Titan Sol

Chapter 3: Tectonic Shell

Walters residence in the Homeless Hamlet

A day had passed and Seshwan was busy cultivating his earth essence within his five realms. He had cultivated the [Tectonic Shell] for a total of eight hours now and the difference in essence strength was already drastic in comparison.

The technique is a chanted phrase with many chapters, and by slowly contemplating the phrases, essence would be drawn in; insight could be gained through contemplation. Along with the chant there was a physical body training technique; recite passages while circulating essence forcefully and not allowing any to escape of his body. Essence flowed vigorously throughout his body.

Walter had gone to one the smiths to trade some trash for other essential items for the recruitment day. Down in the cistern life was different, the people here never traded with money because that is easily stolen, rather the shopkeepers and smiths only traded in items and goods. Pants and sackcloth shirts were commonly used as they were easy to come across. Other gathered materials from the areas near the city were considered tender as a lot of herbs for medicine grew along the coasts.

When Walter returned a short while later, Seshwan was still absorbed in cultivation, trying hard to gain insight into the earth essence. Walter stored the food he had just traded some stolen items for; he'd only just finished when he felt powerful essence close to him, almost like it had sprung from the shadows and gripped his throat. He spun around to see that Seshwan was the only one in the room. Small stones had begun to float near Seshwan as they gathered they began to arrange around his chest.

'Amazing! This boy has talent he's already started to form his first stage real guard.' Walter thought about his students' progress, a real guard would mean he's in the last stages of trainee realm and about to step into the Apprentice stage.

The difference between stage or even levels within the stages is great, an apprentice level one could not hope to compete with a level three; perhaps a level two with the right combat techniques but not normally. The starting stages were a lot easier to ascend through compared to later cultivation stages. Walter smiled; perhaps Seshwan would turn out to be the hidden treasure he had hoped to find in this dump of a city.

Seshwan opened his eyes; there was a majestic feeling in his chest. He looked toward the source to see an incomplete cuirass of stone had begun to form. A feeling of shock spread throughout his body and as he reacted the stones fell away.

It seemed once he'd broken his concentration his control over the stone had failed. The majestic energy was gone for now and he sat wondering if it was going to always be like this; even in combat would he need to keep focusing so hard?

"Walter are these stones part of the cultivation technique? I also just felt some kind of majestic energy within my essences realms, is that normal?" Seshwan may as well ask even if Walter scolded him for asking stupid questions.

"Those stones were drawn to you to form your first stage real guard. A real guard allows for physical enhancement and grants other essence abilities. If I'm correct you should form a cuirass first and the ability to absorb large impacts at way less cost. Since you're an earth type the majority of your base abilities should be defensive and crowd controlling; those roles are essential for a Guardian Knight." Walter had seen many earth essences in his years but none had gone through trainee realm so fast or said they'd felt majestic energy before they made it into the expert realm.

Seshwan felt full of energy as he stood up, his essence surged throughout him. The smell of the cistern no longer bothered him; the pressure he'd felt when he first arrived was still there but he could feel it was beneficial to his current cultivation. The pressure allowed him to absorb a seemingly limitless amount of earth essence from his surroundings.