The terrain was getting harsher. Unfortunately for Elise, the Traveler was walking faster and faster as they got close to the volcano. She was doing everything she could to keep up with him. They were taking occasional rests to sleep and work out, with longer intervals between each one. Every time, she found herself collapsing in the end.
She quickly lost track of time. There was no day and night cycle in this land, or maybe the constant dark clouds were covering it over. There were only the breaks they took, and with every one of those breaks, she realized she could do a little more.
She walked, ate, drank, slept, and walked again. Twelve, fifteen, twenty... Every time, she managed to do more of her exercises. With every break, bit by bit.
The Traveler was pushing her to her limits, but also allowing her to rest just enough to keep moving forward. He was a harsh teacher, never letting her slack off or lose focus. He had taken her beloved sword hostage and was using it to 'encourage' her at every chance.
Her Energy training was another story. Elise was calling it the Energy Breathing, even though the Traveler was saying 'breathing' was not the right term for it, and she was struggling with it.
She was still drawing Energy through her mouth as she took a deep breath. She at least had started doing it at will, without forcing it, but it was fading quickly and was burning her lungs if she did it continuously.
The Traveler had said. "I'm the one at fault here. Don't go too hard on yourself. I know I said absorb it as you breathe, but I didn't expect you to take it literally. I just hoped it would help you to imagine. You are not at the level where you can freely distribute it from the lungs."
They were resting next to a wide river with a glowing pink liquid. The riverside had a lot of colorful, glowing crystals scattered around the terrain. He was sitting on a big rock, as usual, with Elise's sword on his shoulder.
"Let's try this. Don't breathe it, try absorbing it like a sponge." He looked at her expectantly, as if he had said something ordinary.
"What do you mean like a sponge? I never absorbed anything like a sponge!" She had no problem with breathing the Energy, except for the burning lungs. She had gotten used to it and was using it more efficiently than before. Was this not enough?
"You got a point there. Using the Energy as you wish is all about imagination. Assuming you have never experienced being a sponge, it could be hard for you." His eyes drifted towards the glowing river. "Maybe you should try it in there."
Elise followed his gaze and got closer to the calmly flowing pink liquid, and looked inside it, hoping to see its bottom. The vivid glare of it was making it difficult to see anything through it. "What even is this?"
"I dunno. It is filled with Energy, though. If you get into a liquid like this, maybe you can imagine absorbing the Energy like a sponge." He also came closer as he spoke. Together, they looked at the river for a short while.
"Are you sure it is safe?" She asked.
"Well, there are some creatures living inside it, so... It should be safe, right?"
"Living things? You said this realm is incomplete."
"It is, but haven't you heard the saying, life finds a way?" He walked toward a rock with little glowing crystals sprouting on it and kicked it softly.
The rock crumbled into pieces. At least that was what Elise first thought was going on. Some parts of the rock that had crystals on them slowly separated from each other and started to crawl away from the Traveler. Elise realized they were not rocks but crustacean creatures.
The Traveler reached and caught one of them. It had a head-sized shell and dozens of little pointy legs underneath. He pointed at its crystals. "Look, it absorbs and solidifies the Energy to form these crystals as a storage." He tickled the little creature's belly with his finger as the creature moved its legs desperately. "Isn't it cute?"
It was definitely not, but that was not making it any less fascinating. Elise looked at her surroundings, hoping to see more of them. There were a lot of different-sized rocks with crystals on top of them. They were blending the terrain perfectly, making it hard to tell which one was a creature and which one was a real rock.
"So, you are saying, there are more of these creatures inside this river? They look harmless enough." The Traveler was putting the creature back to its rock. It found itself a new hole in the rock and settled in it. She had to admit, it was kind of cute.
"Don't let them fool you. That thing tried to suck my Energy. If my control was weaker, it could drain me." He came near the river again. "As for the creatures in the river, they seem to be different. They resemble fish, I can say."
They shared a look for a moment. He was clearly expecting her to do as he said and get into the river. Her resolve fell apart quicker than she had hoped. "Ok, whatever! Let's get into the unknown glowing liquid! What can go wrong, right?" She tied her hair as she spoke and got ready to get into the river.
"That's the spirit! I knew you had it in you. Keep the armor on, by the way, you may need it."
She slowly put her feet in first. Her metal-plated leather boots kept her feet from getting wet, but only for a moment. It was lukewarm, which was strangely making it more disgusting, and the smell was not making it any better. It was not like fishy, more like fleshy.
She started to feel tingling where the liquid flowed around her. Hopefully, it seemed to do no harm yet.
"Come on! Go a bit deeper. You should absorb it with your whole body." He came a little closer to her. "I can push you if you want."
She ignored him and took a deep breath before she started to take little steps into the liquid. The smell turned out to be more like a wet animal as she went deeper. She tried not to mind that and kept going deeper.
As her waist went in, the tingly feeling reached her upper body. It was a faint version of the feeling she had while breathing Energy. That made her hopes go up. If she could feel it without even trying, she could succeed here.
She kept on walking till her neck went in and dived right in after. Her whole body was reacting to the liquid and tingling like crazy. She focused on that feeling and tried to absorb it, like a sponge, as the Traveler said.
She was not expecting it to be this effective. She felt the Energy rush inside her and fill every cell of her body.
It was painful at first. It was like something was trying to turn her inside out and dissolve her into the flow. She recognized the feeling. It was almost the same feeling when she first came to this Realm. The Traveler was shielding her from it as far as she knew.
But she was not the same anymore. Her body was used to the Energy now. She calmed herself down and let her body distribute the Energy like her blood circulating through her body. She felt all of her pores open with tiny explosions. The burning pain slowly faded away and left its place to the tingling again. But a bit more powerful this time, enough to make her feel refreshed and alive.
But the most surprising thing was the change in her senses. She could sense her surroundings like the pink liquid was a part of her. She could even feel the currents inside the river, the little rock-like creatures crawling below, and the curvature of the riverbed. It was the upgraded version of the previous sense she had achieved. She knew everything around her, even though she couldn't see, hear, or smell them. It was like they had a certain mass that was indicating their existence in the Energy around.
She stayed there for a moment and savored that priceless experience. If she knew using the Energy was this exciting, she would have loved to learn more back then in her home Realm.
Elise was not sure how much time had passed since she dived in, but she was surprised by the fact that she did not need any air. The Energy she absorbed was more than her body needed.
No need for air, no need for food, and no need for rest. Maybe this was what the Traveler was trying to teach, she thought. He wanted her not to depend on anything and travel as her heart desired.
While she was deep in her thoughts, she noticed a change in the river. Three different masses of Energy disturbed the natural currents of the river. And they were coming directly towards her at high speed.