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Chapter 65 - Entering the Explorer’s Gate
🕑 Added 2024-11-02 08:41:33 +0000 UTC2nd of Season of Fire, 57th year of the 32nd cycle
Newt’s eyes immediately adjusted to the light as he left the sub. Just like Elder Alabaster had said, darkness and the small confined space meant little when cultivators meditated. And the peace of mind from cultivation meant little to Newt with that annoying voice whispering into his ear every now and then, calling him unfilial, lazy, traitorous.
I could have done twice the work, had I managed to rid myself of that heart demon. I thought that asking Elder Frostgrave for help was good enough. What could I possibly do that she can’t?
Apparently, something, since Newt found his effort insufficient. A part of him, deep down, believed he had dumped his duty onto a stranger, hoping for things to turn out better, but he struggled to understand why. His original plan was to issue a search quest through the Association, not to go search every square foot of the world in the search of his parents.
“Welcome to the Explorer’s Island! Could you try to look at least partially happy or impressed? You look like I murdered your parents in the sub.”
Newt twitched at the word and looked around, snapped from his brooding.
He stood on a wooden pier, azure waves crashing and spraying salty mist into the air, while a strip of sparkly black sand separated the jungle from the water. There was a hint of smoke in the air, and when he looked up, he saw a distant volcano spewing dark-gray plumes.
A path, fifty feet wide, led into the jungle, snaking left and disappearing from view.
“That’s more like it.” Elder Alabaster laughed. “You may close your mouth.”
Newt left his mouth hanging, focusing on the swirls of dense spiritual energy dancing in the air. Blue splashed up with each wave, the forest radiating brown tones tinged with blue, as the pale-green of air, nearly white, mixed with the orange-red brought by the wind.
“This place is perfect for cultivation,” he said, still staring at the scene in a daze.
“Yeeees,” Elder Alabaster dragged out the word. “That’s why our ancestors built a sect here. Come on, we have to get you registered and thrown into the meat grinder, I mean the inner disciple dormitory.”
Newt was certain his master had said something he would not have liked, but the strange feathered pterosaurs flying about grabbed his attention. Their whistles and cries formed a strange symphony of sorts, noisy, yet pleasant to the ear.
He followed his master and stepped onto the black sand as fine as flour, pleasantly scalding to a fire cultivator. Faint red spiritual energy rose from it like thin vapor, blending with the earth energy.
For some reason, Newt grew drowsy. He thought about it and recalled sleeping mere five days ago. He still had some time before he had to sleep, but the last couple of days drained him physically and mentally.
“Hey, snap out of it. You could’ve slept on the sub, if you were that tired.” The sand rippled under Newt’s feet, throwing him an inch up into the air, and startling him awake. “Come on, we have to register you, get you your disciple robe, test you…”
Elder Alabaster chattered about inane things. Newt ignored her, instead observing the jungle. He saw brightly colored frogs as small as his nails, a pair of small feathered dinosaurs with clawed wings, but the weirdest animal he spotted was invisible to his eyes, but his third eye clearly revealed its silhouette.
“There are invisible dinos?” he asked.
“Yes, but that’s just a chameleon. Now, quit gawking around, and try to keep up.” Elder Alabaster suddenly shot forward. Spiritual energy flaring from her and opposing gravity. Newt refrained from further questions and sprinted, jets of heated air bursting from the soles of his feet, turning his run into a rapid series of forward leaps.
“Decent, considering you’re self-taught, but fire is second to air in terms of mobility. Once you attain the fourth realm, you should be able to achieve true flight. At fifth, all cultivators can fly by themselves, but extended flight is still beyond them; even several breaths of flight waste too much spiritual energy.”
Newt believed he was already on the cusp of true flight, but propelling various parts of his body with heated air came at a huge cost in spiritual energy and focus. He might be able to float, and even move slowly, but his concept was nowhere near ready for practical use.
“All right, you are free to land.” Elder Alabaster touched ground and continued walking along the path at a brisk pace.
