Akiol walked through the forest of massive trees. As far as he could see it was endless, which was surprising giving the size and distances between the trees.
Still he kept moving forward. Oddly enough he had yet to come across a single monster. As if the forest was merely plants. Not that he was complaining of course.
Thump~
He paused, an odd sense filling his body. A strange source of power rippled across his very being.
'It's here!' -Givale
'Ah! It was about time!' -Stars
Givale suddenly appeared into existence, her body glowing. Akiol rose an eyebrow, "What's happening?"
"I'm finally obtaining my element!"
'I think the Artifact stimulated it enough for it to finish.' -Stars
Akiol sat, "Oh? Congratulations!"
Givale's body slowly turned into her dragon form, her body grew larger each moment.
Her growth stopped a few seconds in. Her total size was around four meters tall, eight meters long, and three meters wide.
Givale roared with glee, her scales slowly fading from the brilliant glow. Showing an incredibly dark blue, almost to the point of black. Her eyes were a deep purple, complimenting the dark colored scales.
'Agh, it's kind of cramped.'
Akiol chuckled, "Despite the large gaps between the trees, your size will have trouble squeezing past."
Givale shrunk back into her human form. This time her basic outfit now almost black. She inspected it before shaking her head, "No, not quite the same."
Akiol suggested, "Why not go for a new look? To really show the new you."
"But what exactly?"
Akiol then recommended several styles of outfits, although he never really cared about fashion. Despite that during his trips in his previous world, he usually dressed similarly to the locals. To avoid standing out too much.
Thus he was quite familiar with styles, along with clothes meant for different occasions.
It took a few minutes before Givale finally found something to her liking. She wore a basic purple tee, with a black short sleeve jacket that wasn't zipped on the outside. Additionally she wore a basic pair of black shorts, a similarly colored black sneakers with purple highlights donned her feet.
It seemed a little modern, she would probably stand out in the fantasy setting. However Akiol did not doubt that Players had already introduced modern fashion to the game. After all there was a Tailor profession.
Now that she was no longer distracted by her clothing Akiol asked, "So what exactly is your element?"
Givale pondered for a moment, "I think it's space."
'Oh no.'
Akiol had guessed as much, "Your scales are similar to Stars. The fact that you wield space isn't too entirely unbelievable."
'Hold on now! I'm a blackhole! There's a massive difference you know!'
"Yes, but what exactly is inside that blackhole?"
'Space, I guess.'
"And where does Givale spend most of her time?"
'. . .'
Givale tilted her head, "Wait you mean that because I reside in Stars' special place, that's the reason for my element?"
Akiol held up three fingers, "I have three theories. One, this is entirely coincidental. Two, Dragon elements are decided by the environment they grow in. And lastly, due to your delayed growth and the link between us."
"Then what about the Dragon who wields time?"
"That's why they remain theories. Did the Dragon grow up where time was skewed? I have only one result, and there are too many variables. Regardless, let's test how much you can do exactly."
Givale lifted a hand, "I got an idea of what I can do for now."
A small dark blue ball formed in her palm, she shot it forward with a small push. Once the ball touched a tree it expanded in the blink of an eye.
Akiol whistled, "A little dangerous."
The place where the ball expanded left nothing standing. A large spherical shaped part was missing of the tree.
'Hmm, this is similar to Repulse, but holds two differences. It erases whatever it touches, and is ranged.'
Givale jumped with joy, "This is so cool!"
Yet Akiol was left with more questions. If the element was 'space' what does 'space' mean?
Is it the void that exists beyond planets? Is it the concept of 'space'? How much can she manipulate? How much can she create?
Akiol spoke, "Givale, I want you to understand this."
Givale looked at Akiol with a puzzled expression, "What?"
"What you wield is something incredibly beautiful and dangerous. Mishandling this kind of power can create some drastic effects. Some you might regret. You must take utmost caution when using this. Got it?"
Givale nodded, while she wasn't quite sure what he meant by 'you might regret', she was able to catch on to the seriousness of the situation.
