Leo approached the Earth Escape technique with renewed determination. After eighteen months mastering Diamond Skin, he'd learned not to underestimate Old Stone's teachings.
"This technique saved my life countless times," Old Stone explained, demonstrating by melting into the ground and reappearing across the cavern. "When mastered, you'll move through earth as fish swim through water."
The mechanics seemed straightforward—create an opening beneath his feet, drop around twenty meters down while sealing the entrance above, then propel himself horizontally at high speed. The reality proved far more complex.
"You're thinking in parts," Old Stone criticized after Leo's tenth failed attempt left him stuck waist-deep in the ground. "The earth doesn't separate into convenient stages. It flows as one continuous movement."
Leo's early attempts were disastrous. Sometimes the hole wouldn't form properly. Other times, he'd drop down but fail to seal the entrance. The worst attempts left him unable to move horizontally, trapped beneath the surface until Old Stone grudgingly guided him to the surface.
"You're still treating earth like an obstacle," Old Water observed during one particularly frustrating session. "For this technique, you must become one with it."
Leo continued practicing Diamond Skin daily, the crystalline armor becoming second nature. But Earth Escape remained elusive, a constant reminder of his limitations.
"The diamond is compressed earth," Leo muttered to himself one night. "What if Earth Escape is about... decompressing myself into the earth?"
The next morning, instead of forcing the earth to make way, Leo synchronized his mana with the ground beneath him. He felt himself dissolving into it, becoming part of the element rather than fighting against it.
The earth welcomed him, pulling him downward. The entrance sealed naturally above as he descended exactly twenty meters below the surface. For a moment, he floated in perfect darkness, surrounded by his element.
Then came the challenge of horizontal movement. Leo pushed forward, but the density of packed earth resisted.
"Move with the earth's natural flows," Old Stone's voice echoed in his memory. "Find the path of least resistance."
Leo discovered a network of subtle currents beneath the surface—natural pathways where earth particles flowed minutely against each other. He aligned his essence with these currents, allowing them to carry him forward.
"Better," Old Stone grunted when Leo emerged fifty meters away. "But still too slow. Underground, seconds matter."
Months passed. Leo learned to sense the density variations in soil and rock, to find the quickest routes through seemingly impenetrable barriers. But navigation remained his greatest challenge.
"I'm blind down there," Leo complained after emerging at the wrong location for the twelfth time that day. His clothes were caked with dirt, sweat dripping from his brow.
"The earth speaks to those who listen," Old Stone replied without sympathy. "Your eyes are useless. Feel the vibrations, the mineral compositions, the roots of plants above."
Leo devoted weeks to simply remaining stationary underground, extending his senses into the surrounding earth. Gradually, a new awareness formed—a three-dimensional map of pressure, density, and composition.
"It's like... seeing with my entire body," Leo explained to Old Water during a rare break.
"Now you're beginning to understand," Old Water nodded.
The seasons changed. Leo's proficiency improved, but perfection remained elusive. Sometimes he'd navigate flawlessly through complex underground terrain. Other times, he'd become disoriented and emerge kilometres from his intended destination.
"Consistency!" Old Stone bellowed after one such failure. "A technique mastered sometimes is a technique not mastered at all!"
Winter gave way to spring, then summer, autumn, and winter again. A full year of gruelling practice. Leo's body adapted to the constant earth immersion—his skin toughened, his lungs grew efficient at filtering the minimal air available underground, his senses sharpened to detect the subtlest changes in his surroundings.
Finally, on a crisp morning as the second spring approached, Old Stone set a final test—navigate a complex underground maze he'd created, with sections of varying density, underwater passages, and crystal formations that disrupted magical senses.
Leo completed it flawlessly.
Old Stone's perpetual scowl softened almost imperceptibly. "You'll do."
Leo stood at the threshold of the cave, morning light spilling across his face for the first time in seven years. At twenty, he barely resembled the frightened thirteen-year-old who had stumbled into this inheritance. His body had hardened, his mind sharpened by countless failures and hard-won victories.
Old Stone hovered before him, his spectral form thinner, almost transparent in the dawn light.
"You're not as pathetic as when you first arrived," the spirit grumbled, though Leo detected unusual warmth beneath the harsh words.
"High praise, coming from you," Leo replied with a half-smile.
Old Stone produced a spatial ring, its surface etched with intricate earth runes that pulsed with power. "Everything I know. Every spell, every technique, every bitter lesson learned across centuries. It's yours now."
Leo accepted it reverently. "I don't know what to say."
"Then don't say anything, fool boy. You'll only ruin the moment with something stupid."
The three spirits—Stone, Water, and Wind—gathered around him. For all their mockery and brutal training methods, Leo realized they had become the closest thing to family he'd known in years.
"One last gift," Old Stone announced.
Before Leo could respond, the earth spirit surged forward, dissolving into motes of golden light that sank into Leo's chest. A surge of power coursed through him—raw, primal earth energy flooding every cell. His connection to the element deepened exponentially, the world around him suddenly richer with information—every pebble, every grain of sand speaking to him with newfound clarity.
"What—" Leo gasped, steadying himself against the cave wall. "Why would you—"
"The old fool didn't have much time left," Old Water explained, his usually harsh voice softened. "Even spirits fade eventually. He chose to give what remained of himself to you."
"But why?" Leo asked, tears welling in his eyes.
Old Wind snorted. "Because despite all his complaints, he saw something in you worth preserving. Don't make him regret it."
Leo wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. "I won't."
"Go now," Old Water said. "The world awaits, and we've kept you long enough."
With a final bow to his remaining masters, Leo stepped out of the cave. Tears streamed freely down his face as he felt Old Stone's affinity to earth settling within him forever.
The morning sun warmed his face as he took his first steps toward whatever awaited beyond the Valen Ridge.