Chapter 29: Arcane Cultivation
Chapter 29: Arcane Cultivation
The Valdene Library was caught in a maelstrom of mana. Pages and tomes whirled in a frenzy, lightning zigzagged, casting sharp glares, while flames leapt, devouring or igniting whatever lay in their paths. Water surged, dousing flames and tearing through the air, while chunks of the library's very foundation were uprooted, hurled about by the furious winds.
Amid the chaos, Darius hovered, his title as the Gaia's first arcane cultivator etched into this very moment. His skin shimmered, a canvas of galaxies and celestial bodies that cast their glow across the chamber. Poised in a silent scream, his form was rigid, a statue caught in an eternal plea.
Jarek and Amara stood horrified at the spectacle before them, their faces contorted, eyes wide and unblinking. "Amara, what's happening?!" Jarek bellowed, positioning himself in front of Amara.
Amara was slow to respond, her gaze darting around as she took in the scene. After a moment of intense observation, she quickly turned to her husband, "Jarek! Those are spirits! True elemental spirits!" Her voice, tinged with urgency, heralded the full release of her aura. With a command, "Limistéar dìon!" she summoned a glowing magic circle beneath their feet.
Towering waves rose, spiraling around her and Jarek, combining into a protective vortex. These waves, as they converged overhead, crystallized into a translucent blue dome, encasing them in a shield of water.
Jarek allowed his aura to burst forth, his spectral sabatons, gauntlets, and vambraces materializing, crackling with vibrant blue lightning. With a defiant roar, he expanded his chest, releasing a surge of lightning mana that sprang forth as a mana shield. This electric essence intertwined seamlessly with the water barrier, the two forces dancing together in a display of power, enhancing the dome's resilience.
Within the sanctuary of their combined barrier, the roar of the wind and screams of the library's chaos were silenced. Jarek spoke, his voice now clear of the elemental storm, "Why are spirits here? They never leave their regions, this shouldn't be possible!"
"The only explanation is Darius's technique, he must have somehow summoned them," Amara analyzed the swirling chaos surrounding her son. Abruptly, her expression transformed as realization struck, "They are King Spirits!" The dread in her voice was unmistakable.
"What the fuck are king spirits doing here?!" Jarek's eyes erupted, his jaw clenched tight, fury ingited his aura. Lightning arcs flared, ripping through the library's chaos, drawn irresistibly to the lightning King spirit that devoured them effortlessly.
"We can't do anything," Amara extended her hand, gripping Jarek's shoulder roughly, "an archmagus would find it difficult to deal with a King Spirit, much less five," she spoke, her voice strained, tears glimmering in her eyes. "We can only hope he knows what he's doing," she murmured, pulling closer to Jarek, her arm wrapping tightly around his.
Jarek turned his attention to his wife, her expression determined, her eyes glowing as she focused on their son. Inhaling deeply, he drew Amara closer, his jaw tightening before he redirected his gaze to Darius.
----
Darius drifted, untroubled by panic or pain, adrift as though in a tranquil dream.
After an unknown amount of time, his serenity slowly frayed as a chill began its climb from his feet, weaving up his back. When it crowned his head, it rose, tracing a frosty path along his sides, the cold burrowing deep into his bones.
Darius snapped awake, the sudden movement making him disoriented. A white light flooded his vision, leaving him momentarily blinded. As he rubbed at his eyes, they slowly adjusted to reveal a startling sight: he was engulfed in an endless expanse of white, a boundless void that offered no detail, no horizon.
Darius glanced downward, finding the source of his earlier discomfort. He was seated in a puddle of water, crystal clear, quickly rising and expanding. It seemed as though the vast, empty white space around him was gradually being overtaken by this spreading liquid.
"Where am I? I was in the library, but how did I get here?" Darius's words echoed, unfurling into the whiteness, their sound absorbed by the void. He scanned himself, a swift check revealing no anomalies. He distanced himself from the expanding water, his gaze returning to its surface. With a focused intent, he ignited his Arcane Gaze, peering into the depths of the rising liquid.
