Tunde had drained a significant portion of the sparkling water till its very depths could be seen, watching as the elder plucked one of the blue plants that grew on the walls of the cave.
“The ones at the entrance are a bit weaker than these, go cut some of them, they’re fed weaker doses of the water,” he said.
Tunde had carefully swum to the entrance, aware that Zehra and her retinue would no doubt be searching for them. Plucking the faintly glowing plants gently, he hastily made his way deeper into the cave and back to the side of the elder who seemed to be expertly removing the plants along with some of the soil and transferring them into his void ring.
“You want to plant them somewhere else?” he asked.
The elder nodded carefully.
“Believe it or not, our time leeching off clan Verdan is coming to an end” he replied.
“The moment I ascend to the rank of a lord, I am more or less a threat to them” Joran continued.
He turned to Tunde, pointing the small knife at him.
“It’s why I will do everything in my power to push you to adept rank, to give you some semblance of strength,” he said.
“I’m aware that by siding with me, I have placed you in the crosshairs of the powers of the clan, but I want you to realize, that the wastelands and its borders are simply one tiny piece and part of the empire, the continent Bloodfire and even the planet of Adamath itself” Joran said.
Spreading his hands out, he continued.
“There are places where adepts are nothing more than servants and children of powerful families are given elixirs that would take them from initiate up to the stage of a lord in one use,” he said.
“Apologies, but why are you telling me all this?, why now?” Tunde asked carefully.
Joran’s smile faltered as he brought his hands down.
“I wonder myself,” he said softly.
“Perhaps it’s because I don’t want you to die in whatever chaos might abound once we leave this rift, or perhaps I’m just being sentimental about some impending doom” he continued.
Shaking his head as if to dispel the thoughts, he spoke again.
“Either way, you must continue to advance, no matter the problems or challenges, the higher you go, the more enemies you’ll make, unless you’re smart to kill them off quickly” Joran added with a chuckle.
Tunde gave a weak smile, staring down at the flowers.
“Those plants have the potency to force your advancement to the next rank, and seeing as you got your hands on the titan heart fruit, we might as well work with what we have.
[tier 3 blue glowing plant] was all his Ark wrote.
Tunde wondered why the system didn’t give him the name of the water as well, perhaps the alchemist guild had a monopoly on it, even up to the ranks of the regents, which gave him another thought.
“Do the alchemists have a regent?” he asked.
“of course, why do you think they wield such power politically?” Joran replied with a snort.
“The regent of elixirs,” Joran said.
“We don’t have much time, seat and chew the plant one at a time,” the elder said.
Tunde obeyed, sitting lotus style and throwing a blue plant in his mouth, chewing on it rapidly. A burst of icy coolness spread from his mouth and down his body, as he opened his eyes wide, feeling the power crash into his heart. It was like the touch of winter and indescribable power.
“Start cycling now!” Joran barked at him.
Tunde obeyed immediately, commencing his cycling even with great difficulty, it was like he was attempting to roll a boulder up a hill within his body, his heart absorbing the power and fusing it with his Ethra in itself before sending it straight through his Ethra lines. Grunting as he began sweating, he was grateful he hadn’t simply drunk the raw water itself, if the distilled plant felt this way, then what would the water from the source itself do to him?.
Tunde had no idea how long he had been there, but he felt his Ethra spin faster and faster within him, scorching his Ethra lines clean as he felt the elder pour water continuously over him, the gagging smell of wastes and impurities coming out of his body. Weak even as the elder shook him back to alertness.
“The titan heart, swallow it now” the elder urged.
Blinking slowly even as he produced it from his void ring, he swallowed it, feeling another burst of power tear through him as he felt his eyes rolling up his head before a thunderous slap crashed into his face, jolting him back awake.
“Cycle it,” elder Joran said with simmering rage.
Tunde nodded as well as he could before he began to cycle it, feeling it dissolve into his body, his Ark screen lighting up repeatedly.
[you have swallowed tier 3 blue plant, Ethra heart, and lines are being cleansed]
[Ethra potency is rising from disciple rank to early-tier adept rank!]
