Austin felt like he was going crazy as it felt like ice was pouring through every one of his veins. Throughout the process, he could not even move his body. Instead, his muscles had tensed at the sudden shock of the cold, completely unable to relax. Throughout the process, all he could think about was that Artas had tricked him into drinking something detrimental. That was the only explanation in Austin’s head that made sense.
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Austin felt like an idiot. He let some random guy trick him, and now he was probably going to die. His family was going to be left alone to survive in this game. He could only hope that somehow Maya and Josh got strong enough to ensure their survival.
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As the thoughts raced through Austin’s head, his body started to no longer feel cold. Then he started to notice that his muscles relaxed. He could not say that he felt good or bad now. He just felt like he had returned back to normal.
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“What the hell was that?” Austin spat angrily.
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“Sorry,” Artas replied in a sing-songy tone. “I didn’t want to scare you, so I didn’t warn you. Your body isn’t fully used to elixirs yet and may react in a variety of ways. The next time you take one, it should be a better experience.”
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“I thought I was going to die,” Austin glared.
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“But you didn’t, you should have more faith in your master,” Artas grinned as he lifted the pouch off the books by its drawstrings and lightly tossed it up and down. “You ready for your next explanation?”
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“What other crazy thing do you have for me?” Austin sighed.
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“These aren’t that bad at all. I promise you,” Artas opened the bag and poured out a yellow pill into his hand. “The process of meditation and the use of that elixir will inevitably cause some excess Essence to leave your body. It’s actually a principal reason why you want to grow your Essence before immediately trying to go into Copper.”
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Artas held the pill between his index finger and thumb as if he were showcasing it. “This pill is a stabilizer. It will reduce the Essence loss from the process.”
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“And let me guess, this one makes me feel like I’m on fire?” Austin asked somewhat sarcastically.
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“Not at all, you literally don’t feel a thing when you take one of these,” Artas replied. “You just take it before bed and have a nice sleep.”
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“I’ll hold you to that,” Austin still sounded a bit skeptical after the events of the elixir.
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“Yeah, yeah,” Artas waved Austin’s comment off before placing his finger on the top book. “Now, it’s study time. Start with this book; it’ll give you an idea about the fundamentals of technique creation. We’ll have dinner in a couple hours.”
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Austin sighed as he grabbed the leather book from the top of the pile. He was fully aware that a lot of his time went to studying back in the Survival Game, but he felt like this was a lot. It felt like he was back in college when he had to pore through various textbooks. The only nice thing about studying these books versus college is that they seemed directly applicable. At least the fundamentals book was, he still was not sure how reading stories would be beneficial to him.
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Austin poured through the pages for the next few hours. He definitely felt like he was gaining a greater understanding of techniques as he did. One of the major things he learned was that the applications of channeling Essence at his current stage worked as a sort of blueprint for a full on technique. There were also classifications for techniques, and it seemed like, until later on, that someone focuses on a particular classification.
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It seemed like each classification had its benefits, and a person could only maximize those benefits by sticking to the same one at the beginning. This was because the more someone focused on a specific way of channeling Essence, the more effective their techniques would become. The classifications were split into Champion, Beast, Shaper, and Tamer techniques.
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Champions seemed to focus on using Essence to create physical matter. Many did this by creating powerful weaponry or armor, but it could also be used to create a large physical object. It seemed the big caveat was that a Champion could only create an object; they could not control the object with their mind.
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Beasts focused on using Essence to change their body. It seemed like there was a lot of variety in these types of techniques because they could change their body into various different forms. Many used this to turn the bodies into weapons and gain claws or fangs made out of Essence. But a user could also use this to change their personal state of matter. For example, if they had a fire affinity, they could transform into flames.
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Shapers reminded Austin of a wizard. They channeled their Essence into long-range energy-based attacks. While they could not directly create something physical with these techniques, they were able to channel and control their energy into a long-range weapon.
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Tamers seemed to be the rarest and most difficult type of technique. It required someone to shape their Essence into a form, usually like an animal, and then give it independent will. It sounded like the techniques were difficult to perform and required a good deal of Essence upkeep to keep going.
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After reading through all the types of techniques, Austin felt lost in all the information. He felt like each type of technique had extreme benefits and he wished he could dabble in them all. But he knew that if he did, then his overall techniques would be much weaker. Despite the number of choices, Austin felt like he had at least narrowed it down. Since he felt like he wanted to take a more direct approach, he felt like Beast or Champion techniques would suit him the most.
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Austin tried to imagine what would work best for him. He was able to create a shield out of pure Essence when he fought Chet, but he also found that channeling Essence through his body was both exhilarating and useful. The book did make it clear that he still should channel Essence through the variety of methods he had learned; otherwise his body would fall behind. Austin did wonder if someone could use more than one type without it being too detrimental. He felt like the types could each complement each other well and would work better in combination than separately.
