63. Silver Spirit Wolf
Gavin halted his comprehension of earth elemental energy.
Today marked the seventh day since the Ice Wyvern had begun circling the valley. Under normal circumstances, he wouldn't have stopped—not until his clone had either killed or driven the beast away.
But now, the clone had discovered a method to accelerate spirit recovery.
It was risky, and the clone wanted his permission before attempting it.
The method involved burning his life source to speed up his spirit's recovery.
"This won't work."
If the upcoming battle weren't in just two days, this method might have been an option. The recovery of his spirit was crucial for completing the first step of the clone's new cultivation method—a method designed to make him stronger before facing the Wyvern.
But…
"If I use my life source now, the clone will fall into a state of weakness that could last a week. That's too long. It's better to wait two more days and let the spirit recover naturally."
Without further thought, he expanded his spirit field, scanning the valley.
He discovered that the tribe had found a way to stretch their food reserves to nine days.
The hunters and ordinary tribe members had stopped practicing the two techniques to conserve energy. The shamans, however, continued their training since their practice involved meditation, which lowered their body's energy consumption. They could also absorb spiritual energy, which acted as a substitute for food.
His scan shifted to Via.
She had succeeded in transforming the White Rose plant, but the result was drastically different from its original form. Now, the once-white flower had turned into a deep crimson—with blackened branches and stems, blood-red thorns, and vibrant green leaves.
"She named it Blood Rose… fitting, given its appearance."
He didn't dwell on it, instead observing her further as she attempted to learn the Goodberry spell.
Gavin fell into deep thought.
Within Via's mysterious space, he detected four distinct types of elemental energy.
Before inheriting the legacies of both mage and druid, he wouldn't have given this much thought. But now, he understood the consequences—if her mysterious space contained more than one type of energy, she would never be able to break through to the Bronze Shaman Realm.
A mage's magic energy could fuel any type of spell, whether it was fire, ice, or lightning. However, a shaman's power worked differently.
For shamans like Via, he had to find a solution.
His own Golden Spiritual Energy Ocean could serve as the benchmark, but the shamans couldn't form golden spiritual energy like he could. Instead, he needed to derive a lower-tier energy source for them—one that could serve as a foundation for advancement.
His Golden Spiritual Energy Ocean was the result of several powerful forces merging:
Pure Spiritual Energy
Life Source
Spiritual Power
The Fusion of the Mysterious Space and the Spiritual World
"If I want to create a step-by-step process to form Golden Spiritual Energy…"
He broke it down:
Form a Pure Spiritual Energy Source.
Connect Life Source and Spiritual Power to the Pure Spiritual Energy Source.
Refine the energy using one's understanding and path.
Merge the Mysterious Space with the Spiritual World.
A realization struck him.
"This could be the foundation of a cultivation method that leads to the Golden Rank!"
The four steps perfectly aligned with the four realms:
Energy Realm
Bronze Realm
Silver Realm
Golden Realm
The Shaman and Great Shaman realms corresponded to the Energy Realm.
"There are no proper cultivation methods for Shamans or Great Shamans… so I need to create one myself. The key is refining spiritual energy into Pure Spiritual Energy as the first step."
He had his cultivation method, but it was designed for a Bat Magic Beast—not for the Three-Eyed People.
"I'll have to create a completely new method for them."
However, he didn't have time to focus on that now.
His immediate priority was creating an Earth Elemental Spell strong enough to injure the Ice Wyvern seriously.
Looking at his comprehension of the Earth Element, he estimated his current progress.
"I'm at 9 feet on the 10,000-foot mountain of elemental comprehension. Once I reach 10 feet, I'll be able to create a 4th Rank Spell."
He recalled the thresholds for spell creation:
0 – 2 feet → 1st Rank Spells
3 – 6 feet → 2nd Rank Spells
7 – 10 feet → 3rd Rank Spells
Beyond that, starting from the 4th Rank, spells were divided into four sub-levels:
Low-level
Intermediate-level
High-level
Limit-level
The rankings then continued:
10 – 100 feet → 4th Rank Spells
101 – 1,000 feet → 5th Rank Spells
1,001 – 2,500 feet → 6th Rank Spells
These insights came from his own experience—specifically, when his understanding of Spirit Energy reached 71 feet.
Even now, his Illusion Spell remained 4th Rank, as its spell runes emitted a bronze glow, indicating its power ceiling.
For now, though, he pushed those thoughts aside.
He needed to focus on the Earth Element—and prepare for battle.
Taking a deep breath, he pushed aside all distractions and sank into meditation.
Within moments, his spirit detached from his body, rising and merging with the spiritual energy flowing around him.
The chaotic energy swirled like an unseen storm, but he ignored the turbulence, allowing his spirit to sink into the depths of the Earth Elemental Energy.
As his understanding deepened, he began to sense its many aspects—
Vitality. Strength. Endurance. Pressure. Shock.
Yet, he could only feel them, not grasp their essence.
His comprehension of the Earth Element had not yet reached the level where he could truly understand these forces—only that they existed, just beyond his reach.
Still, he remained steady, immersing himself further, determined to break through.
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As Gavin delved deeper into his comprehension of the Earth Element, far above the valley, a massive Ice Wyvern stood upon a snow-capped mountain peak, its piercing gaze locked onto the tribe below—burning with hatred.
A voice, cold and filled with venom, rumbled from the wyvern's throat.
"You came."
From the shadows of the Ice Wyvern, a silver-furred wolf emerged, its sharp eyes following the wyvern's gaze down to the valley.
Silver-Furred Wolf: "Lady commanded you only to teach the Earth Wolf a lesson for breaking the rules of Wintermoon Mountain—not to drive the entire tribe to extinction."
The Ice Wyvern's eyes gleamed with fury.
Ice Wyvern: "The Earth Wolf killed my child. Only his death can quell the hatred in my heart."
The silver-furred wolf's ears flicked as realization dawned.
Silver-Furred Wolf: "The Ice Scale Snake… was your child?"
Ice Wyvern: "Yes."
A tense silence stretched between them before the silver-furred wolf spoke again, his tone laced with warning.
Silver-Furred Wolf: "Do you understand that the Earth Wolf is protected by a Golden Rank magic beast? Are you truly willing to make an enemy of a Golden Realm beast—over a child with impure blood?"
The Ice Wyvern's wings tensed, but it did not respond immediately.
It had been observing the valley for days, and one thing had become clear—the Golden Rank beast could not leave.
Ice Wyvern: "The Golden Rank beast is trapped. If it were free, it would have appeared by now."
The silver-furred wolf, knowing the truth, remained silent.
It was not that the beast chose to stay hidden—it was sealed.
Instead, he spoke another undeniable truth.
Silver-Furred Wolf: "Even if it cannot act directly, it can still give the Earth Wolf a method to kill you—or worse, seriously injure you and destroy your chances of advancing to Silver Rank."
The Ice Wyvern's claws dug into the frozen rock, its breath misting in the cold air.
Ice Wyvern: "If I do not kill the Earth Wolf, I will never break through to Silver Rank."
A pause.
Ice Wyvern: "Besides, I still have three small realms to cross before reaching the Silver Realm."
The tension between them thickened as the storm of war loomed closer.