“You are just a merchant, what would you know?”

The tone was harsh but the volume was low. It was a topic that couldn’t be shared with others or tragedies could happen.

It was just a harsh tone because Noah was still unsure of his path with Richard. If it was the kid, he would have slapped him upside the head for talking back to him like that.

“Apologies for my tone, but I know a lot especially compared to a child. The techniques taught are easy to understand and I just need to practice them.

In my world, everyone gets taught multiple subjects. I am not too knowledgeable on the topic of the human body, but I have better understanding than everyone in the village.

For example, the powerful roar technique focuses on just the voice box. Sound is made through vibrations and requires multiple parts to work together, the parts being the lungs, nose, mouth, pharynx and the larynx.

I might not be an expert but my limited knowledge gives me an advantage and it can also help father become stronger.” Richard replied and controlled his tone, as it was not appropriate towards his parent.

Richard drew the body on the ground with a branch from the tree and explained while also touching his own body.

He really hoped that Noah listened and didn’t start beating him up, that would be humiliating.

Noah listened to his words and moved his Ki according to it. Just as Richard explained, the technique felt stronger even without having to use it.

Knowing that Richard was from a different world and was someone that knew about complex subjects, Noah knew he should have expected such but was too distracted.

He should have felt happy, but there was nothing and that made him feel even worse.

“Fine, I will teach you about the elemental techniques. And since you have the earth element, I will teach that one first.” Noah sighed as he didn’t want to continue the topic at the moment. Seeing his son talk in such a foreign tone was uncomfortable.

“Can I have all of them? I don’t intend to practice them for now and just want to learn. I want to see if I can find something more from them. Maybe my foreign knowledge could reveal something.”

There was child like excitement in that tone and it made Noah feel warm.

He almost smiled, but looked away before it took shape.

Getting up from the bed, Noah walked into the room and got the small books from his wood chest. It had been some time since he read those books and learned the skills.

His element was also earth but he also knew skills from the others as he had time to use on them. Walking back to Richard, he passed the books.

All of them were grade E except two ungraded ones.

Earth Spike: It was a technique that formed spikes made from the ground. These could appear under an enemy or even be shot at a target.

The strength depended on the skill of the user and Ki utilized.

Fireball: It was a technique that formed a fireball the size of a basketball with flames reaching at least 120 degree Celsius.

The fireball could be controlled by the user and utilized Ki for its continued existence unless launched instantly.

The strength depended on the skill of the user and Ki utilized.

Fire Touch: It was a skill that caused the user’s hands to be encased in flames reaching at least 100 degree Celsius.

Water Needles: It was technique that utilized the water around the user to form into needles that could pierce rocks.

Underwater breathing: It is a skill that allowed the user to breath under water according to their Ki reserves.

Wind Needles: It transformed wind into needles that could pierce a human body.

Wind resistance: It allowed the user to lower wind resistance and increase their speed.

Earth Shaker: It allowed the user to shake the ground within 2 to 6 feet of the user.

Dig: It caused the few feet of earth to collapse around the area of usage. It could be used to dig or even during battles to trip the enemy.

Ungraded:

Snake Body: It is a skill that allowed the body to become extremely flexible like a snake.

Weapon enhancement: It is a basic skill that allows the user to cover their weapon with Ki properly. It is considered ungraded because it is considered too basic.

“Thank you, Father. I will study them and share what I understand. If I don’t understand something, I will ask.” Richard was happy to get the items and expressed his gratitude.

“Just don’t forget to practice properly, I don’t want to see you lagging…We will be scouting the nearby region, so keep that in mind.” Noah gave him the look filled with countless thoughts and stopped talking after saying those words.

Richard nodded and sat their silently before deciding to check out the books. He really wanted time to pass a bit so he could change some things.

It was a blood nightmare taking a dump without a proper washroom. He had to endure doing it on the ground and washing hands with some ancient looking soap that was getting used by everyone.

Bloody damn, it was terrible.

Regardless, he couldn’t jump the trigger and had to play it slow. Getting back to the books, the elemental skills all started from E rank.

Even the weakest was not ungraded because of the level of understanding required and how all of them helped in the foundation for the higher ranked skills.

The E- rank skills were child’s play compared to the D-rank skill that Richard owned. He had been granted the full knowledge of the skill and just needed to practice it.

Though, he could only use it once and become dry instantly.

On the other hand, he could use the E ranks more than once but he had to learn them manually. Opening the leather book of Earth Shaker, Richard went through it.

It wasn’t long, just few pages.

It had a similar symbol to Earth Hand and also the dig skill. It seems there was a core symbol for each element and for each technique it had some additional material.

The book explained about the movement of the ground and the feeling. The concept needed to be clear inside the user before usage or the skill would fail.

Richard knew more than what the book explained. It was a very concept unlike the complete topic of tectonic plates.

He had also personally seen and experienced few earthquakes as well, so it was easy for him to get it.

The difficulty for the technique lay in the utilization of Ki on the ground and the formation of the symbol.

Ki control was the core of warrior and with weak control nothing would happen or it would collapse easily.

Ki outside the body was hard to control and easy to disrupt.

There was also huge loss of energy and even the atmosphere resisted. Without heavy practice, Earth Shaker wouldn’t take place at all unless the user had high level of affinity with the element and huge reserves to waste.

Looking at the skills, Richard decided to learn Earth Shaker and snake body. Earth hand wasn’t viable at the moment while the shaker would allow Richard to get a free hit.

Nonetheless, He went through the rest of the books as well.

Each of them confirmed his theory about the core symbol. Now he just needed to understand how it worked and how to make new skills according to his desire.

All the elemental skills utilized nature and weren’t really made from pure Ki. They could be made from Ki, but that would waste more energy.

Knowing how the elements truly worked according to nature should make it easier to utilize the skill and even make them stronger.

Just with these few earth skills, Richard could see a wonderful fighting style.