What to choose?
Of the few options that I thought increased with the mistress suggestions I summarized my choice in two options. To my surprise it wasn't difficult to limit some options, even the hunter path which seems to be the closest to my current style, this path felt pretty restrictive just because I don't want to focus on certain forms of direct combat like a swordsman or duelist who tends to fight in close combat even when facing an extremely strong enemy.
Just because I don't want to risk this type of combat doesn't mean I don't want to be prepared because I believe I'm going to have to fight in close combat against strong and complicated enemies, focusing on aura or my elements will allow me to have a good strength of close combat without having to focus entirely on close combat with blades.
From what I understand the greater my master over my aura or elemental energy the stronger my body, skills, ranged attacks and close combat will be.
I really admire the courage of a defensive warrior who has the courage to put himself in front of the blow of a being that is much stronger than he is the only reason for him to do so because he has faith and trust in his comrades who must kill the enemy. enemy he's blocking, but that's not my way.
My path is in my aura or elements. If I choose aura, I will have the advantage of my eyes to analyze the aura of other warriors by imitating various styles of aura I believe I will be able to better understand my aura and progress in my master over it and discover the properties it has and can imitate.
I can sweat some natural items to strengthen my body and aura, but master my aura mostly depended on my understanding.
Should I choose the path of focusing on my three elements I will likely have to rely more on external objects than simply my ability to grasp the elemental power within my body. The advantage of my eyes is the same, but it also applies to studying nature itself too, I think.
Perhaps I should ask the mistress what ways she knows I can work to improve my understanding of my elements.
"Mistress, you told me how you improved your understanding of your lightning element using a high-level lightning source, but I would like to know what other methods do you know to improve your understanding of elements?"
"That is a good question, Ulric, obviously an elemental item of your element is always an important item to study and this method is not only applied to energy, plant or mineral resources, the bodies of high-level magical beasts are also used as study material but not so easy to do it is easier to study energy sources like i used than to study bodies of magical beasts or even plants. But in your case, it might not be completely right, your eyes can help you study your elements in a different way than other warriors."
As I thought my eyes can help me a lot in these two ways is from what I could see my eyes become stronger when my core improves my body as I advance in stage.
"But also, to events that are natural or that are caused by warriors, mages and magical beasts. As an example, I have a great chance to improve my understanding of my death element in the next few years, during war an exorbitant amount of death will happen in short periods of time and this concentrates the death energy naturally."
"After one of the full-scale battles the battlefield will become a great place for me to study the element of death, I know this can seem cruel and heartless especially when I realize that the students who have graduated from the institute on my direction will be part of the dead, who will help me understand my element."
"I already knew from the beginning when I chose this path that studying the element of death would not be easy and at times difficult morally, but this is the path I chose. You have to keep this in your mind, Ulric, no matter which path you choose you are going to have to make difficult choices not only physically but also for your mind and morals that can affect you for the rest of your life, no matter what your paths are. elements, it will happen."
This is not good news, but life is not easy so if becoming strong must be very complicated in the higher levels, the higher your level the more difficult and advancing if it was easy the world would not make sense.
But I think I made my decision, I decided to focus on my elements and that's the best way for me. With the mistress can help I believe that I will be able to advance my knowledge of my elements in a correct and effective way.
Obviously, I'm not going to stop working on my aura because that's as dumb as thinking you can master two different paths at the same time, I'm not going to lie and say that the greedy idea of mastering two paths didn't cross my mind, but I didn't I'm a monstrous genius to do something stupid at this level and think I'll succeed.
I have no illusions that I can overcome the limits imposed by my weak soul, but I do hope that my eyes can see a chance to overcome them by mastering my elements.
"I choose the elemental path, mistress. You don't have to hide your happiness."
A radiant smile that was able to hide all the mischief of the mistress dominated her face, she is happy with my choice.
