First Elemental (Part Two)

"I will help you get your special elemental if you promise me to kill a certain someone," Paradicus said.

"Grandpa... Why are you asking my disciple to do a horrible thing?"

Paradicus looked at her with a serious expression. "Because we are warriors. Stop treating your disciple like a baby," he said. His speaking style changed when he was serious.

Mircalla was taken aback by her grandpa, but Hazel didn't. He didn't want to do an extreme thing for a bad reason, so he asked, "Who do you want me to kill?"

"Don't worry, child. It is an evil entity. What do you know about otherworlders that have come to this planet?"

"Well, I am not sure if it's proper to say this to you two, but our education and culture have biased views toward you, otherworlders. We emphasize we are civilized, and you guys are savages."

"Ah, well. Understandable."

"Of course I don't think so. Mircalla is a good person. You sound like a good person too!" Hazel immediately added.

"Child, I am about to ask you to kill someone. I am not a good person, but I am not an evil person myself. Well, you sound like you don't know much about otherworlders, so I will tell you the gist. We, otherworlders, came from several worlds. Otherworlders from my planet specifically are divided into three categories.

"The first category is unaffiliated people. You must be wary of these people because most of them will do anything for profits. They don't care about the ecosystem in this world.

"The second category is people from the Lazarus Organization. This is an evil organization who wants to take control of this world. The leader of this organization, Marxazar Xarxes Lazarus, is my organization and Mircalla's archenemy."

When she heard him mention this organization, Mircalla widened her eyes. "Grandpa, you won't ask him to kill their leader, will you? I will be angry if that's the case."

"Of course, not, my dear granddaughter. Grandpa is a strict person, not a cruel person. However, I do want him to kill a certain someone from this organization. You don't need to kill him now. You can do it when you become stronger. If you agree, I will help you get your special elemental upfront as a form of investment."

Hazel wasn't sure yet. If the old man, who was suspected to be as strong as Mircalla, couldn't kill him, that meant he was a troublesome target, but he would consider it in order to get his first special elemental.

"Who is this person?" Hazel asked.

"Leonidas Marxazar Lazarus, the youngest child of Marxazar. He is around the same age as you, but he is hiding his identity as another person among the society. My reliable source is saying he is controlling infamous evil organizations in this world. He is trying to destroy this world from inside. I, as an otherworlder, can't find him. I want you to be my spy in order to find him. If you do find him, I want you to get close to him and assassinate him when you have a chance."

"What will happen to me if someone has killed him first, or if I can't find him?"

"Nothing will happen to you. You have my words."

Hazel nodded. "Alright. One last question. I assume you and the people behind you are from the third category of otherworlders you have spoken about. So, what is your intention to come to this world?"

"Purely business. We are building a business relationship with your people. This world is like a massive rice field to us, and the evil organizations are like rats. We simply want to get rid of rats, so this rice field can thrive and produce nice quality rice."

Hazel smiled. He liked that answer. He could trust people who were upfront with their intentions. Furthermore, he was Mircalla's grandpa too. Without hesitation, he answered, "I accept this task."

[Paradicus's affection for you has increased by 5!]

It seemed his answer satisfied the old man, and it was apparent from his smile. "I like decisive kids. Let's go pick your gift now!"

Paradicus spread his arms, and a green orb came out of his chest. "This is my gift to you, bro. I hope this will be useful in your journey to become stronger. It's all yours, but please don't use my gift for evil and destruction."

"Don't worry. If I become a monster of destruction in the future, Mircalla can choke me to death in my sleep," Hazel said jokingly.

"Hmph! Don't order me to do a horrible thing to my disciple!" Mircalla replied while puffing her cheeks.

"Just kidding. Anyway, you can trust me, sir. I have been living my life as a poor person for 18 years, and I never fall into despair about my condition. My strong mentality is one of my strong points."

Paradicus laughed loudly. "I guess Mircalla is alright with you. Please take care of my dear granddaughter until she is freed from the ring." After saying that, his body faded and turned into green specks.

Hazel felt grateful to know him. Thanks to him, his grandpa list had increased. He checked his system as he let the green orb enter his body.

