Lassim left the servants’ residence, the pervasive darkness of the ever-present thunderstorm casting eerie shadows across the sect’s grounds.
As he walked through the sect and retraced his steps towards the entrance, he recalled the direction to the Tempering Fields, the place he had passed through when he arrived.
It was a bit of a distance away as he had followed the Sect Master on foot, but his sharp mind and excellent enhanced memory remembered the general direction.
Dressed in his servant martial robes, Lassim noticed the mixed reactions from the other disciples as he walked. Most ignored him, their expressions indifferent or mildly curious.
A few, recognizing his high cultivation level despite the servant garb, looked at him with a mix of pity and speculation. They wondered what transgression had led a peak Spirit Transformation cultivator to such a menial role for punishment but chose not to approach him or make a comment.
The sect’s guards, with their purple martial robes with red accents stationed at the exit, merely glanced his way as he walked past. It was common enough for servants to leave alone instead of the typical duos that missions required, heading out to complete their weekly quotas. No questions were asked.
Once outside and past the gate, Lassim pulled out the sheet given to him, studying the image of the Thunder Source Stone. He scrutinized the details, hoping to glean some insight that would make his search easier.
According to the description, TSS were similar to Elemental Source Stones but of higher purity and focused solely on the lightning element. These stones held less value compared to standard ESS that were a naturally formed mixture of all the elements, but for lightning cultivators, they were invaluable.
The TSS was depicted as a blue and purple crystal, containing what seemed like a writhing bolt of lightning within.
The sheet stated that they formed under specific conditions: repeated lightning strikes on a particular stone and optimal mana density in the air. Typically found just beneath the surface, some digging was necessary to unearth them.
Lassim sighed, realizing the additional effort this task would require. He had hoped for an easier collection and could find them just lying around, but the need to dig meant he would have to return with proper tools, potentially.
For today, he decided he would rely on his hands, gauging how deep and difficult it would be to retrieve the stones from the barren ground.
Stowing the sheet away, he trudged onward with [Tempest Steps], finally reaching the Tempering Fields after a short while.
He then let his spirit sense expand, searching for any trace of the elusive TSS, hoping for some sort of clue. The fields were vast, filled with the constant crackle of lightning strikes and the oppressive darkness of the storm.
His first idea was to check places where the lighting strikes frequented most, the pillars. Searching near them and around them with his spirit sense. Unfortunately, nothing stood out to him yet.
Hours passed as he scoured the area, frustration building with each passing minute. His spirit sense combed the ground repeatedly, but there was no sign of the stones. He was thorough, his senses sharp, but the TSS remained hidden.
One thing that was peculiar that he noticed however was that the lightning from the fields seemed to avoid him entirely. Each strike veered away, leaving him unharmed.
When he arrived, he had just wished and hoped that the storm above wouldn’t make his search more difficult than it was, and it seemed like it agreed. He only realized after the first hour when he remembered his fellow servant’s warnings about the intense pain and to use the pillars to disperse the lightning remnants.
Whatever was happening, he uttered a soft, "Thank you," to the storm above for not striking him down. He’d enjoy it while it lasted.
As the day wore on, Lassim’s mind was sore from scouring across the rocky soil with information overload searching every speck of dirt.
The constant flashes of lightning in the sky and at the pillars cast an otherworldly glow over the landscape. Still, he pressed on, determined to find at least one stone before the day’s end. The lack of results gnawed at him as he’d need a full 50 before the end of the week time limit, but he refused to give up.
That’s when suddenly, Lassim noticed something odd. The lightning mana in the air seemed to be converging to a specific spot in the ground around a kilometer to his left. Curious, he focused his spirit sense on that area.
"[Zaphy, do you sense that?]" Lassim asked, mentally reaching out to his lightning elemental companion.
Zaphy’s voice echoed in his mind, tinged with excitement. "[Yes, brother! There’s something over there! It might be a Thunder Source Stone!]"
Lassim hurried to the spot, his fist first punching the hardened top layer of the tempered ground enough for his fingers to dig into the dirt below.
About six centimeters deep, he found a tiny fragment of a purple and bluish stone. I was definitely a budding Thunder Source Stone! There was the tiniest of lightning bolts darting around in the middle of its reflective surface.
However, it was small, roughly the size of a fingernail. Perhaps, too small to count towards his quota, but he decided to keep it just in case.
He stored it away in his magic pouch and continued his search, now with a better understanding of the natural mana fluctuations around where a Thunder Source Stone appears.
With this new insight and hint, Lassim honed his senses, focusing deeply on the lightning mana with his spirit sense. He moved methodically across the field in a more surgical manner, feeling for the same telltale convergence of energy that indicated a TSS was just beneath the surface.
Hours passed, and just as the storm seemed to grow more intense, his spirit sense picked up a faint, distinct energy signature. Another stone! This one had an even larger energy disturbance as well, he noticed.
This one was buried deeper beneath the surface than the last, roughly a whole foot under the ground, but it matched the description of the TSS perfectly when he saw it.
