Path of Dragons

Book 6: Chapter 5: The Frontrunner Problem

Elijah opened his eyes, frowning as he looked around his section of the cultivation cave. To say he was disappointed would have been a vast understatement. He’d spent the past three days trying to advance his Body cultivation, but he’d made absolutely no progress. It wasn’t because he didn’t know what he was doing, either. He was well-versed in the methods, which weren’t terribly complex at his current stage. He knew he was doing it correctly. Instead, the problem was the ethera.

It just wasn’t thick enough for his purposes.

And the implications of that discovery were troubling, given that the cultivation cave he’d built was almost as powerful as the one back on his island.

As a powerful fluctuation swept forth from the other side of the cave, Elijah felt a pang of jealousy. Everyone else was making huge strides, while he was simply sitting still. It would have been different if it was a personal failing. He could work through that and hopefully improve. However, with the issue being external, Elijah had difficulty accepting the limitations foisted upon him by the environment.

Upon arriving at the cultivation cave, he’d been so optimistic. He and the others had divided the area into five sections, building walls of piled rocks to keep the areas separated so that they could each cultivate in peace without disturbing everyone else. And it had worked quite well, giving everyone the privacy they needed to advance their paths. The others drew closer to personal breakthroughs with every passing day.

Meanwhile, Elijah was stuck in the mud.

He’d even removed his Cloak of the Iron Bear, thinking that it had shielded him from the powerful ethera. He knew that wasn’t the case, but by that point, he was grasping at straws. Predictably, it had done nothing but make him uncomfortable.

“This is a waste of time,” he muttered under his breath before pushing himself to his feet. Then, he left the cave behind, passing Kurik along the way. The dwarf didn’t like cultivating in the cold, but even that hadn’t kept him from taking advantage of the cave Elijah had built.

Once he was outside, Elijah reached into his Ghoul-Hide Satchel and retrieved his cloak. Donning it, he basked in the sudden comfort it provided via the Temperate trait. Taking a deep breath, he focused on One with Nature. Ever since advancing his Jade Mind, he was able to process more information than ever before – which was a good thing, considering his choice of specialization.

Not for the first time, he wondered if he’d made the right decision. While he knew he’d never have chosen Preservation – after all, healing was less of a calling and more of a hobby for him – Savagery had been a viable possibility. Yet, he’d picked Connection, largely because of some ephemeral feeling he couldn’t explain. Certainly, he’d also taken Kirlissa’s advice into account; he’d have been an idiot not to listen to such a powerful being. Yet, in truth, his choice was based mostly on his own feelings.

Which he didn’t like.

It was easy to support a choice if it was made on the basis of verifiable logic. But when it was an emotional decision, it was difficult not to doubt the path he’d chosen.

The decision was made, though. So, it was past time that he figured out what it might mean for him going forward. With that in mind, he looked at the description of his chosen specialization:

Specialization: Connection

Permanently increase the efficacy and range of One with Nature by 100%. Also grants an additional point to Ethera and Regeneration attributes per level. Finally, increases the efficacy of Soul cultivation.

Upon making his choice, Elijah had felt an immediate difference in One with Nature. However, it was not nearly as powerful as indicated by the description. If he’d had to guess, he would have put it closer to twenty percent, though that was just an estimate, albeit one supported by his experiences. Since then, he’d learned that he could push the range much further than the default, indicating that the description referred to the maximum capabilities, rather than the baseline.

With that in mind, Elijah pushed on the ability, and the results were immediate. His awareness rippled out, and if he hadn’t advanced to the Jade Mind stage, he knew he would have been overwhelmed by the sheer volume of information available to him. It wasn’t quite as detailed as the awareness granted by his domain surrounding his grove, but it wasn’t that far off, either.

Before, he’d only really sensed living things. He had learned to interpret that in such a way as to give him a decent picture of his surroundings, but that method had always had its limits. Now, though, he saw everything. Not in perfect detail, as he would with his domain, but enough that he could get a sense of his surroundings without having to filter it through interpretation.

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As he concentrated on the feeling, Elijah kept coming back to the specialization’s name. It was called Connection for a reason, and it was through that lens that he realized what the difference was. Or rather, how One with Nature truly worked. He didn’t merely sense the presence of living things. He connected with them. And now, the increased awareness of his surroundings came because he was sensing the world through nature’s eyes.

The ability did some heavy lifting, filtering that awareness into something he could understand, but the implications of what he felt were massive. If he continued along that path, how would it evolve? Would he one day be able to talk to trees? The possibilities were endless.

In addition to the potency of his ability, Elijah could tell that it had grown even more expansive than it had been with his lost Staff of the First Dragon. He couldn’t perfectly measure the radius, but he guessed that, if he pushed One with Nature to its limit, it could encompass an area at least a mile wide.

Which was incredible, supporting the comparison to his domain.

For hours, he simply stood there, basking in his increased awareness. Even in the frozen wilderness, there was plenty of life around. But Elijah wasn’t as interested in the native beasts. Nor did he give much attention to the yeti scout he felt almost a mile away. Instead, he focused on his next task.

