Over the three days since they had saved Alysa, Josh had been trying to push his Essence outside of his body and form a shield. It was the same arcing technique he had used to enhance his weapon and heal Alysa should be able to form a shield. It was all essentially the same thing. Just pushing Essence along his Meridians and out of his body while Intending it to take form.

For the most part, Josh felt he had the gist of getting the shield formed, but he had definite power issues. A full shield, when created, would drain his free Essence after several seconds if he fueled it from his Meridians alone. His thoughts turned back to science involved in electro-magnetic theory. Perhaps this ability wasn’t analogous to a ‘direct current’ skill like the weapon-enhancement skill was where like a battery the on-time, single directional flow of a charge was enough to bring it to fruition. Perhaps the skill needed something more like an ‘alternating current’ in a similar manner to the oscillating frequency of standard electrical outlets on Earth. He began to become more and more uncomfortable as the sensation built, unable to find an outlet for the growing—

If so, Josh needed to draw power from a continuously available source instead of just the Essence already in his Meridians.

Josh stopped in the middle of the empty road as an idea struck him. Sensing Josh’s intention, Sen looked up, but kept back a step.

Aura… Earth… Grounding? Josh mused. If there are parallels between elctro-magnetic principles and Essence like DC and AC electricity, then maybe this Aura is the Essence equivalent of what?—Static electricity? If that’s the case, then perhaps I can balance out the buildup of energy with—

Holding his hands out and palm down to the ground, Josh started to access the most logical source of Essence to ground the built up Aura ‘charge’ that had grown unchecked as a metaphysical haze surrounding his body.

Earth Aura flooded him from all around. However, it was the bottom of his feet that had the greatest pull as they were in direct contact with the ground. He cycled Essence at a ratio of about three to one from the Meridians on the soles of his feet versus the rest of his body combined. So, Josh limited the absorption to focusing only there. The dark orange power streamers stopped circling around him and only came through his feet. Josh found that the balancing force from the Earth Aura served as an anchor for his own, allowing him a degree of growing control over it. His thoughts began to churn about the potential of one day using his Earth Attunement itself to accomplish the same result. His Attunement already resonated from its connection to the Aura of the Earth, which spoke of future possibilities, but he pushed that thought to the back of his mind for now. Flexing his Aura, he bent and twisted it before compressing it into a thin layer of force. He then started pushing the force out from his hands and noted that he could Intend it to form a hardened and, gratefully—transparent... layer? Barrier? Membrane?

Nah. Call a spade a spade. It’s a shield.

And a shield it was. Slowly, it formed over Josh’s hands, arms, and up his torso. Continuing over his legs, shoulders, head, and feet to simultaneously reach both ends of his body. It lay closely against his skin and clothing. Tight but flexible. Josh tried to push it away from his skin...

The power draw grew significantly, pulling free from Josh’s Meridians at a steeply increasing rate. He stopped and let the shield settle over his skin again. The Aura drawn from his feet went back to refilling his Meridians.

The entire process to form the shield took about five seconds. A relatively short time... but an eternity when one wanted to block a swing from a bone alien or even a bat cannibal—

Josh’s interface chimed.

New Earth Attunement skill created.

Earthen Shield:

Channel 100 Earth-Attuned Essence per second to form an external layer of protection.

Check status for details of Earthen Shield.

Sen chimed in, “Form it from your Core, brother. It will be much quicker and stronger. Also, with a greater reserve for impacts.”

Josh dropped the shield and reformed it from his Core directly. It was quicker. Taking only about two seconds to get into place. Still, a long time. But Josh was getting faster, too. With continued practice, he and Sen would be able to get it in place much quicker. Just like absorbing Aura was almost instantaneous now.

Josh explained his thoughts on the shield to Sen. Mainly through the Bond if he had kept score. Plain talking was just too slow, particularly for metaphysical things where feelings played a large part.

Soon, Sen had gotten his own earthen shield up as well.

Twenty minutes later, they were both drawing in Aura through their feet, with the shield snapping into place in less than an eye blink. The popping sound of air being pushed out confirmed it was airtight. Josh had been pretty sure it was. Neither he nor Sen could breathe when it was in place. Not a significant issue right now... they could go much longer without oxygen following their Earth Attunement. But, as the Clone had said—they would still need air until they finished their Spherical Cultivation.

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~So, we will still need air for a very long time to come.~

~Joshua, there is no need to put more rush upon us than already exists.~ Sen replied. ~We are doing very well, even I can tell that.~

Josh blinked. ~I know. You’re right Sen... I’ll keep it positive.~

He checked his status.

Body

Earth Attunement: 100% probability of increasing your health status by 500%.

100% probability of increasing the molecular density of your skin by 780%.

Weapon enhancement: Invest 200 units of Earth-Attuned Essence into a weapon for 100% probability to

increase durability by 1000% and its damage rating by 500%. Duration is dependent on use.

Earthen shield. Channel 100 Earth- Attuned Essence per second to form an isolated microenvironment to serve as an external layer of protection. Shield strength increases with increased channeling of Essence per second.

Further increase your health status, connective tissue density, and Earth- Attuned skills by increasing your level and Cultivation.

Psyche

Mortal level.

Spirit

Spherical Cultivation level 100% to stage 2/7.

Weapon:

Titan Short Sword

Skill Level: Basic (17%)

Damage:

Superior Mundane (Earth Enhanced)

Quality: Mundane masterwork.

