Earth Spike Technique

He Xi's eyes lit up!

He committed the incantation, casting method, and practice notes for Earth Spike Technique to memory.

Although the notes were full of complaints, the description of the spell itself was fairly clear.

He closed the notebook and took Bruce to an open area on the western outskirts of the nearby town.

He raised his hand, imitating the complicated gestures described in the notebook, and recited the awkward incantation.

Bruce lay nearby, confusion written all over his dog's face.

"Pfft!"

A soft, muffled pop.

A tiny mound of dirt, less than an inch high, formed in front of He Xi's feet.

He Xi: "..."

Bruce: "..."

"Ahem." He Xi cleared his throat and consoled himself. "At least this proves the incantation and gestures work, right? I managed to gather the earth. It's just that the 'piercing' force... needs a little work."

He focused again, trying even harder to imagine a sharp cone...

"Pfft!"

Another tiny mound of dirt.

"Pfft!"

"Pfft!"

After several attempts, a row of crooked little mounds had appeared in front of He Xi.

Getting the spell to take shape at all on his first attempt was already a far better start than most apprentices could manage.

But Bruce knew nothing about such things. He let out a long yawn and lazily swept his tail across the ground.

"He Xi, are you planning to plant potatoes behind this row of mounds?"

He Xi glared at him. "Shut up, Bruce! What do you know about magic?"

He took a deep breath and was about to try again when a wave of dizziness hit him. He nearly fell flat on the ground!

Four consecutive castings had drained his already meager supply of magic.

The spell hadn't achieved its intended effect, but the magic it consumed was undiminished.

Bruce: "He Xi!?"

He Xi waved a hand to show he was fine.

Fortunately, with [Earth Affinity], as long as his feet were on the ground, he could feel magic slowly trickling back into him.

Half an hour later, the dizziness had indeed subsided quite a bit.

"Pfft!"

"Pfft!"

Cast—rest—cast—rest.

Over the next few days, He Xi's life became a monotonous cycle: eating, sleeping, and practicing Earth Spike Technique.

Outside the town, little mounds of dirt sprang up like mushrooms after the rain, forming crooked rows.

Then He Xi and Bruce trampled them flat.

On the third night, the moonlight was hazy.

He Xi had practiced an unknown number of times, and both his stamina and magic were on the verge of giving out.

Just as he felt he could barely go on—

The cold light in his mind suddenly sent him a notification:

[Skill acquired: Earth Spike Technique Lv.1 (1/10)]

[Wisdom +1]

Almost at the same time!

"Shhk—!"

A sharp, half-meter-tall stone spike suddenly thrust out of the ground in front of him.

"I did it!"

"Lv.1? So that means I can level it up?"

[Earth Spike Technique]!

[Earth Spike Technique]!

He Xi hurriedly cast the spell several more times in a row.

"Nothing changed?"

"I need to figure out how spell levels increase."

He fought through his mental and physical exhaustion, rested briefly, and took a few gulps of water before taking his place again to practice and reinforce what he'd learned.

However, his best partner—Bruce—started whispering "the devil's words" in his ear.

"Use a little more magic, He Xi. See where your limit is! Be a real mage! Stop making all those useless gestures."

He Xi had to admit, Bruce had talked him into it.

On the one hand, he really did want to see what a full-power strike would look like with the boost from [Earth Affinity].

On the other, he wanted to see whether it might help level up [Earth Spike Technique].

That was the thing about being self-taught. There was no choice but to figure everything out alone.

Fortunately, after days of practice, his magic reserves seemed to have grown a little.

"All right, Bruce." He Xi took a deep breath, his gaze sharpening. "Stand back. I don't want you getting caught in it."

Caught in it?

Bruce gave He Xi a sidelong glance.

As if the little dirt spike he'd spent days working on—barely half a foot tall—could hurt him.

He didn't take the warning seriously at all.

He Xi focused all his attention. He could cast the spell much faster now than when he'd first started.

