Njuko is talking to GRid about his experience in the first dungeon and what he believes Grid is trying to do.
Grid says, "no not exactly like that. The dungeons area place you find your path. Since you passed the strength test. Which is still your weakness by the by. " Grid doesn't look hungover at all. The smell coming from him thou suggests that he drank every bottle in the Tavern.
Njuko says, " Speak like a Targ please."
Grid says, " Like a what?" His face showing a stink of confusion.
Njuko says, "Tell like you would a child." He had almost forgotten that he is in a seed world. Everything is so realistic that for a moment he slipped.
Grid says, "Oh okay right let me think. The dungeons help you to find yourself. If someone else had the exact same power they might not use it the same way. Let's say another lightning Elemental use this wonderful dungeon. They would develop a lighting whip and its various uses."
Njuko shakes his head in agreement it's the same thing that Ọya has been trying to teach him. So far he knows that he needs to perfect his storm but that need him to find other elements to absorb. He can already guess two additional elements he will need which are air and water.
Njuko looks at the lovely Myr sleeping on the ground. He is tired but Grid has helped to understand that he is on the right path. He wants more than anything to consolidate this power in him. So that he can use it how he wants and get who he wants with it. At his current level, he feels he needs to work on his storm.
Grid is already pointing towards one of the other dungeons. The dungeon of endurance that Vers came out of. Njuko looks back before he goes down the stairs. He is apprehensive the first dungeon wound still sting. He and Ọya are in agreement so he removes his clothes again. It is the best method to feel everything he needs to.
His testicles shrivel in an instant. The dungeon of endurance is making the hair on his arms stand. The constant wind goosing his skin like a plucked chicken. He tries to warm himself up by blowing in his hands.
Njuko hates the cold. It always brings back painful memories for him. He uses the storm to make clothes as storm attire doesn't interfere with his power just weakens him. It takes about eighty per cent of his current storm to make a full set of clothes. The clothes look like something the mountain tribe would except he doesn't have the glass tubes that carry the thermal plasma they use to keep warm. His in that place over his fur like dark blue clothes is tendrils of lightning that move about constantly. He looks rather impressed with himself. Ọya sends a torrent of laughter to her look like a mechanical device he has never seen before.
"Thank you Ọya you're brilliant you know that." Njuko is going to use the sending as a source of inspiration. In front of him other than what can only be described as a moon pretending to be a mountain. The snow ladened valley with monsters. They are white-furred bears that are shaped more like a man.
Njuko walks through the knee-high snow, his exhale visible with every step. He focuses his mind on the storm within provides protection from the elements. He has to fight the first monster while shaking in the cold. His coverage is not perfect yet. He is not generating enough power within at the same he needs to focus on maintaining the clothing for his warmth and how to effectively fight while doing all these things.
Ọya sends how she does it. It does not really help to see as to how she can apparently have over forty focuses all at once. Njuko thou knows the sending is a clue he just needs to adapt it to work for him. Also, he knows his ability has instincts he just needs to activate those so that he can do what he wants.
He is cursing himself for resting but also he is soo pumped to perfect his power and get the massive reward that Grid has assured him it is not the perfecting of his power. Right now he has a generation problem created by the fact that most of his power is set on working on his clothes.
He fires another shot losing a sleeve, on the fourth yeti to appear. He would not be angry if it didn't get every time he killed a Yeti. The moon mountain at this point is a place he will never reach.
Njuko is thrilled though he is pushing himself to activate parts of his body he didn't Ọya gave to him. The control gland in his neck is presenting itself as two knobs on either side of the back of his neck. He felt them because they are currently inflamed with all the stress he is putting on himself. HIs generator core has ballooned to over three times its normal size. Coupled with the change in his senses or rather his completely new sense that sees, feels and sometimes smells through the electronic field he produces.
He jumps as the twelfth Yeti falls dead, at the moment his lighting shot is back to full power but he didn't lose a sleeve, not even a sock. He is making many connections in his own body using his natural pathways to storm off in. He has over twenty kilometres of nerve way he can use to storm inside his own body. This is surprising to him.
Njuko is now pushing more power through himself than ever before, His clothing hinds his advance meant but also there are hints. His boots for example look well made now. Not simple leather anymore. There are buckles and a thicker sole. They are even darker in colour. His clothes also are not so thick anymore. He is wearing a shirt and coat. In his mind even if he has to use his clothes all those time he wants to at least not draw attention to himself.
