Chapter 5.4 - Dummy

Adam faced the sea colored eyes, it felt like the old man knew something he didn't. QHe was doing his best, using all his energy he didn't know how to do it differently.

"I'm not afraid." He answered hoping the old goat would be satisfied but he wasn't.

Calder stared at him with a raised eyebrow, over his thunder scar.

"What?! I'm not…"

After the second time he wasn't sure if it was true.

Honestly, the boy didn't know if he was holding back. He thought he wasn't but apparently his knowledge of himself was off.

Seeing what the newbie was lacking, Calder took a step back to restart.

"You said Hikari told you about some 'self control'. Did you pay any attention to her?"

"No." Blunt, the Playboy answered without blinking twice.

Crossing his arms unbothered, the God had recuperated some of his strength with the pause.

"Was it about mastering ourselves, so the Elements would follow us?"

Calder split his water orb in four smaller portions. Synchronized, they began to fly in an infinite circle.

Still tired to speak, the boy only nodded. He was already annoyed with the old guy showing off, not to mention the spills of water wetting his face.

"You have no idea what it means, right?" The God let out a chuckle with the affirmation.

Adam on the other hand nodded positively again, not offended at all.

"Roughly, it means you are not one hundred percent connected with your Element." Calder watched the young God loose his defensive posture. "Earth haven't accepted you completely. It recognizes you as their Guardian but it is resisting you."

In his sweaty palm, the Earth God squeezed his golden nugget. Maybe he really wasn't worth it.

"Materialization is extremely hard. What you've done so far you did out of your own willpower." The boy looked up at his teacher. "It's impressive because basically you are summoning the Element against its will."

On the exterior, Adam didn't express any reactions. Keeping a blank face he listened trying not to pant for breath, while wondering why his Element hadn't accepted him.

Was it because he was too weak? Determined, he decided to do his best to get stronger.

"Once you are bound with your Element completely, it will perceive your will as its own. You will not use your energy to materialize or manipulate it, makes the time of response much faster…"

Each word added more weight to his shoulders. The task seemed impossible, no one said he had to be accepted to use the powers.

The explanation made he boy feel rejected. In some way he already felt close to the Earth, he felt its power so to know he was wrong was frustrating.

"Why doesn't it like me?"

Arms crossed in front of his body, he saw the little nugget in his mind.

"You are resisting your power…" Calder got the boy to bring his distant eyes back to the moment. "Or your destiny, I don't know but you do." Adam swallowed, feeling immediately thirsty. "Until you fix this you can't move to the next level."

"Homework?!" Adam erupted in frustration. "Are you serious, bro?" The frown on his face was of pure disgust.

"Yes. Go talk to a rock, bro." Cal mocked the twenty-first century vocabulary he used. Outside of the clothes, everything else about Adam was new and contrasting.

Not many Gods struggled to connect with their Element. Usually it is something instantaneous and they have a harder time controlling and refining the movements, but Adam was the complete opposite. His inner strength was capable of forcing the Element against its will, it was extremely draining and also painful.

The boy was complaining and shaking his head while Calder observed his childish behavior. If only he knew once he completed the bound he would unlock a power he never imagined.

The Water God was anxious to see what the Playboy would be able to do after he mastered his Element.

"At least show me the extra thing you said." In a very poor rebel-boy act, Adam was scratching his head avoiding Calder's eyes.

"It's a technique. You saw it but what I wanted to teach you was something more advanced."

A challenge, Adam's eyes sparkled. That's what motivated the boy.

He followed Calder as the bearded man descended to the ground level. Using his powers was thrilling and he wanted to get to their level, well, yesterday.

"So…" Calder began, expanding his water orb that he materialized with a master's dexterity. "You've seen this dummy."

The Water God was referring to the humanoid water figure he showed Adam, although the boy thought the old man was talking about him.

Calder had the exact same dummy in front of him. It was as tall as they were just thinner and, of course, faceless.

Staring into that creature was inevitable, Adam had the feeling it would move at any instant.

While the boy was visibility lost in thoughts regarding the technique, Calder had an evil plan.

The moving water was so attractive, he had to see if it was really the same water he used to drink.

Adam was getting closer, almost about to touch it.

When the Playboy was centimeters away from the dummy's face-

It moved.

Startled with the sudden action, the young God jumped back, tripping in a rock and falling on his ass.