“When one fights for one's right of continued existence, everything boils down to one thing.”

“Preparations.”

“Preparations regarding one's Physical or Magical capabilities. After all, if there ever comes a moment where you have to defend your ideal, whatever they may be, you need to have The Capability to defend your Ideal.”

“Without that basic capability to do violence on demand, you are signaling to the world that you are not prepared.”

“Trust me on this, my dear readers. I have witnessed many times what cruel Reality does to those not prepared for its harsh Truth.”

“Prepare for that one moment you hope will never come, yet we all know Will come.”

#Quote - Unknown Hero - Dawn of the First Darkness - Time; Unknown, Location; Unknown

*

Central Continent - Southern Forest - Survival Tribe - Alexander

Once more, Alexander journeyed through the darkness of the Cave tunnels deep in the ground.

Once more, he absently wandered through them. All while his thoughts were on a different path.

The only reason he could do this was that he felt absolutely safe in this darkness, where no light manifested.

Unless, Shaman, Say, Otherwise. Alexander remarked in his mind.

Absently walking, feet stepping where they felt it would be for the best, Alexander once more pondered on his second Special Ability; Earth Bending.

By now, he knew enough that Earth Bending was different from what a Shaman or a Hunter did with the White Flame.

Without no input from the user, a White Flame, save for making it appear, would stick around for a bit before vanishing moments later. If it had something to consume, it would devour and burst into a radiance rarely seen in the Tribe before disappearing.

With a Badg’Er using it, it became solid, cloudy, or watery. However, all that was only possible because of the inherent quality of the White Flame.

Shaking his head, Alexander asked himself a question. What, Earth?

Earth already existed before anybody summoned it forth or did anything with it.

Earth was dense.

The denser it was, the heavier it became.

The denser it became, the harder it was.

Thus, stones were harder than rocks. Alexander found that out after using his new Special Ability enough times. The softer something was, the easier it was for him to split it into two. The denser it was, the more it took out of him.

Still, Alexander did notice that splitting rocks and stones became easier and easier the more he used Earth Bending.

Sadly, Alexander did not have much practice with everything going on. Especially not when the majority of his day got spent scouting out the Cave tunnels and the enemies they would soon meet in battle.

The worst part was that practicing in the Tribal Dream or the Nightmare Pit gave him no clues on what to do. Inside them, it felt as if an additional layer existed between him and the Earth. It was completely different from how it was right now, deep in the Cave.

He could replicate in the Dream and Pit what he'd done in Reality. Nonetheless, whenever he tried it inside, he felt lost while doing it.

It was as if a feeling or instinct guiding him was missing.

As such, Alexander stuck to practicing out here in Reality, as his Friend called it, and looking for clues regarding Earth Bending.

Only then would he be able to look for a way to fight it.

Another thing that Alexander understood instinctively was that Earth was steady. The heavier it was, the harder it was to be moved or carried. Hence, Alexander understood Earth as being solid, dense, heavy, and stable all at once.

Thus, Earth was the complete opposite of the White Flame his Tribe possessed. As such, it was no wonder as to why he failed to make any sense of his Earth Bending Special Ability.

When that line of thoughts finished brooding in his mind, Alexander knew he had no choice but to separate himself from the Tribe. At least in regards to bending anything, if the word Bending in his Status was to be acknowledged.

The impression he gained from it was that Bending was to have something bend to his desires. Just like his Mother did with the White Flame. Yet, the exact moment Alexander tried imagining the same happening to Earth, a true dilemma manifested.

Earth was solid, dense, heavy, and stable in its nature. There was just no way to make it something it was not.

Then Alexander realized something very simple. He was anything but a simple creature.

In the same line of thinking, his Mother, Father, Tribal Members, and probably any Badg’Er existing outside the Southern Forest could not be counted as simple creatures.

Thinking on that for a moment, Alexander stopped his trek through the darkness. His thoughts went for his memories of his past life.

In that one, none of this was possible. Everything was much simpler there.

“No, Earth Bending, Or, White Flames, That, Came, From… Nothing…”

The same instant Alexander thought of the topic, one memory flashed into his mind.

It was of his death.

It was the memory containing a Golden Flame. A Golden Flame manifested out of nothing from the two-legged and two-armed Lion which had killed him.

Staying perfectly still, something manifested inside him. It was warm at first. Then it blazed into existence as it flooded through his body. Moments later, emotions of Revenge and VENGEANCE burst into existence.