This time, he didn't carefully control his magic output. Instead, he poured out every last bit of magic inside him.

Under the influence of [Earth Affinity], the Earth Element in the surrounding ground surged toward him as if summoned.

Gather. Pierce.

"Rumble—"

A deafening crash rang out, and the ground beneath their feet shook violently.

Bruce yelped and leaped straight into the air.

Right in front of He Xi, a massive, thick pillar of stone burst through the ground.

Beneath the moonlight, its surface bristled with jagged edges. It stood more than ten meters tall, like a small stone tower.

He Xi's vision went black, and the world spun around him.

The emptiness of having his magic completely drained left him dizzy.

His body swayed, and he nearly toppled to the ground.

"Damn it, still no change!"

"Woof! Woof! Woof!"

Bruce was so frightened that he'd reverted to his native tongue.

He Xi fought through the dizziness and nausea, then clamped a hand over Bruce's yapping mouth.

"Shut up, you stupid dog! Do you want to bring all the guards running over? Hurry, let's go!"

But the deafening crash had already thundered over the quiet town of Plint.

"Clang!"

"Crash!"

Windows flew open all around them.

"What's going on?!"

"An earthquake?!"

"Gods above! What's that?!"

One by one, lights flickered on like dominoes, quickly spreading from house to house.

Noisy voices and footsteps came from every direction, converging on the source of the crash—the town's western outskirts.

"Damn it!" He Xi muttered. He didn't have time to scold Bruce. Dragging his unsteady legs, he grabbed the still-shocked dog and plunged into the nearby bushes, quickly fleeing the "crime scene."

"This is your fault, He Xi!" Bruce followed him while still trying to shift the blame. "You shouldn't have made such a huge racket!"

He Xi was furious with the dog and wished he could take back the [Nortonholt Common Tongue] he'd given him.

"Shut up, you stupid dog!" He Xi snarled under his breath. "You're the one who gave me that rotten idea! You're just jealous I learned magic!"

"Jealous? Me?" Bruce raised his chin. "I'm not jealous. It's your vanity. You humans are all the same. The moment you learn something, you want to show off!"

"You're not getting dinner!"

"I'm sorry, He Xi... I admit it... I am jealous of you. I shouldn't have egged you on, but where are we supposed to hide now?"

"Hide? Why would we hide? A huge stone pillar appeared near where we live. Isn't something that strange worth going to look at?"

The man and dog sneaked all the way around the outskirts of town, reentered from the exact opposite direction, then blended in with the townspeople who had come running at the noise and followed the crowd "curiously" back to the scene.

The area around the stone pillar was already packed with people, and a great din filled the air.

"My goodness! What in the world is that thing?"

"It's a miracle! It must be a miracle sent by Mother Earth!"

"Miracle, my foot! Feel the soil—it's still warm! I say a volcano's about to erupt underground!"

"A volcano? Don't spout nonsense and scare people! Could it... could some kind of monster be burrowing up from below?"

"It doesn't look like it burrowed up. More like something forced it up from underneath. Look at the soil around it—it's all been churned up."

"Forced up? What could have that kind of strength? Could it be a giant?"

"I say there might be some ancient ruins buried beneath our town! This pillar must be the entrance!"

"Ruins? Treasure?!" The crowd stirred at once, and many people's eyes began to gleam.

"Stop guessing!" An old man pushed through the crowd and walked up to the pillar. Frowning, he studied it carefully. "This thing... looks like some sort of magic..."

"Magic? There's a mage in our town?" The crowd fell silent for a moment, then erupted into even louder chatter.

"Give me a break! Where would a mage come from in our lousy town? I say it's treasure!"

"What treasure? Old John just said it's magic!"

"That old geezer's so ancient—why would you believe him?"

"He went out and made his way in the world when he was young. He definitely knows more than you do."

"Bullshit! Maybe he's planning to keep the treasure for himself!"

He Xi and Bruce listened to the increasingly outrageous guesses, but didn't stick around. After blending into the crowd for a while, they went home.