The Ascension of Contracted Spirits

Chapter 51 - 50: Skill Proficiency_1

Inside the target practice room, Huazhu pursed her mouth, the dull color of her eyes seemingly brighter.

Ye Hanjun continued:

"If I’m not mistaken, the skill ’Gathering Sand into Shield’ is the key you’ve relied on throughout your wandering life, right?"

"Yes!" Huazhu agreed wholeheartedly, "It is a racial skill that the mud-cast fetus of the Desert Witch Clan must learn. With or without it, my ability to survive is completely different!"

"I always thought I would never be able to learn it. Five years ago, when a hunter chased me, I accidentally fell down a cliff. In an extreme situation, I suddenly comprehended the skill, which saved my life..."

Huazhu’s past experiences were abundant, and wouldn’t be exhausted even in ten days and nights.

Ye Hanjun played the listener, letting her recount her story.

Once he had a rough understanding of the situation, he asked her to demonstrate her skill for further measurement of its strength.

"Swish swish swish swish——"

The golden sand still split from under Huazhu’s feet, but this time it was far more than ’Raising Sand’s’ amount, and in a few moments, it exceeded the volume of the Desert Witch herself, condensing in front of her into a large golden shield.

"Can it change shape?" questioned Ye Hanjun.

No sooner had the sounds fell, the shield initially held in a circular shape, and immediately changed to a diamond shape.

Then there was the elliptical, cylindrical, rectangular, hemispherical, pentagonal, hexagonal... The shapes were versatile and came to hand easily.

Ye Hanjun’s eyes brightened. Besides the race, rank, areas of expertise, and the number of skill runes, the mastery of the skill is also essential when assaying the strength of a Fond Spirit.

The same skill, ’successful release’ is just the basic threshold, ’freely release at will’ is the advanced threshold, and cannot be overlooked.

"Sha——Sha sha——"

The grains of sand were rubbing against each other. Tens of thousands of them seemed to be controlled by an invisible palm, constantly changing shape.

If you paid a bit more attention, you would notice that it was not only the outer shape that was changing, but also the surface area and actual thickness of the shield were freely changing according to Huazhu’s manipulation.

When it was thinnest, it seemed as if a yellow sheet of paper was suspended in front of the witch, highly transparent as if it could be torn with one reach.

When it was thickest, the shield was only as big as three coins. All the sand was forcibly compressed, condensed into an unbreakable hard lump.

"Excellent, really excellent."

Ye Hanjun admired her sincerely.

This level of proficiency could not be easily achieved by staying in a training hall and practicing day after day.

Only great terror between life and death had the possibility of shaping it. If there’s a lack of resilience or a missed opportunity, success would be impossible.

"The proficiency of the skill does not have a standard grading system, but high-ranking Patrons who attach importance to this, have set it as ’ordinary use’,’proficient mastery’,’becoming expert’, ’exceptionally skilled’ these four levels, it’s only circulated among the upper class circles."

"In my estimation, the skill of ’Gathering Sand into Shield’, you have definitely mastered it."

"Considering the few years of self-discovery you’ve had, your achievement is truly not easy."

"Really, am I that remarkable?"

Huazhu appeared a little puzzled, as she seemed unaccustomed to being praised.

"Have some confidence. Regardless of your innate bloodline issues, in acquired ability, you are the best of the best."

"Just a second ago, as you were talking to me, you zoned out for a moment."

"Even so, your shield didn’t move an inch and always hovered at the height and position you desired."

"This level of control precision and spell-casting technique, among the spirits at Canghai Pavilion, there might not be many that could surpass you. Don’t doubt your own potential."

"Oh, oh..."

Huazhu’s mouth gaped slightly, the shock clearly shown on her face.

Ye Hanjun ignored this and continued:

"The normal ’Gathering Sand into Shield’ roughly has a strength of 75 to 90 runes, it is indeed a core survival skill of the Desert Witch clan."

"But your current 20 runes, supplemented by skills, the actual effect displayed would not be less than 60 runes. Under some special circumstances, there might even be bonuses that make your potential defensive value immeasurable."

"So, that’s how it is..."

Huazhu murmured:

"This shield has saved me many times, and I would practice it over and over when I’m free."

"Relying on it, even though I’m a handicapped witch with no real attack power, I can find companions and get along in harmony."

Ye Hanjun nodded, understanding clearly.

During the contract, he didn’t have the opportunity to measure her skill, and made an estimation based on what he heard and saw.

The result was undoubtedly higher than expected, it was no wonder that the witch, with ’indomitable’ as her core personality, could bring him such pleasant surprises.

"Theoretically there’s still room for improvement."

After reflecting for a moment, Ye Hanjun pointed out the direction:

"Assume that you can split your mind in two. Split the shield into two, facing two directions at the same time for defense, while the skill is running stably and not interrupted."

"This would almost exceed the standard of ’becoming an expert’ and move towards the true meaning of ’exceptionally skilled’."

"By then, ’Gathering Sand into Shield’ would essentially mean that it’s developed to the extreme."

