Chapter 296 - Stubborn Zelsh

"Wh-what's going on?!"

Zelsh stopped and stared back at Oli. His unflinching and unblinking stare left Oli with a small feeling of regret, but Oli got up and spoke his mind anyway.

"What's up with you, and what are you talking about?!" Oli shouted, trying to get through that dense expression on Zelsh's face. 

Raising an eyebrow, Zelsh altered his expression ever so slightly. The irritation was still present but there was an added sense of questioning, as if Zelsh was disappointed in Oli's stupid questions. "Blending your father's Ravaging Earth technique with the Toxic-shadow Clan's Dark Abyss technique won't be too difficult. Their natures do similar things, so they'll be easier to merge."

Again, Oli's brain stuttered upon hearing Zelsh speak so confidently about such confidential things.

"But you're third essence doesn't even have a technique, and it's barely strong enough to use like an early-adept! How dare you speak so confidently about such dire circ.u.mstances?!" Zelsh yelled, letting his booming voice echo through the dark, dismal cavern. "You'll need to create a new technique, raise the cultivation of your third essence, and then finally blend three essences. Do you not understand how difficult that is?!"

Shaking under Zelsh's demeaning glare, Oli tried to swallow his nervous but they wouldn't go down easily.

Zelsh continued his rant, "You have NO time to waste, and you're woefully underprepared! You're lucky I don't give up on you and just let you walk out of Bore City to find your way back home without any help! But no, I've accepted you as a protege, so you'd better deliver."

The king then turned and began walking again, letting Oli scramble to catch up. Oli was still silent as he soon moved his feet and dashed to reach Zelsh up ahead. He also looked around the open space but struggled to see hardly anything.

"Why is it so dark? You can't afford lights?"

"Use your essence," Zelsh stated without looking back. "What's the point of coming to train your dark essence if you don't use it?"

Catching on, Oli did just that. However, his view hardly changed at all. It was an empty cavern that spiraled downward well beyond the reach of Oli's essence.

"If you need, use earth essence to feel the ground beneath your feet. Using both with heighten senses. That's why you use them here until those senses are second nature," added Zelsh, still with his dogged tone. "Tell me, what did you learn in Trighton?"

"Well… I studied and trained with both head instructors. And I honed my control while also--"

"Get to the good part. I've already seen you use your essence in battle. What I haven't seen is whether you learned how to make a technique or not."

Nodding, Oli quickly replied, "I somewhat understand… It has something to do with formations and understanding the flow of essence on a deeper level, right?"

"Good, at least you have that going for you…" Letting out a long sigh of relief, Zelsh continued with his steady, hurried pace. Sadly for Oli, that slight shift in tone didn't last. "What else? What did you learn in Iron Academy?"

"How do you know about--"

"What did you learn?!" Zelsh repeated himself, shouting back at the young cultivator without so much as looking at Oli.

Taking in a sharp breath, Oli replied, "Just the basics."

"Which are?"

"What essence is, essence type, and essence nature… Also, the difference between battle arts and cultivation techniques. How they work together while being separate things."

"Good… At least I don't need to start with that…" Zelsh sighed again, half-filled with relief and half-filled with imminent disappointment.

"Um… Does that mean you'll teach me how to make a technique?"

"Who else can!? You want to announce to the world that you've got three affinities, one being a unique essence type rarely seen across history?!"

"Wait, someone else had--"

"You're in for hell, Oli. I'll be blunt," Zelsh continued, not letting Oli finish his question. "Right now, listen. I'll explain while we descend and you must ask appropriate questions at the appropriate time."

"But--"

"Creating a new technique has nothing to do with creating. It's discovering how essence acts on its own, how it reacts to stimuli, and how it may affect the surrounding elements or essences. You have to discover how the essence within you lives and breaths. Then, you'll have to use that essence in accordance with how it lives. That is the core of creating a new technique, whether for a single essence or multiple."

"But you--"

"You'll be forced to away from everyone. The only face you'll see until you've accomplished this is my beautiful visage, so feel lucky," Zelsh added, again not letting Oli ask his question.

"But you said--"

"That's not an appropriate question so don't even waste your breath. What we're after is creating a new technique. If you can't get your mind off of everything else, then you're hopeless," Zelsh declared, shutting Oli up. "Right now, you exist to discover the true nature of your third essence."

"But I already know that!" Oli shouted, finally getting to finish a sentence.

"Then tell me, what nature has your third essence created?" asked Zelsh.

"It's gravity! But wouldn't you already know that?!"

"Okay, but what's the nature?"

"Huh? Well, it works like gravity."

"Does it push? Does it pull? Does it push and pull?" Zelsh asked, glancing back over his shoulder. "Does it create orbits? Does it compress? Does it infinitely pull you in?"

"That… I…"

"Then you have no clue what nature your essence has taken."

Oli questioned, "But it has no technique, so I can just make it anything that I'd like."

"In a way, that's correct. However, you don't have time for that," corrected Zelsh. "And since you at least let it ascend, it's begun to take on an authentic nature instead of a synthetic one."

"A what?"

"An authentic nature. An essence's authentic nature will always be the strongest that cultivator can wield."