Chapter 30: A Dead Land Full of Life
Ventus's consciousness had yet to fully return to reality as the connection broke off and his mind was returned to his body, due to that, everything was still widely blurry and confused as his body's senses fired off all at once making him almost puke the moment he got a grasp on reality. As his senses misfired his left shoulder glowed revealing the newly-acquired black tattoo that symbolized the contract he had just made with the wind avatar, as its glow was released a stream of wind approached and was absorbed by the mark strengthening its glow before a wave of energy washed over his body calming his senses down and allowing him to regain control over his body whilst his consciousness returned.
As the darkness faded from his sight and the confusion disappeared, Ventus opened his eyes. The crater he sat on that was once surrounded by a desert of golden sand was no more so, the calamity that his encounter provoked ceased and he quickly concluded that Ragnar must have finished the gathering of his body. To make sure of it he contacted the dragon and his guess was confirmed, the hazard dimension once known as golden wind desert could no longer be called so, and now would have to receive a new name, but what it would be called in the future, Ventus had no idea and nor did he care, because, as of this moment he discovered, to his dismay, that his time was running out and that he had less than 24 hours to find the king viper and acquire its poison gall so that he could successfully pass the trial.
Strangely, even though he knew he had not eaten anything for a few days, he felt no hunger. As he thought about this, theories formed in his mind but as his knowledge was too limited about the nature of mana and its advanced applications, he could not find any decisive answers with what he knew.
"Finally! I'm finally in the natural world!" a familiar voice sounded in Ventus's mind.
The voice was exactly as he remembered from the encounter, overly cheerful and super excited about every single thing that had to do with his this world. But it was not an annoying cheerfulness, Ventus thought, rather, it was a genuine curiosity and profound happiness that one would find hard not to be amused by and would have to struggle to suppress a smile from creeping onto one's face should one interact with this energetic being.
"I've been waiting for a chance like this for so long! I bet that if the other avatars were to ever heard I managed to come here, they would die from jealousy" it merrily bragged and laughed.
"Thank you young one," it said, "Without your support, I would have never been able to come here and experience this magnificent place!"
As the voice talked Ventus had already stood up from his spot and after a quick tapping of his clothes to remove any remaining dirt from the ground he had sat on, he walked out of the crater and found himself in a dark-red plain stretch of land that carried with it a pungent smell of blood and gave a creepy sensation as if he was being gazed on by countless eyes even though there was absolutely no one in sight.
"You call this magnificent?" Ventus asked.
"Of course!" it replied excited, "can't you see this vibrant ground filled with life, so much that hundreds of thousands of spirits are lingering here?"
"What!? filled with life?" Ventus said outraged, "this place is obviously a desolate dead land that is filled with a constant air of death that reeks of blood"
"Are you and I talking about the same place young one?" the avatar spoke clearly confused," this place is obviously vibrant and full of life, the divine soul on your body should also be able to see it too"
"You can feel Ragnar?" Ventus asked surprised.
At this moment, the old dragon interrupted.
"Yes, of course he can kid, he is, after all, an avatar of the elemental hearts" he sighed, "if he could not sense me, someone who has acquired a treasure from the earthen elemental heart, then only Kingun himself could do it"
"Also, he speaks the truth" Ragnar concluded.
"What do you mean? how can this dead land be full of life? also, what spirits? I see no one here" Ventus inquired.
"Oooooh, riiight..." The avatar interrupted, "someone with your strength would obviously not be able to see anything here"
"Huh? Why?" Ventus questioned.
"This place has so much condensed spirit energy that it has practically become a cage for every spirit that has ever died here, and for every new spirit that dies here, that energy only rises and is able to trap more and more souls, preventing them from entering the reincarnation cycle, as such, this place has become a sort of spiritual realm that exists and is fed by the powerful souls that fell here" the avatar explained, "and due to that, this place that is filled with mighty blood and spiritual energy, has become a vibrant land filled with rich nutrients that can allow any plant that is put in here to rapidly grow, also, any plant that is put here will also grow into a natural treasure with enough time and even has a chance of condensing a plant-based intelligent life form due to the many spirits that are trapped in this place."
