telepathically, especially with beasts that possessed the sparks of wisdom. 

"Name? There was no need for you to learn. YOU WOULD BE DEAD ANYWAY!"

BANG!

The Crocodilian's limbs moved! Within the blink of an eye, his claw came crashing into the little rabbit at impossible speeds!

However, the rabbit wouldn't just let that be. It moved in time with great reflex to save itself. Its self-preservation instincts were kicking up a storm of nerve signals. As a creature that belonged to the lower bracket of the food chain, its instincts must be screaming for it to escape.

The Crocodilian's curiosity was piqued. He had never seen such a brave little bunny before.

~~~

Bi Yuan didn't let fear overwhelm her. She was way past her fear already. Though her memory of fear of the Crocodilian had somewhat become a stigma to her pride as a player, she had long conquered the said fear. This was evident in how fearless she had become to even go so far as to scold the Crocodilian.

"Kyu~!" | 'Stupid smelly croc. Did you know? Cock and Croc sounded quite alike. Were cocks and crocs related perhaps?'

The Crocodilian frowned somewhat aware of the little bunny's meaning. His curiosity got stronger as he became aware that a creature that could not talk was still able to become as eloquent as the little bunny did.

Though it was only one sound, that 'kyu', Bi Yuan still managed to send her message with accurate sarcasm.

Spirit Shackles! Divine Fortification!

Bi Yuan used her martial arts consecutively as she dodged the coming claws at her. She impeded the beast's movement with her Spirit Shackles. It was a new Martial Spell she learned from her Paladin Skill Tree after reaching the 2nd stage. The Spirit Shackles were shaped from the power of positive karma and were shaped into chains to shackle their targets. Depending on the alignment of the target, the more negative karma they carried, the stronger the binding power of the spell was.

The Crocodilian momentarily stopped, giving Bi Yuan the necessary gap to outmaneuver the coming claw.

The little bunny evaded with Divine Fortification which empowered her bunny legs so that she could jump higher regardless of hurt. 

Because of the difference in levels between the reptile and the rabbit, and the Crocodilian's overwhelming strength, he easily destroyed the Spirit Shackles that had bound his forelimb. The Crocodilian proceeded to smash the little bunny, but Bi Yuan was persistent.

Bi Yuan's weapon, the Fork of Perforation, was dangling in the croc's eye, and as a result, the little bunny was without a weapon. She eyed the fork stuck in the Crocodilian's left eye socket. The fact that her ambush succeeded had pushed Bi Yuan's morale positively as she thought... maybe she could cross the gap between her and the Crocodilian's levels just with her gut alone.

The little bunny was hungry for Exp points. For now, she bided her time wisely while she jumped around on the narrow spaces just to outmaneuver the Crocodilian. She used her Divine Fortification and Spirit Shackles repeatedly and conservatively as she inched closer and closer to her destination.

One more Sacred Ash on her Fork of Perforation, and she was fairly certain, she'd be leveling up a crazy amount of pings.