Once they manifested, Alexander felt his heart beat harder and faster as a response. Nevertheless, unlike how it happened before, Alexander did not lose himself in Revenge and VENGEANCE.

No, instead, the emotions were subsumed and consumed. They became fuel for a different phenomenon. A phenomenon ingrained much deeper.

Alexander knew what was going on as he felt everything. However, for the first time since he'd gained the Special Ability; Heart of a Rebel, he did not lose cohesion of his sense of self.

Instead, his mind became a big stone battered by a flowing river. Only this one was hot, unlike that one time during his Enlightenment.

Alexander instinctively knew, in the long run, it would carve and melt him down. Yet, right this moment, his mind held steady.

Still, all these emotions and reactions inside him nudged Alexander's thoughts into a particular direction. Those emotions and reactions combined with the sensations Earth impressed upon him.

Once combined into one, Alexander felt another instinctive response reaching for his attention.

Being familiar with it this time, Alexander did not immediately follow them. Nevertheless, he knew he'd best make good use of this moment as much as possible.

Crouching down, all four of his paws touched the ground. What followed was another instinctive attempt at Bending Earth. Only this time, his thoughts got aligned with different paradigms.

Paradigms of melting Earth. Making it lose its solid and steady nature in favor of a fluid and flowy existence.

Just like the water he drank every day, only hotter and more… bubbly?.

Despite all those factors combined into one, in the first few moments, nothing occurred. Soon enough, though, Alexander noticed something extremely familiar. It was a possibility and barrier-like phenomenon.

With it there, Alexander pushed with the full might of his Will. He battered at the unseen barrier, like a stubborn Honey Badger seeking Honey only for a wall preventing him from doing as he pleased.

Every time his mind battered at the barrier, Alexander felt a heavy Boom in his mind. Every time it rattled him for a moment before he gathered himself once more.

What awaited him was another boom to echo in his mind. Like that, and a few mental headbutts later, Alexander was weathered down mentally to almost nothing.

When that happened, Alexander saw the world spin to his right so fast that a THUD reached his head further, confusing his addled mind some more. Alongside it, a physical pain manifested, only this time it was a positive pain, as it returned him to the here and now.

“Hnghgnhg… Head… Hurts.” With that recognition, Alexander calmed down physically, mentally, and emotionally.

The relaxation felt so good he unconsciously closed his eyes as if going to sleep. In truth, he did go to sleep.

“Zzzz”

However, when he woke up, it was not from pain or the relief caused by deep sleep. Neither was it from his desire to ponder about what he'd done or at least attempted to do.

No, it was Instinct that woke him up.

A beastly and primitive Instinct.

It spoke of a Fight or Flight moment approaching him. As such, one more emotional rush emerged in Alexander as his body prepared itself for combat.

Alexander, however, knew Instinct itself was neither good nor bad. Yet, not listening to it was definitely a bad idea.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

A moment later, he was up on both legs. That was also when he realized why his Instinct called for the alert. Specifically, when the padding on his feet touched the ground, the range and clarity of The Song of The Earth increased by large magnitudes.

Because of that fact, Alexander realized something was approaching him, and the direction it came from told of only one possibility.

It was distant. Very distant, as the Song was much stronger down here in the ground than above it. Focusing, even more, Alexander sifted through the tones, as this deep in the earth, the Earth had a voice of its own, instead of other things making it sing.

Once everything was isolated, he heard it, in a manner of speaking.

Tap… Tap… Tap… Tap

The tone was steady, only occasionally lengthening or shortening its rhythm. Alexander knew why that was. He'd heard it quite a few times when his Tribal Members walked the Cave tunnels.

Done with identifying the possibility, Alexander relaxed somewhat as only one set of footsteps approached him. Still, Alexander did not relax completely. For some reason, his Instinct kept him ready for Combat, or at least keen to run if needed.

In his past life, as a Honey Badger, running away from things was not unheard of. But it was rare, as few things bothered him unless he was the one doing the bothering.

In this life, however, Alexander had learned to embrace a fact. Sometimes it was better to run than to blindly bear your aggression. Especially if you refuse the Authority of his Mother and Father.

As such, pondering on his chances, Alexander examined himself first.

Physically he wasn't tired, although he felt a bit windy.

Mentally, it was a different case, although he'd recovered a lot by sleeping.

That was another benefit he'd learned to appreciate after gaining the Minor Blessing of Earth.