[GRANDPA LIST

3. Paradicus. Affection: 65.]

Hazel felt pity that he hadn't had a chance to talk with Paradicus more. If only they could have a longer conversation, he was confident to raise his affection to 69.

Hazel regretted it a little, but he put the matter aside. He needed to focus on his training. At the moment, the orb had fully entered his body, but he felt no change. However, the system did send him a notification of a change.

[Congratulations! You have obtained nature element seed! This substance will stay in your body for a week!]

"Have I gotten my first elemental?" Hazel wondered. Even if his system said he did, his body felt nothing.

"Yes, but you need to focus on training for the next 8 hours. If you can do it, I guarantee that you will awaken your aura after the training is done."

Hazel widened his eyes. "Only need 8 hours?" People usually would need a long time to awaken their aura. Even many high level people have not awakened their aura yet, but he could do it in less than a day! And, he was still under level ten too!

"Don't forget your Father's Love Ring's rank zero spell's effect."

Hazel forgot about his priceless treasure in the form of a ring. He rubbed the jewel and summoned the ring's system screen.

[Name: Father's Love Ring]

[Effect 11: Limit Breaker. A rank zero spell, but a really popular spell even among celestials. It is still useful even if the user reaches a high level. This spell allows the user to break past the limit of their potential when they train hard, increasing the chance to raise the user's stats grade.]

"That spell is passive. It automatically affects you when you are training. Aside from that spell, you have [Training Potion] and [Stamina Potion]. With these three and training non-stop, I guarantee you will awaken your aura. Are you ready?" Hazel nodded, and Mircalla continued, "Then I will explain about the [Celestial Gardens of Nine Stars] to you. Make sure to memorize it."

Hazel listened to her attentively and memorized how to learn the specific breathing technique he desired.

To learn aura through the breathing technique, someone only needed to recall the mantra in their mind as they breathed in a certain rhythm. They only needed to do this repeatedly until they awakened their aura.

The philosophy behind this method was when you imagined, things happened. This was also the basis of mana work. Mana was pure energy, and it could change into many things like aura, so the practitioner needed the imagery of aura awakening to achieve it.

Of course, simply imagining it while breathing in a certain rhythm was the normal way. There was a way to make the breathing technique more effective, and the way was to perform body movements like dance and martial arts.

Hazel performed the dance of the first phase of the [Celestial Gardens of Nine Stars] by following Mircalla's movements.

The dance move was smooth and fluid. It was like a mix of an acrobat and a martial art.

At first, Hazel's movements were clumsy, but he could mimic her perfectly in a matter of half an hour.

As she stopped performing an example, Hazel continued. He performed it non-stop.

Ten minutes passed. One hour passed. Two hours passed.

Time flew, and the sky outside changed color, but Hazel kept going. He broke sweats, but he didn't lose stamina after drinking [Stamina Potion].

He was alone in the training field, but it didn't bother him. He was fully immersed in his training, and he didn't want to waste the effect of the [Training Potion].

With that, 8 hours passed. The effects of the potions had expired a few minutes ago, but he still moved. His body drenched in sweat, wetting the floor. His heart beat loudly like it was about to explode, but he still maintained his breath. His vision was blurring, but he didn't give up. He wouldn't give up before he awakened his aura today.

Even Mircalla, who had turned into the spirit form again, could only look at him in worry. She miscalculated. He couldn't awaken the aura in his condition.

After several rounds of hesitation, Mircalla couldn't bear the sight of him who had been on the verge of collapsing, so she said, "Hazel, it was my fault. It is okay to drop your training and rest. You are not okay."

Hazel, however, ignored her. In his exhausted condition, he couldn't hear anything. Even his mind couldn't think about anything too. His body and breathing kept going on autopilot.

However, Hazel was a mere low level person. There was a limit to how stubborn he could be. Eventually, his ax slipped from his hand. His legs failed him, and he started to fall.

Before he fell, a miraculous thing happened. His body suddenly emitted a faint light, and it kept shining brighter. After a while, a green aura covered his entire body, and the system message appeared in front of him.

[Congratulations! You have learned Aura Ignition!]

[Congratulations! Your Celestial Gardens of Nine Stars has reached level 2!]