Since I started training, I fell in love with it. The feeling of the Air Elemental Energy seeping into my body, nourishing it, and making me stronger. It's almost as if I was born a part of the air, and my body is just getting in the way. I can totally understand why so many heartforce cultivator's choose to become elementalists. Becoming one with the wind and drifting freely through life... It sounds pretty damned nice to me about now.
Instead, I'm a mindscape cultivator. Not that I'm complaining, I just figured I'd get some time to learn a spell or two before I was stuck fighting for my life. "The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry..." (1)
Anyway, as I slowly came too after training I could feel the difference in my body. It seemed as if the more exhausted I was; the more damage I had taken, the faster my body was refined. Looking internally, my muscles glowed the same light blue color as my skin while my blood vessels seemed to be glowing slightly.
I could feel a vigorous energy shooting through me, and I felt as if I could take on both goblin clans by myself! 'Well, maybe if they hadn't been accompanied by the shamans.' I thought to myself.
Suddenly remembering the book I had taken from the corpse of the shaman, I took it out to examine. I was surprised to find a title written in English, "Energy Strike" Excited, I opened it up and read.
It was a battle technique manual that teaches you how to control elemental energy to reinforce a strike with a weapon or fist. Weird notes were scribbled throughout the manual, as if the shaman had been trying to translate it into Goblinese. I didn't care though, the technique was so simple and would increase my strength exponentially!
Taking the time to make sure I memorized the technique, I spent the next couple of hours training in it. Finally, I yelled out like a character in an anime, "Air Strike!" while swinging my staff like a baseball bat, A *wooshing* sound followed it, and I could see the air rushing forth. It wasn't at the level of the wind blades the tiger from yesterday had shot out, but it was something! I had to find something to test it on, and I had the perfect target.
Slowly, I crept through the tunnels. This time I turned into the shaft the goblin's had come from yesterday. In my head, I kept envisioning finding a nearly empty ramshackle village of goblins that I could massacre in revenge for earlier, then loot anything worthwhile from! 'MUHAHAHAHAHA' I crept down the shaft while laughing maniacally in my head.
When I finally found the village, it was deserted. Blood covered the makeshift huts, the walls made out of beast pelts permanently stained red. Creeping through the village, I made my way to the nicest hut. Stepping into it carefully, I could see a place to hang the old shaman's staff. A half made bone necklace like the one I had to break laid on a makeshift crafting table, while a wood pallet covered in beast skins lay empty. Turning to leave, I couldn't help cursing in my mind. 'Damn it! I wanted my revenge!!!'
Leaving the village, I decided to make my way down to the cliff to check out what'd happened to the stone village.
Several hours later, I stood on the same cliff as yesterday and watched as 15 tired and bloodied goblins dragged corpse after corpse from the massive cavern. What surprised me was that the vast majority of them were the giant mole creatures I ate yesterday, it seems that they'd eaten all the goblin corpses and then tried to attack the town before failing.
Looking closer, I could see an ancient shaman standing and watching. She was barely able to move, using a massive staff as a cane. With every step, I could sense the energy leaving her body. 'She's about to die' I thought to myself as I examined the room carefully. While I'd been watching the battle yesterday, I'd found the way down. 'If ever there was a time to attack a goblin village, now would be it.' I thought to myself
I almost felt bad about it, after all I was the reason the entire village now consisted of 15 mostly old, all injured goblins. Then, I remembered that goblins are infamous for their treatment of all other races. With a snort of disgust at my own remorse, 'It's not like they'd give two shits about killing me', I sneaked down the hidden stairs that lead from the side of the cliff.
Waiting for the majority of the goblins to leave for the dumping point, I rushed at the shaman. She saw me coming, but was too exhausted to do anything. Just in case, I activated elemental strike and swung the magic staff at her. It seems that by combining the Air Elemental Energy with the Lightning Staff it exponentially increased the damage. After a single strike, a bone necklace similar to the one the other shaman had worn broke, and she was pulverized.
Goblins' have never been known for their smarts, so I wasn't too surprised when the other 14 of them charged at me. 'Perfect time to test my new ability' I thought to myself, dropping the shaman's staff I took out my basic staff and yelled out "Air Strike!" while swinging the staff with all my might.
*WOOSH* Air Elemental Energy exploded from the staff surging forwards in a roiling mass. The goblins seemed to have been caught up in a tornado as they spun over and over until they slammed into the wall of the cavern nearly a hundred feet away from me. I honestly couldn't believe it, I figured it'd just blow them back a bit, not send them tumbling at an insane speed into a wall.
Jumping up and down giddily, I babbled incoherently in my excitement. It wasn't until one of them groaned before woozily attempting to stand that I got my shit together. Running the hundred feet in the blink of an eye I slammed my staff into the back of his head before making sure to finish off the rest of the villagers.
That was when I turned my greedy eyes back to the stone village. Rushing back over, I grabbed her staff and struck the floor. *BANG* "Damn it!" I was really hoping it was a magic staff, but it turns out it was just a really big staff she liked to carry around and posture with.
Then, I remembered the massive shield of air that had protected the village. There's no way a single goblin shaman could've done that! Taking a deep breath, I felt a pull. Something was giving off a massive amount of Air Elemental Energy in the village.
Rushing I proceeded to tear every house apart. "Not here... nope... not there either..." I muttered to myself as I tried to find whatever it was that was giving off that energy.
Then, I saw it. In the middle of the ruins, a stone the size of my fist was floating while glowing a light blue color. Approaching it, I could feel the Air Elemental Energy coming off of it in waves. The closer I got, the purer the energy became. Until finally, I touched it and I could feel the energy seeping into my body. Unable to stop myself, I sat down and started to meditate. The pure Air Elemental Energy flew into my body at an incredible pace.
Before I even knew what'd happened, my body was overflowing with it and I cried out in ecstasy as I felt it refining my body over and over again.
Then, it just stopped. Opening my eyes in shock, I saw that same middle aged senior from before standing in front of me while a barrier of wind surrounded the glowing blue stone stopping the energy coming from it. I opened my mouth to complain, but his words shut me up.
"Don't be too greedy kid, this is a high-grade Air Elemental Stone. If I let you keep absorbing energy from it in your current state you'd have blown up."
That was when I realized I felt bloated. The pure energy was filling me to the brim, and a bit past it. I had lost myself in the ecstasy of the moment, unaware of the danger I'd been in. Remembering the conduct drilled into all Gifted Academy students when a cultivator helps you, I stood up and bowed deeply while saying, "Thank you Senior"
"HAHAHA, don't worry about it. Come on," he threw the stone at me now that it was covered in the shield, then waved for me to follow him deeper into the tunnels, "this stone is your reward for destroying the goblin villages. After absorbing energy from it, you've already finished the first level of the Storm Tyrant Body and begun working on the second level. Congratulations, you've passed the first trial!"