Ery arrived at the Earth Institute. He walked out of the portal, the endless sand dunes on his back and in front were the hundreds to thousands of houses made out of clay. The towering yellow pillar in the center stood in all its glory, welcoming all those who ca to this planet called Animus.
While he walked on the streets, he noticed that the crowds were lesser this ti around. He watched as a dozen of them of uniford acolytes walked past him and so of the people he had passed by were actually not wearing the Magus Academy's uniform. Ery looked over those who were wearing the academy's uniform, based on the number of their badge pinned on the collars, Ery could tell that they were mostly junior acolytes, but only one or two were senior acolytes like him.
No longer paying them attention, Ery went inside of the yellow pillar and greeted a senior acolyte who was currently waiting in the grand lobby.
Ery approached him and after giving a nod, the acolytes responded with a friendly tone, "Is there anything I can help you with?"
"Yes," Ery said. "I would like to join the Earth Institute."
The last ti he had been here, he had not yet reached rank 2 acolyte. He achieved it on the last day. Hence, he hadn't had the chance to apply formally in the Earth Institute since their requirent was to beco a rank 2 acolyte first.
Instead of the test pushing the rock, the examination this ti was quite different. A yellowish crystallized cube hovered in front of him and shot out a light, which scanned his whole body.
[Emry Ambrose]
[Acolyte rank 5]
[Earth elental affinity found]
[You are eligible to apply to the Earth Institute]
[Accept?]
"Yes, accept," said Ery with a nod.
[You are now an Earth Institute mber]
Ery was quite surprised as to why the test had changed and this was one much easier. He then figured that the rock pushing that Magus Darius had asked them to do the first ti he was here was only for first year acolytes to gauge how quickly they would gain understanding regarding their affinity with the earth elent. But apparently, since he had already reached rank 5 and no longer a new acolyte, the test no longer seed necessary.
[Would you like to get your joining package?]
"Yes," Ery answered the floating cube.
[Understood. Since you are a mber of the Magus Academy, we will provide you with one tier 1 spell as well as a tier 2 spell]
[Please choose a spell among the list.]
A bunch of spells appeared right before Ery's like. This was a bit different from how he had received the [Analyze] and [Universal Flora Knowledge] upon his joining in the Apothecary Institute wherein he hadn't been given an option. Still, these were free spells in which he hadn't to pay for so he was happy with that.
Ery was browsing and reading the description of spells.
[Rock Bullet - Tier 1]
[Stone Skin - Tier 1]
[Soften Earth - Tier 1]
[Glow stone - Tier 1]
[Mudwall - Tier 2]
[Ash Blast - Tier 2]
[Stone Fist - Tier 2]
At the mont, he already had a very reliable [Stone Skin] spell. The rock bullet could be useful, but its strength and function should be about the sa with his water elent [whip splash] The [Soften Earth] and [Glow Stone] are more into utility spells.But Ery suddenly though [Soften Earth] could be a very useful spell for him. He will always be around looking for plants sowhere, having a spell that could soften the rock could co in handy. There is also the Duma's underground tunnel that he needed to explore soon or later.
As for tier two spell, [stone fist] the description says different than [Stone Skin] that makes the whole body into stone, this spell focuses all the energy into the fist, making the fist attack much stronger.But as Ery doesn't know much hand to hand skill, this spell is not for him. The [Ash Blast] as an offensive spell also sounds very interesting, but Ery decided to go instead with the sa tier two spell Julian had [Mudwall]. He thought this [Mudwall] would be more useful in a team fight, especially if they were about to be surrounded like his most recent experience in the savage planet with the hundreds of dumas. If he cast together with Julian, Ery believed they could create a much stronger defense.
[Soften Earth - Tier 1 - Earth elent]
[Mudwall - Tier 2 - Earth elent]
Of course Ery still needed to spend so ti learning the spell before he could use it, but he was very confident he could quickly master this spell. Also, with the added information from the acolyte, it looked like he would also be getting a tier three spell, once he reached rank 6, just like Klea. Hence, he beca sowhat excited at the prospect of reaching rank 6 as soon as possible.
Getting back to business, he shook off his rising thoughts and got straight to the point. He asked the acolyte, "I wonder… is the stone origin room available?"
The acolyte nodded with a smile. "Yes, and you are in luck! Currently, it's available for all acolytes."
The yellow crystal cube once again approached Ery.
[Entry to the Earth's origin stone room]
[500 contribution points for half day]
For first year acolytes there was a free half day usage to help with their quick ascendance in the acolyte ranks, however, for second year acolytes, this has been changed. This must be one of the reasons why they had extrely limited access in their first year. Ery and his friend have discussed the use of contribution for ti in the origin stone room, as it cannot be accessed with spirit stone but contribution point only, this was most likely one of the usage that woman's master had ntioned.
The earth origin stone room's main function was to help an acolyte better the elent they were placed in quicker.
Right now, the benefit this room would provide him far outweighed what he would receive from consuming the spirit serum. He needed this more so he could finally breakthrough in his cultivation. So, without thinking too much about it, and since it was still quite early in the morning, Ery decided to pay one days worth of training.
[1000 contribution points has been taken]
Ery was then transported in front of the humongous stone gate. The stones which Darius had summoned before were no longer here, but the sa guard was still here. After the guard checked Ery's information and access, he then allowed Ery to enter. In the mont Ery took one step inside, imdiately everything within his being felt heavy but not as heavy when he had first co in here.
He walked toward the stone sitting on top of three platforms and unlike before, there were clearly fewer than a thousand cultivating in this place. Ery rembered that his limit before was eleven steps before he felt an unseeable wall blocking him, this ti however, he was able to walk five more steps. After that, he once again felt the sa feeling. He was unable to walk a step further. Since he knew trying to push through wouldn't work and the steps were based on how high his understanding about the earth elent, Ery decided to just sit on the floor and ditate.
Ery kept his eyes closed feeling as if the huge rock was about to crush him once again. He kept calm though and then, he could suddenly feel the smooth flow of the earth elent entering his dark core.
As he kept his focus, suddenly the illusion of the huge stone again trying to flatten him lessened. It stopped what it was doing and then the sa stone flew right in front of him as if it was asking to be touched.
Ery did as his instinct was telling him to do and tried touching the stone. The instant his fingertips reached the stone, the rock glowed and his hand turned into a stone while feeling a wonderful sensation.
His hand beca a bridge between him and stone as a rush of earth elental power made its way to his dark core. Ery's dark core spun in excitent while receiving a huge boon of energy. Ery was then starting to feel that he was becoming one with the stone, unmoving and hard as a huge granite stone on a mountain.
Ery then awakened feeling ecstatic all over. He noticed a new piece of information from his palm and after he read it, he smiled.
[You have achieve breakthrough into reaching peak stage earth elent]
[Spirit force has increased]
[Spirit force has increased]
[Battle power has increased]
He looked at the ti and noticed just a little over half a day had passed. In that short amount of ti, he had already received two points in spirit force and most importantly a breakthrough to his elent understanding! It was a well spent 1,000 contribution points, he thought.
And since he still had more ti left, Ery wasn't going to waste it and continued his ditation. By the end of the day, he received two more spirit force point.
Today's experience had really riled him up. It was addictive for him, so Ery couldn't wait to go to the Water Institute next.
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