Earth Grade, Maelstrom Technique

"Tanner....." Beside Tanner, Arnold said weakly.

"Stay still." Evading the fangs, Tanner carried Arnold in his arms and leaped, leaving the small pit.

"Water Curtain!" Casting the Mid-Tier Water spell, a wall of water appeared, and several silver fangs collided with them, giving off scraping sounds.

"Phantom Armor, equip!" A sinister aura spread. Some of the low grade beasts in front became afraid and slowed down.

"Phase! Phase Clone! Phantom Strike!" Instantly using his trump cards, ten clones appeared and struck out their palms. The beasts in front were immediately knocked back.

"Phantom Rush!"

Tanner could freely control his states of materiality and immateriality. His hands held Arnold as his body flickered, leaving behind afterimages.

"After him!" The purple robed mage shouted.

"Die! Phantom Strike!" The ten clones rushed at the purple robed mage, and struck their palms out simultaneously.

The purple robed mage attempted to block, but the palms phased right through his defense and struck his chest heavily, sending him flying like a bullet.

"Iron Fist!" The burly man punched at a clone. As his fist struck, the clones disappeared.

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[Mana – 0/320]

"Wow! Just one punch reduced my mana so heavily!" Tanner exclaimed. He had gone out of Phase, and the duration for Phantom Rush had ended, as his mana had been depleted.

"I still have two thirds of my energy left, however, that may be insufficient." He muttered silently.

Arnold had recovered slightly, and his complexion had improved. They stopped at a random area, covered in rocks and extending infinitely.

Tanner inspected his energies. His Mana was completely empty. His Energy was recovering slowly. The Azure Qi had lost a considerable portion and had dimmed significantly.

"That burly person is too strong. His punches must pack a ton of weight." Tanner deduced, frowning heavily.

"I told Allen to head back to the center after he helps out our teammates. Given his horses' strength, it should be easy to defeat a Grade 5 Lava Golem. Let's go." Tanner said.

"Hm." Weak fire erupted from his greaves, looking unstable. However, he did not fall.

"Let's go." Tanner held him, and they flew towards the direction of the exchange center.

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"Phew! You're safe." Luna, who stood outside spotted the two. Quickly going inside and getting the two a room, she, along with everyone took care of the injured.

Allen had no trouble defeating the golem with the aid of his horse, so he was somehow unscathed.

Tanner had fought too much, so he still had a few bruises which he treated.

Arnold had been the worst. After two days, he had not recovered. Decisively acting, Tanner had used the other Fiery Fruit. It's warm aura spread around his body, an he healed at a slow pace.

Three days later, he had healed fully. Tanner had been cultivating when he healed. Reporting everything that happened, he brought Arnold up to date.

Allen had left with the team four days ago, and they were off on a week long mission.

"Why so long?" Arnold frowned. Shouldn't they be recuperating?

"He said to improve the combat effectiveness of the team. Don't worry, if he wanted to escape, not much could stop him." Tanner reassured.

"Anthony....." Arnold clenched his fist.

"Huh?"

"That's the name of that burly person. The purple robed mage should be Jared. They are both core sect members of the Iron Glory sect. Even if they were a realm higher, we should not have lost so badly. If not for your armor, we would be dead." Arnold clenched his fists. A dark aura started to spread from him, startling Tanner.

Tanner, who was still sitting cross-legged was surprised. He inspected the aura, and gasped.

"Every entity has a shadow. The bigger or mightier, the bigger the shadow." Right now, the vague image of a phoenix shadow was formed, and it enveloped him tightly.

"Water Wave." A weak wave struck Arnold, drenching him. The mysterious phenomenon immediately stopped.

"Thank you. I'm not too proficient in controlling my phoenix yet, especially it's dark portion." Arnold sighed.

"No problem." Tanner shrugged, and changed the topic. "I was thinking of finding a Cultivation Technique I could use, as I have a surplus of gold right now."

"Let's go." After freshening up, the two left the room and went towards the cultivation section.

_________________

"Water Tribulation Technique." Arnold picked out a small manual.

"What does it do?" Tanner did not look interested, but asked anyways.

"Says here that it unleashes the power of water, raising momentum with every strike. In the end, the water condenses to ice and strikes out with all the accumulated momentum. It is an Inferior Grade Technique.

"Boring."

"Oh! An Earth Grade Technique is actually here."

"Details."

"It's called the Maelstrom Technique. It uses the user's control and comprehension of water to deliver precise and accurate strikes. The finishing move, like it's name is Whirlpool, which produces a strong current of water."

"Good, but not sufficient."

"What type of technique are you looking for?" At this point, Tanner had crossed out up to twenty Water Element Techniques. What did he want?

"A specific one." Some moments later, he sighed. It seemed he had relied on IX too much. He had forgotten one of his core principles – relying on oneself to improve.

His eyes appeared with a resolute gaze, and he picked the Maelstrom Technique, as his control was exceptional for his realm.

"Finally, we've been here all day." Arnold sighed and stretched his body.

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The sun had started to set, gradually disappearing from a half of the earth. Tanner stared at the beautiful sunset and his eyes shone brightly.

