番茄乐园

\'No, no, no. Master is just busy. I\'m sure she\'ll put me through all sorts of torturous training once she\'s done!\' Rhydian shivered at the thought but soon calmed down.

\'Luckily, Master is busy, so she won\'t be able to focus on me for now.\' She thought, then sighed and looked at the corpses of all the Rank 8 beasts around her. She licked her lips as hunger began to arise in her stomach, \'I\'ll just enjoy life until my leisure days are over.\'

Getting rid of all the depressing thoughts of the future, Rhydian grouped up the corpses of the Rank 8 beasts and began eating them, absorbing their vitality, Qi, and affinities!

\'Soon, I\'ll have to go into hibernation to digest everything and break through, but before that, I need to wait until Master finishes her business.\'

While Rhydian was eating, the Star-Horned wolves realized the battle was over and began to walk toward the mountain. Seeing the mass destruction that the beasts caused made them tremble a bit, but they were happy that the being they took in as their lord was so strong!

In fact, knowing that she dominated multiple Rank 8 beasts at the same time while only being Rank 7 affirmed her position in their hearts.

\'Our new Leader is so strong!\' The wolves thought as they stared at Rhydian with shining eyes full of reverence.

Rhydian sensed them approaching but didn\'t spare them anything more than a glance. She was too busy munching down her meal.

***

While Rhydian was eating and getting stronger, Mira was doing the same. It took her a few minutes to return to the Lightning Spirit Stone Mine, and she was relieved when she saw that it was still intact.

\'That fight with the Earth Titan Bear gave me a few insights on how I can use my affinities more efficiently. Especially for my Wind and Yin Lightning affinities.\' Mira thought as she grabbed a handful of Lightning Spirit Stones and began meditating.

She doesn\'t use those two affinities much, so just activating them was enough to give her a few insights. She could also improve upon those insights thanks to the massive punching bag she could practice on.

\'Hopefully, I can bring my Yin Lightning to the required Grade in a few days so that I can spend the rest of my time on my Wind Affinity. I have a feeling that\'s the element I\'m going to struggle the most with.\' Mira thought, and she wasn\'t wrong.

There\'s a reason why humans generally call Elements "affinities". It\'s because those elements are often tied to specific human characteristics or emotions.

For example, fire\'s main characteristic is its ability to burn and destroy. So, humans that have this element as an affinity are generally hot-blooded and short-tempered. While there is more to it, and that\'s an overgeneralization, most humans understand affinities that way.

For this reason, someone capable of using seven different elements like Mira is incredibly rare. According to human logic, unless she had a unique physique or some other external factor, it would be impossible for her nature to encapsulate the characteristics of almost every element.

…Though, she does have a unique physique that allows her to do just that.

However, because Mira knew that each element represented a certain characteristic, she figured that the Wind Element would be exceptionally hard for her. With all the other elements, she can align with them in some way.

But wind… that was more like a dream.

People often see the Wind Element as the embodiment of freedom. It can be as peaceful as a lake or as fierce as a tornado. It comes and goes as it pleases, with nothing able to stop it. It is refreshing on hot summer days but brutal on cold winter nights.

While its intensity is always in a constant state of change, it remains neutral. Even when the fiercest of storms are uprooting trees and homes, nobody blames it.

Nobody says, "How dare the wind do this to me?! It almost killed me!" Instead, they blame mother nature or understand that this is just the element doing its job.

That neutrality, that calmness, that freedom… Those are all things Mira has wished and strived for. She wanted nothing more than to be free! Almost all of her life, she\'s been shackled by something!

Even in death, she can\'t find peace as the only thing that\'s accompanied her through life is pain, betrayal, and hell!

This has resulted in her becoming a cold, calloused person, capable of and willing to commit atrocities even the worst of beings would condemn.

Morals were nothing in her eyes, just the squabble of ants trying to justify their actions.

Life and death didn\'t exist for her, as she always felt like she was in limbo. She did not fear death, nor did she enjoy the pleasures of life.

She lived because she couldn\'t die, and she trained to earn her freedom.

To many, she was an evil abomination who didn\'t deserve to walk the Earth, while to others, she was nothing more than entertainment to fill their dull lives.

Even Maria didn\'t regard her as a good person, nor did she claim or want to be. Life was much simpler if she cared for nothing other than herself.

How can a selfish woman like her, who doesn\'t give two shits about the world or its inhabitants, relate to the Wind Element\'s neutrality? How can a woman like her, who is constantly shackled, suppressed, and chased by powerful beings, be free and unfettered?

Everything she has done has either been planned and structured beforehand or was a reaction to someone else\'s whims. The number of times she just traveled from place to place, experiencing different things and doing whatever she wanted could be counted on one hand.

In fact, Mira doubted there were that many times she felt truly free. Even before the god found an interest in her, she was always a structured and disciplined person.

When those thoughts entered Mira\'s mind, she didn\'t despair or get frustrated. At most, she was annoyed that she only had a week to bring her Wind affinity up to such a high Grade, but that was it.

\'Hmph! Even if I have to force it to the Middle-Stage Heaven Grade, I\'ll get my wind affinity there. I refuse to lose both my Yin Lightning and Wind elements because of a shitty trial!\' Mira snorted and returned her attention back to the Lightning Spirit Stones.

The Guardian, who had read her mind, shook his head at her stupidity. He was going to keep quiet as he felt he had already done enough by helping her with the Darkness Element, but at this rate, he thought she would really fail this trial!

"Are you stupid?? You know that the Wind Element is all about freedom, yet here you are talking about brute force?? Do you not see the irony in your words?" He said.

Mira stopped what she was doing for a second after hearing his voice but returned to improving her Lightning Affinity a second later.

\'I know. That\'s the reason I said it. I don\'t believe I can raise my wind affinity naturally, so I can only resort to brute force!\' Mira said, making the Guardian sigh. He couldn\'t believe what he was hearing!

"I guess you really don\'t have an affinity for wind…." The Guardian took a deep breath, then his eyes shined with resolve, "Not to worry! I\'ll help you out in this department!"

This time, Mira really stopped what she was doing. However, no emotional fluctuation other than a raised eyebrow appeared on her face. Clearly, she didn\'t believe he would be of much help.

"Hmph! While darkness is my specialty, that doesn\'t mean I don\'t know anything about the other elements. I am still a god-like being, you know?" He tried to convince her, but the more he talked, the less Mira was to believe him.

Still, what he said wasn\'t wrong, so she decided to ask, \'Then, are you going to help me like how you did with the Darkness element?\'

"..."

He remained silent, causing Mira\'s lips to twitch.

\'You… You were just brag-\'

"AHEM! I have sensed a few locations not far from you that will help increase your Wind comprehension. There\'s no need to go through a few annoying lessons."

Mira\'s lips twitched again, and she returned her attention back to the Lightning Spirit Stones. She didn\'t want to deal with this annoying old man any longer, even if what he said was true.

***

Two days later, Mira used every single Spirit Stone in the mine and walked out from under the mountain.