6-5. The Frontrunner Problem
Elijah opened his eyes, frowning as he looked around his section of the cultivation cave. To say he was disappointed would have been a vast understatement. He’d spent the past three days trying to advance his Body cultivation, but he’d made absolutely no progress. It wasn’t because he didn’t know what he was doing, either. He was well-versed in the methods, which weren’t terribly complex at his current stage. He knew he was doing it correctly. Instead, the problem was the ethera.
It just wasn’t thick enough for his purposes.
And the implications of that discovery were troubling, given that the cultivation cave he’d built was almost as powerful as the one back on his island.
As a powerful fluctuation swept forth from the other side of the cave, Elijah felt a pang of jealousy. Everyone else was making huge strides, while he was simply sitting still. It would have been different if it was a personal failing. He could work through that and hopefully improve. However, with the issue being external, Elijah had difficulty accepting the limitations foisted upon him by the environment.
Upon arriving at the cultivation cave, he’d been so optimistic. He and the others had divided the area into five sections, building walls of piled rocks to keep the areas separated so that they could each cultivate in peace without disturbing everyone else. And it had worked quite well, giving everyone the privacy they needed to advance their paths. The others drew closer to personal breakthroughs with every passing day.
Meanwhile, Elijah was stuck in the mud.
He’d even removed his Cloak of the Iron Bear, thinking that it had shielded him from the powerful ethera. He knew that wasn’t the case, but by that point, he was grasping at straws. Predictably, it had done nothing but make him uncomfortable.
“This is a waste of time,” he muttered under his breath before pushing himself to his feet. Then, he left the cave behind, passing Kurik along the way. The dwarf didn’t like cultivating in the cold, but even that hadn’t kept him from taking advantage of the cave Elijah had built.
Once he was outside, Elijah reached into his Ghoul-Hide Satchel and retrieved his cloak. Donning it, he basked in the sudden comfort it provided via the Temperate trait. Taking a deep breath, he focused on One with Nature. Ever since advancing his Jade Mind, he was able to process more information than ever before – which was a good thing, considering his choice of specialization.
Not for the first time, he wondered if he’d made the right decision. While he knew he’d never have chosen Preservation – after all, healing was less of a calling and more of a hobby for him – Savagery had been a viable possibility. Yet, he’d picked Connection, largely because of some ephemeral feeling he couldn’t explain. Certainly, he’d also taken Kirlissa’s advice into account; he’d have been an idiot not to listen to such a powerful being. Yet, in truth, his choice was based mostly on his own feelings.
Which he didn’t like.
It was easy to support a choice if it was made on the basis of verifiable logic. But when it was an emotional decision, it was difficult not to doubt the path he’d chosen.
The decision was made, though. So, it was past time that he figured out what it might mean for him going forward. With that in mind, he looked at the description of his chosen specialization:
| Specialization: Connection
| Permanently increase the efficacy and range of One with Nature by 100%. Also grants an additional point to Ethera and Regeneration attributes per level. Finally, increases the efficacy of Soul cultivation.
|