The more I thought about it, the less of a hassle it seemed.

I’d already been practicing how to cycle water around my body, keep it flowing, guiding it through muscle and root. Now? I just had to do it… permanently. Start with outside water, then just use my own energy after that.

Unfortunate, but manageable. Probably. It was the only way I could think of to move the roots properly. But there was another thought that occurred to me. I didn’t really want to unfurl my hand just to use my techniques.

Luna, I called out.

There was a slight constriction on my wrist, the petals twitching faintly, but no answer. I reached down and gave one of the petals a gentle prod. The flower twitched again.

What, she groaned, dragging the word out like I’d just woken her from a good nap.

Um, I hesitated. Can I grow the roots? Actually grow them.

Her leaves drooped slightly in something that I imagined was her sigh. If you have blood and water, and you’re able to move the roots at all… it shouldn’t be a problem. But you have to sever it from you if you want to keep it that way. Same as I did with you. 

The more I knew about her, the less I did. A plant that could grow, but not permanently? Though, I guess to get where she was now, there was an actual full on metamorphosis.

I gave a slow nod, letting her off the hook. Ultimately, that wasn’t so bad. It was possible to grow it, and on top of that, there was no need to shape the structure back into place, but there was still so much to try. And only a couple days to do it.

Instead of bothering Luna again, I just poured another drop of water onto my arm. Grow toward the water.

The structure listened.

Since this wasn’t made from my energy, all I had to do to move the drop was tilt my arm. A task far simpler than preventing ice formation. With energy and intent, the roots followed. Little by little, they didn’t feel to be a distinct personality, but instead, just something that would move with purpose. Not just my thoughts.

After a few moments, the process started straining my focus. My thoughts felt thin, stretched across too many things, so I activated my Precursor sense. But with more growth, queasiness kicked in hard. It wasn’t due to overextending my control.

The part Luna had mentioned about needing blood started making a whole lot more sense. I was so used to her that if she even ate, I never noticed, but now? This thing felt like it was draining me fast. The more energy I pumped into that hand, the more I willed it to grow, the worse I felt. 

The roots that had been centered around my wrist were growing upward, and my hand was still fully formed, so that was nice. The next moment, Luna’s strange body once again confirmed her words.

By the time the roots had reached halfway up to my elbow, I felt horrible. A messy cocktail of dizziness and exhaustion, so I stopped, and the moment I did, the roots started to ungrow.

I pushed the disappointment away. This was something for a spirit-plant botanist to study. I wasn’t qualified, and honestly, didn’t care much either. 

The energy, at least, seemed to flow back into me. It didn’t seem like all of it, a fraction of fully used Internal Force draining into my Nexus. But I’d made progress, and I also felt much better. Now it was just a matter of repeating this process until it became second nature. 

I’ll ask Luna to help me start the water flow just to kick things off. Or maybe I could use the Voidseed’s power instead. Either way it would work out. And of course, I’d have to get more guidance from Luna on the plant matters. 

When I first met her, she didn’t constantly need my blood, and even when she often stretched over my gauntlets, I didn’t feel worn out, so that couldn’t be normal.

After I got the growth down, I’d need to learn how to control the pressure in my arm while keeping the water flowing. Unless I found a way to make that part automatic. Then on top of that, I’d have to train my left arm to use flame energy attacks at the same time.

Just thinking about it gave me a headache, but before I could spiral further into overthinking, I heard something.

Repetitive, heavy, stomping, coming from behind me. Turning my head, I saw the source which I had already guessed based on the sheer power coming from the sounds. 

Griffith.

The giant was stomping around like some kind of maniac. I opened my mouth to say something, but stopped since he looked focused on his strange task, and knowing him, it was best to let him think through his ideas.

A lingering smell in the air hit me a moment later. Not the usual putrid smell of purification, but something far worse. Instantly recognizable despite only experiencing it twice.