Thanks to the Blessing, his body generated Aural Chakra faster. Therefore, he recovered more quickly. However, there was a downside, as Alexander had recognized that despite his Aural Chakra generation being faster, somehow the speed at which his Capacity grew remained the same.

It was almost as if now his body could hold more than it ever did earlier.

After examining himself, Alexander knew he could fight if it came down to it. Only he was sure he could not win, as the enemy was in its humanoid form.

Still, there was a small discrepancy here, somewhere.

Alexander had seen, felt, and even briefly fought with one of them. It may have bested him swiftly, but none of them had made Alexander fear them.

In truth, the only thing he feared was his Mother.

That being the case, his Instinct had never warned him before of something like this. Which prompted a different type of pondering for Alexander, yet the more he contemplated, the closer the footsteps came.

Alexander knew he had a choice to make, Retreat or Fight. And no matter how much he desired to fight, deep down, Alexander knew he would not survive as he was now.

Ultimately, however, Alexander chose to retreat because he finally found a clue on how to Bend Earth. Only with it would he stand a chance.

Nodding with the conclusion, Alexander swiftly retreated.

One reason he retreated swiftly was that he had no fear of anybody reacting to his footsteps, as the Blessing had given him the ability to muffle the sounds he'd make when stepping upon Earth.

They were there, but when desired, the Sounds his feet made traveled barely but a meter away from him before actually dispersing into nothingness.

Within moments, Alexander lost track of the Individual behind him.

*

Back home, Alexander found his Father.

He and most of the Adults were sleeping despite it being day.

Alexander knew they were busy, so his report would be left for later.

Instead, he stepped away from the Tribal Clearing. Then he made his way to his isolated meditation spot on the western part of the Tribal Territory.

Once there, he sat down and began Meditating. The goal was to try his best and remember everything he'd felt during his attempt earlier in the day.

It took but a moment to enter a meditative trance. Then, he called forth the memories containing the feelings and impressions experienced earlier. Sifting through them as much as possible and then going over them, Alexander realized a simple fact.

Whatever he had attempted would fail again if he tried. It would fail because Alexander finally understood the origin of the possibility barrier stopping his progress.

Or at least, he'd gained the impression of that knowledge.

Bending Earth, like it was Water, was and would be impossible for him, as long as he had not actualized his Root Chakra Star and then followed that with infusing the Elemental Attunement the Root Chakra Star possessed.

At the same time, Alexander understood another vital point regarding Earth Bending.

There was a reason why Earth Bending got labeled as a Special Ability. It was because while Earth Bending was related to the Chakral Ascendency Path, it was separate from it.

It was separate because it consumed no resources. Aside from the mental exhaustion occurring when used or overused. Thinking about it for a moment, Alexander realized that the same applied to the White Flame.

Earth Bending was a bonus. Earned because his Ascendency Path brought him closer to the possibility. Nonetheless, it was his Will, that shattered the barrier barring said possibility from manifesting.

All that Elemental Attunement did was bring him closer to the possibility. And if that were the case, Alexander would not be bending earth as if it were water without fully infusing the Attunement of the Root Chakra Star and causing another Enlightenment to manifest.

That meant it would be quite a while before said possibility came to him. However, this line of thinking sparked a different branch of imagination inside Alexander.

Alexander had indeed gained the Special Ability. Therefore, if bending earth into a malleable form was out of the question then what was left behind?

A mind sparked with a desire for answers.

Alexander sniffed his way forward, metaphorically speaking.

With molding earth gone, shattering became an obvious response, as he'd already done that. But there had to be more to Earth Bending, Alexander realized.

After all, while shattering was interesting currently, it was useless to him.

However, what it did have a use for was using it as a tool to… to… tooooo… shatter… big and dense rocks and stones… into smaller chunks. Then… he would… use those smaller chunks, which were solid, dense, and heavy to… hurt somebody or something.

DING!!! Echoed in Alexander’s mind. It was as if it was a sign telling him he was on the right track.

Instantly, Alexander focused even harder.

To hurt somebody with solid, dense, and heavy stones and rocks, Alexander would have to either pick up the rock or stone, which would take a lot of effort, to damage anything. And that posed a very big problem.

Shattering rocks and stones took a lot of effort from his mind. While using muscles gained from exercising would help with hitting somebody or something, it was not a viable option. Because Alexander would be exhausted mentally from just one or two executed shatterings.

After all, muscles did not help with shattering rocks and stones.

Or, Will, They? Alexander asked himself.

