Chapter 305 - Life in the Chasm

Clenching his fist with great concentration, Oli squinted as he stared at an earthen bucket in his other hand. It wasn't as hardened as Zelsh's, nor was it perfectly circular either. The bucket was crudely formed but it functioned alright and that's what mattered most. 

Now, Oli was focused on the muddy water within the bucket. He was finally moving the earthen sludge within the water, albeit ever so slowly. But it was progress nonetheless. Oli could only accept his inabilities and try to do better. After almost an hour, Oli happily pulled the majority of the mud from the bucket of water, having it dry out the moment its source of moisture was gone.

It was the most refreshing drink Oli had ever experienced. Never had downing gulp after gulp of water been so satisfactory and mentally rejuvenating. 

However, Oli was already semi-accustomed to the routine.

Being contained underground in an unchanging environment had already begun altering Oli's perspective. Oli's sense for the time of day had become muddled. Now, Oli had begun to embrace were two necessary times of day, asleep and awake. He wasn't certain of this but Oli had already been in the chasm for nearly two suns…

Blinking and breathing steadily, Oli scanned over the open space. "Still no sign of him…"

Once he had his fill of water, Oli slowly walked toward his tiny farming space only a couple of krin away. Oli carefully poured out the remaining water over his five successfully planted seeds. He ignored his first attempts at farming, not bothering to even chance his water supply on seedlings that likely won't grow anyway, at least not without re-tilling that ground first.

After that, closed his eyes for a moment. Abruptly, Oli clenched his fists one after the other. The sound of moving earth rumbled at the same time. Then, keeping his breathing steady to not waste effort, Oli walked away from his farm area toward two small earthen bumps on the ground.

Without a word, Oli punched down into the mounds, causing the raised ground to collapse and reveal the tiny space hidden underneath, along with the two hand-sized scorpions that had been trapped and now crushed.

Lifting the lifeless insects to his lips, Oli chewed his meal slowly yet thoroughly.

With nutrients and water back in his system, Oli turned his attention to his true task at hand. He took a deep breath and walked to a barely-started formation etched into the ground. Taking out an old scroll, one of those that Zelsh had left behind, Oli began comparing his handy work to the text written there.

It was a formation Oli was somewhat familiar with thanks to Trada in the past. Now, Oli was able to study it directly and learn a bit more about how it functions. Also, it was shown that Oli could alter the formation with his own essence to better attract particular essence types. It would take longer to make but it would increase the formation's efficiency in the long run, a fair trade-off in Oli's mind.

The initial circle was already complete and Oli was currently working on the secondary circle that was slightly larger, the one Oli would be able to link with his earth essence. After that, Oli would carefully copy the etchings that go between the circles before moving on to the off-kilter triangle, which Oli would bond to dark essence.

But Oli was still feeling apprehensive. He wasn't quite sure how long the final pentagram would take to create. Bonding it to Oli's weakest affinity wasn't going to be an even slower process...

Oli took a moment to look back over the formation's description and instructions. "To help increase affinity and pull of essence, the formation must be bound to an essence type. At least one essence type is required but up to three may be bonded for unique scenarios…" 

Reading and mumbling aloud, Oli searched for a certain part from his recent memory, "A momentary increase in affinity will occur… the phenomena will only last as long as the medium remains unextinguished… inscribing with particular essences may result in abnormal results for users without matching affinities… Ahh, here… this can only increase affinity momentarily in relation to the degree of affinity used when creating the formation…"

Despite looking through everything, Oli had chosen to use that formation due to Trada trusting it and the fact that three essences could be bound to it. But sadly, Oli's greatest dislike of the formation was shared by all formations listed on the old scroll. 

Everything work according to the natural affinity of the creator. That was great for Oli's earth and dark essences but was hardly helpful to Oli's third and weakest affinity. 

The scroll went on to mention how the boosted effect of the formation worked. It would make Oli's peak affinities function more similarly to perfect affinities, though at a cost. Oli didn't know that the formation used a fluid as a medium of activation. Thinking back, Oli remembered seeing the kerning circle Trada had made. But he had never questioned how it was so controlled and calm. And according to the scroll, Oli realized the likely medium she had used washer own blood.

Oli was lucky to have found a common void ring inside the scroll, one filled only with pitchers of a strange, viscous fluid labeled "Affinity Booster". Not knowing how expensive such a resource was, Oli was glad to have it in place of needing his own blood. He wasn't as large as Trada, so losing that much blood could be fatal. But the label of the boosting fluid did mention adding a minute amount of blood for those wanting better results in one-person cultivation.

"Confused?"

Sighing, Oli slowly turned around. There was no light there but with his dark essence, Oli sensed a cloaked man. He still couldn't make out finer details but Oli also knew that was the case for anyone trying to see the mysterious man. "Are you here to help?"