Chapter 56: New Potential
A week had passed since Hinata left Nott behind after his awakening, and he and Tamara had made their way out of the area of Falmouth City.
Throughout their journey their schedule remained the same, and just like today they repeated that same schedule.
"Hina, wake up~" The soft purring of a woman’s voice rang through a small tent as she poked the cheeks of a ridiculously handsome young man who lay on a small bed, his arms spread wide and drool trickling from the corner of his lips.
The young lady lay down beside him and simply stared at his face.
"God, he’s really handsome..." Tamara murmured, her hand rising to touch his face. "Hehehe." She chuckled deviously. "It’s a good thing I followed the longer road. Now I have him all to myself for a long time..."
As if realizing what she was doing, Tamara shot upright and buried her red face in her palm. "What am I even thinking~?"
She glanced at him once more, then leaned in and kissed him on the cheek before rushing out of the tent.
The moment she left, Hinata pried his eyes open, a small smile forming on his face as he touched where Tamara had kissed. "She’s really been out of character these days."
He let out a breath and sat upright. "Damn, my back hurts from all this travelling."
It was about three days ago that Hinata discovered Tamara always entered his tent the moment the moon began to vanish, usually staying there to admire him until morning.
Since she wasn’t causing any harm, Hinata didn’t find it necessary to say anything to her. Besides, she had also become something of a morning alarm to him.
Hinata ruffled his hair slightly before stepping out of his small tent. The moment he did, the sun and a light breeze hit him at once.
Drawing in the air, he choked slightly before coughing loose sand from his throat.
After travelling for a straight week with only stops in the evening, they were currently at the base of a large mountain.
The base and lower parts of this particular mountain were sandy and looked as though they had been pulled straight from a desert; however, the further you climbed, the more solid the ground became before giving way to an icy plain.
Hinata raised his gaze toward the peak of the mountain, even with his good eyesight he still couldn’t make out the apex through the fog that smothered it.
’Well, there’s no point thinking about it.’
Whether he liked it or not, he had to pass through the mountain range to reach the part of the wastelands ruled by the church of light.
Hinata pulled his gaze away from the mountain and moved toward the back of the tent, where a fire had been set with cooking equipment arranged around it.
Suspended over the center of the fire was a large pot, cooking something that smelled very sweet.
Growl!
Hinata’s stomach growled loudly, and a faint blush colored his cheeks.
He quickly masked his expression with his usual cold exterior, then turned to his left, where Tamara was feeding their two horses.
"Good morning," he mumbled as he approached the beautiful white-haired elf.
Tamara pretended not to hear him, and only after he greeted her a second time did she raise her gaze.
"Oh, good morning, Hina. I didn’t hear you — I’ve been preparing things the ENTIRE time, hahaha..."
’You shouldn’t have said something so suspicious, you idiot,’ Hinata remarked inwardly, though he couldn’t stop himself from smiling.
Rolling the sleeves of his oversized black shirt up, he stepped closer to where she stood. "Can I help with something?"
Tamara’s gaze dropped to his muscular forearm, the veins along it catching her eye. A faint blush rose to her cheeks before she shook her head. "Don’t worry about it. Instead of helping me, why don’t you practice your aether control?"
Hinata studied her for a long moment before nodding. "Okay. Then I’ll leave it to you."
Tamara pumped her fist. "Don’t worry, this much is nothing."
Hinata left the back of the tent and headed toward the front.
Directly in front of their camp stretched a wide space littered with craters. These natural disasters had been carved out by his unstable control of aether, though he wasn’t particularly proud of this fact.
Unlike mana, aether was an energy few people knew about, and even those who did, including the immortals who wielded it, could not actually create or absorb it.
Hinata was different, since he could not only absorb it but also generate it directly from mana.
Hinata raised his hand, and a burst of purple aether erupted along his arm, resembling deep, almost demonic violet flames.
His entire focus locked onto the flame-like energy. As time passed the intensity of his aether began to fade, and beads of sweat formed on his forehead.
In the next instant the energy dispersed from his arm, drawing a deep sigh from him.
"Another burst?"
Hinata turned toward Tamara’s voice. The beautiful young woman was dressed in a loose white nightgown, holding two steaming plates balanced on a long tray.
"Food is ready. You can continue once you’ve eaten."
Hinata nodded. "Okay, I’ll be there in a moment."
Ding!
[You have trained aether for one straight week]
[You have leveled up to level 2.]
Hinata smirked at the status panel.
Beyond his aether training and his brand-new ability, he had also received something fresh from the system: a new way to rank up.
Normally he needed to absorb mana and gain enlightenment to grow stronger, but now he simply needed to complete evolution tasks. Once he reached level 5 he would advance to mid aspirant, another 5 would carry him to peak, and then he would enter Squire.
He had currently completed two missions, which were to find two horses for himself and Tamara, and the one he had just finished.
Ding!
[New Mission has been assigned.]
[Learn your first element: lightning]
"Already?" Hinata couldn’t help but frown.
When he had first arrived in this world he hadn’t understood much about elements, but after reading through some texts he had learned there were four main elements: fire, water, wind, and rock, with deviants such as lightning branching off from them.
For one to use an ability type that fell under the elemental class, they first had to learn how to control mana, then develop an understanding of the element itself before mastering their specific ability type.
This same rule applied to the Psychic, Biological, Energy, Reality, and Spiritual classes as well.
"Hinata! The food is getting cold."
Hinata lifted his gaze from his hands and shifted it toward Tamara, who sat at their makeshift log table beside her tent. "Yeah, I’m coming."
He dismissed the status panel, and rushed towards where she sat. ’I guess I still have a long way to go.’