Torrin felt himself waddling across the ground. Large shoots of grass and plants obscured the path ahead, but he kept a slow and steady pace, moving ever onward. Every now and then he would munch on a blade of grass or bend the stalk of a flower with his scaly foreleg to chomp its petals.
'What the hell?' Torrin thought as he chewed another plant.
His vision blurred and now he was slightly bigger. The grass no longer blocked his vision of the way forward. Now he could see where he wanted to go, but knew not the reason for going. He ambled forward, only stopping for a snack here and there. Plants with vibrant earth mana were his favorite snack and the feeling they gave off was similar to the feeling of his destination.
'Am I experiencing the turtle's life?' Torrin wondered to himself.
A different scene flashed before his eyes. Water streamed in front of him and he looked across wistfully. He needed to find a way across the rushing water, but swimming was out of the question.
'What kind of turtle fears water?' Torrin was saddened by the scene, he could feel the various emotions that flashed through the little turtle's mind as it stared at the raging torrent.
He walked down the river and only saw more water. In the other direction was the same, except there was some giant pool of water, the origin of his nemesis. There was no way to get across without swimming. In frustration, he bit into one of the stones by his feet, crushing it into small chunks that he munched on. His scaly leg kicked out at one of the rocks, sending it skipping once, twice, across the water before falling in. The skipping stone sparked a small thought in his mind that soon faded.
The scene flashed once more. He was much bigger now, years seeming to have passed in the blink of an eye. He stomped on the ground and with his will, caused it to move slightly. Progress. He turned his head and bit into a rock, crunching it up as he moved toward the smell of a delicious plant.
It took time, but he eventually made it to the wonderful scent. He chomped the plant down with a single bite and withdrew into his shell to enjoy his wonderful snack. He could feel something stirring within him as a reward for his efforts. He felt the plant's energy whirling inside him, adding to the previous snacks he'd eaten. After a long while of digesting his snack, he felt the energy inside him swirling faster, before condensing into a solid core. 'What is a core?' the thought came to his mind unbidden. He felt as if he was truly awake for the first time, a new understanding seeping into his consciousness.
'Did I just witness this little thing forming a beast core?' Torrin was truly fascinated by all the scenes that played before him. He felt a connection with the little mana beast and was curious what it was heading toward.
The scene changed. He huffed out a breath as he stared at his nemesis. The water was nothing more than a passing challenge on his journey. With a push, he moved the earth before him to form a way across. He tentatively put one foot forward and as he did, felt his core respond to his worry, energy flowing through him to enhance the sturdiness of the path he'd made. His head turned to the sky and a small, hissing squeal of triumph was released from his mouth. He trudged onward, finally overcoming his foe.
Torrin wished he could pump his fist in the air. The mana beast's joy was infectious.
Finally, he could almost taste the long awaited reward for his hardships. A mountain of stone lay before him and only his slow movements kept him from reaching the that which called to him constantly any faster. As if responding to his small thoughts, his core pulsed and the ground began to ripple below him, causing him to glide forward as if carried on the water he hated so much. He couldn't understand how it'd done it just yet, but he was grateful to his core for always looking out for him.
Torrin's mind pulsed with understanding and insight as he experience each of the turtle's memories. His mind slowly absorbed the information and it seemed like the experiences were assimilating with his own, helping him understand more about manipulating the earth element. The technique the turtle was using reminded him of the blue core mole he had fought. Excitement bubbled within him to match the turtle's.
The mountain moved below him as he traveled steadily on a current of rippling earth. A while later he made it to the top, having only stopped to munch on a few stones and plants along the way. He thought his core enjoyed the plants that smelled delicious more, as it would provide him energy anytime he ate those. He agreed with it, they sure were tasty. His thoughts went blank as he made it to a small plateau atop the mountain. His eyes wide, he began to shiver in fear and slowly turn around.
"No need to worry, friend. You've made it just in time." A soothing voice called out. He didn't understand the words, exactly, but the tone of the voice and some weird quality about it gave him understanding of what it was trying to convey. His shivering stopped at the words and he turned his full attention on the speaker.
A being of glowing golden light stood with two large beasts beside it. The being had no defining features, unlike the beasts. One was a large, white bird that lazily circled in the air before landing and gazing down on him. The other was some large, scaly reptile that huffed smoke from its nostrils and flexed its large wings. The sight made him reconsider fleeing.
'A giant eagle and what is that other thing? An actual dragon? And what the hell is that being of energy?' Torrin's thoughts whirled as the turtle slowly approached the trio. Torrin took in the sight of the humanoid being of swirling energy. He was unsure what exactly it was, but through the turtle he could feel an immense power emanating from it. The turtle barely came up a bit of above its ankle and if the being wished, it could probably just step on the turtle and crush it completely.
"Little tortoise you have traveled a long way to heed my call. I thank you. Here, this is your reward." The being held out its hand and it looked as if some of the writhing energy that made up the being's body manifested itself into a physical stone that was offered to him.
