Kade reclined against the bench of dirt as he admired his work.

A short wall formed a circle with a five-meter inner diameter. Outside, a trench two meters wide and one meter deep surrounded the wall and was filled with small, hard spikes. Inside the wall, he had excavated a small couch pit from the '70s with another smaller pit inside for a fire.

It was crude in every sense of the word. It didn't add much protection and even the luxuries were made of dirt. Even so, it was a lavish step up from sitting on a log or sleeping in the wide open.

Realistically, this only served to satisfy his vanity. It was also a good way to practice with the spell.

"Grrr."

He glanced to the left. The canine was postured defensively while staring at him. He couldn't tell when it was and wasn't angry since its teeth were always exposed. However, he assumed it was due to the growling.

He had shaped the dirt into a cage and hardened it. Fearing that wasn't enough, he had created a channel outside of the cage and made multiple anchors that he tied vines to create a chain.

"What are you angry for?" He asked as he rested his chin on his hand. He knew that his defensive measures were insufficient. The canine could chew through the vines given enough time, and it could whittle away at the cage.

He would have to find a better method to contain the creature in the future. Assuming that he didn't kill it or release it before then. He was already regretting his decision.

"What am I going to do with you...?" He didn't have time to waste trying to tame the creature if that was even possible. If he released it, it might come back for revenge. The best choice was to kill it.

The one thing stopping him was the fact that this was the first time he had spoken to anything other than himself in the past week. Though it probably didn't understand him, it was better than developing creepy habits.

"Eh, I'll decide later."

He grabbed the stick that he used to roast his dinner. He cut it in half before tossing one to the canine and eating his own fill. He took one last glance at the animal before diving into the book on altaris.

He was nearly finished with the book by this time. Though there were many things that would require a period of testing for him to understand, he had learned a lot.

The book compared altaris to water. Like a drop of water that traveled down your arm, it would follow the path of least resistance. As such, it could be guided.

similar to when he would allow the shower water to run down his arms and manipulate it into flowing off of his fingers as if he had a superpower.

This was the basis for a mage's control over the energy, however, the book mentioned that altaris wasn't so rigid, but instead extremely flexible. This was just one method to control the energy, but it wouldn't be the best for every champion.

All beings were different with vastly different thoughts. While one might find it easier to guide the altaris, another might find it easier to push it.

He also found a vague sentence that intrigued him. 'Everything is energy, and altaris is, simply put the greatest energy. It is everything while still remaining unique.'

It seemed like fanatical blabber, but he found it vaguely cryptic like some self-improvement quote. It spoke to him, but in a way that he couldn't quite understand.

Closing the book, he focused on his cultivation while trying to put a few of the things he learned into practice. Specifically, he focused on trying different ways to control the altaris hoping to find a method that felt comfortable.

He guided it at first and felt familiar with the technique. Then he tried pushing it which was faster but the altaris became too unwieldy. He continued testing every method he could think of with no improvements before stopping.

He sighed as he pressed his back into the dirt. He needed to change his thought process. How did he interact with altaris? Much of the process was intuitive. As long as he thought of what he wanted and focused on it, it would happen. It was as if his intention was being transmitted to the altaris, similar to a remote control car.

To guide it, all he had to do was think about it flowing behind him as he moved in the direction he wanted it to follow. It was the same for pushing it.

'It's kind of like moving my arm if that required a bit of thought.' His eyes widened slightly at the thought. His limbs moved due to signals from his brain. He wanted his arm to raise, so it did. Most of the time the act was subconscious. Altaris was the same, other than he had to focus for it to operate.

He focused again and instead of trying to guide the altaris, he willed it to move as the rest of his body would. The altaris flowed through his channels before collecting at his hand. With a thought, he willing it to spread as if he was opening his hand.

A smile formed on his face as he watched altaris emit from his hand. With another thought, it began to swirl and formed into a ball on his palm before rolling around as he twisted his hand.

"I had been thinking about it the wrong way." He mumbled. This entire time, he had been treating altaris like a foreign substance inside his body, but it was a part of him.

He created this energy and it followed his command as the rest of his body did. He didn't have as much control over it as something like his fingers, but that was only because it was new and he was unfamiliar with it. He knew that his control over it would grow with time the more he used it.

Reabsorbing the energy, he caused it to circulate his body and began cultivating, only opening his eyes nearly an hour later.

