The earth elemental turned towards him and said "What are you talking about? It was my own choice.. Human's life is too short to take upon themselves other people's mistakes."
"What are you going to do now? You know you can't stay here anymore, right?.. Each of the powers will find a reason to hunt you down." Said Daniel to the earth elemental.
The earth elemental turned his head around, almost as if taking a last look at his childhood home. He then said "I will find a way to leave with my children.. It won't be easy.. We are not capable of hiding in plain sight like you do.."
Daniel was shocked for a moment. "How did you find out?" Asked Daniel while smiling subtly.
"Human.. you can fool those cultivators with such a cheap level of comprehension of earth essence.. But not me." Responded the earth elemental with a matter-of-fact tone.
It was at this moment that Ligart approached the two from behind, and asked "Who says you can't hide in plain sight?" He then looked at Daniel and said. "You've seen Daniel's ability in spatial essence.. It is thanks to him that we can carry our base wherever we go."
"I am not familiar with human's uses of spatial essence.." Said the earth elemental.
Daniel looked at Ligart, and once again felt grateful about the guy's gifts of spontaneity and straightforwardness. He then turned back towards the earth elemental and asked "Would you mind if I showed you?"
The earth elemental waved his hand slowly and said, "By all me-" but before he could finish, he found himself within Daniel's pocket dimension. The space had been morphed according to Daniel's comprehension of space, so now, the area of the pocket dimension was thousands of meters wide.
The only essence that the elemental was capable of feeling, was wind essence.
The meter long stone snake uncoiled from around the human-like elemental's leg, and after landing on the floor, it tried to slither above the smooth surface made out of spatial essence. Unfortunately, its snake-like shape prevented him from moving above smooth surfaces.
The human-like elemental looked at him and said "Stop playing around boy.."
After hearing his father's reprimand, the snake-like elemental morphed into a kid the size of a four years old boy, which after walking around for a bit, turned towards his father and said "I don't like this place.. I can't feel the earth.."
"Of course you can't.. We are not home anymore." Said the earth elemental in a comforting tone. "I trust you, human.. And I agree that there is enough space for me and my sons to make a temporary dwelling here.. But the complete lack of earth essence is.. We are not fit to live in this place."
After a minute of consideration, Daniel took an earth treasure out of his spatial ring and said "You are made out of earth essence.. Your very existence is comprehension of earth essence." He then paused for a moment, and showed the low level level earth treasure to the two earth elementals, which after feeling the faint earth essence within, started to feel a little more comfortable. He then continued "Help me comprehend earth essence, and I'll be able to make a home for you here."
The adult-like earth cultivator laughed as if he had just heard the funniest thing in the world. He then said "That's ridiculous. Comprehending earth essence would take you decades! We can't wait that long."
"You are underestimating my talent.." Said Daniel while making the lightning sphere appear in his hand, and the wind sphere fly from high up in the sky, all the way over his head. "I can make a habitat identical to the one you've lived in.. right now."
On the adult-like earth elemental's rocky face, what one would describe as a grin appeared. He then said "Very well.. I'll give you three days. But there is someplace else we need to go first.. Mind taking us out?"
Daniel indicated the one way spatial gate right in front of the castle's entrance, and said "You can leave whenever you want from there." He then walked into the spatial gate, and appeared at the edge of the ravine.
The next moment, the father and son duo appeared as well.
"Follow me." Said the earth elemental while turning back into a giant golem form, and walking north.
-----
Legion's headquarters. Chairman's office.
A middle aged woman in blood red clothes was sitting behind a desk. Her pitch black hair were neatly kept in a single ponytail that reached all the way down her lower back. Her feature were attractive, but her face was decorated with what looked like three small battle scars. She also wore an elegant blood red eyepatch, that she used to cover the eye she had lost years back in combat.
Her expression was cold, and gave others the impression that there was no ruthless actions she wouldn't be capable of.
She was currently looking at two files put side by side above her desk. These two files, were the evaluations of Daniel and Jerigh.
"Which city were they tested in?" Asked the middle aged woman.
"Drester.. Both examiners are trusted and experienced." Responded a man in red leather armor which sat on a chair right in front of the desk. "They showed up together at the recruitment building. They then ignored the groups listed as recommended, and entered a newly formed group called 'The Aimless Adventurer'.."
"Tell me about the mission that was assigned to them." Said the middle aged woman with a demanding tone.
"Their objective is to reach the forest of the towering rocks, investigate the disappearances and homicides, and if possible, to eliminate the culprit. The mission isn't a legion exclusive, but a shared one. The empire requested that each power put a limit of groups to assign the mission to. The limit has been agreed to be set at a maximum of twenty parties per power by the 'Syndicate of the Equal Opportunities'." The man in red armor finished describing the mission without missing any detail.