Allows interface guidance for optimal usage.

100% probability of 1005% (x5 while Earth enhanced) increased damage vs. standard hand-to-hand.

Armor: None

Standard Earth-Attunement resilience.

Josh had lots of questions about the shield.

How much force can it stop? How much damage can it absorb? Would it shatter, or degrade slowly? How much training until maintaining it is second nature, like blinking when dust gets in your eye? Will it apply to any weapons I am holding? How much Essence will it take to be expanded off my skin to use like a diving bell or a space suit?

Josh looked up. ~Meh! Let’s just test this thing out!~

Sen was already swinging his sword.

~Hey! What the—I’m not even ready!~

Sen’s mental smirk came through their connection clearly. ~You should always be ready.~

Josh dodged to one side, the blade whistling through the space he had just occupied. Sen swung again as Josh reformed the protective force, wrapping his body in a layer of energy. He noted that the barrier didn’t even extend to the blade in his hand. He felt that he could make such an extension, but the cost would go up significantly to protect things not in contour with his body, and he quickly gave up on the idea.

There’s one data point. No covering the weapon for now. Too expensive.

Sen’s sword was still whipping menacingly through the air toward him. Josh held his arm out defensively in front of him, wrapped in a protective layer of Essence shielding.The non-enhanced swing bounced off Josh’s arm with a sharp ping as if it had struck a marble column.

They both smiled.

Sen then cycled Essence and struck the flat of the blade against Josh’s arm.

A louder ping resonated out from the blow. Josh’s arm felt the pressure of the strike but no significant pain, like he was wearing... well... a shield on his arm.

Imagine that!

Physical Health Status:

5000/5000

Spherical Cultivation Units

Free Essence:

4050/3960

Spherical Cultivation Units

Josh’s Free Essence had dropped less than two percent, but there had been no interruption in its protection.

~This is going to be a big help!~ Josh nodded.

~About Transcendent time, brother!~

Mentally chuckling, Josh replied. ~When you’re right you’re right!~

Josh took a step while maintaining the shield. His absorption of Aura from the ground faltered and significantly decreased to less than one-third of what it had been. Essence started to drain from his Meridians to continue the shield between steps.

He began to test how much connection with the earth was needed to maintain the link. The farther Josh raised his foot, the less Aura he could absorb. At two feet off the ground, he was getting nothing from that foot. Checking his interface, his Free Essence dropped by about two percent per step to maintain the shield.

~Well, that is something to work on.~

~Well, are you not—what’s the term... Captain Obvious?~ Sen cajoled.

~Nobody likes a wise guy, Sen.~

Josh was sure with practice he would be able to increase how much Aura he could draw through his grounded foot between steps. It was a skill like walking and rubbing his stomach. He just had to do it about five million times until he didn’t have to think about it anymore. Easy.

They walked on and attempted to increase their Aura absorption through their placed feet to minimize the loss of Essence while the other was raised. Increasing their Cultivation would ultimately increase their Meridian and Core capacities along with their Aura-absorption abilities. The practice using ambient Essence would in turn make the decrease in efficiency while moving negligible. Building foundational skills was what Sen was here for. The less said about Josh’s own ‘foundational skills’, the better. They had a lot of work ahead of them. So, they’d do it, and, hey, they could start improving right now... so why not?

They walked for another hour, and Josh noticed Sen began to have trouble concentrating. In fact, he had started moving with a little jig on one leg, then the other while he held his legs together. It was a classic toddler pee-pee dance.

“Senyak. Do you need to... urinate?”

“Um... yes... but there are no proper facilities in the area. So... I was waiting for one. The last time I urinated outside of the proper facilities... it didn’t go well...”

Josh held back a chuckle, remembering their first face-to-face meeting in the alley. It seemed like a lifetime ago—but after quickly recounting the days—it had been less than a week.

“Okay... that was a unique set of circumstances. And yes... it is better for mortals to always use facilities when available. But right now, we are out in the open—among the great outdoors. It’s okay to go out of the way, off to the side, and pee if we need to... I kinda have to go myself.” Josh pointed out the fence between the growing crops and the road. “I go here. You go maybe five feet away. Facing apart from each other… There’s sword fighting, and then there’s sword fighting, and I’d prefer you keep certain ‘weapons’ as far from me as possible.”

Sen lined up at the fence, facing away from Josh, and they both relieved themselves.

“See. Perfectly ok—” Josh was cut off by a voice to their left,

“What in the Ascending Hells are you guys doing to my maize?” The figure stood off to the side, on the top slat of the fence they were peeing through.

Startled by the fact they hadn’t heard his approach, even with their hearing enhanced, they both turned... their pants still down, holding their business–

“Oh, gods! Please put ’em away, fellas!” And then, with a voice reserved for a young child or a mentally handicapped adult. “Friends, are you both... special?”

Josh could feel Sen’s glare on him, even at this distance.

~Don’t give me that look Sen. This has never happened to me before–Maybe you should think about why Karma seems to have a problem with you taking your pants down in public. Maybe some I don’t know about you from your past life!?~

Sen seemed genuinely concerned about the topic, while Josh was simply relieved to pass the buck on to something else. Pausing briefly, they both realized at the same time that they were still… indisposed and quickly pulled their pants up before turning toward the person who had spoken.