Looking down inside the Chest, three books and eighteen crystals were present. A Book on Crystals, what appeared to be a skinning manual, and a book called 'The Book of Weg.'
At first glance, the crystals were not a huge haul.
Disappointed, Zao Wu Hai took the chest as well. He passed one of the crystals to each of the Cheng Brothers. Reading from the book on crystals, he was amazed.
Wu Hai closed the book with an incredulous look on his face. He smiled and put rest of the books away. His intuition always played a big part in his choices, "Eat this, don't ask. Just do it." He watched them throw the gemstones into their mouths and swallow. He was happy that they didn't bite down.
A redness came over the both of them, "Brother, what is this." .., "I feel like I'm on fire, it hurts." .., "Yes, it hurts!" Both Brothers bent over and twitched repeatedly and again, their nerve endings on fired, "Brother, Why? This hurts a lot!!"
They cringed and collapsed while holding their heads. It was obvious that intense reactions were happening in their body but soon, small changes started to occur. The Cheng brothers had a spark in each eye and stood up. Each of them felt something, a force, then as they were looking each other in the eyes, they started punching each other in the face and were laughing at every swing.
A thunderous boom echoed over and over. With each strike, an electrical charge could be seen clashing between the two. The power of lightning coursed through veins and had only just manifested in their bodies, there was a lot of room to grow. Lightning was not a friendly substance, it was quick, deadly and came with a mighty crash. Luckily both of them had a similar ability, lightning versus lightning also helped all three of them understand their capabilities faster.
'So they now possess the power of lightning? just like that?' Wu Hai hadn't expected the changes to be so rapid. In truth he was amazed. The Twins were still bashing their fists at each other, sparks flew from every strike. Their immediate grasp on utilizing power in their hands was interesting in of itself, the Twins seemed to take to Lightning like a fish took to water.
Wu Hai smiled, he was appreciating that they were not angry and then explained what had happened, he told them about the Crystals and showed them the book. Neither of them could read so they took his word for it. They had experienced a change, there was no denying what he had said.
"Those crystals are lightning crystals. When you eat one, you gained an affinity with lightning. That will give you the basic ability to use magic, eventually you might even be able to fight against Raiju." Wu Hai waved his hand and explained.
The Twins didn't know what to say, however they were a above groveling. In thanks, they did stop fighting to thank their new little Brother. They were child-like grown men, taller than he was, and older. "Thank you Brother Wu!" They spoke out in unison and grinned, both of them had an abundance of fighting spirit.
Noticing another crack in the wall Wu Hai peered inside and saw books. Not just one, but a whole shelf was present. He had Mu and Yu to break through the wall and with a crashing sound, the poorly crafted wall was torn down.
Inside, the bookshelf had only a single type of book on it. They were the manuals of a Mage. Technique manuals for magic casters, theory-crafting books and the essential understandings of Earth Magics.
The books were well kept and with the exception of two, all had protective magics cast on them. The Two that didn't match the others were Traverse and Fusion. Their contents were a off shoot of each other, Traverse referred to instant movements within a limited space, much like Flash Step and fusion was about combining two things. Even though they weren't protected by magics, they both had the same resonance and handwriting.
From the way the books described it, Fusion combining things. The book's methods were very close to the way that Old Man Jiang was teaching Wu Hai in the beginning. Master Jiang used Roots as a base concept and would fuse his own powers into the understanding.
So much more was possible with the Fusion technique, he could combine his magic and mold or manifest it into anything from metals to plants and animals, to stone and air. According to the Book, if someone really understood Fusion to its ultimate achievement, they could potentially double or triple their power.
Wu Hai cleared out everything on the shelf and kicked at the walls to see if more rooms existed. He listened to what sounded like solid rock as he kicked. When he was satisfied and had seen enough from the inside of the dirt hole, they left back the way they had come in.
The light at the entrance was bright and they were forced to shield their eyes when exiting. As their eyes adjusted, they could see a young girl messing with the reins that were tied to the tree. She was trying to calm down Doofus and the Pair of Tolo.
She had silver hair and a hood partially covering her face but her ears were a dead give away, they protruded from 2 holes that went through the cloak's hood.
