Teetering on the tip of the world was Elijah, staring into the night sky. Below him, was a sharp-tipped roof that acted as a symbol above the eastern dorm building.
Every passing second, groups of flickering lightning bolts struck the jungle, creating sparks against the tough and moist ground cover.
Elijah began to consult himself… "One beast at a time, one core at a time, the goal is ten."
An objective to kill beasts was made just a few hours ago. At the moment, most of the students who were already moved in had finished eating. Because of the storm in the distance and the early sunsets that arrived during and after winter, the sky was rather dark.
Elijah's black jacket fluttered in the rough winds, and later followed with it violently rustling with the wind as Elijah flew high into the sky.
Freedom, ecstasy, and potential were all he was feeling.
Until… he saw a beast within the western part of the Crosstree jungle.
Child-like, dark, muscular, Tarzan-esque movements…
Elijah's reaction was immediate and swift. After a target had been set on the beast, Elijah dived to the ground and inwardly laughed about his lips unable to stay closed.
In the end, his wrist was seen coldly dripping with blood – sitting effortlessly in the chest cavity of a small gorilla that had begun covering its body in stone.
Its eyes were that of frozen, and only lightly shook as its entire body lost all of its feelings.
"Hmph. Perfect aim."
Shink!
Elijah's hand was revealed holding a large orange beast core. Meanwhile, the golem gorilla who had already lost every ounce of life slumped to the ground covered with overgrown plants and weeds.
After taking a position on the thick branch of a tree, Elijah began to conjure a slim spear of water with a focus on sharpness. The tip just barely flared out from the thickness of the handle, and created the idea that it could pierce almost everything.
Especially when thrown at a speed attainable by Elijah.
There! All I need to do is aim… Elijah began to voice his thoughts in his head, wary of a specific beast he assumed to have a notable sense of hearing.
Underneath the shoes of Elijah, the bark began to be ripped and indented. Slowly, an ethereal light began to just barely illuminate the area.
Shortly after, all movement and sounds stopped, which was followed by the sound of wind splitting in the face of a deadly force.
WHOOSH!
The leaves and smaller branches around Elijah shook after the spear of water left his body, and upon impact, a screech was heard – a sound that would surely attract beasts.
Bushes were rustled, sticks were cracked, and soon…
The sound of the jungle became eerily silent once again.
"I have to be careful of them getting too close..."
Sitting still was truly a boring task, especially when it revealed nothing. However, this "nothing" told Elijah that a specific beast was inhabiting the area. One that could blend in with the darkness.
Shadow panthers were beasts who unfortunately held the affinity of shadows naturally. The reason for them being unfortunate is because during the nighttime, their affinity is completely useless — unless of course a lightning storm is above their heads!
Over the wicked history of this world, the shadow panthers learned their weaknesses and now parade through the jungle during the daytime exclusively. Only when a storm is above their heads would they intentionally show themselves.
In this instance, danger would only occur if light ever reached the surrounding area.
With the tree cover, there were many spaces for shadows to be made. This much would make any slightly sane person become anxious.
Elijah began to slowly fly through the middle layer of the Crosstree Jungle searching for anything. Branches were ripped off the trees, leaves were thrown to the floor, all in an attempt to get them to make a single sound.
Crack!
Glowing subtly in the night was Elijah's fist hidden within the confines of his black jacket. His body quickly maneuvered towards the sound only to receive a gnarly growl.
GRRRRR!
"You can't run from me!"
BAM!
Elijah's fist delivered a death blow to the side of the panther's shoulder socket, shattering its bones to pieces while its heart and lungs received injuries that could not be healed.
Quickly following this development, three more shadow panther's dived into the bush filled area Elijah was standing in. Their eyes were as dark as darkness itself, but had a glint in them as if asking for light. Sharp black claws were extended a few inches, and swiped the area close to Elijah's head.
However, Elijah knew what to do the second he saw he was surrounded. Being that three shadow panthers had all jumped in the air at the same time, he proceeded to fly into the sky while shuttling mana to his legs, arms, and chest.
Using the knowledge in his brain to protect himself from damage, Elijah braced his core while feeling the power.
Boom!
Sure, Elijah had done this exact same attack in the Catacombs before, and also recently on the way back from the Godhand outpost.
The difference this time was control.
Elijah's head was as clear as can be – untainted by his mental troubles. While the reason was not contemplated at this moment, he already knew it was because of the people he had talked to.
Connection was the spark that could bring him back to life.
Red blood was splattered everywhere, and on top of the shadow panthers that had just lost their lives before they knew what hit them, was Elijah standing with both his fists clenched tightly.
A monster was slowly being created in the chaos before the storm. Something that transcended the barriers of magical cores.
Elijah went on to gather eleven more beast cores before flying into the sky. Including two yellow beasts cores that were surprisingly difficult to obtain. The situation got rather pesky as the lightning had just begun to illuminate the western side of the Crosstree Jungle.
With every lightning strike was a mist of shadows that appeared behind Elijah's back. Hairline injuries were made as Elijah struggled to avoid the panthers that sacrificed their entire limbs just to shove their claws through a shadowy wormhole.
Water was continuously dripping through the tree cover while Elijah was repeatedly slapped in the face by thin and light tree branches.
Nonetheless, Elijah flew into the sky with a wicked smile. A noteworthy amount of progress and realization had just been made.
Elijah's current abilities were far above anyone near his age, and could likely compete with the generals if he were to let loose.
Unfortunately, Elijah had no intention of doing so until he found out which side he should be on. The side of Gion, or the side of Frostfire and Rentri. Likely, there were more than two sides at play, and even people who preferred to stay out of the war!
With this fact, it meant Elijah was absolutely nothing. Even with his vast amount of experience when it comes to combat, all of it was sitting inside a rusted bucket with many pieces missing. Principles that Elijah once knew were completely forgotten over the course of time.
After all, it had been over forty years now since he had any sort of practice in martial arts.
Starting over was the only option, especially when the potential to increase his power is the greatest when it comes to physical combat.
While he lost the Affinity of Space and part of his sanity, he was given a gift that had given Elijah a different set of rules.
…
Sliding open the unlocked sectioned window, Elijah appeared in his dorm bedroom to see not a single soul.
"Ahhh…" Elijah signed from satisfaction. "Privacy."
A spatial ring holding thirteen beast cores was placed in a bedside drawer that Elijah had yet to open.
"Hmm… Is this a lock for my room?" Elijah pulled a black card with a blue diamond that signified the advanced ranking.
After placing the card against the spherical door handle with a runic engraving, a small shimmer was seen followed by a 'click'.
Only when Elijah placed the black card against the door handle did it allow Elijah to open the door.
"I was a little worried about this aspect, but I guess not anymore…"
Time was not wasted, and resulted in Elijah fully stretching out his body while sipping on water.
"I'm going to figure out a way to create a taurine and creatine supplement. Maybe even methylene blue…"