For a moment, he considered the fact. But memories of himself trying out his gained strength told of different results. Still, as if he was on the right track, Alexander sniffed a possibility.

A possibility denied to him because of his rigid thinking. And not some nonexistent barrier.

Seeking further answers, one sudden memory jumped forth. The memory told of the last conversation Alexander had with his Friend.

It told of perfect control for his Body, his Mind, and his Spirit.

Pondering the Body part was useless, as he understood it instantly.

The Mind was harder to understand, but Alexander had a feeling of understanding. It just waited to be examined further.

However, Spirit was something he was almost clueless about. All Alexander knew was that Spirit was tied to Aural Chakra, the Aural Chakral Nodes in his body, and his Emotions.

His earlier attempt was a perfect example of him not being in control and doing stupid things.

Nevertheless, Alexander realized something very simple. He could substitute his Rebelios emotional response with something else. Something similar to the earth he was trying to bend, like… solid, dense, heavy, and steady.

There was no DING to tell him if he was on the right track or not. But Alexander felt exceptionally sure about it.

Immediately, his Meditation session wore off. His eyes opened, and Alexander instantly locked his sight on a big stone close by. Releasing the annoying but useless meditative pose, he stood up and made his way to the big stone.

Standing before it, Alexander wondered what to do and how to do it.

A moment later, he placed one pow on the big stone. The pads on his right paw told him of the stone. On the fringe of his thoughts, Alexander became aware of the possibility of shattering it.

However, that would not occur this time.

Instead, Alexander pulled his right paw back and retreated a step back.

Focusing on himself, Alexander used his inner awareness on the Aural Chakra, permeating his body. The greatest amount was present in his bones. Then came muscles. In the end, it was the skin that held the least amount.

Once Alexander's awareness locked on the Aural Chakra, he regarded it for a moment. What he was about to do was unusual to him. Never before had he actually tried to use Aural Chakra in anything. Instead, everything his body generated got stored for Elemental Infusions.

A bit unsure, Alexander tried thinking and making the Aural Chakra solid.

When he did. The response was almost immediate. It was as if his Aural Chakra had been waiting for this moment all its life.

Buoyed by the success, Alexander opened and closed his right paw.

Then, an instant later, a sound emerged as palm met stone.

Slap

The interaction made nothing happen. The stone was fine, with not a speck of anything occurring to it. However, what else was fine was Alexander's palm.

There was a sting to it. as the palm attack carried his full strength to the stone. However, the slight pain aside, when the palm met stone, the palm felt very extremely solid. To Alexander, it was as if his palm became something else other than skin, flesh, and bones.

Slap Slap Slap

Slaps began echoing as more palms met stones. Then they stopped as Alexander focused on himself again.

SLAP… SLAP… SLAP SLAP SLAP

Then everything stopped again. Alexander focused on himself once more and attacked the innocent stone again.

SLAP SLAP SLAP

This time, the sounds became heavier and stronger.

The results showed themselves instantly. The big innocent stone displayed marks of damage.

Yet, Alexander was not satisfied with this.

Everything he'd done so far was what the Aural Chakra Ascendency Path possessed. Only Alexander never knew how it was there to be used.

However, no Special Ability had been involved so far, and that had to change.

Alexander focused on himself once more.

The feeling of his Special Ability; Earth Bending, was called forth and pushed into his Aural Chakra. Within moments it became extremely hard to focus on Earth Bending while the various Intents infused into his Aural Chakra, but Alexander's sheer Will powered through.

Not withholding anything, he poured everything he possessed into his subsequent action.

Palm and an innocent big stone met once more. Like lovers, they met and loved each other, and like every couple before them, they broke apart.

BANG

A moment later, the palm and stone separated, leaving behind a big indented shape of Alexander's palm. Claws included, which had penetrated somewhat deeper inside.

That was not all.

When the palm withdrew, due to a painful rebound, cracks began to emerge from the indented palm shape.

The innocent big stone began emanating cracking sounds as crack after crack spread in all directions before the true effect showed itself.

SHATTER

The stone shattered into numerous large pieces. Some were dull and some sharp.

However, Alexander ignored that fact.

Instead, Alexander began puffing with the ecstasy of success. “Hihihihihi”

Only it was not meant to last. Genuine exhaustion of Body, Mind, and Spirit manifested.

Alexander’s eyes rolled back into their sockets, and with a small Thud, his body fell backward on his back.

Unconscious. Yet, a grin remained on his lips out of stubbornness and glee.