Two weeks quickly turned into a month. The days passed quickly as Torrin taught the elves real survival. During the days, he'd capture a few mana beasts and bring them back to camp. A nighthawk here, an owl, a venomous viper, even a pack of wolves.

Various mana beasts were thrown at his group of young elves and they began to piece together what it actually meant to do combat. In the evening, Torrin would lead his group in the general direction of a temple. The earth temple, to be exact.

And finally, after a month of training and travel, they had arrived. Swirls of earth mana actually danced in the air. It was unlike anything Torrin had ever seen. Most of the times, earth mana stayed low to the ground and was quite lazy looking--hardly moving at all. But whatever lay within the earth temple caused the mana to swirl and dance through the air, looking as if it were wind mana.

The group stood in awe, staring with their mana sight active. Yawnel was the only one who didn't seem to care about the temple, just scoffing at everyone's wide-eyed looks. Torrin had soon realized as the days stretched on, that Yawnel was just a problematic person.

No matter what Torrin did, the elf always had a negative word to say or an expression of contempt ready for him. After a while, Torrin just began ignoring the elf.

Torrin felt he and Dawn were closer than ever. He felt no real attachment to the girl, but he could appreciate how she was able to command a group. He'd also spy her whispering to Yawnel from time to time as they traveled, sure that she was trying to get him to be more productive within the group.

Torrin's control of air and water mana felt to be at an all time high. He could now generate ice with nothing more than a thought. The feeling of combining the two coming easier and easier as the days passed. The reason for this was that he would practice extensively throughout the day, capturing wild mana beasts for the elves to practice against, or just making random sculptures of ice that he suspended in mid air for more practice.

Torrin didn't let a moment pass that he wasn't training. Most of the elves still looked at him with fearful looks in their eyes, but now more than ever he could see a few nods of gratitude coming his way as they approached the temple.

It was completely made of stone. Not the fancy kind that made up castles or the defensive kind used for walls. These were large, brown stone slabs that lay atop each other, built up in an almost pyramid shape, but more squared-off.

Torrin's lips twitched, a smile trying to blossom on his face. But instead, he held his face firm, making sure that he held the stoic face of a warrior as he addressed the elves under his leadership.

"Alright, everyone. We've made it to our first destination. This is the earth temple, I'm told. And from the mana fluctuations emitted from the structure, I'd say that's a fair bet. I'm not sure what we'll face inside, but keep your guard up." Torrin made his speech short and simple. Though he'd been training these elves for a month now, he only had a passing attachment to them. Most of them were still afraid of him, or even held dismissive attitudes. Torrin just ignored them most of the time.

As he finished his speech, snickers could be heard from the back of the group. Torrin rolled his eyes as Yawnel began his usual rounds of trouble-making. Ignoring the murmurs from the crowd, Torrin turned around to face the temple. The noon sun beat down on the group and Torrin wasted no more time in ascending the staircase. The stairs seemed to stretch on for miles as the group slowly made their way upwards.

After a while, Torrin felt a fluctuation of mana coming from above them. He looked up just in time to throw his arms up and cover his face. A barrage of stones battered his mana shield, but it held firm. He'd learned to reinforce the shield with earth mana rather than just pure mana and it was now at least twice as strong as before.

In response to the attack, Torrin made a swirl of wind that sucked the offending mana beast in and dragged it towards him. Torrin ended the Earth Hawk's life with a simple swipe of his blade, his muscles rippling as Saen enhanced them.

Collecting the body in his ring, he continued on, leading his group of elves towards the top of the temple. A few more attacks came their way as they traversed the long, straight, stone staircase. Even Earth Golems--Stone given some semblance of life from the dense earth mana surrounding the temple--rose from the side of the staircase to impede their path.

Torrin commanded his troops, setting them into various formations and orientations as they went, to defend the group from harm. More than half would actually listen to his commands and Torrin was pleased with their progress. Only Yawnel's growing group of idiots held any outward resistance to Torrin's teachings, but he was sure they hung on every word he said.

"Tillien, take your group forward. Don't go more than twenty steps ahead, but keep an eye out for any further attacks." Torrin told his friend.