[you have swallowed adept grade titan heart, Ethra heart, and lines are now rising to the rank of adept!]
Body jolting from the raw power, he felt it seep through his body, straight into his flesh and bones.
[unknown tempering art is absorbing the remnants of blue plant and titan's heart!]
[unknown tempering art has advanced to adept rank!]
[body is undergoing advancement!]
[Ethra potency is advancing!]
Tunde jolted as his heart seemed to inhale before releasing raw Ethra into his body, his eyes snapping wide open as he felt the power within him begin to circulate.
“The advancement elixir, now!” Joran urged again.
It was out of his void ring and into his mouth, Tunde feeling another rush of power, his Ark screen lighting up with notifications. Again, he had no idea how long he spent just cycling the power, feeling it seep straight into him, pumping raw power as he felt himself break through to adept rank. Opening his eyes after a while, he stared into the blindfolded gaze of elder Joran who looked tired, a soft smile on his face.
“Congratulations, adept Tunde,” he said.
Tunde gave a soft smile, drawing on the Ethra in the air as it poured into him with new strength, revitalizing his body. He checked his Ark screen.
[you have advanced to adept rank!]
[you’re now an early-tier adept!]
[Ethra heart has advanced to adept stage]
[Ethra lines has advanced to adept stage]
[aura has advanced to the mid-tier adept stage]
[all techniques are now tier 3]
Cultivator’s Table
Name: Tunde Dark Fist
Stage: Adept [early-tier]
Ethra Heart: Adept [early-tier]
Tempering Art: unknown
Tempering Stage: Adept [early-tier]
Aura Stage: Adept [mid-tier]
Battle Art: Flowing fists
Concept: None
Ethra Affinities:
* Rift Ethra
Attributes:
* Strength- 70
* Agility- 65
* Constitution- 70
TECHNIQUES
Imbuement: Ethra strike [tier 3]
Projection:
* Ethra sphere [tier 3]
* Ethra razor disc [tier 3]
Dominion: null
Special Technique:
* Resonance [tier 3]
* Ethra sight [tier 3]
A shuddering breath and he was on his feet, fists clenched as he cycled his Ethra, shuddering again at the raw potency of the power that ran through him. Turning to the elder, he stared at the crushed plants in his hands, realizing he had only eaten one of them along with the other resources he had.
“Do I eat the rest?” he asked.
Tunde wondered if he had added a few more inches, his clothes seemingly too tight for him. The elder shrugged.
“I don’t know, do you want more power?” he asked coyly.
Tunde took that as a yes, producing Ethra-enhancing elixirs and the few tier 3 fruits and cooked meat he had brought along as well. Slowly eating his way through them, cycling continuously as he looked through his screen. His strength and constitution were seventy, his agility which always seemed to lag behind, grabbing Shadowfang from where it lay, he felt it hum a bit, turning his gaze to the weapon. It didn’t appear on his Ark, Shadowfang, perhaps weapons didn’t register on it, but something was triggering a reaction from it and Tunde wondered why.
This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.
“It senses something vital to its growth,” the elder said from where Tunde watched him chew on the really potent plants.
“Perhaps the water?” he asked.
Joran shook his head.
“You should have noticed by now, soulbound weapons consume other weapons or precious metals to grow” Joran replied.
“Whatever it is, it’s close,” Joran said as he chewed on another plant, Tunde idly wondering how he could control that much power within his body.
It was then he noticed the void ring sitting on the stone slab where he had forgotten it, freezing with realization.
“Elder Joran?” Tunde called.
“Joran, we’re peers now, at least until I get to lord” Joran replied.
Tunde wisely said nothing about it, continuing.
“We didn’t open the void ring of the heiress,” he said softly.
Joran paused, turning to him with a smile.
“Well, what are you waiting for?” he replied.
Tunde carefully dripped a drop of blood on the ring, tying it to him and opening it seeing as its owner wasn’t dead yet. He was greeted by three black cards that initially fell out before elixirs of both third and fourth grades began to roll out. He sealed it back, controlling his excitement.
“Well?” Joran asked expectedly.
“What are black cards?” Tunde asked.
