Chapter 177

Lykan

Flames

The fire danced and expanded with the Air. A natural dance partner to the fluid and constantly moving form of Air. Where the flames expanded, Air receded. When the Air expanded, so too did the flames. They were an odd form of harmony. A chemical reaction and a catalyst.

These were important concepts for Lykan to understand, for him to internalize. He needed to see the way these elements were part of the whole. Earth was used to support the flames, to stop their decent, and to provide direction for the energy to flow.

Water broke apart the flames by separating the chemical reaction that was at the core of every flame. Together these elements could flow seamlessly into each other. They were the constant beginning and end. They were simultaneously everything, and nothing all at once.

Lykan knew that he was close, so close to a complete understanding of the elements. So close to understanding the true extent of what was possible. Or at least the extent of what he currently believed himself capable of.

Belief was the biggest component of this, of that he was certain. If he could believe the elements would fuse together in some complexly woven pattern, then he would be able to make such an event happen. The only problem was that wasn’t possible.

There was a small portion of his mind that still doubted this, that doubted the need for progress. If he was correct, then he would have to scrap all work he had previously managed for his cultivation. He would have to break down his cores and go back to something basic. While building back up would be relatively easy now that he knew the steps and processes. There was still part of him that fought back against the idea. Something that said this was all he was capable of. That if he broke his cultivation, then it would be the same thing that happened to his mana all over again. He would be a broken cultivator, who would only be able to succeed from divine intervention, or worse.

Lykan knew that there would be no divine intervention if he broke his cultivation, that the Gods didn’t understand qi. Or rather, they understood qi, but could not interact with the alien substance. As such, all his advancements and insights into the foreign energy source were his and his alone.

In a way this was a good thing, it showed Lykan that he was capable of learning complex forms that even stymied the Gods. This also meant that he was stuck on his own. Well not his own exactly, he still had Brenna and Pentra both to lean on. That said, he was not certain of his ability to defeat the Titan without his cultivation base.

Still, he was not without his advantages. His mind had undergone a qualitative change recently, when it progressed into the third tier of and Maximum Psionic Tier, a level of evolution that also provided [Universal Understanding]. At first, Lykan thought the [Universal Understanding] was a broken reward.

But really, it was just his mind that had a hard time accepting the universal patterns and truths that were now apparent. The knowledge began to bloom over time, like a flower in his mind. The more he relaxed and let his mind focus on concepts, the easier it was to understand new and foreign concepts.

This was how he partly managed to learn to teach Pentra the art of Water Cultivation. The way, he felt he too could master not just Water, but also Earth as well. Then there was the fact that he somehow knew that understanding Fire as an individual concept would be possible.

As it was, he felt he already had most of the comprehension of fire down. There were just a few minor nuances that still eluded him.

One component that eluded him, was the way flames seemed to call forth the rain. At least, this seemed to be the case in healthy regions.

In healthy regions when flames erupted, it almost seemed like nature itself could call forth a much-needed rain to stop the flames.

Then there were times when an area was dead and dying. During those times, when a flame appeared, the flames would go on unchecked until finally stopped by running water, or lack of resources that could be sacrificed to the flames.

There was something there, something that linked all the elements. A balance, one that would be worth starting over for, one that Lykan would gladly sacrifice his firm cultivation path for, in order to have a chance to achieve the perfect union of elements.

Still such a concept eluded him.

Despite causing the flames to burn all night. Despite constantly calling forth the other elements to either feed, direct, or reduce the flames.

Controlling and manipulating qi was easy at this point.

At this point he had long been able to Sense, Absorb, Alter, and Control qi to astounding levels.

Yet, that was not enough.

Lykan needed to be able to go one step further. He could focus on a particular element and cleanse that particular element of all qi. Then by circulating his knowledge of the three qi categories that he could control; he could remove all qi particles from his path. But there was more.

Rather than cycling through the different elements, he felt it would, or at least could be possible to pull the qi particles from the different elements all at once. That the cycling through and focusing on the individual elements was not only a waste of time, but grossly inefficient.

In particular, the rate of his current cultivation was inefficient in that not every mote of energy was converted in a one for one aspect. There was a loss of energy when he pulled energy into his core. Then another waste, when he tried to cycle that energy through his body and condense it in his core.

Such wastes were only going to hinder him in the long run.

But he couldn’t make it past that final hurdle.

Lykan was so lost in thought, that he failed to notice Pentra’s arrival. Or rather he had noticed her arrival, but ultimately disregarded her arrival as trivial. Currently he was creating a flame that danced on the wind.

To cause a flame to dance on the wind was no easy feat. First, he had to have the wind pull dirt into the air. Then from that point, he would ignite the flames, and constantly over feed them with Air before the conversion of qi ultimately ended with little more than cleansing puffs of smoke in the air. Puffs of smoke that were then dissipated among the gusts of wind that surrounded them.

