It was a week after Tristan's funeral. The kids all seem to be quieter than usual, especially Vicky. Vicky grew up with Tristan...they shared everything and they played together the most. Vicky treats Tristan as her real brother. Ever since Tristan died, Vicky was a whole level less energetic. Her eyes would stare blankly and her mind would wander elsewhere. But at least she still continued on living and did not have any thoughts of suicide. Aldred, on the other hand, was worse. In addition to staring vacantly, he barely ate and moved. Everything, from the books in the library to the toys in the play room, served as a painful remainder of Tristan. Aldred would lock himself in his room for days on end.

Initially, he had blamed Uncle Ralph and Big Sis Caroline. Why didn't they kill the demonic beast? Why did they have to seal it? But the answer he got, he knew too well. The demonic beast was a peak Adult Tier 8. Given Uncle Ralph's abilities back then as a Meister 2nd Stage coupled with Big Sis Caroline's abilities back then as a peak Grand Magus 5th Stage, they were only able to severely wound it but were not able to kill it. So, they had to seal it...however, it cost them greatly - a whole level of their stages was lost. Now Uncle Ralph is stuck at Meister 1st Stage and Big Sis Caroline is at Grand Magus 4th Stage. These types of incidences have also occurred in Aldred's past world where beasts that were stronger and harder to kill would be sealed instead.

Aldred, however, did not believe that the weakened beast could still not be killed. After all, a sealed demonic beast could not heal itself unless there was outside interference. Coupled with the fact that both Uncle Ralph and Big Sis Caroline had spent years recuperating from their wounds. The only answer is that the demonic beast, though weakened, was still to strong for the two adults. This led Aldred to infer that the demonic beast must be around an early Adult Tier 7 now. Then...that means in order for him to kill the beast and get revenge for Tristan, he must reach at least Core Expanding 1st Stage.

Aldred realized what he must do. To protect those near him, he must grow stronger...he must train. Aldred spent most of his days cultivating. He needed to break through to Qi Forming quickly. The fastest way...and the most unorthodox way...was to lie on the ground for as long as possible each day while absorbing the Earth's Qi directly to all parts of his body. Though he was cultivating, to the others, it looked like he was just lazing about on the ground. Aldred would position himself like a corpse - palms open and facing up towards the sky, feet pointing up as well - and start meditating while regulating his breathing. He would visualize in his mind the Earth's Qi flowing into his body and circulating in his veins. After spending an hour in this position, he would switch to the fetal position on his right side for an hour. Then, he would lie on his stomach - chin resting on the ground, face facing forward, feet pointing towards each other, and palms open and facing the ground. He would lie in this position for an hour as well before switching to the fetal position on his left side for an hour. This process would repeat itself over and over again most of each day. If it was like before, someone would come over and ask him to do his chores...but ever since the death, they just let him be.

Day in and day out, Aldred would cultivate on the ground until finally, he was able to achieve 'One With Earth' - a status or level of cultivation that allowed Aldred to become one with the ground, camouflaging him and making it harder for both people and beasts to spot him. At night he would look at the stars while lightly sleeping. In this world, the stars were nothing more than balls of excess energy that the elemental highgods released during their lifetime. However, in Aldred's past world, the stars were thought to be the souls of the dead as they flicker and watch over their beloved ones. The constellations were souls of powerful beasts and heroic humans who placed their legacies in the stars. That was why there were many powerful cultivation techniques that were developed after analyzing and receiving the legacies of the constellations. Anyways, although Aldred knows that Tristan's soul was not in the stars watching over him, he still liked...wanted to think that way. He looked up in the sky and saw a flickering brownish-yellow star...almost as if playful...could it be...Tristan?

From that day on, Aldred would constantly watch the stars...especially the flickering brownish-yellow star that he had referred to as Tristan's soul. With each passing day, his spirit calmed down as he watched Tristan play. This was good for Aldred's cultivation as a calm spirit will induce faster and richer Qi absorption. As the nights continue like this, the mornings were different. Sometime ago, while Aldred was meditating on his stomach, he would sense the earthworms squirming in the dirt. It's amazing how fast the earthworms could dig through the dirt. He enjoyed watching the worms move...another thing to get his mind off of the death.

