บท 436: Elemental Patterns

The Elemental Orbs appeared in my view, scarcely spread throughout the wilderness. There was no pattern, or anything missing as far as I could see. That didn't mean it wasn't working. I took my time, and moved from one area to the next one. Time slowly passed, while I found nothing. Sometimes my mind would play tricks on me, and I would "notice" something wrong. But every time I tested out that place or object, nothing was there.

'I only searched like one percent of the area I designated for myself. There's still loads to cover' I thought. I searched tirelessly, only taking breaks when I had to. At first, I thought those Elemental Orbs floated randomly around the wilderness, but then I began noticing patterns. I didn't want to believe it myself, and though I looked at those things for far too long. Yet even after taking a break, I still managed to spot some patterns.

The Earth Element Orbs would float closer to the ground, and in a specific direction. That direction was further north. That wasn't continuous though, those Orbs acted as if they were attracted to something for a while, but then that attraction disappeared. The Orbs would basically make a circle, and return to the same area.

The Air Element Orbs were a bit different though. They were attracted by something too, but in a different direction. From what I figured out, they were moving towards north-east. The pattern of movement was similar to the Earth Element Orbs, but larger in range. That wasn't all, those Orbs had obvious properties too. Earth Element Orbs were heavy, and floated very slowly closer to the ground. Air Element Orbs were lighter, and floated higher up at much greater speeds.

There was another thing. Those Orbs, they had a sort of lifespan too. Not that they were alive, but they simply ceased to exist after some time. New Orbs would appear, while the old ones would fade away into nothingness. Or perhaps, they simply faded away for a while, and appeared again someplace else. I wasn't sure, because I couldn't see that.

I couldn't interact with those Orbs, I had no affinity towards any of them. Yet the movement was peculiar, and really mysterious. 'Why would those Orbs move in different directions for a while, but then return? What exactly is attracting those things?' I asked myself. I wasn't sure, or rather there were too many unknowns, but I decided to follow those patterns. They pointed me towards north-east, and that's where I headed.

The closer I got to the Land of Sands, the stronger those patterns became. When I entered the Land of Sands, I saw something stranger. The Earth Element Orbs gathered into one location, and seemed to be disappearing more often. I wouldn't call it a storm of Orbs, but the pattern looked something like it. The Orbs moved in a spiralling manner around a certain area, but that wasn't the only area. There was another area further east. Instead of Earth Element Orbs, Air Element Orbs circulated around it.

Those areas were in the middle of nowhere. There were no caves, trees, rocks or anything. Only sand. When I entered those locations, the Orbs flew around me, but not in the middle where I stood. Something must've made them move in circles around those areas, yet the strangest thing was I felt nothing with my body. If not for my mask, I would never discover that, even if I passed through this place a thousand times.

'I'm not sure whether it's a Formation causing this, or something else. All I know is that, something must be underneath' I thought. I condensed the Power of Ice in my hand, and threw it at the ground. The ground froze, but nothing else happened. I tried my Auras next, and buried them deep into the sand. That brought no results either. 'Just how deeply is that thing buried?' I asked myself.

No matter what I did, nothing worked on any of those areas. 'I came this far, there must be something underneath. If I can't reach it with my Auras, I have to dig' I thought. I felt I was close to something, I just didn't know exactly what that something was. I took out my Bastard Sword, and dug. Whether I slashed, or used it as a spade, the effects would be similar. Because this was the Land of Sands, the ground was rather loose. The digging area had to be rather big, otherwise the sand would simply fall back down.

I dug and dug, and dug some more. Until I finally reached something hard. 'That's just rock… Do I need to dig through that as well?' I asked myself. There was no obvious signs of anything, but before I dug even more, I decided to try my Auras again. I released my Auras, and tried probing the rocky ground beneath me.

A while later, my Auras encountered nothing that stopped them. There were no Formations or anything really. 'My Auras have a limited reach, when it comes to going through solid stuff like rocks. At best I might reach twenty metres deep. This should mean, whatever is down there must be buried even deeper' I thought.

Perhaps the area I chose to try it on, was not the best one. I chose to try the area where the Earth Element Orbs gathered. The Orbs floated closer to the ground, while some of them would enter the ground and the rock beneath my feet. It was entirely possible that whatever was buried in that area, was buried much deeper. There was another thing. With the hole I dug, the Orbs were attracted even more. They acted in a more active way, and entered the rocky ground much more regularly.

'There is no doubt in my mind that something is there. It would be pointless to start digging at the other area. The depth of that something might be the same in both areas. I might as well continue, and dig through the rock' I thought, and proceeded to slam my sword into the ground. With the Formation active, the sword broke the rocks with each strike. I began digging again, but the rocky ground got harder and harder the deeper I went. As if those Earth Orbs were strengthening the ground beneath my feet.

It took me a while, but I managed to dig down a few metres. This time though, I dug down a smaller area, about three metres in radius. The further down I went, the less space I had to swing my sword. At the end, I was totally exhausted. 'I'm not sure if this is enough, but I will take a rest first, and then continue after. A few more metres down, and I will check again' I thought.

After my rest, I continued digging. The hole was quite deep already, about fifteen metres deep from the surface. I decided to give it a try at that stage. With my Auras released, I pushed them deeper into the ground. Just as my Auras were about to reach the limit, I felt something. My Auras got bounced back a little. I wasn't sure what exactly bounced my Auras back, but it wasn't the ground or at least I didn't think it was.

I tried again, and the same thing happened. A slight push backwards, faint but real. 'I need to dig a bit deeper, and try when my Auras can reach it better. Whatever that thing is, it must have something to do with how those Elemental Orbs act' I thought, and continued digging deeper.