“Can you tell me what you see and feel?” she asked when Newt landed behind her.
“I can see the jungle, and I can feel the heat—”
“I’m not asking about the scenery; spiritual energy, what do you see and feel?”
Newt focused on the rich, yellowish-brown of earth. Unlike at the edges of the island, the movement was minimal in the jungle. As for feeling, he had no idea what he was supposed to say.
“The spiritual energy doesn’t seem to be circulating, and it feels richer than in Star’s Fall.”
Elder Alabaster clicked her tongue. “One quarter of the way there.”
She drew a deep breath out of habit and started talking.
“The energy isn’t stagnant. That’s dead zones, and they are very uncomfortable to be in, especially if they have a higher spiritual energy concentration. You don’t have to think about those for a long time, and I don’t like thinking about them. The ambient energy here is heavily earth aligned. It moves slowly, and the very air here resists manipulation by air-attributed cultivators. There are areas where the rocks are saturated with air energy, offering you the same resistance, but in general earth and rock are always earth aligned.”
Elder Alabaster turned her head around. “Are you following?”
Newt nodded. His father and Elder Stronggrow had already explained similar concepts back when he was a child.
“The spiritual energy here is easier to process for earth cultivators, meaning we recover quicker. Fire and water are unaffected, but air-aligned cultivators will recover slower here. You cultivate two elements, meaning that instead of one favorable, two neutral, and one hostile environment, you get an even split of good and bad.”
She pointed her hand towards the sky, then motioned it down as she spoke.
“Air is always around us, and we always touch the earth. Fire and water are a bit trickier. You can just avoid the environment which doesn’t suit you, but if you suddenly find yourself dunked in water, you’re in trouble.”
Elder Alabaster turned silent, and Newt wondered what she expected him to say. That, yes, earth was always around, except when they were in the sub, in which he asked her what she knew about it? Did she find it ironic? Did she forget about it?
“What can you do with earth?” The elder asked, breaking the prolonged silence.
“I can make my skin and body tougher and increase my strength.”
Another silent spell lasted a few heartbeats before Elder Alabaster spoke again.
“Aaaand?”
“That’s it. I use earth energy to strengthen my body.”
Elder Alabaster turned around, the ground moving to carry her forward while her back was turned. She eyed Newt from head to toe.
“You mean, you use the cosmic power of manipulating one of the four basic elements to empower your mighty physique so you can whack stuff harder?”
His master unimpressed tone, and the wording of the question made Newt feel like a fool.
“It works really well, and earth has no offensive capability.” Newt fell on his face the moment he said those words. The ground pulled at him with a dozen times the usual gravity.
A spike as sharp as a needle as thick as his finger slowly emerged from the ground right before his eyes. Three others poked at his neck, cheek, and temple, but did no damage, merely serving for intimidation.
“Kid.” Elder Alabaster loomed over him. “There’s no such thing as an element or a cultivation technique without offensive capability. I may seem like an untouchable, beautiful maiden, but I assure you, I have ground plenty of men, women, and beasts into powder with this element, which you think lacks offensive capability.”
Elder Alabaster had seemingly taken Newt’s docile evaluation of the earth element like a personal insult. Just as Newt’s heart and blood decided that maybe pumping further was unnecessary, the pressure disappeared, and he could breathe again.
“Air can suffocate you, water can explode your blood, fire can turn you to ash, and earth can turn you into a smear. Remember, no element is helpless, and you will never underestimate anyone’s destructive force. Otherwise, you will wake up dead one day, wondering what had happened.”
Elder Alabaster helped Newt up, lifting him by the scruff of his neck like he weighed nothing.
“And you are twice as lethal, and full of tricks. Using earth only for defense is not a bad move, if it’s just an image you’re projecting. Having killer attack moves in your defensive elements, and some way to mitigate damage in your offensive element may catch the unwary by surprise. Especially if they believe any of your elements is harmless.”
AN:
Another poll incoming soonish.
