Jerome got home quite early as he didn’t spend much time at the training grounds. He would have loved to stay and use some of their training equipment, but he knew he’d never be accepted among Vorthe’s Royal Elites.
Acceptance brings status and they are unwilling to give it, he thought.
He sat down in a meditative pose and went through the battle with the fast youth in his mind. The Sprout was surprisingly almost as fast as him, which told of his potential. Jerome chuckled. He wouldn’t dare underestimate anyone again after Hedon. He just had to keep training until he reached the peak of the sacred arts!
He visited the training ground beneath the Palace to train. Looking around, he couldn’t help but compare it with the Royals’ training ground. It was a lot smaller than theirs.
“And the crab is the only training equipment here,” he muttered as he took off his leather armor, baring his upper body. Wonder what those strange apparatuses are used for, he thought.
With a spear formed from Suzie, he started training his grip strength and speed. All at the same time, using his mind to control five metal blades, the length of his forearm. This multitasking put a lot of strain on his mind which in turn helped him to improve his mental strength.
Jerome practiced for a long time. And by the time he was done, the sun was already setting. He sat down crossed-legged in the middle of the training grounds to recover his strength.
As he cycled, the aches in his joints and head subsided rapidly. He remembered what it was like after Mhen Agrh’ur. After absorbing so much essence that his body began to transform, his senses had also become sharper, his limbs became stronger, and he experienced increased agility and speed.
A thought came to him at this moment. If essence can improve my body to this level, what can my mental energy do for my mind? Jerome was so excited about the possibilities that he became jittery where he sat. He had to force himself to calm down.
After recovering completely, he began stirring his mental energy once more but this time, he channeled it inwards, he kept swirling it around his brain, eyes, and ears but nothing happened. This went on for quite a while before he stopped. He felt rather disappointed.
“What a waste of mental energy,” he chided himself, standing up.
He became quite restless, not knowing what to do, yet with a lot of time on his hands. It was late at night already and he normally trained under Rihal’s instructions for a lot longer than this. But today, there was no Rihal.
Jerome felt like he had to be doing something to improve his abilities, but he didn’t know what it was he should be doing. Without Rihal directing his training, he was like a lost cub. He decided to take the reins on his training. Practicing with fire attribute essence was quite easy. He’d never had a problem doing whatever he wanted with fire — except for shooting it apparently.
Should I learn to use another attribute? Maybe earth-attribute essence? If I could learn to wield nature like that Harun… he sighed. That’s just wishful thinking.
Jerome scolded himself as he sat down on the dirt floor of the training ground and began adjusting his breathing as he cycled. Now that he was Sprout, he could directly absorb attributed essence, as long as he had a comprehensive understanding of the attribute.
A sacred artist didn’t necessarily have to have a deep comprehension of a foreign attribute, but having a deep comprehension goes a long way to create a connection between the sacred artist and the nature of that element. Such was the nature of the mutation he had become. He couldn’t still wrap his head around that fact, and that the earth supported his advancement.
The earth. If the planet is sentient, then it has to be watching, right? he thought about the rotation of the planet; the ebb and flow of life. The planet provided all that humanity needed; it supported growth and development. Deep in his heart, he felt something stir, something that had been sitting in his heart for a long while, since his discussion with the Sovereign to be precise.
Mother Nature provides life… he recited in his mind. She provides vitality and protection… To wield the power of the earth is to be a protector… To become a shield… To stand in the way of the oppressor and shield the weak…
~~~
Idrienne Vorthe
“What happened out there, Idrienne?” Forester asked.
They had come to their favorite pub, the Drunken Turtle, to grab some wine together. The pub was situated inside the Royal Estate so the youths didn’t need to go into the city of Farryn to have drinks with friends.
“I don’t know, Forester. That boy is faster than I am,” Idrienne said.
“I asked around about him,” Aidan said. “It seems he’s been injured for a while. Probably just got better.”
Idrienne gnashed his teeth till they hurt. Not only was he defeated in speed, but he was defeated by someone who just recovered from injuries?!
“I talked to my da about our fight. Know what he said?” Idrienne said through gritted teeth. The other Sprouts listened to hear what the former speedster had said. “Might maketh right.”
His friends looked away shame-faced. In their hearts of hearts, they knew the saying was wise, but their lofty egos wouldn’t let them accept defeat. Idrienne couldn’t even look his father in the eye after those words.
Soft music played in the pub as different royals came in one by one. Everyone knew everyone here — or at least almost everyone. The Drunken Turtle was never filled up with people at any time and that was one of the reasons Idrienne liked the pub.
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The mild colors of its walls and draperies also set a serene atmosphere that he preferred on most evenings. Tables surrounded the walls leaving some space at the center of the small hall for dances and acts if there were any. No such luck today though, he’d have loved to watch some of the circus jesters perform.
“Senior Idrel said he had bad blood with Hedon Alvric,” Zayne Vorthe said as he took a seat at the table lifting a jug of wine to his lips. He had walked in not quite long ago.
“Alvric? That good for nothing?” Forester sneered with disdain.
“Calm down, Forester. He might have some usefulness,” Idrel Vorthe said as he walked toward them. All the Sprouts at the table quickly stood up to bow respectfully.