Tillien nodded, leading a group of nine other elves up the stairs. Torrin hadn't taken the time to learn any of their names except Tillien, Orel, Rinvel, and Unoren. They were the core of Tillien's groups and the only people in the entire elven group of 48 souls that he talked with from time to time. During their month of travel, two elves had lost their lives due to carelessness.

Instead of keeping guard of the camp, they felt a midnight tryst a ways away from their group would be more fun. Their screams as mana beasts tore into them saved the rest of the group from following in their footsteps. Torrin had taken care of the two yellow core moles as soon as he was awoken by the noise.

"Should you only send them?" Dawn's softly spoken words roused Torrin from his memories.

"I think they'll be fine." he said lightly.

Dawn just nodded at his words. As the days dragged on, Dawn had begun accepting Torrin's leadership role. He still didn't trust the elf, because something about her was still strange and it nagged at him. He couldn't place his finger on exactly what it was, but he was unwilling to put his full trust in her.

Tillien's group advanced in a V-formation, with Tillien leading the way. The elf had gathered a water whip in one hand and wind swirled around the other. Torrin nodded in appreciation at the elf's preparedness.

It was lucky that Tillien was taking the ascent seriously as three wolves made completely of stone leapt up from the stairs themselves. He cracked his whip at the first wolf, causing it to fall into pieces as its leg was damaged and it fell down the stairs. A scream from one of the younger elves was heard, causing Torrin to whip his head around to see what the issue was. The young elf, Leylen, was a blonde haired beauty who was clearly not fit to be in this dangerous pocket dimension. Her laughter and easy smile usually kept the group at ease during the times they were camped out, but she would always scream at the smallest sign of danger. Torrin thought of her as a living alarm.

His eyes scanned around her and soon realized she was only screaming because the stone wolf's corpse had nearly taken her out as it flopped down the stairs. He chuckled to himself at the sight of the petrified girl, before returning his attention to the fight above him. To his surprise, Tillien's group had made short work of the stonework creatures and were already moving up once more.

Torrin's foot searched through a pile of rubble as he passed the remains left by the stone wolves. He sucked his teeth as he once again saw that they had no core. They were somehow formed from the temple itself with just ambient mana to drive them forward--like the golems. Torrin shook his head and continued leading the rest of the elves behind Tillien's group.

Around the halfway mark of their journey, two large golems rose from the side of the temple--one on each side of the staircase--a pale yellow light burning within their empty eye sockets. The golems gave Torrin pause. He was unsure if Tillien's group could handle them on their own, so he called another group leader forward, Orinel.

Orinel carried himself unlike most other elves. His broad shoulders and rippling muscles were a direct contrast with most others of elven kind. He carried a large warhammer, the head of which was nearly as big as Torrin's chest. The elf nodded to Torrin and led his group to the golem that had risen to the right of the staircase.

A sound of shattering stone rang out and Torrin drifted his attention back to Tillien's group, while keeping an eye on Orinel's with his senses spread behind him. Tillien's group had already engaged the golem from the left side of the stairs. During their travels, Torrin had taught Tillien a few tricks with water and air magic, and the elf had eventually learned a rudimentary ice bind spell. He would wrap his water whip around a target, before freezing it with his air magic.

The sound Torrin had heard was Tillien doing just that, freezing the "knee-joint" of the golem as Rinvel bashed a staff into the frozen joint. The golem listed to one side and the rest of the elves jumped on it like predators on prey. The group made short work of the golem and Torrin turned his attention to the other group.

Orinel had less finesse with his magic. He only knew earth magic, so Torrin had taught him how to enhance his mana shield with it. The elf took a direct his from the giant golem, but barely moved. In response, he swung his gigantic hammer down on the stone golem and shattered its makeshift foot as the golem tried to move back. This didn't have the same effect as what Tillien's team had done, but it did slow the already slow golem's speed even further.

The rest of his team follow Orinel's charge and soon enough both of the golems had been dealt with. The team-leaders looked to Torrin and he nodded his approval, causing the two teams to fall back in line with the others.

"Yawnel and Sinnerven, take your groups forward and let's see what you can do." Torrin's voice held a firm tone as he gave the order.

