I walked so slowly to Chase's a snail would've beaten me. How could Master Fung do this to me? I gave an annoyed huff as I reached the door to Chase's cave. My knock was barely audible, but of course the door still opened. A tiger was there to greet me, and showed me to my room. The tiger left with no instruction and I was alone in an incredibly lavish room. I stared in awe for what seemed like forever. There were huge stain glass windows, silk sheets, and a bathroom the size of a master bedroom. There were tons of lavish amenities and best of all, closet space!
"Not even all my clothes take up half of this closet! Oh my gosh and such awesome colors and all the space!" I shouted out in glee to myself.
"Glad it's to your liking Talin," Chase Young suddenly appeared. I instinctively took on a battle stance but then relaxed remembering Chase was my new teacher.
"It's more than to my liking! You really didn't need to give me this nice a room. At the temple I sleep on a mat and I'm just fine," I said still looking around the room.
"As a matter of fact this isn't even my finest room. I was going to give you my best, but I thought it might be too much," Chase said watching my every move. A silence fell over the room as I couldn't find anything else to say. It wasn't so much awkward but it wasn't completely comfortable. I finally remembered all the questions I wanted to ask. Unfortunately they came out way too fast.
"When do we start training? Are you annoyed that you are my Halin teacher? What do I have to learn about the Halin side anyway?" I said quickly. Chase chuckled slightly, which made me feel completely embarrassed.
"Training will start immediately tomorrow, and I am very glad that I am your teacher. When one learns evil it should be from the best," Chase answered. There's that ego again.
"Why don't we start today? I kinda have a lot of energy to get rid of," I said jogging in place. Truth was I had a lot of issues and really needed to release the stress from my system.
"We cannot start training until you find your Halin spirit animal, which we will accomplish today. Come with me," Chase said turning out the door. I ran after him until we arrived in what looked like a library/potion area. In the kettle on the fire, a gross looking green liquid was bubbling. I couldn't help forming a look of disgust on my face as Chase poured some of it in a goblet. I don't think I could stomach watching him drink it. Just as I was about to look away, he handed it to me.
"What do you want me to do with this?" I asked holding the cup as far away from me as possible. Chase looked as if he was trying to hide an amused look. He was failing.
"Why, drink it of course. That's the Lao Mang Long soup you must drink to become your spirit creature. After you drink it, the process of turning into your creature will be painful and torturous, but it will finish in a few hours," He said still trying to look calm. I was speechless. Drink it? Ugh. Why me great ancestors? Why? The painful and torturous part is probably stomaching this sludge. I looked down into the goblet slowly with my nose plugged. The soup was still simmering and I figured I would just get it over with. I raised the goblet to my mouth, and drank.
After I swallowed I dropped the cup to the floor, causing it to shatter. My vision became a blur and the world began to spin around me. I couldn't even hear Chase's last words of wisdom, all I know is that after he said them, he vanished from the room. I was alone, probably a good thing considering I didn't know how much pain I could tolerate. I grabbed my head and began thrashing about, breaking vases and toppling over bookshelves. I became trapped in a violent state of mind and it wouldn't go away. I became over heated and stripped off my clothes, for it felt like I was on the sun. My eyes began to sting and my skin started to burn as I lost the feeling in my legs. I started to bend in strange, unnatural ways and release the most animal like sounds. The worst part of it all was, time would not go by quickly. It went by so slowly and the pain only got worse as mere hours felt like millenniums. I should've asked Chase how long exactly this was going to go on, but it was too late now. All I could do was wail and crash against walls to release the pain. I don't know how long this went on, but it eventually came to a point where I couldn't move at all. I just lay on the floor curled up as I continued to suffer. I had begun to cry when suddenly the pain stopped, I opened my eyes, and then stood up on all fours.