Akiol nodded, "Good, now that you have this. We can spend some time to get you fully familiarized with it. And I have-"
Akiol suddenly turned, a figure jumped off a tree and and launched an attack. They held a ginormous axe, in fact it was only that large due to their small size. Yet they wielded it effortlessly. They spun as they descended, "You invade my territory?!"
Their target was Givale. She held up a hand and the space in front of her began to ripple. Suddenly turning dark blue it expanded outwards and smacked into the intruder.
It did nothing to them. Their axe closing onto Givale's head.
Akiol had a bad feeling, something was immensely off. Controlling the mana around him he forced it onto a single point, onto the side of the intruder's greataxe.
The greataxe shattered into pieces, surprising the intruder. They fell to the ground and rolled, eyes wary of Akiol.
They leapt forward, aiming a punch directly for Akiol's face. Their speed was impressive, almost catching Akiol by surprise.
Side stepping the attack the figure flew into a tree. However instead of being stopped by the tree, their fist shattered it into splinters.
It was important to note that the incredibly tall trees were very thick. Their trunks the size of a modern house, and more than twice sturdy.
So for a single punch to shatter the majority of the bottom of said tree. What kind of strength was needed?
Creak~
The massive tree began to fall, shaking several of the other trees as it hit its brethren on the way down.
The figure stumbled, but ignored the falling tree. They then shoved their hand into the ground and pulled out a large tree root. It was like a massive club.
They roared and charged towards Akiol, swinging the club wildly.
While they had a massive amount of strength, and their speed was great, they had zero skill in wielding any weapon. It was like an amateur swinging around a bat. Predictable, obvious, and pointlessly large swings.
Akiol wasn't about to block the attacks, not after seeing the force the figure was able to put out. So instead he dodged, easily predicting the trajectory of each swing.
Akiol spoke, "You are mistaken! We ended up here on accident, we've been trying to find a way out."
They shouted, "No one can come this deep into the forest without intending to!"
"We didn't come into the forest! We found ourselves already here!"
"Ha! As if I would believe that!"
Akiol sighed in his heart, he raised a hand and created three sharp blades of mana. As the figure swung the club it came into contact with the mana blades and was cut cleanly into four parts.
The figure stopped, "Eh?"
Akiol slid forward and grabbed the collar of the figure. With an orange aura spiking he hurled the figure into another tree. Forming several thin blades of mana he pinned the figure to said tree and retreated quickly.
Akiol shouted, "Givale! Back!"
Givale quickly ran to Akiol's position, just in time as the massive tree from before had finally come to touch the ground. It landed with a massive boom as dirt flung everywhere. The ground shook violently, and the nearby trees creaked in protest.
Akiol created a thin barrier of mana, blocking the dirt from touching him or Givale. Eventually everything calmed and Akiol focused his attention towards the figure from before.
They had already escaped from his attempt to pin them. Yet they approached with a different look, no longer furious.
The figure then bowed to Akiol, "Thank you!"
Akiol watched them carefully, "For what?"
"For saving me from being crushed by the tree! I am very sorry for mistaking you!"
"Mistaking us?"
"Yes, I heard a loud roar and thought some intruders have come to kill the beings who live here."
"We haven't seen anything."
"I am now aware you have no ideas to harm."
"Well." Akiol lowered his guard slightly, "I'm glad that misunderstanding had been cleared."
The figure looked at Akiol with sparkling eyes, "You fight unlike any I have seen before! Many fear my strength, and run as fast as possible. But you broke my weapons, fought back! I know you have little strength, I can feel it. But you still fight!"
"I'm used to fighting opponents stronger than me."
"Really?!"
Akiol was a bit weirded out by the excited individual. The strange enthusiasm was a little off-putting. Yet still Akiol nodded.
The figure bowed suddenly, "Please let me learn from you!"
Akiol paused momentarily. Givale coughed in surprise, "What?!"
Akiol had to agree with Givale.
What?