This continued for weeks now. One day, as Aldred was watching the earthworms move in the dirt, he suddenly sensed a creature speedily approach the earthworms. With a swoosh, the creature attacked the earthworms and ate them. This shocked Aldred. What creature could be faster than earthworms in their territory? Aldred waited for the creature to near the surface of the ground. The creature dug around in the earth for a bit more until it aimed towards the surface. Just as its head popped out from the ground, Aldred reacted. He reached forward and grabbed the creature...it...it was a mole! Aldred observed the amusing little creature as it struggled for freedom. With a smile, he laid it back on the ground and it immediately dove into the earth. What a strange yet fascinating creature.

After a few hours, the mole came back. The mole did not sense Aldred as he had become one with the earth. Aldred watched as the mole went about its business hunting and eating earthworms. Suddenly, another creature...a snake...slithered along and lunged at the mole. However, the mole had extremely quick reflexes and was able to dodge the attack. It circled around the snake and struck with its sharp claws. The snake withdrew from the incoming attack and then lunged forward with its fangs out. The mole retreated and while it was retreating, it swiped away the snake's attack with its claws. Then, it jumped to the side and bit the snake - tearing off a chunk of flesh in the process. The mole ran circles around the snake in order to confuse the enemy. To make matters worse, the mole would sometimes dive into the ground and emerge from another location. This caused panic to rise in the snake. As the snake tried to retreat, its back was exposed. The mole jumped out of the ground and pierced the snake from behind. After an intense struggle, the snake finally died - its neck torn bloodied by the mole's teeth, its back scratched to pieces by the mole's claws.

What a powerful and ferocious fighting style! Aldred's eyes glistened with excitement as he watched the mole fight. He thought that this style really was without equal. As the days go by and Aldred saw more of how the mole fought off other moles and other predators, he began to imitate the way the mole fights. Because a mole's paws rarely grip together, its claws are always pointed outwards. It slashes and swipes with its claws and occasionally tear a chunk off with its teeth. As Aldred continued to imitate the mole, he wondered about how the mole was able to quickly sense danger...aren't moles nearly blind? Could it be...moles can sense the energy of its enemies?

Aldred focused his senses on the mole to see if his conjecture was correct. A thin, sliver of Qi enveloped the mole like sensitive armor and a clump of Qi clustered at the nose. Disturbances around the mole activates the Qi armor allowing the mole to react. The Qi on the nose helped the mole sense movements and smell its prey or enemies as well as detect light. Overall, the mole used Qi to sense enemies, claws and teeth to fight off enemies, and speed to evade attacks. Aldred continued to imitate the mole's movements until he had a general idea. Aldred would have continued observing the mole, but one day, while Aldred was busily watching the mole, Uncle Ralph approached him and asked what was so interesting. When he saw the mole, he immediately killed it.

"What? NO! Why did you do that?" Aldred cried out in shock and anger.

"Moles are pests that will damage the earth. Not to mention, they eat our vegetables." Uncle Ralph responded with a stern face.

"But...." Aldred wanted to protest but he too knew that moles were considered as pests even back in his previous world.

"There isn't anything interesting about moles except that they have a paralyzing toxin in their saliva which they would use on prey and predators. Other than that, they were no more but pests of the earth. There was an origin story involving how moles came into existence. The first moles were created by the Earth Highgod Teryan as servants to help with his landscaping. However, the moles were made with all the characteristics of earth, that included unwavering, solitude, and domineering. Because of these characteristics, the moles were hard to get along with and caused a lot of destruction. Teryan finally put an end to the first moles by wiping them from existence. Their descendants lost their eyesight and were forced to live most of their lives beneath the earth. Because the moles today were like the first moles and caused damage to the earth, we Earth Mages take it upon ourselves to get rid of these pests whenever we see them."

"But you didn't have to kill it!"

"Doesn't matter. Even Big Sis Caroline would kill it if she sees one."

"Why would Big Sis Caroline care?"

"Well, she is a Dual-Affinity of Water and Earth so she has some duty as an Earth Mage to defend the earth and destroy pests."

"That...."

"But anyways, you shouldn't spend your days like this...at least do something productive. Alright?"

"O-okay...."

"Anyways, it's almost dinner, come inside soon." Uncle Ralph said as he walked inside.

Aldred sighed at the dead mole in front of him. He picked up the bloody corpse and buried it. Even though there was little to no interaction between the two, Aldred, at least, felt grateful for the mole for allowing him the chance to witness such a domineering fighting style. He decided to modify and refine the general movements he had imitated in order to create a Fist Technique. He would call it...the Fist of the Elusive Mole.