Seed Of Speed

Celita dropped Diego on the branch of the Zivot Tree which lead to a hollow which held three teleportation gates. Although he was more than ready to start aa fight with her about his treatment, he held it back, knowing that even if he was in his peak condition, he would not be a match for her.

"Go through the left one," Celita said.

With a mostly blank stare, Diego headed through the portal on the left, and found himself in another hollow, but this tree was a normal brown color, and not the silver of the Zivot Tree. The only light in the room was from the portal, but he was already developing the habit of casting {Dark Sight} on himself. Celita exited out a moment later and led him out through some hanging vines.

They had not taken more than two steps before a figure appeared before them. He was a head taller that Celita and Diego and had broad shoulders that were topped with green spikes. His features were much more reptilian than Celita with soft-scale brown skin, angular bone structure, and, instead of hair, a streak of green feathers with a row of horns on either side.

"Mother, I thought you were on a special ȧssignment from the Grand Mother," the reptilian man said.

"You're looking at it," Celita said, pointing over her shoulder at Diego. "He wanted to stretch his muscles, so might as well put him to work."

"He looks a little weak to be going out there," he said while giving Diego a doubting look.

"His body is stronger than it looks, and he has human magic. He'll be fine in the trainee region," she ȧssured as she moved passed him.

"Don't let her kill you," the reptilian chuckled as Diego passed.

"Easier said than done, I'm afraid," Diego replied with a sigh.

Celita's son laughed then leapt up into the upper branches of the tree. Diego followed Celita down the long limb of the hutia tree and then off, but where she just jumped down, he used his magic to glide down. She did not land straight on the ground, instead opting for the large roots of one of the trees and pointing to the spot next to her for Diego.

"There is a reason why no one in the village makes their home on the ground. Despite the Grand Mother's influence, the life power of the Zivot Tree can't be fully contained, but without her, it is corrupted by the influence the Daemoras have on the world. Touching the soil will awaken Earth spirits and summon creatures to devour you. Since we are next to one of Rozama's gates, her power limits the strength of what can be called forth. So, farther you go, the stronger the creatures will get, understand?" Celita explained.

"Yeah," Diego said as he pulled out his spear from his storage space.

"Don't make me have to come save you, brat."

Diego rolled his eyes and jumped down to the ground. Even though Earth was his weakest element, he could still feel the subtle change in the mana in the ground due to his {Heaven's Celestial Eye}. He spun his spear through his fingers as he focused on energies around him and stared down at a specific spot in front of him.

::Earth Gremlin killed! 1 Experience points awarded, 1 Mastery point awarded::

Diego blinked in surprise since it had been so long since he had seen a message like this. The skeletons in the Catacombs were constructs, so they gave nothing when he destroyed one. As for the upir bats he would hunt with Tovao and Stormblade, they normally did the killing, so they could harvest the blood while he just pinned them with arrows.

With a grin on his face, Diego split into six bodies. Five carried spears while the sixth jumped up on a root with his keyboard out. With another ten gremlins trying to pull themselves out of the ground, Diego started play "Love Drunk" by Boys Like Girls.

"Top down in the summer sun

The day we met was like a hit-and-run

And I still taste it on my tongue

(taste it on my tongue)

The sky was burning up like fireworks

You made me want you oh so bad it hurt

But, girl, in case you haven't heard

I used to be love-drunk, but now I'm hung-over

Love you forever, forever is over

We used to kiss all night

Now it's just a bar fight

So don't call me crying

Say hello to goodbye

'Cause just one sip

Would make me sick

I used to be love-drunk, but now I'm hung-over

Love you forever, but now it's over…"

Diego, and his clones, began moving with deadly efficiency. Each time a spear stabbed out, a gremlin would die without even freeing itself from the dirt. With no difficulty in the present area, he started moving deeper into the jungle.

After another ten steps, fifteen gremlins started to spawn, but he was still able to kill them before they could free themselves. Despite having no chi to strength his body and weapon, his Spear-Intent was so sharp that the gremlins could not offer any sort of resistance against his attacks.

Celita was more than a little surprised by Diego. She could sense the lack of chi in his body which she knew was the source of most of the human's strength. She already knew he was stronger than the average human by the few attacks she had gotten in when they first met. While recruits would not have any trouble with gremlins either, they were not as efficient as he was. There was no wasted movement, every thrust, a kill, and he would seamlessly to the next gremlin.

There was also his music that surprised her. She had a strong impression of bards due to their neighbors in the Grassland Nation. Although he was not using any magic with it, she knew the headache bard mages could be in this environment. Just how many tricks did this boy have up his sleeve?

After reaching thirty-five meters away from the tree, the gremlins outnumbered the Diegos fighting five to one, and were finally able to free themselves. They had stubby bodies with thin arms and legs. Their skin was a weathered yellow and caked with dirt. A loincloth of tattered green or brown fabric was their only semblance of clothing, and their claws and teeth were their only weapons. They would throw themselves at Diego with wild abandon.

At the fifty-meter mark, a new enemy appeared, an Earth Goblin. While the gremlins were a little taller than his knee, the goblins reached Diego's waist in height. Their skin was dark green and had the same tough, leathery hide. They also wore only a loincloth, but they would have crude wooden club in their hand.

::Earth Goblin killed! 2 Experience points awarded, 1 Mastery point awarded::

The five Diegos closed ranks, so that they formed a circle with their backs to each other as there was two goblins and eight gremlins for every one of his bodies on the ground. They moved deeper into the jungle with a slow rotation of their circle, moving like a spinning death wheel. With his [Speed Sight] and skill, it was only his lack of chi that was forcing him to take it slow.

When Diego passed a hundred, the gremlins were replaced with hobgoblins. They looked like larger goblins, standing at mid-chest level, but they would also come with a metal brėȧstplate and a wooden shield. There was still no real intelligence in their combat technique, although they would sometimes try to block an attack. He could still exploit all of the openings in their form with his slow-motion perspective.

Finally, he found a comfortably equilibrium at ten goblins and five hobgoblins to every one of his bodies. The goblins could only leave bruises on his body, so he would target the hobgoblins with his spear first then take out any close goblin with a {Compressed Ice Bullet} spell, an advanced version of his {Ice Bullet} spell, from his off-hand. The rate at which they could spawn, and he could kill everything was close to even, but the occasional goblin would land an attack on his body which built up over time.

Celita was quickly reevaluating Diego strength as she watched him fight. It was clear he was not going all out since he focused on simple, yet effective attacks, repeating the same actions over and over like a dance to his music. His distance put him at the rank second year recruit, but his endurance was ungodly.

He had dawdled in the hundred-fifty-meter range for over half an hour, and nothing had had changed. His attacks were still as perfectly placed, his intuition was still just as sharp as when he started... if anything, she could see the smallest amount of improvement the longer he continued as everything seemed to fall into his rhythm.

Diego could feel the fatigue building up in his mind, so the five clones on the ground put away their spears and waved their hands as each of them casted {Thunder Clone} then the [Speed Clones] vanished. When the goblins and hobgoblins attacked the clones, they exploded with a burst of violet sparks, taking out everything around them.

"Had enough for the night?" Celita asked.

"Yeah, now I just need a nice soak in a hot spring and a comfy bed," Diego replied as he stored away his keyboard.

"Unfortunately, the best you can get is the cold pool on the bottom floor and a pile of pillows."

"Beggars can't be choosers," Diego replied with a shrug.