Eventually, the large man stopped stomping, giving the trees a breather. He sood in the clearing with his look of focus gone, replaced by a confused curiosity, so I called out to him.

“Did you finish your purification, sir?”

He turned with a wild grin, absolutely no shame about whatever horrific reek was radiating off him. Not like I was any different either of my times.

“Yes. And…” he stretched the word out dramatically, “it seems I’ve gained a strange new ability.”

He looked ready to launch into a monologue, so I quickly raised a hand and cut him off.

“How about we head to the beach first?” I suggested. “It, uh… might help. Both of us.”

It wasn’t even a lie. I could use the water for training, and he could get a good and thorough washing. Scrubbing off the odor clinging to him, and thankfully, he didn’t argue. In fact, he took off running with me faster than expected. Probably excited to talk about whatever discovery he’d made.

We reached the beach before I knew it.

He immediately jumped in, while I waded into the surf up to my ankles.

Oddly enough, the nausea from earlier was already gone.

I wasn’t sure if that had to do with the new Fire Force in me, or if it was just the healing properties of the Water Force in action. Not that I could measure how much blood I had, obviously. But when you go from queasy to stable in a couple minutes, it’s not hard to guess that something else was responsible.

After we’d both settled in, Griffith turned to me.

I tilted my head at him, raising an eyebrow.

He shifted his weight, his feet sliding awkwardly through the sand under the water. He muttered something, clearing his throat, then began his explanation. “So. Earth purification. For starters. My stamina went up.”

I squinted at him. “By how much?”

He held up two fingers. “Twenty points.”

That didn’t surprise me. After all, it only line up with the previous effects of the other elements. “But that can’t be it, right? Not with how you were just asking.”

“It was… something else,” Griffith said, still staring at his feet.

I waited expectantly.

“I could see. No… not right. I could sense—” He trailed off again, clearly struggling to find the words.

I decided to nudge him along. “You can make your finalized words later. First impressions are fine by me.”

He gave a firm nod. “Think of it like spiritual sense. You’re not really using your eyes to see, right?”

“Right,” I said, already intrigued.

“So,” he continued, “It happened first thing after I woke up from purification. Just for a second, everything around me lit up. Not with light, though. Like a wave shot out from me and came back in an instant. And when it did…”

He looked at me, eyes narrowing slightly. “I could feel you breathing. I could feel your stare. But I didn’t see any of it.”

I tilted my head. 

His hand came up to his chin, brows furrowing. “And as fast as it came, it was gone. Just disappeared. But then I took a step. A light one, and just around my feet, maybe a hand’s length out, I felt a ripple.”

My eyes widened. “You have echolocation?”

He blinked. “I have what?”

I shook my head, already stepping away. “Trevor will explain it if you ask him, but it’s basically what you just described, only with noise… Or something.”

He didn’t press.

“Anyway,” he said, “I started stomping harder to test it, and the harder I hit the ground, the further the feeling extended. The tremors from my body seemed to bounce off things, and I could feel the shape of them through the rebound.”

I nodded slowly, gears starting to turn. “So... you're thinking of a way to recreate that first burst?”

He nodded. “Exactly. That initial moment when the wave spread out was different. Clearer. I don’t know how I did it, but it’ll be interesting to find out.”

Honestly? It didn’t sound that useful in its current state. He already had spiritual sense. Two working eyes. A terrifying amount of combat intuition. This much information might be more harm than good.

Well… He knew what was best for him.

I sighed. “I’m already dreading what Earth Force is gonna be like for me.”

He just grinned wider at that, no doubt looking forward to instructing me on it.

“More importantly,” I said, grinning. “Our tradition. You discovered it, so you name it.”

He gave a firm nod, eyes sharp with purpose. It took… a while. Minutes of just listening to the splashing waves around us.

“I can if you don’t—” I tried to offer before a large hand cut me off.

“Absolutely not.” More minutes passed.

“Right. Seismic sense.”

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