"What th...?!" Darius's eyes snapped wide, inhaling sharply. Mana surged within him, propelling him backward in a swift, desperate leap.
When Darius activated his eye technique, the seemingly placid pool transformed before him. Underneath the calm surface, a whirlpool of mana surged. It was as if he were gazing directly into the eye of a storm, where the dense, swirling mana currents clashed and converged, creating arcing waterspouts of energy that crackled violently. The intensity of the mana was not just immense; it was unparalleled. This was no ordinary pool but a nexus of raw, untamed power, its depths harboring a force that defied comprehension.
"I can't believe I was sitting on top of that," Darius barely finished his sentence when the center of the vast pool began to upheave dramatically. The ground beneath his feet trembled with an intense vibration, escalating into a thunderous roar.
From the heart of the turbulent waters, a colossal mountain erupted, its formation so rapid and violent that sharp rocks jaggedly pierced the air, climbing higher with each passing second. Amid this spectacle, the overwhelming surge of water mana intertwined with the newly unleashed fury of earth mana, creating a colossal tidal wave, swelling in height as Darius tilted his head back, his eyes widening and mouth agape in awe.
Darius turned, his every muscle tensed for flight. Exploding with mostrous speed, he quickly sprinted away, his breaths sharp cuts in the defeaning expanse, and every so often, he risked a glance over his shoulder, witnessing the relentless ascent of the mountain. The sound of the earth tearing itself free from the water's grip filled the void, a deep, grinding that echoed horribly, urging him to flee faster.
"I knew it! I knew there was gonna be some life or death bullshit!"
Darius gained a significant distance when, from out of nowhere, an apocalyptic explosion shattered the void, its shockwave unfurling with blinding speed. Darius, caught unprepared, was lifted like a leaf in a hurricane, hurled mercilessly through the air. The world around him blurred into a frenzied swirl as he was flung far from the epicenter of the blast.
With a bone-jarring crunch, he cratered into the ground, his body crumpling upon impact.
As Darius struggled to regain himself, the stench of rotten eggs hit him, further disorienting his senses.
Crawling up from his landing site, he gazed at the source of the blast. Darius's features went blank, his eyes dimming to a void. "I'm going to die again," he stated, tone flat, as a sinister red sheen began to envelop his face.
Amidst the surging tsunami of water that encircled its base, the mountain underwent a cataclysmic event. It erupted, massive boulders, ablaze with unforgiving flames, hurtled through the air. From the gaping maw of the newly awakened giant, rivers of molten lava cascaded down its slopes, igniting fires that spread wildly across its surface. This spectacle of nature's untamed power spread a blanket of thick, black smoke into the air as the mountain's wrath was unleashed.
Darius regained his feet and continued to run for his life. "I really hope there isn't an edge," Darius prayed as his arms swung wildly, trying to catch the air.
With his Arcane Gaze still active, he became keenly aware of the enormous, fire-enshrouded boulders arcing through the sky in his direction.
Visions of being pulverized by plummeting rocks haunted Darius, pushing his Arcane Talisman Technique to its limits. "Fuck this!" he tapped into the essence of lightning, channeling an unprecedented amount of mana through his meridians, amplifying his physical and mental capacities to a dangerous degree. His skeleton illuminated, contributing to the deluge of energy coursing within. 'Where are my tattoos?!' a frantic thought blazed through his mind. Dismissing the thought as swiftly as it emerged, he refocused, sensing the incoming threat of a mountain fragment bearing down on him.
Suddenly, within the maelstrom of lightning mana, Darius's Triple Burner Meridian ignited under the crushing pressure of the moment, causing Darius to enter a sudden state of comprehension. Around him, the world stood still, each chunk of earth suspended like a painting of impending doom. Within this eerie stillness, Darius's mind raced, thoughts flickering at breakneck speed, exploring realms of enlightenment and awareness previously untouched.
Admidst this frozen scene of terror, Darius's voice echoed, ancient and profound, "The Ethereal Steps."
