Chapter 15: Return
On the way back to Seynhold, Ember decided to traverse half of the path on foot. His father wasn’t against it, even going as far as leaving all the horses with his attendants, as the father, son, and daughter embarked on the path together.
Rain was the only one peeved about the whole thing. The last few days hadn’t been easy for her, leaving her with little energy to complain. Meanwhile, Ember ran ahead of them freely. With each stride, his figure launched over three metres forward as he trained his new running skill, Sprint Burst.
The system had given him three paths of evolution for Running: March, Enhanced Running, and Sprint Burst. For Ember, it was a relatively easy decision after his discussion with Cliff and Lady Evelyn.
The most common choice for everyone here was Enhanced Running, as very few seemed to get the Sprint Burst option. Well, Rain hadn’t gotten it, and she could be called an elite. Anyhow, Enhanced Running, as the name suggested, improved speed, efficiency, and balance while moving at high velocity. On the other hand, March allowed for a prolonged, measured tread and reduced stamina drain, the complete opposite of Sprint Burst.
Sprint Burst allowed his body to shift at its very limit in a short burst. For now, his limit was merely four metres, but he had only gained the evolution yesterday. Thankfully, there was no cooldown like in a video game. He could lurch forward in Sprint Burst as long as his stamina and mana allowed him.
Ember had only spent about an hour on the skill, and he was already seeing improvement. Finally, he had a skill to spend his hard-cultivated mana on. The skill didn’t even burn much mana at all. It was his stamina that limited him, leaving him exhausted within a few minutes. But what else could he expect from the body of a five-year-old?
At this rate, the journey home would take all day. But then he got a notification.
[Sprint Burst (Copper) +1 → 2][+20 EPs.]