Yawnel and his group all scoffed in unison, calling out that they didn't take orders from humans and other nonsense. Torrin didn't even listen to them as he himself joined Sinnelven's group to lead the rest forward. Four golems rose soon enough, two on each side of the staircase. As he saw the increased difficulty, he called for Dawn to lead her group to join Sinnelven's on the other side and she quickly obliged.

Torrin approached the two golems with a stoic expression, Saen enhancing his speed and reactions. One of the golems hurled a large stone at him and he simply moved to the side, gathering the chunks of the destroyed stone as it shattered on the ground. He formed them back together and sent it back at the golem.

As he did this, he gathered threads of mana from his whirling core and reached out for water and air. He fused them together, copying Tillien's move of encasing the stone thrower's knee joint. The stone he'd thrown back landed just as the joint was weakened and the golem tipped to the side, falling from its perch atop the stacked stone pyramid and crumbling as it fell to the earth below.

The second golem was unfazed as it threw a stone itself. Torrin punched the stone with his Saen infused fist, covered in earth mana. The stone shattered and reformed as armor around his arm in an instant. He had come up with this spell that he called "earth armor" by mimicking the skin of the moles that seemed prevalent throughout the plain.

Kicking off the stairs, he soared through the air and landed his earth-covered fist directly on the stone golem's face. The head shattered, sand and small stones scattering in the wind. Torrin didn't stop there, as his free hand grabbed onto the golem's shoulder. He twisted himself around so he was hanging on the golem's back.

With the his stone armored fist, he punched at the golem's back, caving in the stone creation. He pushed off the crumbling stone and rejoined his group quickly. He was met with a smattering of smile and light applause, along with murmured whispers from a few of Tillien's group.

"...Wouldn't wanna piss him off..."

"Scary."

"...n't know how he does that. It's crazy!"

Torrin kept his hearing enhanced most all the time now, so he always caught stray comments from the group of elves as a side effect. He shook his head with a wry smile on his face as he nodded to the group of elves.

Torrin noticed that Dawn's group took a similar but different approach as he watched the end of their battle. The elven princess, along with two other mages that Torrin had seen in the training hall, sent a torrent of fire at the golem that melted its stone legs into molten slag, causing it to fall down the side of the temple. The scene made Torrin sigh wistfully. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't understand how to use fire properly. It seemed to come naturally to Dawn, which made him all the more wary of her.

Soon enough, the entire group was back together. Torrin looked at each of them in turn before nodding. Most of the elves nodded back, except for Yawnel's group, of course. Torrin ignored them again as he led the group forward, only him and Dawn in the lead.

"Don't take it to heart," Dawn said quietly.

"What's that?" Torrin asked, confused by her words.

"Yawnel and his group. I'm sure they appreciate everything you've done for us. So don't take their callous attitude to heart." She clarified, a slightly nervous look in her eyes.

Torrin wasn't sure if he should laugh or scoff at her words, so he chose to nod and continue forward. Yawnel was nothing more than a pestering insect to him by this point, buzzing around and annoying him more than anything.

Soon the group reached the top without further trouble. A cohesive sigh of relief seemed to come from each and every person there. Torrin smiled lightly at the noise.

The top of the temple was a simple, flat, stone surface that held a few cracks from years of wear and tear. Torrin walked cautiously forward, leading the group. His eyes scanned the place, never resting for more than a moment as his will spread around him and he kept his senses heightened.

A scuttling sound from the corner of the room drew his attention and almost before he realized it, a thin icicle pierced through a rat that had caused the noise. He let out a huff, noticing for the first time just how on edge he was.

"Hope he doesn't decide to turn one of those on us, eh?" one of Yawnel's group whispered.

Yawnel scoffed, "As if that shitty spell could do anything to me, hah." Torrin's eyes rolled as he heard this and continued leading the group onward without pause.

The group soon came to a stone door with words engraved in it. He was unsure what it said, but held up a hand to stop the rest of the elves as he approached. He lay his hand on it, tracing the carvings within the door. Dawn spoke up from his side.

"Only those with a stalwart heart may pass to learn the truth held within."

Torrin's brows rose and he turned to the girl. A light flush ran up to her cheeks as she explained, "It's just a rough translation."