"Looking back or forward, there wouldn’t be anyone from your race who could completely and thoroughly beat you in fields related to this skill."

"How do I practice to be able to reach this level?" Huazhu’s eyelashes quivered, and the pondering look in her eyes was clear to see.

"Play with the sand." Ye Hanjun showed a slight mysterious smile, "Whether it’s daily communication or walking, as long as you’re free, just fiddle with the sand."

"There’s no need for any intricate techniques. Just control a small handful of sand and make it spin around your leg or arm."

"After gradually getting used to it, try to deviate the currents, one swirl of sand moves counterclockwise, the other moves clockwise; the longer you can maintain it, the better."

"It sounds easy, but I imagine it is quite challenging..."

Huazhu furrowed her brows, the scar on her forehead still scary and vicious, but her calmness and focus were invincible.

"Those with a weak mindset will give up after just a few attempts."

"Those with a better attitude but insufficient abilities may develop split personality disorders if they practice for too long."

Ye Hanjun solemnly said, "You inherently are unyielding and never cave in the face of danger or obstacles."

"I’m not worried about your toughness and perseverance, I’m just afraid you might obsess too much over details and end up on the wrong path."

Huazhu nodded slowly and memorized his advice, looking even more solemn than before.

"Relax, this is just one direction of your future efforts."

Ye Hanjun reached out to pat her head. Though the wizard hat was in the way, thanks to her hair, his passive ability of soothing was still activated.

All at once, the witch stiffened and her neck seemed rusted, making her unable to move.

She had never felt like this before....

Warmth? Comfort? Peace? What is this feeling exactly...?

"Compared to advanced sand-shielding practice, at this stage, what you probably need more is the improvement of basic understanding."

Ye Hanjun felt a surge of impatience in his veins. It seemed that teaching Contracted Spirit Fond Spirits could also bring about this feeling.

"Regarding your race, everything I know, I will tell you as completely as possible."

"Besides that, understanding the structure of human society, recognizing different types of spirits, getting the principle of mutual promotion and restraint of properties, and the external characteristics and advantages of abilities... All these are what you need to know urgently."

"I understand."

After suppressing irrelevant thoughts after a few simple instructions, Huazhu understood the emphasis of Ye Hanjun’s teachings.

She was a witch. As an intelligent spirit, if she could use her wits wisely, she would have an additional sharp and silent weapon in her hands.

A cold light flashed, piercing one’s heart. The hidden potentiality was incalculable.

"Yiye?"

A weak calling voice came from the water bottle that he carried with him, waking up Ye Hanjun from his deep thoughts.

He had been too engrossed in mapping out the future growth path for the witch, almost forgetting about the little creature with him.

"Plop——"

The lid was twisted half a turn and easily opened.

Ye Hanjun tilted the bottle, and the little tadpole peeked half of its head out along the water flow.

"Yiye!"

In a new environment, all it saw was a white wall, and its small eyes were full of curiosity.

After looking around for a while and seeming to find it boring to stay in one place, it spouted a bubble from its mouth and flew around again.

"Plop——"

Bubbles have a duration. They do not last forever once they are released.

But the little creature was naturally smart, flying back to Ye Hanjun just before the bubble burst.

It did not wait for Ye Hanjun’s help and accurately landed in the bottle, which was only as thick as a thumb, and smoothly returned to the water.

"Huazhu, this training room is not very useful to you. You should first explore the micro sand controlling techniques I just mentioned. I’m going to give GuaGua his first lesson."

"Yes, Lord."

Propelling with sand, the Desert Witch moved away from the central area, left the surrounding target, and reached the wall on one side.

There was a ring of fine sand coiling around her forearm, crawling along her arm like a little earthworm.

It easily got cut in the middle. The front half kept crawling as if nothing had happened.

The latter half froze still for a moment, flinched a couple of times, then lost control and fell to the ground like dust.

"As expected, it’s not easy...."

Huazhu bowed her head and furrowed her eyebrows. She wasn’t discouraged at all. The fallen sand flew up again, and she continued her studies.

From a distance, Ye Hanjun was watching. He gave a slight nod.

Cultivating Contracted Spirit Fond Spirits always depends on individual innate abilities, as well as the personality, wisdom, and current state of the spirit. Tailor-made.

Huazhu, who has mastered a lot of survival skills and battle experience, just lacks basis understanding and advanced skill proficiency.

As for other aspects, they will have to wait until all the materials are gathered and the metamorphosis ceremony is completed for further corrections.

"GuaGua, it’s your turn now."

Ye Hanjun pointed at the little tadpole that had emerged again. The little creature looked at him innocently, not knowing what was going on.

"See this red dot? That’s the target. Hit it with your spitting water!"

"Plop!" After a few hand demonstrations, the little tadpole quickly understood the meaning, and hit the target with his spitting water, without an inch of deviation.

Ye Hanjun measured the distance and found out that GuaGua, a creature shorter than three centimeters, had a stably accurate shooting distance of fifteen meters.

Anything beyond this distance, and the spit-out liquid would lose its accuracy, simply dropping freely.