14 Let's Begin

"Ashur, I am sure you have realised that the amulet helps you to center yourself in your cultivation and focuses your energy. But there is a potentially dangerous side of the amulet," Linus said gravely.

Ashur gasped. This sounded very ominous. He asked, "What is it?"

Smiling ruefully at him, Linus explained, "Because you have sacrificed blood to the amulet, though unknowingly in your case, you now have a blood tie to the amulet. The amulet can make you stronger, and one way it does this is by making you believe that you are stronger than you actually are.

While wearing the amulet, you will overexert yourself more easily, and you will die."

Ashur stared at Linus with wide, open eyes in disbelief." D... Die? I don't want to die."

Linus comforted him," Do not worry. This is only in extreme scenarios. In fact, the slight chance of it occurring is only applicable when you are using the ancient Etherian Style, because of the large amounts of energy consumed. The normal Etherian Cultivation Style will not cause this to happen."

Ashur let out a small sigh of relief. From what Linus was describing, it seemed like a rather far off possibility instead of a curse doomed to happen.

"Oh, then that's fine," Ashur remarked rather nonchalantly.

"Young man, do not take this lightly. Always remember: never let the amulet bring you too far. It may one day bring you to a place where you can never return." Linus said solemnly to Ashur.

Ashur grasped the gravity of the situation and nodded . "Alright, alright. I will keep this in mind," he promised.

Satisfied that Ashur was taking this seriously, Linus rubbed his hands together and said, "Now that I have showed you the powers of the ancient Etherian Cultivation Style and warned you of the dangers of the amulet, I think that we can start training now."

And with that, Linus officially started teaching the skills and techniques of the ancient Etherian Cultivation Style.

Not wanting to expose his secret, Ashur began practising in the woods at the edge of the valley more frequently than before.

“Before you start to practise large scale Elemental Magic, you need to build up your magical stamina first. It is not enough to just have physical stamina.” Linus instructed him. “It can be tiring to use up so much energy.”

So in order to build his magical stamina, Ashur practiced his techniques against the giant trees and solid boulders that dotted the landscape.

He tried using different mechanisms to move them, from blowing strong wind and blasting water at them, to loosening the soil particles underneath. Most of the time, he could only get them to move a few inches at most, but shifting an object that large was already rather impressive for someone his age.

After each training session, Ashur was always exhausted from using so much energy. But the sense of satisfaction he felt from improving his skills and learning new techniques made it all seem worth it.

Ever since he started wearing the amulet, his skill level had increased rapidly. He found that he could control elements more easily and more accurately than before. Elemental Magic seemed to dance at his fingertips, urging him to use it

Not only did the amulet provide him the guidance of a Grand Master, it also helped him to center his strength and energy.

As he learnt more magical techniques and became stronger, his self confidence consequently started to grow.

“Maybe I’ll be able to summon a small lightning bolt today!” Ashur said to himself. After failing miserably the past few times, he was rather discouraged.

“But today might be different!” He told himself optimistically. “I won’t know if I don’t give it a try.”

Standing in a stable stance, he started to gather energy. The Lightning Technique was very energy consuming and required a large amount of energy.

When he felt that he had reached a sufficient energy level, he closed his eyes and focused, concentrating all the energy together. Using his hands to aid him, he squeezed the energy, tighter and tighter, tighter and tighter….

Zzz!

Hearing the sound of static, Ashur instantly opened his eyes.

There was a small bolt of lightning! It appeared only for a few seconds, then quickly fizzled out.

This was the furthest he had ever come in learning the Lightning Technique, and he knew that Leander would be proud of him when he heard this news.

And it was all due to the power of the amulet!

Ashur clutched the amulet that was hung around his neck tightly. Thank goodness he had chosen the right gift from the Hall of Treasures! It was a stroke of pure luck, and perhaps fate as well, that had led him to choose this amulet out of all the precious treasures.

With this amulet, he could not just break out of his previous cultivation plateau, but it might also make him one of the greatest Warriors in all of the lands!

After the excitement of managing to finally summon a small lightning bolt, Ashur wanted to continue practising, but he forced himself to stop for a while.

“I’ll just take a short break before continuing to train,” Ashur said to himself. Astraea and Leander had both constantly reinforced the importance of allowing the body and mind to gain sufficient rest in order to improve faster.

“Resting allows your mind and body to recover, especially after you have exerted so much effort. If you don’t rest, they will burn out. At that point, it is too late, and you will need weeks to get well again,” they told him.

Listening to their sound advice, Ashur found a nice patch of grass to sit on. He closed his eyes to meditate and recuperate his energy.

A wave of calmness washed over him, and he focused on breathing in deeply and steadily. In and out, in and out.

He felt at peace, and was highly in tune with his spiritual self.

Just then, he heard a low growl.