“What?’ Joran asked confused.
“Black cards, I have a gold card and it held a million lumens, now less anyways” Tunde continued.
“Oh,” Joran said as it dawned on him.
“Check what insignia is behind the cards and describe them for me,” Joran said quietly.
Tunde flipped the cards.
“It looks like a leaf, a blue leaf” Tunde replied, staring at the glowing mark.
“The Frostleaf kingdom” Joran whispered in awe.
Tunde waited for him to speak, as usual no more the wiser about what that meant, the elder smiled widely speaking again.
“Throw them into your void ring, speak of it no more till we’re back at black rock, are we clear?” Joran ordered.
“Clearly, but what is it?” Tunde asked.
“Within each of those cards should be enough lumens to rival even the entire wealth of clan Verdan, this proves the rumors are true,” Joran said stroking his beard.
Tunde sighed.
“Rumors?” he asked.
“Yes, that the sea serpent has succeeded in betrothing his daughter to one a member of the royal bloodline within the kingdom” he explained.
“That explains the cards and whatever else is within that void ring” the elder finished.
Tunde opened it up again, allowing its contents to keep spilling, jaws dropping even as he let his void ring swallow its contents. Elixirs, pills, clothing, jewelry, and even expensive-looking wines and food, all exuded pure potency that had been used in making them. And then the tier 5 elixirs started pouring out, golden-looking pills that caused the Ethra in the room to swirl, elder Joran immediately transferring it to his void ring.
Tunde turned to the elder in surprise.
“that’s a tier 5 pill?” he asked.
“Tier, grade, lord rank, yes, those are the true pills and if I’m right, elixirs, specially prepared for her it would seem,” the elder said, still in shock.
The two of them stared at the ring in silence.
“Just what else could be inside that ring?” Tunde said softly.
“Enough to put us high on the kill list of the lord of Acacia and the heiress,” Joran said with a grim look.
Tunde swallowed softly.
“I won it fair and square,” he said.
Joran shrugged.
“Well, you did steal it” Joran replied.
“Fairly,” Tunde said again.
“can’t argue with that,” Joran said relenting.
The elder took a deep breath.
“Open it up again,” he said resolutely.
Tunde did, elixirs, pills, balms, all of tier 5 came out, the elder sending them straight into his void ring. Tunde was fine with that, he didn’t want such powerful items on him, it was crazy enough that he had three black cards that if the elder was correct, held enough wealth to turn house dark fist into a power of its own. The black metal that dropped from the void ring had Shadowfang vibrating seriously, Tunde staring at it.
“Have any idea what it is?” he asked the elder.
Joran held it up, staring at it.
“No idea, but I’m guessing it’s precious” he responded.
Tunde collected it from the elder, unsure of what to do with it but bringing it closer to the axe. The blade of the axe glowed brighter, the metal attaching itself to the head and simply melting, joining seamlessly with it. Tunde turned it both ways, looking for any signs of something having changed within it but finding nothing.
“Did it work?’ he asked.
“Sometimes, I assume you think I’m the one with the physical sight,” Joran said sarcastically.
Tunde shrugged a few seconds later.
“No changes to me,” he said, strapping the weapon to his back.
Perhaps later, he would notice it, but for now, no significant changes had taken place to his soulbound weapon that he could actually see in itself.
When they had emptied the void ring, filling two void rings that he had with enough resources, they found themselves left with Ethra soaked rich food, Tunde already filled. Calmly biting into a fruit that glowed red, a blood Ethra-enhancing essence fruit that would help strengthen his blood, he watched the elder eat his fill of the fruits and food.
“I feel bad not sharing these with Elyria” he abruptly said.
The thought had always been on his mind, Tunde voicing it out for the first time.
“You have two full rings of resources, enough to go around if you want to be that benevolent” Joran replied.
“You don’t approve?” Tunde asked with a frown.
Joran cracked his neck with a sigh before speaking.
“Out there is a livid lord, a wrathful heiress, a lord of undeath doing hegemons know what, and Jashed along with his son, if they’re alive that is” Joran stated.
