Master White dealt with the silver owl, but instead of returning to the inn as originally decided. He moved toward the outer rim of the forest, where he had slaughtered a group of Tier-2 beasts the prior day. The beasts had a cave as their dwelling, but now it was empty after the kill. Offering a much-needed sanctuary for what came next.
Master white entered the cave, and immediately Azrael switched. Even though the area seemed safe, the unexpected encounter with a Tier-5 beast rattled their sense of security. And it was just everything falling into place, that he was able to kill the silver owl. If even a single thing had gone wrong, either the beast would have escaped or Azrael would be dead.
Azrael slumped against the damp stone wall, sliding down until he was reclining on the floor. Master White materialized, and though he was not experiencing physical exhaustion as they switched bodies, but he was the one who fought. So, he was more mentally drained.
"We should be more careful next time, Azrael." Master White said, his voice echoing in the cave.
"I know. If luck hadn't been on our side today, we would be dead by now." Azrael replied, staring at his trembling hands.
"We need to better understand our abilities and their applications, before we start fighting beings above our realm. With the new power of Life and Death, it is only a matter of time before we can easily battle across realms or Tiers." Master White continued.
"And we also have to experiment with the new modified elements, they are too powerful even in their basic forms." Azrael added. He saw how the silver owl died, from helpless torture to soothing death. It was something otherworldly. One would expect a certain extreme emotion closer to death, it can be fear, hatred, or even content. But a mixture of all these and that too interchanging within a fraction of a few moments is terrifying to imagine.
"We will do it today, before returning to the inn." Master White agreed.
They both rested for a while, thinking about various different applications of the elements with what they have already seen. And there was excitement and curiosity about many more unexplored ways to implement them. The sun in the sky hung high in the middle, it was already afternoon when they exited the cave. They moved swiftly through the woods, looking for a place with no beasts. They don't want to engage in battle immediately, first they would try out elements laced with Life and Death. Then, explore various combat styles and techniques with them.
They made their way to a clearing, where they had fought the group of Gale-wolves. It was eerily silent, the bodies of the wolves were already gone, probably eaten by some other wild beast. But there was no sound or indication of any creature nearby, as all the surrounding beasts feared the place of the massacre. They didn't know what caused it, but they instinctively chose to avoid the place.
"Here is perfect." Said Azrael as he came to a halt. Master White materialized and nodded.
"First, let's start with Fire." Master White first wanted to experiment with the most destructive element out of the five basic elements. He personally experienced the agony of the silver owl, and saw the perfect gaping holes in its body. It was terrifying but also assuring knowing that he owned that power.
Azrael extended his hand, a Black&White flame emerged and floated above his hand. This was not new to them, as their flame even before the "Anasir Logos" had adapted that colour. But it was only after the activation of the Law, that the fire truly embodied Life and Death along with the usual properties of fire, that is heat, burning etc..
He raised his hand, and threw the ball of fire in a projectile towards a nearby tree. The fire got attached to the part of tree where it had made contact. Azrael move closer and examined changes.
The place of impact, neither burned nor was there any production of heat. From external appearance it appeared as if something is burning, but in reality there was no combustion, but consumption. Every cell and tissue of a living being generally burns and ignites, resulting in a gruesome death. But when you add Life and Death, especially the Death attribute, it consumes or corrodes every cell and tissue. Which is even more terrifying than being burned.
The Life attribute within the fire lay dormant. Seeing that Master White mused that it could be used to prolong the agony of a victim by keeping them alive while the fire ate them, but for now, it was a tool of pure consumption. This was what, Master White said to the Silver Owl about mercy, as he only used Death.
Fire laced with Death, latches onto to the body and starts "eating." It consumes, until the energy runs out, and all that left is perfect gaping holes. If enough energy is provided it may even completely consume the being, leaving nothing behind.
At that point, that being is sacrificed to death, and will lay in rest for time unknown, until called upon.
After inferring whatever they were able to deduce, from the "burning" of the tree, Master White signals Azrael to move forward with the next element.
Like before, Azrael extended his hand but instead of flames, a few bubbles started to form, and in quick succession a ball of intertwining Black&White coloured liquid appeared.
Then its form shifted. It became a stream of water with two colours circling around him in a twirling motion. The black signified Death, and the white signified Life. Unlike the fire element which is classified as destructive, the water element is considered a balanced element.
The White stream signifying Life, can be basically called a healing potion but it is more than just that. Now, in its most basic form it can do advanced healing and limb regeneration.