“Welcome, Senior,” they all said. Idrienne wondered how the Spirit Realm expert knew they were meeting up but he quickly trashed the thought. Senior Idrel was a member of the Nediti — something he had no idea of. He had chanced hearing his da speaking to someone else about it one day in drunken stupor.
Senior Idrel looked slowly around the table before taking a seat. It was almost like he was silently telling them to know their place.
“Sit,” he ordered and they all sat down in unison. “Whoever can get rid of Rihal’s disciple for me gets to keep this.” He threw an item on the table causing all the Sprouts to drop their jaws in shock.
It was a tiny crystal wrapped in a black leather pouch, extended from a string.
“That’s!” Forester gasped in shock.
“What is it?” Zayne asked. Every one of them leaned forward to get a better look at the thing.
“A Void Bridge! It’s a teleportation device!”
~~~
Jerome felt the earth move beneath him, like tiny vibrations in the earth moving towards him. The earth-attribute essence became thick in the air all of a sudden and Jerome breathed it into his lungs. Not only was the essence filled with earth aura, but it was also filled with an abundance of vital aura — the aura of vitality. Jerome felt his blood quicken. He felt like his blood had become a potent medicine at that moment.
The vitality and essence that filled his lungs were quickly absorbed into his muscles…his bones, and core. His core began spinning faster and faster as it absorbed more and more earth attribute essence.
Jerome felt the urge to recite his thoughts out loud. Those words were just his musings from what the Sovereign had said concerning the sentience of the planet.
“Mother Nature provides life!” he recited out loud, putting more conviction into his words.
“She provides vitality and protection!
“To wield the power of the earth is to be a protector!
“To become a shield!
“To stand in the way of the oppressor and shield the weak!”
He recited it like a mantra. Over and over again. This time, the earth-essence in the air spiked and became denser than before! Bright green and golden-brown motes of light began circling around him. And with every breath he took, those motes of light were sucked into his body.
Jerome kept repeating the words again and again, and the essence in the air kept getting denser and denser. His core was like a black hole. As the vitality and earth aura was absorbed into his body, his core kept swallowing it up with no evidence of ever stopping. He felt that if Mother Earth could speak, she would have cursed out at him already. He made up his mind to see how much his core could take.
Jerome entered a semi-meditative state, so he could still somewhat be aware of his surroundings. Surprisingly, he felt a resonance between himself and the earth at the moment, he could sense everything within eight hundred paces around him without extending his senses.
Jerome was awed at this. He quickly suppressed his excitement so he could concentrate better.
~~~
Rihal
It was quite late when he got back from his mission. Unexpected things happened but they were quickly taken care of. He wanted to check on Kilian to ask how Jerome’s training was going.
Half a mile away from Kilian’s palace, Rihal felt that the earth-attribute essence in the air was abnormally heavier. Normally, earth attribute essence could be sensed in the air, only about a foot off the ground. But now, the earth-attribute essence was more than ten times denser than it should be.
Rihal activated his Sight, a supernatural ability only those with the blood of Vorthe possessed. He looked down at his feet and what he saw made his heart skip, not from fear, but from astonishment!
The concentration of earth attribute essence under the earth was so dense, he had to squint a little at the brightness of the green and gold lights he was seeing. He quickly adjusted his Sight like how a cat adjusts the amount of light that enters its eyes. Rihal noticed that the essence was flowing toward Kilian’s palace. For some reason, he thought of Jerome and felt that this was his doing.
“That little twerp!” He muttered out loud. Rihal launched himself into the air, flying at top speed. He slowed down when he got closer to Kilian’s palace and almost fell out of the sky!
Kilian’s palace was covered in a dense fog of gold and green essence! Rihal understood that for someone to pull this much essence out of the ground, they had to be very powerful.
“…or very insightful,” he muttered to himself. He stood, hovering in the sky as he looked down at the dense fog of essence and vital aura spinning round and round like a cyclone. He unleashed his perception like a wave as he scanned the Palace for Jerome.
“As expected.” Jerome was sitting cross-legged in the eye of the storm. He was in the exact epicenter of the fog. Rihal shook his head lightly and chuckled. When did he learn to do this?
Just then, Kilian came flying out of the palace and joined him in the sky.
“How long ago?” Rihal asked.
Kilian smiled. “Since last night.”
Rihal looked at him with pleasant surprise.
“You were not joking when you said he was beginning to learn on his own. How was your mission?”
“Went good — at least as good as we could make it,” Rihal said, nodding. “A band of maniacs from the archipelago… Something to do with some missing contraband, I think.”
“And they tracked it this far into our territory? Are they not afraid of Vorthe?”
Rihal sighed, not knowing how to answer that question. Vorthe’s name carried a weight that should have scared them off and made them abandon the hunt for some contraband or whatever. So there was probably something more going on, he just wasn’t high up the chain of command in the Nediti to have access to such information.
“They passed through Alvric lands. If you ask me, Alvric let them through, even knowing the consequences.”
“Why wouldn’t they.” Kilian frowned. “Alvric trades slaves with them so it’s expected.”
“They’re testing us. And the Islanders wrought many evils as they passed through our lands. Tch! It was a headache to deal with but we did anyway. Though not all of them. Whoever has their contraband is quite good at hiding. They would be found though. It’s only a matter of time.”
“That’s good to know.” Kilian nodded.