He sniffed towards the stone and immediately, his core responded by lifting the earth below his feet until he was even with the stone held by the being. He stretched out his neck and bit into it, devouring the entire thing in a few bites. His core pulsed and thrummed as his body was filled with energy.
He withdrew into his shell to process the snack like he did with the plants. In only a short moment, he felt pain. A cracking sound came from his shell breaking and reforming into a larger form, the energy fusing with the new shell as it grew. His body followed suit, stretching and ripping, bones cracking and reforming--pain filled his mind, but relief flowed from the energy immediately afterwards, washing the horrible sensations away. Once the energy was completely assimilated with him, he moved from his shell once more, noticing he had grown in size to match the other two creatures atop the plateau.
The giant bird flew to the sky and let out a piercing screech of victory, the clouds swirled above them at its cry. He understood innately that this was a welcome of sorts, a call representing that he was now one of them. The giant lizard also greeted him warmly, a gout of fire shooting from its mouth into the sky as it roared.
He had never had anyone to call family, but he knew these beasts and the being of energy were now just that. 'Family? Where had that thought come from?' The word was foreign and it took a moment for him to understand that his mind had also been enhanced. His thoughts becoming clearer and clearer as the moments passed and new knowledge flowed within it.
"Welcome, little tortoise. Let us go. We have one more stop on this trip before we head to our home." The being spoke, a sound that carried care and love within it. Hearing the words, he held his head to the sky and cried out his own sound of victory, the mountain trembling in response.
In a rush, Torrin found himself in the chamber with the altar and turtle statue once more. Sweat poured off of him from the pressure in the room, but it was slowly lessening as his core drank greedily of the dense earth mana. Looking within himself, he realized it wasn't his core, necessarily, but the small crystal of Saen within it that was drinking in the energy. The small ball of Saen spun within his core, sucking in the excess energy and slowly swelling in size.
Torrin huffed out a breath of relief as the pressure within the room decreased to a more manageable level. He closed his eyes and fell unconscious as the little bead of Saen absorbed more and more earth mana.
He awoke once more and soon realized he was laying on the floor in a pool of his own sweat. He sat up and stretched out his weary body. He was unsure how long he'd been reliving the tortoise's life, but he knew it had to have lasted a while from how stiff his body was.
He stood up and approached the altar. He placed a hand on the statue of the tortoise, a small smile on his face, "Thank you, little tortoise, for allowing me to experience part of your life."
Torrin wasn't sure of exactly what had happened, but his best guess was that some part of the tortoise's will had been imbued into the statue, allowing him to experience the early part of the tortoise's life and its subsequent evolution of sorts. His eyes glanced around the room and didn't see anything else of note. So with a shrug, he opened the door and left.
Torrin was surprised by an empty room before him. The mana in the room was also noticeably thinner. His eyes wandered the room as he walked toward the closed exit, pushing it open with ease. Just outside the entrance to the temple Torrin saw a piece of paper with a few stones weighing it down. He bent down, grabbing the paper and dusting it off. He examined the page curiously, realizing it was a note addressed to him.
'Rin, if you are reading this, it means you actually survived. We waited for you as long as we could, but as the months passed, we began to run low on supplies and tensions rose. None of us could reach the door even after gaining insight into the earth element, so we were unable to check on you. We have waited three months as of the time I write this. Five of the elves who entered the temple are now at the green core stage, so we are much more confident in surviving on our own. Head toward the rising sun and you should be able to find the water temple. That's where we're heading next, if you wish to rejoin us. Thank you for all you did in helping us survive. Best wishes -- Dawn.'
The note made Torrin pause. It had taken them one month to reach the temple and more than three had passed while he was experiencing the turtle's life and absorbing the dense earth mana. Torrin's eyes glanced over the plain below the earth temple with Saen enhancing his vision, allowing him to zoom into the scene below. He didn't notice any recent tracks in the grass, so it had to of been a while since they left.
He removed the time-keeping amulet from his ring and glanced at the rune that was lit up. It indicated that at least six months had passed since they entered the pocket dimension. He let out a wry chuckle and sat down on the top step of the temple. Surprisingly, he didn't feel hungry, but he still took out a piece of cooked meat and ate it. It tasted much better than the rocks and plants he'd experienced the tortoise eating and he let out a groan.
He looked to the sky and noticed the sun was approaching the horizon, so he decided to rest here for the night. He walked back into the temple and lay out a few skins to make a pallet. He slept through the night without issue and stretched as the first pink hues began to color the horizon. Torrin began his journey down the steps, keeping his guard up for any defenses that may be left. Nothing attacked him on his way down and he easily made it to the plain below safely.
Torrin removed his shoes and socks, letting mana threads seep from his bare feet into the earth. It rippled at his touch and he faced himself toward the horizon the sun was peeping from. He pushed with his feet, the earth responding and moving below him like a wave as he shot forward, each time he pumped his legs, he was carried multiple feet. He wanted to see if he could catch up to the elves.