"Why don't you visit our village's mages and gather their opinions?" Barbara said and Lyle agreed. She then gave him a list of people to whom he could ask his questions or could just learn about the element.
So off he went to his second aunt, Malinda, to ask, 'Which element is the strongest?'
"Of course, it's fire. Smite your foes and burn them to ashes. If that's not enough, toss a bomb and blow them to smithereens," she answered, but not before smothering Lyle with all her swelling affection.
That sounded cool, and Lyle felt like choosing the fire element right away. But still, controlling his excitement, he went to Martha, an earth mage, and a widow.
"It would be the mighty earth element. Pummel them with a barrage of rocks, or smash them with a boulder to meat paste. Conjure walls to defend, or build a house out of them. It comes in handy through all walks of life." Martha used such destructive words with a flat, but gentle expression, that her face looked eerie. But the earth element sounded mighty, and Lyle felt like mastering this one as well.
He got a little confused between the two elements. He scratched his head. Maybe there's another one even mightier than the two?
So off he went to Captain Zyper's wife, Betha. She was Goru's mother as well.
"Why won't you slash them to pieces with blades that will never lack sharpness? From short to long range, from small to large area, you won't lack versatility with the wind element." She said with a wide smile. "But you might not want to choose the wind element because my Goru is choosing it. And you wouldn't want to make my Goru change your party, would you?" she said with a smile as well. Lyle, Goru, and Daisy were going to be in a team, there was no doubt about that. But mages with the same elements wouldn't be kept in the same team, that's why the warning.
Lyle awkwardly left the place, even more confused. He wouldn't leave the wind element out of consideration just because someone said to. Though, he didn't know which one to choose, still.
"'The best defense is a good offense'. Haa! Everyone says that, and yet, I stupidly chose this Crystal element. Although it doesn't lack offensive maneuver, the range is limited, not much different than a weapon wielder!" Olivia sighed, but Lyle's eyes lit up. He had so many ideas on things he could do with the Crystal element. The Crystal element was mana arranged in a crystalline formation to conjure translucent shields and weapons of any shape. But first,
"Big sis, it was because of mages like you that we children and the old ones are still alive." He had to console his dejected big sister, Malinda's daughter.
"But I cannot go to the front lines!" Olivia complained.
"Yet, you can protect those who need protection." Olivia smiled at Lyle's words. He was quite considerate for his age.
"I bet you'll prove that a strong defense can withstand any offense." He pecked her cheek and walked away, quite dejected himself. Every element was unique and strong. He was too confused to choose one. Now, only one element remained to check, and instead of going to the one suggested by Barbara, his feet involuntarily led him toward the cave.
Who understands water element better than the water itself?
"The strongest element?" The Nymph chuckled in a mocking tone. "Hmph! You have come to the right place. Of course, it is the Water element." With a smug face, she assumed a majestic pose: her head held high, her chest puffed up, and her hands resting on her hips.
But Lyle needed an explanation, not someone's boasting. So he riled her up, "Is it? I thought it was the weakest of all. Just some lousy element only usable to water some plants! Hahaha!"
"Hm? What do you think water is; who do you think you are standing before? Not yet a foot high and still dare to spout such drivel?" She snapped, and Lyle had an expression as if a child caught in mischief.
"Wow… you don't seem like the usual water nymph."
"What do you even know about water?"
Lyle shrugged. He knew nothing, that's why he came to her in the first place.
"Let me illuminate your ignorance." From the pond, half of the water rose in the air and morphed into a giant ball in front of Lyle.
The water nymph clenched her fist and the ball transformed into a translucent ice ball. Lyle could feel the cold permeating in that instant. He gawked in awe and surprise.
"As hard as any crystal." Her words echoed in the cave.
The giant ball, 20 feet in diameter, then fell to the ground with a deafening thud, cracking the surface of the Dark Gahnite below, making Lyle jump.
"As heavy as the earth."
The ball then flew further away from him.
Boom!
And detonated with a deafening boom. Only a shimmering mist floated into the atmosphere. "As explosive as the fire."
The mist then began to swirl and transformed into a whirlwind. "As fierce as the wind."
The whirlwind then puffed up, turning gray.
Rumble!
Lightning flashed in the fog, and a thunderous sound reverberated throughout the cavity of the cave, and Lyle flinched hard, his eyes wide open. "As destructive as lightning."
The whole atmosphere had changed into a thunderstorm, and now Lyle was truly afraid and stupefied.
He wasn't expecting much from the element, but this was just unbelievable. And frightening.
Seeing Lyle's shivering state, the Nymph's expression softened. The chaotic atmosphere subsided and everything became clear as if nothing had happened.
"As cruel as death," she said in a flat voice, her eyes expressing no emotions. A tadpole arose in the air, undulating freely in the water ball.
As Lyle stared at it, the tadpole writhed uncontrollably and slowly stopped undulating. It was then popped out of the water ball and fell on the ground as the Nymph emptily stared at it.
It was dead without any surprise.
Lyle gawked and stared at the tadpole he once had held. It was so full of life, now no life throbbed in it. He looked up at the Nymph, his eyes full of questions, and apprehensions.
The Nymph finally smiled, ever so gently, and softly uttered, "And as gentle as Life."
The ball of water caught the dead tadpole in it once again. The ball neared Lyle, and Lyle observed the tadpole with rapt attention.
Something inexplicable happened, and it could only be explained as a miracle,
When the tadpole started flapping its fins, ever so slowly…
And then its mouth and then…
It undulated freely, effortlessly swimming around within the space of the water ball.
Lyle heaved a sigh of relief.
"As scary as darkness. As beckoning as light. Everything began with me, with me, everything shall end!" She assumed her previous majestic pose again.
A/N: With this one, I have exhausted my stock of chapters, and I couldn't write the next ones because of a lack of inspiration and a lack of response from the readers. It has a slow start, so it was inevitable, I guess. But then I'm left wondering if it's worth the effort. Not that I don't enjoy writing it, but I'm left doubting if the story is progressing interestingly enough. And that leads us to this important quality: people's interest. I know that conflict of any kind can generate interest, but it can also drag the story - his childhood days. So, I'm confused and lack the motivation to sit and write in peace. The release rate will now slow down because of this and my college (not that it won't go up, I need to quell my doubts).