The colossal boulder the size of a castle, burning and menacing, loomed a mere ten meters away as time regained it's flow. In that instant, Darius's aura shifted from the crackling intensity of lightning to the serene flow of water.
Darius's figure was engulfed as the boulder crashed with a defeaning roar, a cloud of dust and flames mushroomed into the air.
From out of the chaos, Darius emerged, his body violently somersaulting as he flew. His descent strangely slowed before he hit the ground, landing awkwardly running at full speed.
As he sprinted, explosions and tremors raged around him. Another flaming rock, not as massive but just as deadly, zeroed in on him. At the last possible instant, Darius pivoted sharply on his heel, with a swift drop of his shoulder he rolled forward, the rock's heat grazing his back. Stumbling to his feet he continuing his escape.
Various sized boulder split the air as they descended. Darius twisted his body in fluid and unpredictable ways, his steps were getting lighter, barely touching the ground as he slid past each one. The heat was getting intense, his skin tight from the close encounters.
A humongous projectile, glowing ominously with molten rage, sought to claim him. Darius, his senses sharpened, leapt high, his form a silhouette against the flames. Midair, he executed a tight spin, evading the rock with inches to spare, landing in a crouch that propelled him forward.
The greatest threat was next, a massive shard of earth, resembling a mountain in its own right. Turning around he inhaled deeply, channeling his mana into his legs. With a burst of force, he launched upwards, sprinting over the blazing surface. As he reached the apex of his climb, he extended a hand, using it to pivot around an incoming pillar, redirecting his descent into a controlled spin. Landing with precision, Darius resumed his sprint, weaving through the deadly landscape with grace and unpredictability.
For over a minute, the sky rained down fiery destruction. Yet, with each near miss, Darius's movements grew more refined, embodying the unpredictable nature of flowing water.
As he fled, the waves kept chasing Darius, an endless tidal wave on his heels. The volcano kept emitting smoke, with lava pouring out and igniting fires. Smoke filled the void's "sky," turning it black. Bursts from the elemental forces lit up the clouds.
Darius found a moment's reprieve atop a vast boulder, anchored firmly in the ground. He collapsed onto the rock as soon as the assault ceased, gasping for air with each labored breath. 'Even in this life the ethereal steps are too demanding in the lower stages, my water mana is almost dry.'
"This has got to be inside me, things don't feel right, and I can sense my water mana replenishing on its own," Darius positioned himself in the lotus posture and began to introspect. 'There has to be something,' his thoughts surged as the tsunami roared ever closer. 'Let's assess what we know, this isn't my actual body, evidenced by the absence of tattoos,' frustration crept into his expression. 'I suspect dying here equates to actual death. So far, water, earth, and fire have manifested, aligning with the sequence of my tattoos. If I'm correct, next should be...,' his eyes opened as he scrutinized his surroundings.
The tsunami edged closer, relentless. Smoke and fire continued their dance of destruction, while the mountain's ascent slowed, yet it persisted in its ominous growth.
Darius's gaze lifted to the rumbling clouds overhead, his eyes narrowing. His hands clenched tightly into fists as he rose to his feet. "You have got to be kidding me," he exclaimed, voice tinged with disbelief. With that, he pivoted sharply and launched into a sprint once more.
BOOOOOOOMMMM!!!
Darius halted in his tracks, gazing upward. The roar of nature's fury echoed around him, sending vibrations through both his body and the endless void.
Above Darius, clouds swirled and dove, columns began to form, swirling with immense wind mana, reaching for the ground like fingers. These columns alone were a formidable challenge, yet it was what remained above that captured Darius's attention and held it in a vice of awe and fear.
His gaze pierced the clouds, where the wind mana had amassed into an ominous formation. But beyond this tempest, the sky held a more terrifying sight. Mana surged and gathered, filling the clouds until they bulged with the energy of a brewing storm. This was no ordinary storm but a maelstrom of power the likes of which Darius had never seen. The clouds were engorged with dancing purple lightning, turning the sky above into a battlefield of certain death.