Chapter 404: Gaia [Spirit force has increased] At the moment, Emery was completely drawn by the new skill he had, [Nature Grasp]. It allowed him to have a deeper connection to the natural energy around him, which automatically resulted in better progression for his training. As he had subconsciously spent nearly a week with the skill, Emery swiftly went ahead and made his way to the shrine. He wanted to speak with the High Priestess for guidance. Emery entered the familiar space where the massive tree was, a melodious and gentle voice suddenly rang in the air, as if it knew he was coming. "I see you have successfully cast the skill, Emery." "Yes, High Priestess. That's indeed true..." High Priestess Nimue smiled at Emery's words. But then, she noticed that the latter's expression was quite troubled. Therefore, she asked, "What is it?" "I have something that bothers my mind, High Priestess. And I don't know if I should ask this or not." replied Emery, his tone was without spirit. "Ask away." "When I casted the spell, I felt something… strange. Moreover, I felt as if there was something beyond the spirit of the trees, the rivers… as if something was watching. Is what I feel true?" Upon hearing Emery's words, the High Priestess smiled and said, "Don't worry about it, Emery. After all, you are still learning to control the spell. what you feel, that something beyond, was Gaia itself." Emery was startled by the unexpected answer. He then asked if the Gaia she was referring to was the massive tree in front of them. With a light chuckle, the High Priestess answered his inquiry. "What you see here is just one of the few outlets of Gaia. In fact, Gaia is actually all around us as it is omnipresent on the planet. The spell was funcion to connect yourself up and to feel the energy of Gaia itself" Emery nodded his head, as his face slowly showed a sign of realization. He then remembered the sensation he felt when [Nature Grasp] was activated. While the spell was in effect, he didn't just feel the energy of the grasses, but also the roots that continued to the earth itself. It was all connected as a whole. Probably, this was the Gaia that the High Priestess meant. Afterwards, Emery asked if casting the spell in the shrine would give him some kind of other benefits, the kind he couldn't receive at other places. Unfortunately, the High Priestess only shook her head. Apparently, it was all the same and the factor that dictated it was all about the connection between himself and Gaia itself. Now having a better understanding of the spell, Emery went and started his training again. He planned to spend a few days secluded in the woods, absorbing the natural energy of Gaia. Then, he would go to Khaos space and absorb the khaos energy for a few days as well. He would also return in between this routine to check on Morgana and his herb garden. One time, Emery would go to the secret location where he planted the Caracas Flower. Alas, there was still no progress in the latter. Thus, he could only shake his head helplessly and wait patiently till it was ready while hoping for faster growth. … Just like that, two months had passed by. Emery had ceaselessly encouraged himself in his cultivation, gathering and absorbing spirit energy. Now, it has already been 5 months since he came back from the Magic Academy. Currently, Emery was still in the routine he imposed on himself. He was meditating deep within the woods, in the area where there wasn't even a speck of light that could seep through the thick forest trees. At this particular moment, he had been completely drawn to his surroundings, becoming one with nature. Then suddenly, Emery felt that the lively green-colored energy inside his body finally gushed into his dark core like a terrifying tsunami. He understood that he finally made his breakthrough. As expected, a second later, the familiar notification appeared in his mind. [Congratulations! You have reached a breakthrough in the Plant Element] [Plant spirit - High Foundation] 'Finally!' Emery exclaimed in his mind while subconsciously let out a smile. Immediately, he did the nearly-instinctive gesture of checking the symbol on his hand. [Emery Ambrose] [Battle Power : 52 (37)] [Spirit Force : 250 (175)] [Plant Spirit – High-Foundation] [Water Spirit – Mid-Foundation] [Earth Spirit – Mid-Foundation] [Spirit Core of Darkness – Stage 4] [Fey Bloodline – Rank 3] [Acolyte Rank: 7] In the last 2 months, Emery had managed to increase his spirit force till it reached the bottleneck of rank 7 acolyte. All of this was possible thanks to the darkness energy the Khaos space had and the tremendously helpful [Nature Grasp] spell. Now, there was only one more thing Emery had to do before he was actually able to increase his rank. He needed to achieve a breakthrough in his understanding of the 4 elements he had, which obviously was no easy matter. Countless acolytes had failed in their endeavor to achieve higher understanding in their respective element. Thus, one could imagine how difficult the road was for Emery to achieve basically the same thing for 4 elements. Even so, Emery couldn't afford to give up as there were many things that he wanted to protect. He sofly muttered to himself. "Two more to go... You can do it, Emery." Standing up, Emery was contemplating on what he should do now. Soon, he walked out of the forest and headed in the direction where his estate was, deciding to take a break to clear his head. The moment he reached the estate, Emery was surprised and then excited by the delivery of his apothecary tools. In addition, the dozens of plants he planted had also grown nicely in the last two months. He could finally do some apothecary! Previously, Emery had planned to do nothing as a break. However, the appearance of these tools immediately changed his mind. He decided to take a break from training by setting up his lab and playing with his new toys. Emery even specifically took time to use [Spatial Gate] to visit the old magician Gaious at Camelot city. He wanted to share notes on recipes with the old wizard. While he was looking through Gaious' research and experimental notes in potion and concoction, Emery was surprised to find the old wizard had a human corpse on top of a table at the back of his room. Noticing where the other party's eyes were, Gaious explained. "Ahh... This is for me to study human anatomy and biology. I hope you take no offense to this, Merlin." Gaious realized Emery had no reaction to his last words. Thus, he asked. "Are you interested?" "Yes, I am. Do you mind if you elaborate more?" In the Apothecary Institute, Emery had spent a lot of time dissecting plants and hundreds of unique ingredients. But he himself never really learnt about the human body. Just some basic learning of the human body from Granny 2 years ago. Actually, Emery had heard from the academy how understanding human anatomy would greatly improve one's skill in apothecary; he just had never had the chance to study it. Thus, he immediately jumped at the chance to learn from Gaious about this matter. Emery believed that, after this round of study with the old wizard, he would be able to come up with new potions that would be beneficial to him and his friends. With the addition of learning human anatomy, Emery's schedule eventually became wholly occupied that he nearly had no time to even have a meal. While he indeed had reached the bottleneck in his spirit force, Emery would still prioritize his cultivation training to gain breakthroughs in the other two elements; the earth and water. He would sometimes go training inside the caves or next to a waterfall cultivating his understanding of the two elements. During this time, Emery sometimes heard about the news of the kingdoms, unfortunately, there was no information about Meave, none at all. It was as if the witch had completely disappeared from the face of the Earth. Instead, the Lioness Kingdom's situation seemed to get even worse with the Cantiaci Kingdom. Emery even heard a rumor that said war was already on the horizon. It was unfortunate that Emery couldn't afford to involve himself in those kingdoms' politics. It has been almost half a year since he returned and Emery still hadn't breakthrough to rank 8 yet. He needs to fully concentrate on his training. Thinking about the Magic Academy, Emery suddenly thought about his four friends. He wondered how they were doing. They were separerà by thousands of miles and Chumo was literally on the other side of the planet. ---------------------------------- Written by Avans, Published exclusively by W.e.b.n.o.v.e.l, 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎 For discussion Join Avan's Discord server: https://discord.gg/7ngn7yN9xN Check out my new website www.avans.xyz