"Because I would be happy with that, and I just got a new contender for thunder element resources. Just kidding, you are too weak to try to compete with me, but as I am a great and benevolent mistress, I will give you some common resources of mine that are treasures of the lightning element to you."
This is nice and cruel and made me happy and humiliated at the same time, the mistress really has a way with words. It's not easy to make someone feel that way with just a few words.
"Are you ready to start training? You don't have much time so let's start your torture now, sorry I mean intensive training."
No, she didn't mean training.
"I mean your excitement to 'train' me, but I have an important matter to talk to you about and ask for your help."
"I'm not stopping you."
I took out a box that has been hidden under my short cover for a long time, I was lucky this box was small it would have been quite difficult if it was big. I placed it in front of the mistress and opened it very slowly being very dramatic.
This time I managed to scare the mistress, as the light of the elemental fairy illuminated the mistress 's face, her expression froze for a while.
"What fucking luck you have! Where did you get this elemental fairy?"
"I sewed her during one of the test missions, she was well hidden being smuggled in by smugglers at the frontier of the kingdom."
"You mean those little smugglers with the suicide mage? I saw your quest report that this is not a group that should have or transport an elemental fairy like this, this is an elemental fairy that has matured it's not easy to imprison one of them that way, this is the job of a red core mage or blue is not easy to do."
"The fairy is weakened but without even a physical damage to her sleeping cup, this is very rare most fairies on the market have some wound on their body that weakens them and prevents them from being absorbed completely."
"Usually, only fairies that have not matured can be found in this state without damage in the market, remember the fairy you freed she was a fairy who should only have a few years to live and she still had a long way to go to materialize her physical body like this. Even so, it was worth a great deal of gold, and unleashed could unleash the power of a peak stage green-core mage."
"This little beauty here can unleash the power of a blue core mage if released, but as this crystal is quite old, she must be weakened after being trapped in it for so long, so she must only have a red core mage power when being released, but she would only need a little time and element to reach her peak form."
"Why would anyone do that?"
"This is basically a live bomb, drop this on mine from the capital of a kingdom more powerful than ours is the capital will disappear but this is obviously taboo and waste of a high-level elemental fairy but it has been done in the past. It would be more common to use it as an ingredient to forge a level six staff or matrix."
"Can it not be absorbed?"
"Can she? Yes, but for that you would have to be at least a red core fighter to have a small chance of success and when I say small is really small chance, normally only a blue core fighter would attempt this and if your elemental energy is pure and compatible with the elemental fairy, when I say pure, he cannot have any other element than the fire element. Do you know anyone like that?"
"So, I'm too weak to sweat the elemental fairy, I hate reality from time to time."
"I agree with you, now you understand why this fairy surprised me so much. That's a treasure for warriors and mages stronger than me, and you found it with a bunch of trash smugglers. They must have mistaken it for an immature fairy or even though the elemental fairy diva was dead after digging her up from some extremely ancient ruin."
"Why didn't you find a fairy of the lightning element? I would love to have one of those."
"I didn't have much choice about it. What can I do with this fairy?"
"Sell it or trade it for many useful resources for you. Does your team know about this elemental fairy?"
"Yes, the plan was to split her profit in case I couldn't use her, if I was able to use her, my companions agreed to be in their debt for a while."
"That would be funny, you would have to save money for the next hundred years or have faith to find some precious treasures to pay off your debt. The best option for me to stay with her is to see what kind of offers I can get for her."
"You want to trade her for a fairy of the same level as the lightning element, don't you?"
The mistress's playful face became locked with my question.
"What would be the problem if that was my plan? It's not like I wouldn't pay her value to your team, and that exchanging her for a fairy of another element is easier than buying a fairy of that level with resources."
"Many royal families or nobles from higher level realms than ours may have fairies like this store them for trade, it's hard to be lucky to find a fairy that is compatible with their elemental energy, if they aren't compatible much of their power is wasted."
"Now take your little wolf for a walk and come back tomorrow for his training, I have to send some important massages today."