He’d lost his previous staff, and the Staff of the Serpent Healer was barely holding itself together. Even after using the putty Sadie carried around to repair it, the thing was only one good blow away from shattering. So, while the others worked on their own cultivation, Elijah had decided to create a new staff.

At first, he’d considered using the Shard of Nature’s Might to augment the process, but it didn’t take him long to discard that notion. The item was far too powerful to use on what he suspected would be an inferior product. Because Elijah wasn’t a real crafter, his results were dependent on many external factors. He’d only managed to create passable staves because of his grove. Without that, any staff he managed to carve would be limited in its power.

Still, he needed to do something, so he focused on One with Nature as he searched for perfect material. It only took an hour of wandering around before he came upon an ancient tree that resembled a black willow. It was situated next to a frozen river, and it had dark blue bark instead of the typical brown Elijah might have expected. In addition, its leaves were white with blue veins, giving it a very distinctive appearance.

More importantly, when Elijah connected with it via One with Nature, he felt a surging ferocity deep in its core. For a while, he watched the tree until, at last, he saw something that explained what he felt. A small, rabbit-like creature ventured close to the trunk, but the moment it came within a few feet, a series of thick roots erupted from the frozen ground, wrapped around the fluffy animal, and yanked it underground.

Elijah couldn’t see what happened next, though he felt it via One with Nature. The roots acted like boa constrictors, squeezing the creature until it burst like a gore-filled balloon. Its blood seeped into the surrounding soil, only to be absorbed by the roots. Elijah traced the life-giving vitality as it soared through the roots, up the trunk, and to the tips of the tree’s limbs.

It all happened over the space of a few moments, leaving Elijah in awe of the efficiency on display. Carnivorous plants weren’t entirely unheard-of, but on Earth, they normally worked more like traps in which animals – like small frogs or insects – would become stuck and be digested. This tree was far more active, leaving Elijah incredibly intrigued.

The scientist in him wanted to settle in and study the tree, but he had other goals in mind. So, he set off for another of the rabbit-like creatures, finding one only a hundred yards away. He snatched it up, then returned to the tree’s location. He tossed it toward the trunk, and a second later, the scenario repeated itself.

Elijah repeated the experiment three more times before he decided that he had no interest in subjecting himself to those powerful roots. Perhaps he could fight free of them, but there was a non-zero chance that the tree was too strong even for him. So, he found another rabbit, and this time, he tossed it into the tree’s limbs.

Where it remained entirely unharmed – at least until it fell from the branch and hit the ground. Only then was it devoured by the tree’s roots.

Once again, Elijah repeated his experiment, finding the same scenario repeating itself each time.

“So, everything aboveground is like a normal tree,” he reasoned aloud. Following that assertion, he reasoned that he should theoretically be able to land on one of the branches and get what he needed without putting himself into any unnecessary danger. The only question was what would happen once he took one of those branches with him.

Elijah wasn’t so naïve as to assume the tree wouldn’t have any other defense mechanisms. If it was a normal plant, he wouldn’t have been quite as warry, but the thing had proven itself quite animalistic. And when harmed, animals usually lashed out – especially when they couldn’t retreat. Given that he was dealing with a stationary tree, Elijah fully expected it to respond to any attack. With that in mind, he knew it was probably best if he simply moved on.

But he wanted one of those branches.

He could feel the power flowing through them. The savage ferocity of a hunter called to him. One day, he might be capable of calling back and coming to some sort of arrangement with the planet, but he hadn’t quite reached that level of One with Nature. Perhaps when he evolved the spell, such communication would become possible. Or when he reached the second specialization at level two hundred.

A wry smile spread across Elijah’s face as he shook his head. He’d only just attained his first specialization, and he was already looking forward to the next. He knew that was a mistake. He needed to focus on his current abilities rather than looking ahead, and yet, he couldn’t help but wonder what possibilities the future might hold. That, almost as much as the increased power, was what drove him forward.

He pushed those thoughts out of his mind, instead focusing entirely on the task at hand. His plan wasn’t complex, but he knew that if he overstayed his welcome, bad things would happen. So, he shifted into Shape of the Sky, then took off. Once he’d reached an altitude of around a hundred feet, he dove.

From the ground, he had identified a perfect branch, so that was where he aimed. A second later, his talons caught hold, and with a powerful flap of his wings, he once again ascended. The motion came with a loud snapping sound, and the branch came free.

That was when the tree erupted into motion.

Its branches wove wildly, extending toward Elijah’s winged form so quickly that he nearly lost his rhythm. He’d known there would be a response, but he hadn’t expected it to be so abrupt.

More, Elijah could feel the tree’s rage via One with Nature. It was as deeply rooted as any animal’s to the point where it sent a tremor up his spine. Thankfully, his preparations – such as they were – gave him just enough room to escape the tree’s grasping branches.

They only came up short by a few inches, telling Elijah just how close he’d come to disaster.

However, even as he soared away, he smiled inwardly. He’d gotten precisely what he required, which was the first step in creating a new staff.