His arms shook in excitement. It was an obvious revelation, but one that had increased his control by leaps and bounds instantaneously. He would have never thought that such a small change in mindset would have such a dramatic effect.

He was excited for the day that his altaris would move subconsciously. When he could simply wish for a trace to form over his hand and it would happen.

Unable to control his excitement, he formed a spell trace. He dispelled it and formed another. He continued this way over and over again, watching as the process became smoother and quicker. Because he wasn't casting the spells and reabsorbed the altaris, he could continue indefinitely. However, his limit was the mental strain.

He only stopped when he felt his head throbbing. darkness had long fallen on over his camp, and even the fire had died out. Exhaustion took over as he stared at his hand.

...

Kade opened his eyes before shielding them with his hand. The sunlight was intense and uncomfortable. Taking a deep breath, his face scrunched up.

"What is that smell." He mumbled in disgust as he looked around for a moment before finding the culprit.

The canine had relieved itself in the cage.

He flipped his hand and after a second, the ground shifted before burying the evidence. A second later, a ball of wind slammed into the ground and exploded into a breeze that carried the remaining scent away.

"Ahh, that's better." He sighed in relief before leaning back. His body felt stiff, the night of practice had mentally exhausted him causing him to oversleep.

He stretched his body before bringing his hand forward. With a thought, a light blue trace formed in his hand in record time, followed by a ball of ice. The entire process only took one second.

He smiled contently. His cast time had reduced by half. He didn't need to remind himself that it would be similar for the majority of his spells, other than the new ones and those he rarely used like blind.

"I'm even stronger than when I beat you." He said before glancing at the canine. It was curled up in the corner of the cage eyeing him hatefully.

He glanced at the bars of the cage which had some marks from its attempted escape. He cast shape earth, repairing the bars and fortifying the cage.

He stood up and dusted himself off before leaving camp. Studying was vital for a mage, but it took more than that to become strong. It was time to fight.

This time, he went slightly farther while looking for an opponent, eventually finding a creature similar to the first he ever fought. He felt intimidated at first but remembered that he had grown since then. Even if he couldn't kill it, he could surely escape with his life.

With newfound confidence, he formed a ball of ice and cast it out. before it had even landed, a ball of water was forming. The ball of ice burst upon contact and froze the front legs of the creature. Having its mobility crippled, it couldn't dodge the ball of water that struck it like a hammer.

He cast another two balls of ice, completely coating the animal in a thick layer of ice. Now that the creature was completely restricted he pondered on the method to finish it off.

"Should I have joined a faction?" He mumbled resentfully. The spells he had at his disposal were all the lowest level spells, basic by any right. They were tricks to assist new mages in learning.

As such, if he wanted to kill then he needed to get creative. It wasn't like he didn't have options. The new spells he learned were his solution.

He could create a pit with spikes in it and shove the creature in. He could create a pit and fill it with water to drown it. Perhaps the most simple was to simply finish it off with his knife now that it was disabled.

After a moment of thought, he decided to go with the final option. Though it was brutal to kill this animal so slowly, it would conserve his altaris.

One thing was for sure, he wouldn't allow his emotions to control him like last time.

Resolving himself, he targetted the head in hopes of ending it as quickly as possible.

...

"I'm back!" He chortled between heavy breaths as he pulled the large creature into the clearing "Damn, I really need to find a better method for this."

Moving animals that were so heavy was physically exhausting. If he didn't plan to use the entire creature then he wouldn't have bothered to bring it back.

Kneeling beside the carcass, he began the difficult work of processing. Now that he was alone, he could afford to keep everything for study. He wouldn't discard the organs any longer.

Many cultures had beliefs that certain organs from animals had beneficial effects. From containing medical properties to aphrodisiacs. Something with those effects would be valuable. Even if he couldn't sell it to the factions, other humans would pay a hefty price.

Three hours later he had finally finished. He discarded the trash and cooked the meat in bulk. He stored the bones in a pit so he could retrieve them later.

All that was left was the organs. Now that they were in front of him, his stomach twisted at the thought of consuming one. "I think I'll wait until I know more about traditional medicine."

He prepared to dispose of them but found that the canine had shown interest. He picked up one of the larger organs and crouched near the cage.

"You want this?" He asked with a raised brow while holding up the organ.

The canine tried to squeeze through the earthen cage in an excited manner.

"Calm down. I'll let you have it." he said while forming a trace.

The canine hastily retreated to the other side of the cage the moment the trace appeared.