Noticing that the Beasts still had living owners, more importantly that they had returned, the Elven girl turned and backed away. She was on the defensive and seemed somewhat afraid of humans, they had set her hometown on fire, many Elves died. It was very uncommon for the Elves to be accepted by humans as neighbors. The experiences varied from being banished or run out of their homes.
Some colonies were even slaughtered for sport. There were stories about other nations that captured and enslaved Elves, they were the useful children of the forests and could survive harsh environments.
A sense of craze came over the girl while she attempted to run.
Wu Hai was a lot faster, he cut her off and placed his hands in the air for her to stop. He tried to signal her that he was not an aggressive person and wanted to talk.
"Don't run, we aren't interested in harming you. Tell me, why were you messing with our mounts? You could see that they were not interested in leaving with you but you persisted, Why?" Wu Hai's face changed a bit and he switched his tone, scolding her a bit. "If it hadn't been for us returning when we did, we could have been stranded in this forest or died. Well then? Why?"
Walking back to Doofus, Wu Hai patted his head and calmed him down.
Wu Hai was hoping that the girl would take the hint and not flee, he offered her a piece of dried meat. She didn't seem interested in the meat so he pulled out some herbs he would use for cooking instead.
She was reserved but she still accepted them. Elves were not all vegetarians but some were. Mostly it was Wood Elves that would never eat meat.
"Which Colony are you from?" Not knowing else much Elves, other than they lived in colonies, Wu Hai asked and hoped she would communicate with him.
"Black Forest Wood Elf Colony." She spoke in between bites, apparently she hadn't eaten in some time. "I was removed from our homeland long ago. The Forest is gone." She swallowed another mouthful of herbs, after clearing her throat she continued. "I don't see us regaining it with our scattered numbers, we use to number in the hundreds of thousands. Now, Wood Elves are less a hundred in a single place. Humans betray everything." She looked Wu Hai over, chowing down on the rest of the herbs. "You're nice, you don't act human.. and these Two? They are human too? How strange." Unable to accept the way things were in front of her eyes, the girl kept her guard up.
No reason existed for her to trust Zao Wu Hai or the group but he had given her food. If he meant her harm, she could have easily been poisoned. Even though elves had a high resistance to Poison and all nature abilities, they were occasionally killed by such means.
The afternoon was was in full swing, the Suns were high overhead and the shade was quickly disappearing from their surroundings. Wu Hai was leading the group out of the forest and they were passing into the grassland. He had managed to have the Elven girl follow them. "Just leave when you want, we will not stop you. You are welcome to come with us."
She had a bit of curiosity about the trio but wasn't going to relax. Keeping to herself, she followed in the distance.
"Brother Wu. Will this be okay. she doesn't trust us." Cheng Yu chimed in before his brother could, "Yes, she has problems with humans."
'Trust is Earned' Wu Hai thought about it, "We'll see.." He sighed, "Yu, Mu, keep an eye on her but don't stare. She has no reason to trust us so lets give her one. Keep her safe but don't bother her."
Wu Hai wouldn't pressure the girl, he wouldn't want the same treatment from others if he was in her place.
The grasslands marked a change in territory for the Animals, the grouped stopped at the treeline. Wu Hai hadn't tried the new addition to his set of dice and took some time to examine it further.
The cube had six sides and bore the shape of a Dragonkin, Elemental, Qilinkin, Human, Vishnan, and a Demon.
Wu Hai had not gotten much time to read about the other races that shared his world. Many of them chose not to interact with Humans, much less each other. What was known about them was sparse and protected information. However, most scholars knew that Beastkin gained the abilities of their ancestors, they ruled their homelands and rarely ventured out. Most beastkin tribes had a tendency to become the things of myths for local populations.
The Milky looking Gygax was covered in the images of six Beastkin. He had access to 12 powers, even a gygax with six magic methods. Wu Hai was drooling at combinations and eager to try the new die out, six races were represented and all of them were in his storybooks as a child.
The Elven girl was a security issue, rather than experimenting in the open, Wu Hai put them away and looked to the others, "We should get going.."
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