When he wondered how come his lightning can become clothing, Ọya sent to him a diamond with a light being shown through and on the other side, many colours appeared this also means nothing to Njuko.
By the fiftieth Yeti, he is producing his old spell-like normal. He snaps two fists at the Yeti. IT Yanks up trying to smash him into the ground. It breathes as strong as the cold wind. Njuko's ears numb from the cold. He jabs and pops then grab it at the waist. Those tendrils going to work and shocking the Yeti. Njuko smiles he has added another weapon to his arsenal. All from his single storm ability.
Ọya sends to him again this time he tries again to follow how she does it. What before were nonsensical lightning weaves. He sees that by sending his lighting in a specific pattern in his body they follow a natural flow and keep going on their own. The pathways thou can't criss-cross with one another and must form a loop in his body. They also all have to start from his core. The process is complex because he changes them later so he is only making short loops in parts of his body that at the moment are dead real estate.
The added strain has also made the work difficult. If he knew how tough it would be. He would have done the walk first. He can't stop moving he made that mistake once the snow freezes faster than normal so if he stops he is dead. The YEti are trivial at this point the walk itself is the most deadly. Worst of all Ọya is pushing him to release even more energy. She says he isn't even at the tip of his ability and yet he feels like his whole body is going to explode. She sent him an image. Of a sun inside an ocean which is her way of saying ridiculous.
Njuko pushes and steps forward. The winds howl and fight him and he strains some more. This determination is both for himself and his Bilat. He is still curious why she brought them here. His mind drifted when he thought of her and almost killed himself. As his shirt disappeared. His clothing is still part of his active profile since he changes them often going through styles as he fights. It is a way to keep his mind off the cold and pain.
Myr awakens Grid is sleeping on his feet hand on his weapon. She goes close to him touching him on the shoulder. He startles awake nearly pulling his weapon and scaring Myr she retreats. Grid waves her down and shows her to her next challenge the dungeon of intelligence.
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Njuko opens a display the kills in the dungeons don't affect level but they give a different kind of experience. His most prominent upgrade is in his affinity. His affinity has moved from being a stat under his basic stats to its page. at the centre like his core page is his lighting element. However, unlike his elemental page, it does show the links between the elements only how much power they give. He can further extrapolate from the image that after getting the air and water element he will also need the ice element. his own base elements which have slow development are Light and Magnetism. however, since his first elements is lightning an advanced element. He will not be able to cultivate these elements outside the metaplasmic form.
He wonders how Mduju is doing and what complementary and advance elements are linked to fire. His base affinity to light and Magenitism means he is naturally immune to them since his Lightning sits at a whopping two hundred per cent. in the endurance dungeon, he learns stability. This has catalysed his power to always be with almost like a passive. Even now he is only wearing a simple tunic and pants with boots yet he doesn't feel good. Stability has meant the overdeveloped of his natural network which is now permanently linked to his Element. It is safe to say that he is part Lightning himself.
Ọya seems to enjoy his progress which to Njuko is too fast and has too many changes but to Ọya it has been the slowest growth she has ever seen. Njuko puffs out his cheeks not letting her in on his thought. HIs growth also allowed to build his safe zone in his mind a place that he feels like he use to before he entered the seed world.
The walk is long every mile in this place feels like fourteen and the chill of the wind still hits his ears before his power compensates so ever now and he feels how bitter the cold towards his skin. The Yetis have long since stopped showing up the closer he is to the peak the colder it is. His constant adjustment to regulate his power when an area of his body becomes affected by the cold. He learning how to manage his available power. Save reserve and expend power all at once. Each of these function requires an enormous amount of focus. This is probably the most difficult part outside the cold. Is to be able to keep these function going while still being able to think normally.
His handle on all this is also expanding Ọya as she is able to process her own, the golden runes on his bones have also expanded. They are forming a faraday cage between his core which produces his power and his body which utilises his power.
Njuko smiles because he can't cry. The cold is an emotional drain more than a physical. The stiffness of body doesn't nag him as much the cold. Still he endures, knees knocking. Lightning spitting and splitting his clothes a suit of armor. Styled in pattern of the Fractured Lords. His helm is majestic, rimmed with white and blue and purple lightning. The breastplate looks more like something is missing barely having any iconography.
The final mile feels endless each step, his foot freezes under the snow...