Whereas the Black stream signifying Death is different from the corrosion of fire, and leans more towards the peaceful aspect of Death and provides its drinker with an unsettling but calming peace. This was the liquid used by Master White to end the agony of the Silver Owl.
"There are many ways in which we can utilise the Water element. The prominent methods to use are poison and healing." Said Azrael. Master White added, "we have the ultimate poison and the ultimate medicine in a single hand."
Then next was the Earth element. Earth is a very subdued/restrictive element to manipulate, but once done effectively the scale of destruction will be even more than the Fire element. If someday Azrael masters the Earth element, then it is not impossible to uproot a wide landscape or the capital city of Sylvane by just applying earthquakes and overturning the ground onto itself. The surface or the base ground is everyone's and everything's footing. The day Azrael reaches that level, the saying "the whole world turned upside down" will become reality and would be used in the literal sense.
Azrael didn't extend his hand this time, but snapped his fingers. The action of extending the hand or the snapping of fingers, are just triggers that Azrael himself has assigned to these elements. The elements could also be activated without any triggers or actions, one can simply use his will to activate the surrounding elemental energy. But assigning simple actions, makes it easier for beginners to understand and activate the five elements.
With the snap of his fingers, the ground infront of him, the size of a pothole became completely dark and empty. Only if someone stared deeper into this small abyss, will it stare back and you would see a glue like black substance filled to the brim. This black substance was the manifestation of degeneration and rot. If somebody falls into this puddle, there body will deteriorate or decompose while the said person is alive to experience it.
Even Azrael and Master White were surprised by the physical application of a concept such as decomposition.
"Huh..which is more gruesome, the flames or this puddle?!" Azrael said pointing at the swirl of black glue infront of him, with amusement and a little bit of pity for all the unfortunate souls, who are going to fall into this degeneration.
"I don't know which is more gruesome, but the flames are a more effective way of attack, while the puddle is mostly a trap or trick set up beforehand and has no use in direct combat." Master White replied. Azrael also nodded back without looking at him, as he was still very fascinated by the puddle. They tried experimenting for other applications of the Earth element, but for now, only the puddle can be used in battle as a trick.
"Next would be the wind element." Said Master White. Azrael nodded and again snapped his fingers for the Wind. But they realized that the Wind element is very tricky to manipulate. All the other elements exist either in solid or liquid form, Wind is the only element with gaseous form. First we will have to gather all the nearby wind elemental particles, then generate enough energy to bind them and add more Enos energy for force and momentum of the attack. Which in its most basic form is called windblade.
Now add Life and Death attribute to Wind, it will be three times the cost of energy to gather elemental particles and attack. The benefit however is that the resultant attack will also be that much devastating. After understanding this complication instead of a snapping motion, Azrael extended his hand in an arc style and gathered all the Enos energy and elements into a condensed blade around his arm and slashed towards the already scarred oak.
If Fire left perfect holes, then Wind accompanied perfect arcs. The tree snapped in half as if it had always been two pieces. And the bright energy arc didn't stop there and got attached to the nearby trees. Upon impact, the clustered particles bursted like dark fireworks, and some of the nearby trees or plants either flourished due to Life, withered due to Death or were just scratched because of the leftover Wind element.
"Direct and AOE damage in one stroke." Azrael was excited seeing the burst of energy at the last moment of impact. His eyes gleamed with something hidden, as these four elements laced with Life and Death were terrifying. Master White also felt satisfied and relieved by having control over such power in this new world.
Only the Metal element is left, but for its application he needs any type of cold weapon. Because of all the five elements, Metal is the only element which exist in the pure form of solid. It won't change forms, as it will lose its identity. So Metal element can only be activated with external things or weapons.
Azrael and Master White returned to that cave dwelling feeling exhilarated but drained. The application of the five elements brought them a sense of security and it also made them understand the magnitude of destruction it would cause, if applied in large scale.
He reached the cave, and both of them finally rested. After spending all their energy on experimenting the elements, they were left with nothing on their return journey to the cave. So, they had been on high alert all the time. Now they could finally relax.
After settling down Azrael counted,
"So, four new wild devastating abilities."
"Flames of corrosion/consumption"
"Stream of salvation"
"Puddle of Death"
"The Perfect cleaver".
Master White nodded with a rare, satisfied smile. It was more than he had hoped for. Azrael saw that smile and understood what it meant. He shook his head with a light smile. He felt pity for White's opponent in the future.
Because just now, Death had been bestowed to the reaper and he had accepted it with open arms. Only he decides the destruction it would bring to this world, with Azrael as the sole witness.