"Perhaps..." the avatar hypothesized, "It can even allow the souls trapped in here to obtain a new body and give them a chance to leave this place"
"Is that true?" Ragnar abruptly interrupted.
"There is a chance" the avatar replied, "but it would take some pretty incredible plants to house and give new body to the beings that have fallen here, they would have to literally be god-tier natural treasures, and to guarantee a specific soul enters a specific plant, it would take an equally powerful living being to guide those souls"
"There is a chance...." Ragnar mumbled and went silent.
As the conversation occurred in his mind, Ventus walked through the land at a moderate pace absorbing all this new knowledge. Considering the words of the avatar and the dragon's confirmation, Ventus now viewed this dead land in a whole new light, he figured that he was surrounded by spirits of the dragon's fallen enemies and comrades. Maybe, the constant discomfort he felt were the spirits trying to communicate with him.
"And the reason for you not being able to see it young one" the avatar continued, "is due to your eyes not yet having been baptized by the evolution of your soul"
"Evolution...of my soul?"
"Yes, as one growths in strength in this world, their soul also grows accordingly, albeit at a slower rate" it explained, "that is a rule to this place, without a strong soul, strong power cannot be properly executed and controlled, besides that, the comprehension of abilities is also influenced by the soul"
"The affinities for the elements stem directly from the soul, and thus, having a stronger soul increases the overall affinity for the elements, except in cases like yours of course where due to the treasures you received, the only affinities you'll be able to develop are the wind and earthen ones"
"so, there is no way I can see the spirits?" Ventus asked
"Unless you have a specific item that serves this purpose, a bloodline that allows you to communicate with souls or you are a reincarnated god with a powerful soul in a weak body, no, there is no way" it replied bluntly.
"What about you guys? can you communicate with the spirits?" he asked still refusing to give up.
"we can sense them, but we can't interact with them" the avatar replied.
"Since we are beings tied to your body and limited by your power, we can't do anything that would be above your natural capabilities due to the fact that to manifest our powers, we must do so through your body" Ragnar explained
Ventus went silent and became slightly disappointed. He was very excited about the prospect of actually communicating with powerful beings of the past outside Ragnar, but since it was not fated, he conformed himself and continued his journey.
With his soul having grown and evolved due to the wind soul treasure he found out as he travelled that he could with far more ease perceive the wind around him and even gather some information from it. He could no longer refine mana since his father's technique was erased from his mind, he could, however, constantly feel energy pouring into his body, and from what he could guess, it was precisely that same energy that was keeping him awake and energized even though he was already out of nutrients for days.
Perhaps, he guessed, the fact that he was constantly using mana and refilling, and especially after his encounter with the elemental heart, his body had become more attuned to mana, and thus, he was able to sustain himself for a period of time solely relying on mana.
After walking for a few minutes in this dark-red stretch of land Ventus had already grown somewhat worried about his task, everywhere he looked there was only the bloody earth to keep him company, and to make matters worse, when he tried to tap into the earth's pulse to find some clues, he discovered that the earth's pulse was messy and chaotic in this land, he figured that it was due to the dense amount of blood that drenched the earth, a theory that was quickly confirmed by Ragnar and his deep knowledge of the earth element.
"Young one, I believe that you should increase your speed and head north" the avatar suddenly spoke.
"Go faster to the north? why?" Ventus inquired.
"I can sense a commotion in the surrounding spirits, many of them suddenly began heading towards the north at a rapid pace. I do not know if it will aid you in your quest, but perhaps you can find some profit out of this and maybe, considering beasts acute sense for both treasure and danger, you can also find the beast your searching for whilst you head there" it replied.
Ventus confirmed the information with Ragnar, and after a quick preparation, he channelled mana straight into the ground and formed a small platform beneath his two feet. He put his hands behind his back and willed the platform to move, turning it and then shooting off towards the north as the avatar had instructed him.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Aspiring_Eternal
Aspiring_Eternal Hello Everyone ^_^
Aspiring_Eternal Here :)
I've been thinking and I've come to the conclusion of a new model of posting chapters.
During the weekdays, there will only be regular chapters and maybe some bonus ones depending on the circumstances.
In the weekend (Saturday & Sunday) will be posted the bonus chapters only.
That said, enjoy today's double power chapter ^_^
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