'It's only been one month, yet I've made such improvements. I have to catch up to everyone else.' His eyes gleamed and he stared at the moon, which still hung somewhat weakly in the sky.

After the sun set fully, his Royal Blue Armor appeared on him and he sprinted towards a random direction.

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"Go!" Tanner swung his sleeves, and a ring of water struck a Grade 2 Earth Worm, and it split cleanly into two halves.

"The first move, Precise Control was easy enough to comprehend. My Magic Control is already a bit high, so I should go for the second, Gathering The Rivers." Tanner looked for another suitable opponent.

Soon after, he set his eyes on a Grade 4 Bronze Skinned Golem, accompanied by several Grade 2 Earth Golems. The numbered about eleven in total.

"Gathering The Rivers." A boundless aura suddenly spread from him. The illusion of a vast river appeared behind him, albeit vague. His hands moves fluently, gathering the river in his palms. He sent a palm strike at the golem, releasing a sharp dagger which radiated a boundless aura.

Roar!

The golem, sensing the dagger immediately roared and struck out it's fist, releasing a Bronze Qi towards his dagger.

Tanner was astonished. He muttered silently, "It seems to have learned to use Qi. Amazing."

The dagger and Qi clashed midair. Countless sparks were produced, and a massive shockwave pulsed, and a small crater was produced. Tanner frowned. His dagger had lost out, and the Qi was heading his his direction.

"Water Wave." He released a sharp wave, and it instantly destroyed the remnant Qi, shattering itself in the process.

"I shall come back and return the punch, until then. Water Dragon!" Tanner released a Water Dragon. Not bothering to see the results, he sprinted away.

"Not sufficient. Until I comprehend the first three moves, I shall not leave." Tanner sat cross-legged. A boundless river appeared behind him, gaining more sustenance from the mana in the air.

"The Rocky Plains Battlegrounds has too much earth attributed mana, else I would have pushed to the fourth move." Tanner sighed and stood up.

"Precise Control!" Small globs of water appeared around him, constantly changing shape. It was a dagger, then became a halberd, then a sword.

"Gathering The Rivers!" He spread his arms, and a vast river appeared behind him. Moving his hands in a controlled manner, the water from the river boosted the globs of water, and they gained a boundless aura. Then he gathered the water in his palms, and he compressed it into a small short sword.

Despite being in a liquid state, the sword seemed to be solid matter. It's aura projected a boundless and vast river. It's edges were smooth and extremely sharp, buzzing with vigor.

"Boundless Sea's Transformation!" The sword suddenly flickered. It's form seemed to tremble, and it split into a ring of swords, gathering around him. It's aura became even more vast, projecting a sea.

"Omnidirectional Strike!" Suddenly, Tanner gained enlightenment. His eyes gleamed and the ring of swords spread out, moving in different directions. However, ten metres away, they lost form and fell down to the ground, becoming water.

"The fourth move is a bit complex. I have to constantly keep all swords in form. My Magic Control is high, but not enough." Tanner sighed. However, he did not give up.

Equipping the Phantom Armor, his body split into ten. He ordered the nine clones, and they spread out and disappeared into the ground.

"That's much better." Setting priority to his own vision, his sight returned from it's twenty states.

"Precise Control!"

"Gathering The River!"

"Boundless Sea's Transformation!"

"Omnidirectional Strike!"

"Twelve metres, again!"

"Fifteen metres, again!"

"Thirty metres, again!"

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The sun had started to set, and Tanner sat on the ground, calmly cultivating. An Earth Golem, seeing him distracted roared and rushed at him.

However, thirty metres away, a clone struck out with it's palm, startling it. It moved it's hands quickly, blocking the strike.

Clang!

It's massive body fell to the ground, never to get up again. This scene happened multiple times as Tanner cultivated.

"Retract!" Tanner called back his clones, and his eyes became clear. He shouted lightly, "Precise Control!"

Water gathered from the moisture in the air, forming a small glob of water.

Tanner became excited. He said happily, "I can now gather water from the air, an upgrade from my previous state of using my mana. However, the water attributed mana here is low."

"Gathering The River!" A vast river appeared behind him. It looked a bit realistic, as waves spread everywhere, making the calm river to rage furiously. His hands moved quickly, and the water glob seemed to gain a boundless aura, increasing in size and vastness quickly.

"Boundless Sea's Transformation!" Tanner spread out his arms, and the glob became ten condensed swords, which revolved around him. Parts of the swords seemed to be in a state similar to ice, and others in a liquid state.

Small shards seemed to fall off the swords, giving a vast aura. He swung his arms at the hill of corpses in front of him, and shouted lightly, "Omnidirectional Strike!"

The swords all spread out int different directions. Two swords struck the corpses, and they parted like a knife through butter.

"The Maelstrom Technique has ten moves, and I have learnt three of the most basic moves. The next is similar to the second move, Gathering The Rivers. However, it should be more powerful."

Suddenly, he flew forward and took three steps. Every step left behind a vague afterimage, and they all shouted lightly, "Parting The Rivers!"

However, the move failed, and the afterimages disappeared into nothing.

"So close!" Tanner sighed. This technique was hard.