Yun spent the night within his tent, in meditation, and deep thought. He even allowed his senses to turn inward and focus upon his spirit orbs. His thoughts didn’t go around in circles this time. He watched, he studied, and was patient. Before the sun rose in the sky, he walked out of his tent, strapped his sword onto his hip, and went down to the stream.

He put a large flat stone near the water, and sat upon the stone.

It was time to make a skill but this was something he had no clue on how to form.

“Do I vacuum it up? Do I separate it from the water? Do I guide it, or does it automatically pulled in to where it should be? When I made my skills before, I had a definite goal in mind, but now, I’m without any leads!” He thought for another half hour, quiet, and in a meditative trance.

“No. That’s wrong. I have a goal. I want that spirit to meld with the proper spirit orb to strengthen it, or to fuel my skill. But what kind of spirit is it?”

The sun had risen in the sky for several hours before his enhanced senses were able to provide the answer. The only reason it took so long was because he did not even consider the colour of the spirit in the water versus the spirit of his orbs.

The spirit in the water was not yellow, brown, or any elemental color. It was clear. His spirit orbs were white for skills, crimson for life, and clear for elemental affinity. He wasn’t sure if that meant he had an affinity for all elements, or if it meant something else.

“The only thing I can do is to try.”

Several hours had passed, but the skill he wanted was slow to form. There were several reasons for this, so Yun had to meditate, and immerse himself in deep thought to figure out the problem.

The first reason is he wasn’t as sure about the type of spirit energy he saw within the water. He thought it should be life energy, but it was elemental in nature. That stifled the formation of the skill he wanted.

The second reason it would not form was he was unsure on how to absorb the energy. Should he drink it? Should he suck it in like a vacuum?

The third reason was that he wasn’t sure how it would fuse with his own spirit. He had no guidance at all, though as he considered it, maybe those cultivation novels were accurate then he gave them credit for.

The Dantian, the meridians, the spiritual sea, all were a part of the system the cultivation novels used to absorb Qi, and spiritual energy. He didn’t possess those aspects, however, he did possess the spirit orbs. The cultivation methods were diverse, but they had only two aspects.

The first aspect was to absorb the energy. The second was to integrate it into their Dantian. The more they absorb, the larger the pool of energy the cultivator could use.

“So maybe it's simpler than I think it is. First, a skill to absorb the energy into my body. The method most described in those novels were a vortex. A whirlpool of energy that would be drawn to one point. The point is my body. The source is the water. The whirlpool is the method.” Yun then began to concentrate, and the skill he sought for the last few days formed within an hour.

“Now, as the energy is being drawn in, integrate it into my spirit orb. Do it simply. This one appears to be the same colour as my elemental sphere, so let it be absorbed and integrated into the elemental sphere.” With the energy available in a huge quantity, he concentrated and focused the energy into his elemental sphere.

The skill formed effortlessly.

Yun tore through half of his meat in only one sitting. The energy he absorbed had brightened his elemental sphere, and even enlarged it a bit, but the price of these skills was still a large amount of food. Unless he found another way to fuel his skills, food would remain at its base.

His eyes travelled back down the hill. The ancient spring still glowed, thick with spiritual energy, and with no weakening of its power. He sighed softly, and groaned.

“There is still a lot of energy in that spring, and I am no closer to another way to power my skills!” Then he thought about his blessings. “I am truly ungrateful. I have found deep spiritual energy in this spring, can strengthen my elemental affinity, and can make skills at will!” He knelt down on the ground and bowed his head.

“I have much to be thankful for. Not only can I improve myself, but I also know the questions I have to ask. I need to find sources of life energy, and skills. For now, I should immerse myself more fully in this task. Time to cultivate and absorb as much as I can before I return home.”

Day after day, Yun sat upon that stone and absorbed the elemental energy within the ancient spring. He hunted every second day as his appetite was almost impossible to slake without huge amounts of meat.

Wolf furs, bear skins, cougar and tiger skins piled up after he hunted, skinned, and ate the animals that dared to attack him. The wolf packs grew more wary after he thinned a few of them out, but lone hunters, like tigers and wildcats, didn’t get to learn the lesson they learned.

Do not provoke the Ogre.

At the top of a tree, a large man that glowed bright white, with a double ended halberd that used short swords instead of a mace end, watched carefully, and smiled a small smile.

“He figured it out. Well done, nephew. Your father would be proud.” He looked down at the massive tree beneath his feet and smiled. The crimson life energy of that ancient tree was nearly ready for harvest.

“You are a steward, Lukas. A steward of this world.  Don't abuse its resources, and have respect for the life you take, and give.” He looked up at the sky and smiled.

“Brother will be so happy when you come home.”