Torrin was curious and wanted to ask her how she knew what it said, but was interrupted by Yawnel walking up and chiming in, "Hah, who cares what it says? Last time I was here, one of the green core elves mentioned that to pass into the temples, you just needed to be strong."

This caught Torrin off guard, "Did you actually come here last time?"

Yawnel scoffed, "Of course not! No one actually goes to the temples, you idiot."

The response made Torrin want to hit the elf, but he held himself back. It wouldn't do for a leader to be hitting his subordinates, he thought. The group was already held together by a tenuous thread.

"Thanks for the great addition." Torrin said deadpan.

"You little..." Yawnel's anger tinged his cheeks pink.

"Yawnel, please..." Dawn chimed in, causing the elf to pause. After a moment of contemplation, the elf huffed and walked away.

Torrin let his attention go back to the door and eventually decided to test a few of the things that he had tried in Nim's pocket dimension. He placed his hand on the door and pushed. Nothing happened. He hmm'd and allowed his will to batter the door, attempting to activate it somehow. Once again, there was no response.

Sighing, he cut his thumb and smeared a drop of blood on the door quickly before his wound healed. Nothing happened, causing Torrin to think. After a moments hesitation, he gathered the dense earth mana around him into a battering ram the exact size of the door. It took over a hundred mana threads and all his focus, but he pushed it at the door.

A creaking sound could be heard as the door pivoted on an unseen hinge that ran down the middle. It twisted, opening a gap on both sides as the door spun. He sighed a breath of relief and looked back to the rest of the elves.

"Well...let's go." He called out, a small smile playing on his lips.

As Torrin entered the doorway, it felt as if he were walking through a dense wall of liquid. The earth mana was dense inside the room they entered and Torrin could feel it weighing down on him. He cast a worried glance back as the rest of the elves entered, some of them falling to the ground under the pressure.

"If you've not awoken your earth affinity, wait outside!" Torrin called out in a rush. The elves didn't hesitate, dragging their friends back through the doorway.

Once Torrin was sure that everyone was fine, he walked forward slowly. He saw a door laying about fifty feet ahead. The pressure the earth mana exerted was a physical weight upon his shoulders that he had to force Saen through his body to withstand.

A cough from his side drew his attention. Orinel had stopped short, holding his hand to his mouth. He drew it away and a light shimmer of blood caught the dim lighting the room provided. The elf shook his head, "I can't go further."

Torrin nodded to the giant elf, turning his worried gaze on Dawn. She still stood straight and besides a light sheen of sweat, seemed to be fine.

"Are you okay?" Torrin asked.

Dawn nodded, taking another step forward.

Torrin turned his attention back to the other elves that had entered, calling out instructions, "Once you feel the pressure is too much, sit back and meditate. The density of the earth mana here should help you strengthen your core and maybe even provide insight."

A chorus of agreements rang out and he turned to look at Dawn once more. He gave her a questioning look and she nodded, taking another step forward. Torrin followed her and could feel the pressure of the room heighten as they continued forward. After about twenty steps, Torrin turned around and saw every elf was now sitting in meditation except Dawn.

Torrin looked forward once more and continued onward. Another twenty steps and even Dawn had to stop. Their gaze met and Torrin nodded once as he left her to meditate under the extreme pressure of the room. Torrin didn't know what lay behind the door that was barely ten feet ahead of him, but his curiosity was peaked.

Another few steps and Torrin had made it to the door. If his body wasn't enhanced with Saen, he was sure that the pressure would crush him. The weights on his limbs couldn't even be mentioned in the same sentence as the pressure the room gave off.

He examined the door thoughtfully, finally noticing the door was inscribed with an illustration of sorts. As he looked closer, he noticed it was a picture of a turtle. He wasn't sure what it meant, but held his hand to the door and pushed lightly, ready to follow the same testing he had used with the previous door.

To his surprise, it opened easily. Inside the door was a small room containing an altar. Atop the altar sat a small, stone statue of a turtle. The mana emitting from the turtle took Torrin's breath away and he quickly entered the room and shut the door to prevent it from leaking from the room and possibly hurting his companions. As soon as the door shut, Torrin was barraged with various visions that took his breath away.