Spirit's Awakening: The Path of Lightning and Water

Chapter 174: Change in Strategy

Jiro, Mirana, and Riku were gathered at the table, their expressions lighting up when they saw Lassim.

"Hey, Lassim!" Jiro called out, waving him over. "How did it go? Find any stones?"

Lassim walked over and dropped into a chair, feeling a small amount of exhaustion settling into his bones.

He reached into his pouch and pulled out the two Thunder Source Stones, placing them on the table. The stones glowed with an inner light, their blue and purple hues flickering with contained lightning.

"Managed to find these," Lassim said, a note of pride in his voice. "It was tough, but I think I’m starting to get the hang of it."

Mirana leaned forward, her eyes wide with amazement. "Wow, those look incredible! And you found two on your first day?"

Riku nodded approvingly. "Impressive, especially given how elusive they can be. Any trouble out there?"

Lassim pauses to remember, then recounted the encounter with the spark rats. "I disturbed a nest of spark rats while digging for one of the stones. They weren’t happy about it and attacked me."

Jiro’s eyes widened in surprise. "Spark rats? Those are nasty! How did you handle them?"

"It was a little annoying since there were twenty of them," Lassim admitted. "But I managed to fend them off using my techniques. Thankfully, they were a bit skittish. After my elemental spirits and I killed a few, the rest scattered back down their hole."

Jiro clapped a hand on Lassim’s shoulder with a smile. "You’re doing great! The first day is always the hardest. It sounds like you’re on your way to meeting your quota."

Mirana nodded in agreement. "Just be careful."

"Thanks," Lassim said, appreciating their support. "I’ll be more prepared tomorrow. I’m thinking of bringing some tools to make digging easier and maybe try to be more observant to avoid disturbing any more nests."

Riku chimed in, the serious Spirit Ascension cultivator who had been a servant for the longest so far, "Good idea. We have some shovels and other tools you can borrow, like a pickaxe if you need it. It’ll save your hands a lot of pain."

Lassim reached into his pouch again and pulled out the small, fingernail-sized budding TSS. "I also found this," he said, showing them the tiny fragment. "It’s pretty small, though."

Jiro examined it closely, then shook his head. "It’s definitely a Thunder Source Stone, but it’s too small to count towards your quota."

Mirana suggested, "Maybe it might be useful in the future if you bury it in the ground where there is a lot of Thunder elemental mana density. It might be able to grow into a full stone eventually. If the concentration is high enough, maybe someday it might grow into a Thunder Source Stone mine, given a few thousand years."

Lassim sighed, seeing as how that was pretty impractical for his immediate needs. "That doesn’t really help me for my weekly quotas, but I’ll think about it for the future if I come across a place like that, I suppose."

As the conversation wound down with Lassim receiving and finishing a plate with a cold sandwich that the rest had also enjoyed, Lassim excused himself to take a shower.

The hot water eased the dirt off his sore knuckles, washing away the grime and tension of the day.

Clean and refreshed, he crawled into his bunk bed in the corner, his mind already planning for the next day.

The next morning, Lassim woke early, determined and focused. After a quick breakfast with the group where Mirana made some eggs, he packed a shovel and pickaxe into his magic pouch, ready to scour the Tempering Fields with renewed vigor.

"Zaphy, I need your help today," Lassim said out loud as he stepped outside, feeling the familiar weight of the storm overhead.

"I was thinking this morning that I want you to fly in the sky and

Zaphy eyed the Lightning worms with visible distaste and gave them a quick poke with the tip of her beak. "[Those look unappetizing,]" she remarked, her voice echoing with a soft, electric hum to the minds of the group.

Lassim chuckled. "She’s preferred other things in the past that were stronger sources of Lightning mana. They were often small rocks we’d found in merchant stalls or a random plant that we didn’t know the name of. But she doesn’t really need to eat since she’s an elemental spirit anyways. I think she just enjoyed the sensation more than anything." He shrugged at Riku.

Mirana admired Zaphy, her fingers lightly stroking the gold-tipped, rune-covered feathers. "You’re lucky to have a flying elemental spirit companion. Mine’s a bit different."

With a gentle gesture, she called forth a small creature that appeared on her shoulder. It was a ferret-like being with soft blue and white fur, its eyes marked with a mask-like blue coloration.

The ferret chittered softly, its bright eyes surveying the room. "This is Aelion," Mirana said, her tone filled with affection. "He may not fly, but his agility and sharp senses have saved me more times than I can count."

Lassim smiled at the cute creature. "Well, I’m sure Aelion supports you well. Just like Zaphy and my other companion, Mari, does."

Jiro leaned back, folding his arms. "Indeed."