"Tsk." Clicking his tongue, Kade shaped a portion of the cage into a small square opening. "C'mon. Come eat." He said as he held the organ up to it.

He watched the timid canine squirm for a moment before creeping forward and slowly putting its head through the hole. Moments later, it snapped at him greedily.

Kade dropped the organ and retreated with furrowed brows. He would have to be more careful from now on.

He watched the canine scarf its food down as a frown formed. This asshole had nearly taken his hand off but was getting to enjoy his meal contently.

After finishing its meal, it looked at him, then the other organs. Its gaze moved back and forth before it whined out.

"Oh, you want more?" Kade asked as he picked up another piece "I don't know if you deserve it after you nearly attacked me."

It stared at him, and though it couldn't form expressions, he knew that it was expectant.

He held the organ close. The canine snapped toward it again, but he was ready and pulled it back.

"Tsk, tsk." He clicked his tongue "Bad pooch. You're being too aggressive." he knew that it likely didn't understand him, but he couldn't help talking to it.

He was attempting to tame this creature, but he wasn't some animal whisperer. He could only do his best.

He held up the organ again to the same result. He formed a small ball of water before casting it at the canine causing it to stumble back. "Bad!" He growled. They repeated this dance over and over until the organs were gone.

Looking at the sky, there was still a good portion of the day left. Enough time to hunt one more time.

"I'll be back soon." He said before leaving camp once again.

-

He returned a few hours later and tossed his rucksack down. Inside were the spoils of his hunt, having decided to only take what might be valuable.

He cast shape earth and opened a small pit, within which sat his cooked meat on the pelt of his previous kill. He grabbed a portion and started a fire before using it to heat the meat up.

He took a bite as he ruminated on the days' events. His hunting had gone smoothly.

He was in a predicament. Normal animals posed no challenge, but beasts were different. His binding spells wouldn't be as effective, and he didn't have the offensive capabilities needed to contend with them. They were stronger, faster, smarter, and some had special abilities like acid and water bullets.

He didn't think cheap tricks would work and it was too risky to try right now. He needed higher firepower, but he couldn't get new spells unless he had credits. He needed credits to buy spells to make credits.

"Haha. Damn." He laughed at the situation. It was nothing new. "Guess I will just have to take it slow until I figure it out." His life was about to become very repetitive.

While he was deep in thought, he heard the crunch of leaves causing his body to jolt. He channeled his altaris as he quietly stood up and peeked over the wall.

He could barely make out a silhouette in the darkness, but it was enough for him to tell that it was humanoid. A Fireball formed and he cast it toward the silhouette.

The figure dodged and stumbled to the ground as the fireball hit the tree. with the light emitted by the fireball, he was able to see his enemy. It was another human.

The man's face showed pain as he clutched his leg that had a splint on it. "Ah." He groaned out as he rocked back and forth.

"Who are you?" Kade asked solemnly "And why are you here?"

The man's eyes went wide. He ignored his pain and scrambled back a short distance "I don't want a fight. I'm alone and injured, so when I saw the light from your fire I came hoping to find safety."

"What happened to you?"

"It's a long story... Uh, sorry to ask this, but do you have anything to eat?"

Kade pondered for a moment. The man was indeed injured and it was clear that he had seen better days.

"Yeah. Come in." he said as he cast shape earth to create a bridge over the trench.

The man struggled up and hobbled over. He looked around the camp "Wow. this is a bit... Extravagant."

"A little." Kade smirked "I got tired of sitting on logs."

He handed the man a few portions of meat before sitting on the dirt couch "I'm Kardis, by the way." He decided to use his champion name.

"Leslie." The man said while gesturing at himself "You're alone too?"

"Yeah. For more than a week."

"Ah. Well, you're doing a lot better than I have." Leslie joked as he sat.

"So, what exactly happened to you, and why are you alone out here?"

Leslie sighed "The majority of my team died while fighting a beast. I was injured but managed to escape. I've been wandering around trying to find the gates so I can go home and get treated."

Kade raised a brow "You said the majority. So, others escaped, right? Why didn't you regroup with them?"

Leslie's expression turned solemn with a hint of hatred "One other escaped. Our healer. The entire situation was his fault and he abandoned us when we needed him the most!"

Kade narrowed his eyes. "When did this happen?"

Leslie pondered for a moment "I'm not sure. Maybe a week ago, or two?"

"What was your healers' name?"

"Cash Penny. Why?"