“You are speaking to the one left behind by Krig—”
Kyle cut her off. “I’m not Krig. Or at least not entirely. You are either going to trust me or not. But I would think your curiosity alone would make you do as I ask.”
“Fine, I will try, but no promises. You should go back to your cell before you cause a problem that I can’t smooth over.”
Chapter 31 - To the Victor
A short time later, Kyle was lying in his bed processing what had gone on. He had come a long way in a few days. More than that, during the fighting tonight he had absorbed some essence from the slain monsters. Not a lot but, then again, every little bit counted. A single point in Death and Deceit, and his War Essence rose up from twelve to thirteen.
He was tempted to ask Hilde about how to use Death or Deceit Essence, but he remembered something she had said about needing to condense his Earth Essence before he could go past the first tier. That seemed like a higher priority, since the power growth curve was exponential.
Kyle peered inside himself at the wheel. The War Essence inside of him seemed agitated. That made sense to him. He was feeling tingly, on edge, almost like a coiled spring. The fighting had built up a passion inside of him, and he could feel the need to do more of it. The raw essence levels were the ones that had increased the most. Despite summoning Hilde, he must have absorbed enough from the monsters that his total was now over twenty thousand.
For now though, he focused his mind on the brown spoke of his inner wheel. He turned it around with his mind’s eye to get the best view of it. It seemed full, but it was as though the color inside of it was a vapor, lacking any true density. He tried to focus his mind on it, willing it to compress more densely. For a moment, the vapor seemed to congeal but then it broke apart again.
Hilde said, “That isn’t how you do it. You can’t force it. Well, other than War Essence. All the others require you to work with them. Think about what Earth Essence means to you. Then try to focus on shaping it in a manner like that.”
“Why can’t you just tell me what Earth Essence is like so I can skip ahead to condensing it?” Kyle asked.
“For three reasons. First, it would shortchange you on learning about this. That is the entire reason that we are here letting you train as a gladiator rather than simply trying to get in touch with Krig’s memories. There is more value in learning to do something for yourself.
“Second, there are multiple aspects to every type of essence. Earth Essence can be used to manipulate the ground, increase the durability of an object, grow food, create certain types of minions, and is even part of the blend of Earth and Sea essence that is most commonly used in healing.
“Finally, and most significantly, I am a being of fire and air, Earth Essence is not one that I have mastery of, so I would make a poor teacher. I can guide you in a general sense, but you are going to need to learn to do this yourself. And again, remember you are doing something that none of the other gods have done,” Hilde explained.
Kyle thought through the different types of uses for Earth Essence. Healing powers would be great, but it didn’t resonate with him. He had played a wizard and a druid in two different games but hadn’t stuck with either for very long. There was something that just didn’t feel right about them. He loved having casters in his parties and admired the things that they could do.
The same thing happened when he tried to play a hunter in an older game. Standing back from a distance just wasn’t his style; he preferred to be in the middle of the action. That was how he had been playing video games. It was also how he had been while playing baseball. He never wanted to rely on anyone else.
So, what part of Earth Essence fit with him the best? He certainly wasn’t a farmer. He had already ruled out a mage style. No, it was pretty simple. The ruggedness of earth was what he wanted. The implacable durability to survive in any situation.
Even as he settled on the realization, Kyle’s mind sunk down into the spoke of his wheel. He drew raw essence into it from the ring. A weight settled onto his mind as he tried to push more raw essence in. He needed to convert it faster. Yet try as he might, he couldn’t seem to push it in any faster. It was like trying to dig in loose sand. As much as he pushed and pulled, he couldn’t change the shape of it.
It was both hard to grasp and hard to maintain. His awareness rose and he understood that the Earth Essence needed to be condensed from simple mortal tier to monster tier. He had to find a way to compress it, but again the grains of sand of the essence tended to shift through his fingers.
He warred with it, striving to make it do what he wanted. With War Essence, it always felt so natural, but this was a struggle. It wasn’t that he didn’t know the end result, but rather that he was having trouble finding a way to get there. Then he realized that he was at a fork of sorts.
The part of him that was Kyle understood that sometimes relaxed was actually more prepared than on edge. He was willing to let the Earth Essence do as was its nature. He was content to let it shape and influence him.
In contrast, the part of him that was Krig demanded that
