Maybe some more?

I swung the hatchet with force and the Uruz rune glowed with power.

-BOOM

The sound of a ferocious impact reverberated in the cavernous environment. Debris from the collision enveloped the surroundings like a blanket of fog, depriving us of visibility.

I was shocked at the strength of the enchantment, never in my wildest dreams did I imagine it would be this powerful. Although, the book did say that magical affinities may affect the runes.

'Could my earth affinity have resonated with the Uruz rune? It is associated with earth after all.'

"ELIAS! Elias are you alright?!"

My father's voice brought me back to reality.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine don't worry… Uhm, Where are you?"

I couldn't sense him at all, he was behind me just a second ago where'd he go?

-WHOOSH

All of a sudden a powerful gust of wind hit my face and brushed my wild hair. I staggered and was pushed back; the force of the wind was took me by surprise.

I took out one of the many staffs from the dimensional ring and drove it straight to the ground anchoring myself in place, but it wasn't enough; I sent Aeter to the ground, molding it into a wall to support my back.

Even with all my efforts, I was flung back and the staff I had clutched in my hands flew away like a twig in the air and my body pressed against the earthen wall painfully. I was about to form a cocoon with earth magic to shield myself from the rampage of the wind, but thankfully the miniature tempest died down and the dust settled.

-Cough, cough

I fell back down to the ground coughing and spitting some small debris from my mouth.

"What the hell!"

A curse slipped from my mouth unknowingly, but in my defense that was just so uncalled for. There was no need for him to use that much Aeter in his spell, he could have removed the dust in a much more conspicuous way.

As the fog of detritus no longer cast our eyes ablind, I was able to regain my sight again. I raised my head and adjusted my eyes to the darkness once again as the light from the rune died down. What greeted me was my father looming over the hatchet that buried deep into the stump.

'Whoaoo… I didn't think it would be this powerful.'

The bear-like man stood over the stump, his eyes nearly popping out of their sockets. His sight crawled over to my position very slowly, almost looking menacing if not for his comical expression. The hung open mouth and the eyebrows that climbed up all the way to the top of his forehead nearly reaching his hair line, was anything but frightening.

"Y-you carved a rune… YOU CARVED A RUNE?!"

He lunged at me in excitement, his big trunk-like hands lifted me high into the air.

"BAAHAHAHAHHA, my son carved a rune, MY SON CARVED A RUNE!"

He swung me around and around for minutes on end without any sign of this ride ending.

'Oh great, he won't calm down for hours now'

With a sigh, I accepted my fate and swung and swung then swung some more…for an hour.

After more than an hour of air time, my father finally let me down and regained his bearing. He sat on a pelt nearby crossed legged with a hand over one knee and another stroking his beard.

"BHHAHAH forgive me Eli, I got carried away."

Not far away emptying my stomach of today's breakfast, I paused to look at him with a hollow expression before I resumed my… activities.

Laughs resounded once more, feeding my growing frustrations with this man's antics. But dammit don't I love him.

The granules of sand in the hourglass seemed to flow like water, bringing the day to an end and making its way for another.

###

The summer breeze was turning colder everyday announcing the change of seasons, fall was right at the door.

The morning was over quickly, and so was the training session. I had no need to hunt, nor will I need to for the rest of the week; for now, magic is my one and only focus.

I checked up on the little egg, and snugly wrapped it in a new set of fur, before walking back out the cave and sat near the entrance.

Father went away again, doing whatever he does when he disappears, leaving me alone with my thoughts; and magic.

'Okay, I have enough control over my Aeter to try this.'

Ever since discovering my affinity, I have been in a constant endeavor to evolve it into the ultimate affinity. One of the ways to do so, is what I am trying to do now; changing the property of the earth.

'The logic is sound, the earth contains many different nutrients and components from which metals and rare ore is born. If I can control the particles present within the soil, I can change it to any property I please!'

Eagerly, I controlled the ground beneath me to float and the small rocks danced around in the air. I closed my eyes and tried to feel for the small atoms within the earth.

'What to go for?'

I pondered for a while watching the small rocks hover about. Much time passed while I was still stuck in that state, and then suddenly it hit me.

'Iron! It's not an alloy, and it was the most abundant element back on earth; Eon might be the same.'

Setting my mind on looking for Iron, I focused as hard and sent Aeter so I could and try to look for it.

The little pieces of earth shifted and twirled in the air, sometimes my Aeter would cause them to vibrate at high speeds. Some rocks changed color briefly, others changed to mud and dropped to the ground.

I remained immobile for a long time trying to change the property of the earth into iron…or anything else.

Unfortunately no matter how hard I tried,changing simple earth into a different property with nothing but intent, turned out to be the hardest thing I endeavored to achieve.

The sun set and the jungle was enveloped by the cover of the night yet, no progress was made.

I carried myself back into the cave, and warmed my chilly body by the fire.

Lying next to the little egg, I rubbed its shell softly.

"Why the sad face boy?"

Once again appearing out of thin air, father sat down next to me and put a hand on my head warmly.

"I'm trying to change the simple earth into a different property, but I can't seem to make any progress no matter how hard I try."

'He's trying hard he says… AS IF IT ONLY TAKES TRYING HARD!'

Fathers face turned stiff at my words.

"What's wrong?"

As if it never left his tanned face, a grin quickly stretched his lips, and his hand ruffled my hair roughly.

"Wrong? BAHAAH nothing's wrong Eli. You know what, when we get out of the jungle I'll get you a book on the ores and metals, maybe that'll help."

"Really?! Thanks dad!"

I was ecstatic, A book of that subject would surely give much insight. It's practically the best way achieve my goal!

'I wonder if he would get a dwarven book. Granny said they use magic to forge their wares, I'm sure they transmute the earth element.'

Lost in his thoughts, Elias did not notice the gentle expression his father had.

'Oh Eli, what a wonderful gift you are… If only you were here Aurora, our son loves magic just you do, you would be so proud.'