“The last thing on your mind right now should be them but rather how to push yourself further” Joran continued.
“Adept rank simply means you won’t die if a lord slaps you, nothing more, and right now, you need every resource you can get” he finished.
Tunde nodded wordlessly, picking another of the blue flowers and chewing it, feeling the power tear through his body in a rush. This time, his body had grown, channeling the power seamlessly, feeling his heart drain every drop of it and circulating it through his body. Calmly opening his eyes and seeing no difference, he ate more of the flowers, chugging them down with one of the tier 3 Ethra enhancing elixirs. Once more cycling the power of the items, he had no idea just how long they were there, snapping open his eyes as he felt the power settle within him.
[Ethra heart has advanced to mid-tier!]
[strength has grown to 75]
[agility has grown to 70]
[constitution has grown to 75]
Turning to where the elder sat, he watched the elder’s chest rise and fall calmly, lost in his meditation. Snapping open his Ethra sight, he marveled at the sight before him, his sight seemed brighter, more in-depth, like he had been seeing in black and white, and now richer colors had appeared. Turning to himself, staring at his hands and the veins that ran beneath his skin pulsing with raw power, he gathered his Ethra in his hand, watching it coalesce into its usual starry black color.
Despite just how far he had come, he was no less close to discovering just what his Ethra was, what artificer Borus said. All he knew, was that it was linked to his aura and that it was something not even elder Wren or others of the clan knew about.
Did he think it made him special?, maybe a bit, but enough to make him valuable?, he scoffed at the thought. Clenching his fist and eyes straying back to the elder who seemed to pulse with power, vibration, and echo resonating around him together, Joran sighed as he got to his feet.
“All resources are now useless to me,” he said.
“When you get to the peak of adept stage, you tend not to need any more resources till you advance” he continued.
“So, we head for the center of the rift?” Tunde asked.
Joran thought on it for a few seconds before speaking.
“No, we head deeper into the cave” he replied.
It hadn’t occurred to Tunde that there could be even better resources within the cave that kept giving. He turned towards the darkened depths, where even the blue-colored plants didn’t grow, Ethra sight revealing it to him like daylight, watching as the rift Ethra traced its energy through the rocks itself and down its depths. Blinking at the sight of something that shone deep within the cave, he spoke.
“What creates this water?” he asked the elder.
“I suppose it’s something that manifests by itself” Joran replied.
“But seeing as you asked, I’m guessing you saw something down there?” the elder said.
“Something shining, blue, like congealed Ethra given form” Tunde replied softly.
“Then we head down there” Joran responded.
Tunde unstrapped Shadowfang and moved behind the elder, watching as the elder deftly dodged sharp rocks and the edges, aware that the water levels were steadily rising again. He watched the elder tap at the wall and then saw tiny almost imperceptible ripples of Ethra flow from him outwards and then even smaller ripples coming back to him.
“So that’s how you do it,” Tunde said softly.
Joran chuckled, glancing back at him.
“Those eyes of yours are more than a blessing” he replied.
“You release sound Ethra, you let it go and receive the vibrations, they map out everything in your surroundings,” Tunde said, watching the elder if he was right.
“that’s more or less how I see, better than normal sight if you ask me” Joran responded, hopping on a sharp rock and pausing.
Tunde froze as well, staring at the large cropping that seemed to move.
“You see it, don’t you?” Joran asked quietly.
“Yes,” Tunde responded.
It seemed to be asleep, a large body of rock with blue glowing chips of crystals on its body, his Ark beeped, sending him a notification.
[early-tier 3 stone mane]
“Stone mane” Tunde responded.
The elder spoke.
“It’s all yours,” he said.
Tunde shot forward, bands of resonance wrapping his left hand as the creature turned to him swiftly, the large blue horn on its forehead glowing as power charged into it. His fist crashed into it, cracking its face as it roared with rage. Shadowfang followed a second later, the axe brimming with his Ethra, resonance wrapping around it again to finally tear apart its skull, sharp rocks scattering from him.
