"Ye, I don't really think this is heaven anymore. Guess I'm a bit lucky, huh?"
The youthful gheckla that escaped from his captivity pushed forwards, trekking down the mountain he awoke upon. Mint colored tears fell down from his eyes as his blond bangs pushed against his lashes. The young man was stunning, much like all of the remaining gheckla in captivity. The ugly were thrown away...permanently. Lat grit his teeth, not expecting to be able to find a way to get revenge but taking it all the same. His speckled hands and legs dug into the rock, his limbs were yellow and dotted with black spots.
The clawed appendages differed greatly from the rest of the young gheckla, the rest of his skin being a pale white. His hair was blond and slightly shimmered in the moonlight, almost as if it was gold. He had a sharp and pronounced nose, the tip of which being as thin as a plastic headed pin. His lips turned downward, being somewhere in the middle of lacking depth yet still being thick.
He was descending down the mountain in the hopes of coming upon the town of Nimrod. He had seen it from the distance atop the summit of the looming mountain, and thought to try and get help for his comrades in arms back at Gehara. The place itself wasn't very far from the mountain he was on, it was actually a bit west from where he was.
The town of Nimrod was in the north, he was headed towards there in an attempt to find the only man he figured would help him. The fellow adolescent looked just as beaten up than he, and Lat had never seen him before. That wouldn't have been enough to convince Lat that the man would be sympathetic to his cause, but he was grasping at straws and he knew it. Besides, that power...the power that could char a cyclops that even the ghecks were afraid of...he really needed it.
Ashamed at his own selfishness, he surrendered his own pride in exchange for even a chance at saving his people. Asking a complete stranger for help—no, to do what he could never...it struck him as wrong. Yet he didn't feel like there was much he could do about it, he wouldn't give up on his people for some inane reason like that. Besides, if the guy refused his plea he would understand...and maybe that would lessen his guilt.
Lat pondered on ways he could convey his request. He speedily approached the flat and even ground from the outcrop, soon to arrive at a certain forest.
—-
"...so that's why it's important for Transmitters and Transmuters to stay in areas concentrated with specific kinds of mana when they want to grow their relationship with their affinities. It's one of the four ways to improve your elements, the others being using them, finding some rare item that can boost them, and an advance in class. The last being because mana intertwines itself into your very being, so an improvement in your soul will improve them as well. Did you get all that Alban? I'm never repeating it ever again...ugh."
Chiyo had fallen to the ground shortly after that long lecture, gasping for breath. She had always hated talking in super long speeches ever since she grew up in the monoya tribe. Her people were more of an artistic sort, and as a result she was constantly tortured by presentations, displays, anything about showing art. People always gathered in large groups to stare at her brew liquor when she was chief...she was so glad she escaped from being an exhibition.
Before she could even finish in huffing large amounts of air, Lark's voice found their way in her ears at the moment. The young nimm was always a bit snarky but amiable to the point where you wouldn't detect it if you didn't know him. Honestly, the only thing that took Lark from funny to annoying in Chiyo's book was that the guy seemed to know way too much. So much that she was tempted to kill him dead, and might've made an attempt if Alban didn't constantly interact with him. She wasn't jealous at all, she was glad he had a friend. Nope. Not jealous.
"Ha. You say that but you would if he asked. Might I remind you that-" The playful tone indicated a jest, yet there was a certain knowing undercurrent that really pissed her off. There was no way he could possibly know...in fact she didn't even know! Or at least that's what she told herself. As her teeth bit down on her dainty bow shaped mouth, she thought she looked very convincing.
"If you don't shut your mouth I'll cut off your hands." Yet and still she cut him off with a very not so joking threat. It wasn't an empty threat either, as when started howling and collecting on a thin blade that laid beneath her. She warned him against even broaching the topic, so she felt justified.
"..." Lark was shocked into silence. Chiyo grinned in triumph. That was really all there was to be said about the matter.
Alban couldn't hear anything at this moment, focusing on drawing out the water droplet that had grown from a bead to a small puddle. He had constantly submerged himself under the water for the past week, going so far as to complete his dailies and ask Chiyo to spar him underwater. He hadn't slacked on his flame or earth elements either, going so far as to learn how to infuse them in his body. Okay well, he was halfway into grasping earth infusion, but halfway was a lot of progress for him. It was a lot of progress for anyone at all, really, but the two monsters that knew mana much longer than he never pointed that out.
Calling out to the small puddle in the recesses of his soul, the slightly blue but mostly transparent liquid answered his summons by floating directly above his upturned palm. It responded much faster every day, the rippling water calmly greeting him by wobbling back and forth. He had grasped a basic understanding of water a couple days back, and the water element suddenly started to reply and obey his commands instead of stubbornly falling on the ground.
The essence of the component of liquid as a whole was very different from fire and earth. Fire mana was lively and cheerful, always burning even while patiently waiting. Earth mana was still and unwavering, with a deep vitality lurking within its insides. Water, though, was different in the sense that it was always changing. It was sometimes still and peaceful, and at other times it was raging and flowing even fiercer than an active volcano. If Alban had to pick a word to describe it, it would probably be temperamental.
The water was tranquil now, though. It calmly followed Alban's instructions, floating up from his hands and circling his body. It couldn't extend that far from Alban and remain under his control, however. Alban had no idea how he could increase the range of his mana control without having to shape cast. He wanted to see if it was possible if he could change the shape of his mana casting, and it was possible. The only problem was that when his attacks got too far away from him, he would lose the ability to command them any further.
Because he understood why, he wasn't frustrated at all. He decided that he would try to achieve even a small increase before the day ended, although he would not be able to train all day. The reason for that was the young gheckla that had entered the woods and was approaching the group from a couple of meters away. Clicking his tongue in annoyance, Alban stood up and peered at the direction the monster seemed to be coming from. The wild aura that was enhanced in the forest had caught upon the existence of an intruder.