NeoRealm – Staring Back Into the Future

Jason and the stone wolf circle around a couple of times. Stuck in a standoff the two stare at each other waiting for the chance to attack. The wolf flairs the stone spikes going down its back. With this the natural energy in the air moves as earth related Mana gathers while pushing everything else away. Not liking where this is going Jason charges at the wolf but gets to it moments too late. All the loose earth Mana gets absorbed into the spines as the wolf’s claws and teeth glow. As Jason launches an attack at it, the wolf growls which sends a small shock wave through the surrounding ground. From that a haze of sand raises off the ground and coats the wolf blocking much of Jason’s physical attack. Though the wolf’s shocked expression at the Blast Punch‘s penetrating damage almost makes Jason break into laughter.

Now worried the wolf goes on the aggressive. Nipping at Jason it tries to harry him. This doesn’t work that well with only one wolf and Jason can keep up with it. The sand coating drops away from the wolf as it tries to go faster but all this accomplishes is using more of the Mana it gathered. Then Jason drops down and sweeps out with a low kick. Unprepared for this the wolf goes face first into the ground. Taking this chance a follow up kick using his momentum crashes down on the wolf’s spine. Just in time though the rock spines along the wolf’s back flatten down protecting itself.

At this point the wolf’s teeth and claws have stopped glowing as the buff seems to fall away. Taking this as a good sign Jason presses his attack. A flurry of regular punches batter the wolf’s head knocking it into a daze. To finish it Jason winds up and launches a full power Blast Punch right on the wolf’s neck. A loud splintering sounds can be heard as the wolf dies. Satisfied with himself Jason stands up and heads toward the downed wolf. However, before he can finish it a chorus of howls ring out from the wasteland. Hearing that Jason abandons his thoughts of finishing the wolf and takes off at great speed further into the plains.

As he runs Jason goes over the fight and concludes, “That shock wave wasn’t to defend itself with the sand armor. Hell, the whole buff thing might have been a bluff. It knew I would stop it from calling for help so it used an alternate method. The buff was something it did hoping to survive. In fact, most of that gathered Mana probably went into the shock wave now that I think about it.” Having come to this conclusion Jason can only shrug. If he has to fight them again at least he will know about it. This could have ended a lot worse if he didn’t know about it and attack a wolf deeper into the wasteland. In there the backup would arrive even quicker.

Checking the sky Jason decides it isn’t time to run in yet. With a sigh, he sets off at an easy jog. Though still looking for a fight nothing comes from it. All the wolves in the area seem to have disappeared. to where the fight was. The shock wave apparently has a much greater range than just a howl. Finally, though things seem to return to normal. Medium to large groups of wolves can be seen as Jason travels further. However, no more small groups. Then suddenly nothing. There isn’t even any signs of wolves having been in the area.

Slowing down to a stop Jason observes the area. After some thought he decides this is likely another border area. The bigger groups of wolves is likely because of a danger and after this gap of no-man’s-land will be another great enemy. After checking the sun once more he can only shake his head. It has gotten much too late to try for another fight. Whatever mystery lays ahead will have to wait for the next day. Turning away from the wasteland he heads deeper into the plains before setting up camp.

Having time before night Jason sets about training his Strength. After much effort he raises it by one. However, now he has a feeling that the regular rocks found in the area probably won’t help anymore. Sighing at this he can only shake his head. He expected this but now there is a need to find actual training equipment if he wants to proceed. While his cultivation should help later on for now he doesn’t have much of a choice.

Now with nothing else to do Jason turns his attention to his plants. The Energy Herbs have been growing quite well. One plant in particular has been part of an experiment. Whenever the herb gets enough Energy, it will start to form a berry. Until now Jason has been letting the others go to seed and building up his stock for later. This one however he has been trimming off the bud before it can even get started. Along with that instead of letting the plan grow upward on a single stock he has been using a technique he had read about. After a pair of leaves form and the herb tries to grow upward again, he snips it just above where the leaves meet. This forces it to grow two new stems from the leaf joint. With that and the sped up growth the herb is now much more of a bush than any of the other plants. In fact, without a berry to send all the Energy to it has grown even faster. At this point the herb bush is processing more waste energy from the area than all the other plants together. Satisfied with these results Jason turns to the other herb plants and culls all the older ones. Knowing how to get what he wants Jason treats them in the same way. With a good supply of his herb bushes Jason won’t have to fear having his cultivation rate slow down because any build up of unwanted energies. Then out of nowhere as he finishes pruning them an alert pops up informing him of having gained the Farming skill.

Akhier

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