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“Deep in thought, huh?” Artas said as he knelt down behind Austin.
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“Whoa! Don’t sneak up on me,” Austin jumped as he held his chest.
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“I didn’t try to,” Artas laughed. “You must have just been really deep in thought.”
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“I was,” Austin replied. “Maybe we could discuss it some?”
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“Of course,” Artas smiled. “It’s about time to eat, too. So we will discuss over dinner.”
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Artas stood up and walked away from Austin. As Artas walked away, Austin noticed the small fire that burned, and next to it, a table with cooked dishes. Austin was so focused on his studying that he completely missed the fact that Artas was cooking during that time.
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Artas started to plate the food that sat on the table. Afterwards, he set the plates back down on the table and raised his hands in the air. As he raised his hand, a sort of green colored wind gathered around it, and roots started to grow from the ground. The roots twisted together and started to form the shape of chairs. Austin was awestruck, not only by the ability to just create chairs, but by how casually Artas seemed to do so.
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“Are you going to sit there with your mouth wide open, or are you gonna come over here and eat?” Artas asked.
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“Oh, sorry,” Austin said as he scrambled to his seat at the table. “I was just caught off guard by how easily you created that chair.”
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“That’s actually pretty simple. You’ll get the hang of that in no time,” Artas said before presenting his hand to the food. “Now go ahead and eat.”
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Austin looked down at the food that Artas had prepared for him. Part of him thought that the food would look strange since Artas was not from Earth, but shockingly, it looked familiar. On the plate was grilled fish, pickled vegetables, and potatoes. Artas had also prepared a clear broth on the side that looked to be made from mushrooms.
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Despite the appearance of the food, Austin still felt a little fear about actually eating it. For all he knew, it could look familiar but taste completely off. He warily took his spoon and sipped the broth. He was pleasantly surprised that the taste did not seem overly strange to him. It had tasted good, and the warmth of the broth ran through him and soothed him.
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Artas looked over Austin’s caution and raised an eyebrow before he said, “You don’t need to be scared of the food. I have found in my travels that a lot of flavors are similar except for maybe a few strange delicacies.”
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“Was I that obvious?” Austin asked before he took a bite of the fish.
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“Yes, you were shaking and everything,” Artas laughed. “I would think that you were going into some dangerous battle with how you acted.”
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“Can you blame me?” Austin said. “You’re from a whole other planet. Who knows what food is like there?”
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“I guess that is a fair judgment, but no need to worry,” Artas smiled. “There are some preferences depending on species, but a lot of humanoids have similar tastes.”
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“That’s good to hear,” Austin said with relief. “I won’t have to worry about anything too strange to eat, at least.”
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“Nope,” Artas said before he took a large bite of his fish. He then continued to speak with his mouth full. “So what did you want to talk about?”
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Austin tried not to roll his eyes. Apparently, table manners was not a universal thing. He took another bite of his food and swallowed before he said, “So I guess I have two questions. First, what did you pick for your technique type when you started? And second, how necessary is it to pick one technique type early on? I feel like a lot of types would work great together, and it makes it hard for me to pick a type.”
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“Ah, yes, when you start out, you want to do everything. I remember those days. I’ll answer your second question first. Choosing one style for your journey through Copper is incredibly necessary. It gives you a strong foundation and understanding of techniques,” Artas explained. “Not to mention, Iron is not as far as you think it is. Once you hit Iron, you’ll be in a better spot to take on a second technique type. As for myself? I started with the Champion technique.”
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“You really think it isn’t that far?” Austin asked.
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“Yep, think of Lead and Copper as like trial stages,” Artas explained. “They are to get you used to Essence usage, but you won’t stay there long. Especially under my guidance. There is a chance that you could leave the Survival Game as an Iron. After that point, the gap between ranks is much higher.”
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“Okay, that’s good to know. So I shouldn’t worry as much as I am,” Austin nodded. “So, back to the other question. Why did you pick Champion techniques?”
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“It felt like it suited me,” Artas replied. “But also, I felt that I had a decent ranged option and improvement of my physical abilities with basic channeling of my Essence. Sure, I wasn’t doing anything crazy with my body or my ranged attacks. But it got the job done.”
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“I get what you mean,” Austin agreed. “Currently, I am split between Beast and Champion.”
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“Ultimately, it is up to you,” Artas said. “I have my own personal experience, but you don’t need to follow that. Each type of technique can be incredibly versatile with creativity. Why don’t you read some of the stories and see examples of how people used them?”
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“Good idea,” Austin nodded. “I’ll do that right after we finish eating.”
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A sly grin formed across Artas’s face before he said, “Oh no, you won’t. After dinner is combat training.”