He released a breath and a smile, strapping Shadowfang to his back again, Ethra sight glowing in the dark, leaving him as some death-like creature came to harvest them. The rest peeled themselves off the walls, roaring in his direction, Tunde setting his sights on the largest of them all that stood at the back stoically, staring at him with the cold gaze of a predator.
[early-tier 4 Azure wing stone mane]
A lord-grade beast, its claws glowing with the same energy, the energy Tunde realized was of the blue plants. He watched the energy of the shattered creature swirling through the air before Shadowfang seemed to suck it in, wondering just what sort of bizarre weapon he had in his employ. They came at him, shooting concentrated beams of pure energy he dodged, shooting toward them, imbuing his body and letting his aura go wild.
He crashed into the first lines, the creatures whimpering as his aura came in contact with them, his fists crashing into their form, drawing more on the Ethra in the air. His heart was more than enough to cater for his continuous spamming of resonance, he could feel it, its strength reflective on its heavy beating in his chest.
Tearing them apart with raw strength, he gathered his Ethra spheres, firing them with the precision he lacked as a disciple, vaulting over them to fire one at the lord-grade beast. Eyes wide as an absurdly long tail shot at him with a sharp crystal spear tip, Tunde flipped in the air, barely dodging it before landing back. The creatures peppered his position with heavy attacks, seeking to tear him to dust, their claws raking for him, Ethra sight pointed out their Ethra lines and spots of weakness.
He went to work with the brutality of a predator, keeping an eye on the lord-level beast that kept watching him with alarming coolness. Even as he tore through its lessers, it said nothing, Tunde cycling the power that came from the beasts, feeling it permeate his body, seeping into his Ethra lines and heart. He felt unstoppable, his body’s strength pulsing, drawing his right hand into a fist, he drew it back, built resonance into it, and then released it in a blow that tore everything apart in front of him.
The attack blew past the creatures, shattering them till it got to the beast who suddenly produced wings made of the same blue glowing crystals, shielding itself from the attack. It didn’t leave a dent on its body, the creature calmly unfurling its wings before rising to its full height, towering over them.
Its face had a blue glowing mane, eyes that glowed the same color, and skin that shimmered, it exuded the pressure of a lord-grade beast, its presence causing the hair on his skin to rise. Its claws glowed blue as well, power in each of them, elder Joran appearing behind him, this time Tunde knowing what to look out for when the elder soundlessly moved around.
“Now would be a good time to learn dominion,” he said.
Joran snorted.
“If only it were that easy” he responded.
The creature roared, the sound causing Tunde to stagger as his head swam, elder Joran canceled it with his echo Ethra, the attack slamming into the wall and cracking it. Tunde shot backward; its spear-tipped tail slamming into the spot he stood a few seconds earlier as he watched it somehow spread its blue Ethra across the ground in glowing veins of power.
“Is that?” Tunde said in alarm.
“Dominion!” Joran barked and slammed both hands into the ground, unleashing a wave of vibration Ethra as he fought back.
Tunde deftly dodged the spears of blue Ethra that shot out of the ground, hoping to skewer him, shooting for the creature that turned its gaze at him. Spears of Ethra formed above its head in a fraction of a second, Tunde cursing as he responded with Ethra spheres. The two clashed, spears and spheres, the azure’s attack tearing through his spheres to power on towards him. Ethra sight saved him, allowing him to move around the attacks, moving into position near the beast before dropping resonance on its claws that came down on him.
The attack stumbled the creature, Tunde rolling backward as well, the creature turned to its smoking paw, a low rumbling growl in its chest as it turned back to him.
“You just made it angry,” Joran said with strained laughter.
The elder brought out a tier 3 Ethra elixir, downing the entire thing before wiping his mouth, and throwing the container away. The creature gathered more spears in the air the power glowing as Tunde stretched his hand out, feeling the relic respond. He had more than enough Ethra to feed it, besides, it had been a long time since he had used it, watching as it took the shape of a double-edged long blade.
“Going all out?” Joran asked.
Tunde nodded, the elder shrugged, pulling out a large double-faced hammer from his void ring and cradling it on his shoulder. The creature took two steps forward and roared again, Tunde and Joran shooting sideways, dodging the attack as they prepared to face the creature.