Excitement surged through him as he dug feverishly, his fingers clawing at the dirt and rocks to break the stone free.
With a final effort, he unearthed a flashing blue and purple crystal, the telltale lightning bolt wriggling inside. He had found his first full sized Thunder Source Stone.
Lassim held the stone up, marveling at its beauty and the resonating power it held within.
Despite the annoyance and frustration that weighed on him for going a whole day with only a single stone, a sense of accomplishment filled his heart. He felt like he had a better idea on how he could find them based on the way the lightning disturbed the ground and concentrated.
He tucked the stone safely away in his magic pouch.
Yet suddenly, the ground beneath him trembled. Lassim’s senses heightened as he felt a surge of lightning mana from below.
He leaped back just as the earth erupted, revealing a nest of spark rats, large dog-sized rodents with wiry fur crackling with electric energy. Their large buck teeth sparked as they whistled menacingly as they emerged, eyes glowing with fury.
"[You’ve disturbed their nest!]" Zaphy warned, her voice urgent in his mind.
The spark rats lunged at Lassim, a shower of sparks shooting from between their buckteeth.
Lassim rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding the first wave of lightning sparks.
The rodents were relentless, driven by an instinct to protect their territory and the precious stone Lassim had unearthed.
Channeling his own lightning energy, Lassim prepared to defend himself. He summoned a barrier of ice, deflecting the initial barrage of sparks and allowing him to stand back up.
The rats, undeterred, circled him, their movements coordinated and aggressive.
One of the spark rats lunged forward, its teeth bared. Lassim sidestepped and countered with a [Slash] as he attacked with the halberd midair, striking the creature and sending it skidding back in two halves, defeated.
The other rats, twenty by Lassim’s count, hissed and sparked, closing in on him.
Lassim’s mind raced. They were weaker than him, but he couldn’t get overwhelmed as even a single bite would probably chomp off a limb with how razor sharp their teeth looked.
Zaphy chose to help, directing a concentrated bolt of lightning from the clouds above at the largest rat, hoping to intimidate the others. The bolt hit its mark, sending the creature sprawling and seizing, its fur singed and smoking.
The other spark rats hesitated, their movements faltering.
Sensing an opportunity, Lassim surged forward, his hands crackling with energy that ran up the shaft of his halberd, charging its runes.
He struck out with rapid [Thrusts], each blow landing with precision and a sharp puncturing force with the jet of lightning bolts combined with water elemental mana that emerged from the halberd’s pointed tip, scattering the rats and breaking their formation.
As the last of the spark rats retreated, hissing and sparking angrily before retreating to their underground hole, Lassim took a moment to catch his breath.
His heart pounded, adrenaline coursing through his veins. He glanced around, ensuring there were no more immediate threats that might emerge, like the appearance of a second rat wave.
"[That was close,]" Zaphy said, her tone a mix of relief and concern. "[Sorry for noticing it late. I’ll be more vigilant in the future brother!]"
Lassim nodded, wiping sweat from his brow. "[No worries Zaphy. I need to be more cautious too. That was pretty unexpected. I didn’t expect to think there were spark rats, but I guess it makes sense since there’s underground cave systems too.]"
With the immediate danger passed, Lassim refocused on his task. He had one Thunder Source Stone, but he needed more to meet his quota and there was still a bit left in the day.
The encounter with the spark rats had given him a new understanding of the dangers lurking in the Tempering Fields, so he maintained more vigilance in his search.
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As he resumed his hunt, Lassim’s spirit sense was sharper, more attuned to the specific fluctuations in lightning mana that might have a thunderstorm now that he knew what kind of disturbance a full one produces.
He moved methodically, scanning the ground and the air just above for any sign of the elusive stones.
Hours passed as he continued his search, the storm overhead relentless in its fury, but never striking him.
Just as he was about to consider returning for the day, his spirit sense detected another faint energy signature. Lassim’s heart quickened as he approached the spot, his senses on high alert. He punched the ground, breaking the hard surface and began to dig, his hands moving with practiced efficiency.
This time the stone was much deeper, nearly a full meter underground, which explained the faint disturbance he caught.
After a few moments, he unearthed another Thunder Source Stone, its blue and purple crystal flashing with contained lightning.
Lassim smiled, the sense of accomplishment renewing his resolve. He tucked the stone safely away before deciding to head back. He really should bring one of the shovels as his hands and servant robes were covered in dirt.
Thankfully the servant robes were the same color brown as the ground which helped hide some of the discoloration.
Lassim’s fingers ached a bit as he made his way back toward the sect, the two full size Thunder Source Stones in his pouch and a small fingernail sized one felt like good progress, but he needed to do better tomorrow.
The eternal storm still raged overhead, casting flickering shadows across his path. He passed through the sect entrance and once again the guards paid little attention to him. Merely giving a side eye glance at his dirty body and robes before focusing on their duties once more.
As he entered the servants’ quarters, the familiar hum of conversation and the clinking of utensils greeted him.