"What kingdom is this?.. Karalis? I've never heard of it before." Asked the woman with a confused tone.
The man in red armor took a large rolled up parchment from the desk, opened it and laid it in front of the woman. He then pointed at one end and said "A small kingdom within the Nestreia continent."
After listening the man's report, the woman looked at him with a serious expression and said "He must have been teleported here.. Otherwise he would have never reached this far.. Not even in five hundred years. Make sure they both come back safely."
The man in red armor bowed politely and said "Yes Ma'am." He then gathered his things from the desk, and left with a steady pace.
-----
Within an extremely large cave right in the middle of the rocky forest.
"This is what we came back for?" Asked Daniel without being able to look away from what was in front of him.
In front of him, Daniel could see a fist-sized rock stuck in the middle of a stone wall. This rock was multi colored, which was caused by the fact that it was composed of many different types of minerals. It emanated a profound yet weak earth essence.
It didn't take an expert to recognize this fist-sized rock as an essence treasure of the earth type. What surprised Daniel the most, was the odd feeling this rock gave him. It was as if he was staring at the source of earth essence itself, but he was not able to grasp any comprehension for it.
Unfortunately, that was how essence treasures worked. They were like murky water. They would allow a person to perceive the essence, but grasping it directly from them was impossible.
"That.. is what created us." Said the earth elemental with a melancholic tone.
Finally able to look away from the multi colored stone, Daniel turned towards the earth elemental and asked "What do you mean?"
"That's a detail not many are aware of, but elementals aren't only born and grown through the consumption of any level of essence. In fact, the purer the essence is, the more we can grow. It took three thousand years before I was able to gain consciousness.. I was only the rock this treasure happened to fall onto one day, and its influence allowed me to evolve." He then took a small pause, before continuing "When I've seen the two spheres that you've showed me.. I understood that we were meant to meet, so that i could ask a favor from you." Said the earth elemental.
"You want me to make a perfect earth sphere.." Said Daniel, guessing the earth elemental's intention.
The earth elemental turned towards Daniel and said "What this treasure lacks isn't profoundness.. But power. In fact, it is the closest thing to perfect comprehension that you'll ever find. What it lacks, is the ability to produce larger amounts of pure essence."
"I don't have the level of comprehension required to create a sphere of that level." Said Daniel with a matter-of-fact tone while indicating the multi colored stone.
"I was born from this treasure. My understanding of this stone is as deep as your lack of it. I can help you reach a perfect comprehension of earth.. And you'll use that comprehension.. To give a hope for earth elementals to thrive." Said the earth elemental, not hiding his emotional state at the end of his sentence.
Suddenly, four more snakes crawled out of just as many cracks in the cavern walls. They were just like the first one they had seen. Low level earth elementals.
"Alright, I'll do it." Responded Daniel after a minute of consideration. The truth was that he didn't need to think about it to begin with. The earth elemental had a good morale, and had promised to help him gain a perfect comprehension of earth essence. Daniel had absolutely no reason to refuse his request.
Visibly happier, The earth elemental walked towards the stone wall, and removed the earth treasure stuck on it.
At the same time, Daniel sat on the cavern's rocky floor, and started to condense earth essence around the low level earth treasure he had obtain during the tournament.
It took him no more than thirty minutes to finish creating a low level earth essence. He then handed the pocket dimension over to Heimart, and entered it along with the six earth elementals.
Once inside, Daniel immediately locked the newly formed earth treasure on a free expanse of empty space just a few hundred meters away from the castle.
The moment the earth sphere was locked on the floor, a large amount of low level earth essence started to propagate in the area. After only a minute, an area of a thousand meters in diameter had turned into a land covered in rock and incomplete soil.
The earth elemental observed the area quietly, and after a moment, he said "Your comprehension of earth essence is marginal.. But this will do."
The words of the earth elemental were true. Daniel's only chance of comprehending earth essence was when he had been stuck inside the underground cave, back when he had took part in his first hunting mission. So, his entire comprehension was limited to normal rocks and incomplete soil.
Luckily, most of the rocky forest's composition was of a similar simplicity, which made this newly created area extremely similar to the one the elementals were used to.
After storing the earth treasure within a few newly formed stones, the earth elemental walked towards Daniel and said "My name is Buriath."
Daniel bowed his head in a greeting gesture. "I like 'Human'.. But I prefer Daniel." He said with a hint of sarcasm. After a moment, he smiled faintly and continued "Welcome into our group." He then indicated the black castle and said "That castle is our base. You are free to enter as you wish. There is a library inside which could help you comprehend more of the human world. If you are interested that is."
"I don't know how to read human words.." Said the earth elemental the very next moment.
Slightly embarrassed, Daniel said "Oh, right.."