“Using the poison of shamanic knowledge to expel spirits... Because evil spirits attach themselves to humans and share their senses, the poison that affects humans also affects the spirits. And since these poisons have a greater impact on spirits than on humans, they can be used to drive out the spirits?”
Under the glow of the setting sun, in a clearing within the forest, Kapak pondered the words of the old shaman. The old shaman’s description of the poison in knowledge reminded Kapak of a term he had heard during his conversations with the "Scholar"—"cognitive poison." It was said that in the land where the Scholar resided, forbidden knowledge carried a toxic nature.
“Is the shaman planning to use this method to expel the spirit from me? But... I don’t have any evil spirit attached to me. Doesn’t that mean I’ll be directly exposed to the cognitive poison?”
Thinking this, Kapak felt a wave of panic. He wanted to explain to the old shaman that he wasn’t possessed by any spirit, but it was clear the shaman wouldn’t listen. Helpless, Kapak decided to follow Akasha’s guidance.
“Aka told me to go with the flow, so there must be a reason for it. I’ll just follow along and see what happens.”
With this in mind, Kapak didn’t resist. He stood in front of the withered tree between the totem poles as instructed by the old shaman. The old shaman, meanwhile, picked up a long branch from somewhere.
"Stand there and don’t move. Lift the upper part of the curtain slightly and focus on the text above. It might give you a headache, but you must endure it. Once the spirit inside you is expelled, I’ll let you know. When that happens, make sure to close your eyes."
The old shaman spoke these words, then used the long branch to lift a portion of the curtain, revealing the Spirit Glyph carved into the tree trunk.
Having been warned about the poison in the text, Kapak instinctively squinted his eyes, barely opening them to a slit to look at the glyph. Even so, he felt a strange dizziness wash over him as soon as he saw the words.
“Is this... cognitive poison? This feeling is really... huh?” Kapak felt the dizziness for only a couple of seconds before his mind suddenly cleared. The headache and dizziness vanished almost instantly, leaving Kapak surprised. He opened his eyes wide and stared directly at the Spirit Glyph on the tree trunk, feeling no discomfort at all.
The old shaman, standing by the tree, frowned slightly as he observed Kapak’s lack of adverse reactions.
He asked, "Kapak, are you feeling any discomfort?"
"Discomfort... Well, Shaman, I did feel a bit dizzy at first... but now I don’t feel anything wrong..."
Kapak answered honestly. Hearing this, the old shaman’s frown deepened.
“No reaction? That’s impossible. This passage almost made me lose consciousness back then. How can you have no reaction?”
The old shaman was puzzled by Kapak’s lack of response. He tried to find an explanation for this anomaly.
“This kid isn’t affected by the poison in the knowledge... Perhaps the spirit inside him is controlling him more deeply than I thought, taking on most of the poison. Otherwise, how could he be completely unaffected?”
The old shaman reasoned that, according to his knowledge, the harm of cognitive poison could be shared with the spirit inside a person. The deeper the spirit’s control over its host, the more poison it would absorb. Kapak’s lack of reaction might mean that the spirit inside him was actively taking on the poison, leaving Kapak unharmed.
“This spirit can absorb so much poison and still hold on? It must be quite powerful. Let’s see how long it can last.”
With this thought, the old shaman lifted the curtain further, revealing more of the carved glyph. Kapak saw more of the text on the withered tree but, again, only felt a brief moment of dizziness before returning to normal.
"Kapak, how do you feel now?" the old shaman asked again, his expression growing more serious.
"Still just a bit dizzy at first, but now I feel fine, Shaman."
Hearing Kapak’s response, the old shaman fell silent, his expression darkening. He began to take the spirit inside Kapak more seriously.
“Even this isn’t enough to push it to its limit? Let’s see how far it can go.”
The old shaman continued to lift the curtain, exposing more and more of the glyph to Kapak. Yet, Kapak only experienced brief moments of dizziness before quickly recovering. Eventually, the old shaman, unwilling to give up, lifted the entire curtain, revealing all the text on the withered tree. Still, Kapak stood there unharmed, looking somewhat confused, while the old shaman stared at him in silence.
"..."
"Shaman, I..."
"Don’t speak. Let me think for a moment."
The old shaman cut Kapak off. To maintain his composure, the old shaman pulled out his pipe and began smoking heavily, his mind racing.
Inside, the old shaman was in turmoil. After all, it had taken him a year of intense effort to master the shamanic knowledge now displayed on the tree. Yet, Kapak had absorbed it all in a matter of minutes. This was hard to accept.
At this moment, the old shaman’s understanding of the so-called "spirit" inside Kapak deepened.
“It seems... the spirit inside this boy is no ordinary one. It can absorb so much poison without showing any signs of strain. Either it’s far more powerful than I imagined, or it was already familiar with this shamanic knowledge in its past life. It might even be a shamanic spirit…”
“Moreover, based on what I’ve seen, this spirit can hardly be called an evil spirit... It has a high degree of control over Kapak but doesn’t seem to have taken over his mind. It even bears almost all the poison for him... Most parasitic spirits are malicious, but this one is clearly different.”
The old shaman’s attitude toward the spirit inside Kapak began to shift.
“This spirit is powerful... wise... knowledgeable... and seemingly without malice... Perhaps we don’t have to be its enemy. If used correctly, the knowledge it imparts to Kapak could benefit the tribe.”
“However, a being of unknown origin and purpose must always be treated with caution. I must keep a close eye on it, monitor it closely.”
After much deliberation, the old shaman made a decision. He took a long drag from his pipe, exhaled a cloud of smoke, and then looked at Kapak with a serious expression.
"Kapak, since you’ve already seen all the text, it means you’ve laid the foundation to become a shaman. From now on, you are my personal apprentice. I will teach you how to become a shaman. Move in with me tomorrow."
"Huh?"
Kapak was stunned by the old shaman’s words. He couldn’t believe that what had started as an exorcism had somehow turned into him becoming the shaman’s personal apprentice.
For a moment, Kapak could only scratch his head in confusion. The old shaman, seeing his hesitation, spoke sternly.
"What? You don’t want to?"
"No, no! I’d be honored to learn from you, Shaman!"
Kapak replied excitedly. Being taken as a personal apprentice by the shaman was a great honor in the tribe. As he celebrated, he remembered Akasha’s words.
“Is this what Aka meant by going with the flow? I didn’t do anything, just followed along, and now I’m the shaman’s apprentice. Did Aka foresee all of this? Such foresight... truly remarkable…”
“Praise Aka!”