Pentra for her part was shocked at the progress Lykan was making with Fire. She was certain that his understanding of the Flames was at a grand master’s level, if not that of a peek cultivator. Still watching him, she watched as he manipulated flame after flame into existence, then watched as they all slowly faded out of existence.

Pentra watched as this man, a primitive inhabitant of a back water planet sparked a flame into life no more than a dozen times, with only their will and qi to fuel the flames.

Still, it was clear that despite their apparent success at using the element that was the opposite of their normal element, they were not happy with their results. In fact, the more she watched, the more she saw his stoic face slowly give way to a frustrated scowl.

Then finally Lykan had apparently had enough practice, as he stopped his flow of mana, then stopped to turn to face Pentra.

“Are you ready?”

That was the extent of his question. As he spoke the wind seemed to flow around him, blowing his silver hair with blue highlights into the wind. She wanted to point out that aspect, to ask if the wind blowing around him was a sign of his body taking on the part of the Flames, or if that was just the Air naturally responding to his mental state. Either way, his control and mastery of the different elements of this world were impressive.

Coming from a water covered planet, the whole concept of flames was anathema to Pentra. How could a flame exist when the whole world was covered in neutralizing water.

But on this planet, the element not only made sense, but seemed vital to life. On her home world the water kept the heat of the sun, keeping the planet at nearly a similar level of heat throughout the world. Only at the poles would the water flow coldly. But even there, the water never froze, not like it does here.

No, of all the new components this world offered, the existence of Fire and fire manipulators intrigued Pentra the most.

Watching Lykan, she felt she could gain a deeper understanding of the very nature of water. He was after all using qi to fuel his Flames, to fuel the transition from one elemental form to the next. She was certain that by watching his crisp control, that she could. Or at the very least, she felt she should be able to gain insight into the nature and existence of water.

“Yes.” Pentra answered, not wanting to distract her master from his discoveries.

With her own confirmation managed, Lykan then turned to Brenna and began speaking in the weird language of the natives. The one that sounded like harsh grunting sounds. Again, such sounds would not be possible on her home planet. At least, such sounds would not be possible under the waves. There were of course some Titans that made their homes on the tops of waves, but most of those titans were considered eccentrics. They were Titans who turned their backs on their ancestors, at least that is what Pentra had been led to believe.

But now she wondered if there was something more. If they were attempting to understand other elements that their world had. Elements that largely went unnoticed by her fellow Titans.

“Grwol, grr.”

“Grr grualwl.”

The two spoke in their guttural tongues.

Then after a nod from the master’s mate, they both got up and began walking into what remained of Master’s home village.

It was clear from the amount of growth that the village had been destroyed long ago. Not only had it been destroyed long ago, but everything had been burnt to the ground, then nature had come back to reclaim the lands with a vengeance.

Only a few fields where salt had been spread were still charred black. The rest of the fields had been healed completely.

Looking at the way the flame touched houses now grew with new life caused Lykan to pause. This was another understanding of flame that he needed to understand. An understanding that should mean something to him if he all but could comprehend the vast mystery that the world around him was trying to tell.

Not only was Fire the most destructive of the elements. At least in terms of an immediate surge of power being able to cause the most amount of damage for the lowest expenditure of qi. Fire also had a latent healing process as well.

The healing process was not an immediate effect, but rather it was a slow subtle thing. Surviving from Fire was no easy task. Trees that managed to do so, developed thicker layers of skin and protections. Humans too did much the same, when subjected to searing flames. When dense flames were applied to skin, the skin grew back with added layers of protection. While the skin would be considered flawed from its original state, the skin that grew back was far more resilient to future attacks. The nerves on burnt skin would often be dead, or less responsive to pain.

All of these were natural features that happened as a direct result of flames.

There was something there, something that he just needed to focus on, if he was going to make the final connections in his mind that he needed. He knew that scar tissue was a sign that the flames had gone too far, but there was something to the later aspect of flames. Something that helped signify that healing would eventually take place, far after the initial flame was gone, and everything tried to move on from the flames.

“Where to?” Brenna asked, pulling Lykan out of his own thoughts that were spinning about with no clear direction.

Lykan blinked for a moment, then turning about, he mentally overlayed the current layout of the dead village, to the village of his youth. Then opening his eyes, he turned to where the library should be, only to see several large trees were already growing in the remains of the once great building. Even now, just seven years later allowed trees that were easily as tall as Lykan to appear in the remains.

“There.” Lykan said, to the building that looked more like an overgrown greenhouse gone wild, than a stone building that had been brought low by flames.

With the direction at hand, the three made their way to the destroyed and run-down building. The building that had served as his childhood home for eleven years.