Grand Adventures of the Witch King

Discoveries and a Stranger in the Water

Atop a tall and lush cliff within the early hours of the morning, one could see a tall, well-built, white-haired young man that was practicing with his spear diligently. He had black leather armor on his upper body with long grey and green pants with the same colored boots.

With each movement of the spear, be it a thrust, stab or swipe, the air would vibrate at the sheer power in his arms. Each stretch and pull would put an unseen pressure on his muscles tempering them to fight against each other and then be rebuilt under the same unseen pressure stronger than ever.

But there was no denial of the mesmerizing beauty filled within each movement, how natural and fluid his body and the spear moved in. A graceful yet powerful air could be felt as each step and posture seemed as if they had been practiced for centuries.

Sure Ezekiel was a spell caster throughout his life, but that didn’t stop him from dabbling in martial arts for a while back then and by a while, he meant a few centuries. He also learned a bit of weapon mastery over the years too, after all, he had eternity by his side to enjoy it in all its splendor by picking up a few other arts as well along the way, or so he always thought until he died.

Other than that Ezekiel had chosen to stay at the hideout and since then a day had passed, having decided to stay here until he reached the required realm his predecessor was instructed by his mysterious father, he thought it best to review it the night prior on his plans for his decision.

Besides, he honestly had no choice as this map was the only clue and the directions of getting out of this forest, and maybe that warning was there for a reason, if he refused it that might just end with him dying again and this time there was no second chance.

With that idea, he woke up very early from the best sleep he had in months since coming to this world and began to train the technique Ullo learned.

It was different that much is true, the technique the villagers of Tambe village, it was like taking what was already existing and painfully as well as crudely try to squeeze it into a person. This one after months of reviewing and analyzing it allowed Ezekiel to understand that it made the practitioner to build their bodies to rise in power.

Carving themselves inside out by using the essence within the air and drawing it within them to shape and squeeze power and strength into each muscle and ligaments. Well the first realm anyway, the next one was the blood and then after that he would refine his bones.

As each realm is advanced there is extremely high leap in strength, and Ullo reached the peak of the muscle realm building stage which was called the Vire realm which is the first realm of the technique.

Had Ullo reached the blood refining realm, no one would have stopped him that day heck he wouldn’t have stayed there too for it was the Moveo realm!

It is just two realms, that was also Ullo’s first thought. But it was not that easy as it sounded at all. The Vire had 3 stages, skin, muscles, and ligaments. He was at the last stage too, that was why he was confident to reach the Moveo within a year only to have his dreams dashed.

That and he was but a young man that barely knew what he was doing so he had to rely on the technique to guide him and follow through with his instincts and mind. However, in the hands of a 1000-year-old witchdoctor/mage that had seen things that shouldn’t exist, it was as easy as drinking water.

Lowering the spear and releasing a deep breath, Ezekiel had a large smile on his face that he just couldn’t remove as even his body shook in excitement that he tried to contain.

“I had thoughts about this before and but to think it would work so splendidly! Hahaha!” He tried to hold his joy, tried being the key word as he soon began to cackle like a madman as he had to lean on the spear and bend over to hold his knee with his other hand as buckets of sweat rolled down his head like someone poured water on him and large amounts of steam rolled off him the moment he did as if his body was boiling but not a hint of red could be seen on his perfectly flawless skin it seemed, even glossier and fairer!

After a while, he managed to capture his breath and his body stopped releasing steam as he slowly stood up once more still with a joyful face, he took a deep inhale of air that was soon released from his nose in a form of a white burst of steam akin to a snort of a mad beast. Though there was no sign of him being in a berserk state and his mind as clear and calm as a still body of water as his icy blue eyes shone with a bright glint.

The reason for all the excitement was simple, he had managed to find a way to accelerate the time needed for the bridge to form as well as improve his body’s strength!

Over the months he was alone and done with crafting the spell of the ritual, he would ponder if there is a way that he could integrate the technique of Ullo into his very own, it was a crazy thought indeed to try and mix a body strengthening technique with a mage and witchcraft technique without the proper time and materials to experiment, that and the two techniques were from different worlds.

But that was one of the many perks of the tome, its ability to very adaptable and of course, his crazy mind for dabbling on it constantly trying to re-engineer an art that had been perfected over centuries.

Well, it’s not like it is the first time, as he had just made a new technique from one that was even older.

“This technique is just made for me; I couldn’t have landed in a better body. Haha! If I had landed in a different one, I might have only turned whatever their technique into mine only after the bridge had been formed.”

Ezekiel’s current body that is needed for his first stage in the Aedificium realm and compared to the pervious one, even if it was not damaged is like a finished piece of glass and sand, just by knowing this one would immediately know that there are no similarities at all.

Now he had the piece of glass, but the problem is that glass needed to become a glass bowl that had a tube extending out of it from the body of the bowl towards a tank of water. The tube being the bridge made from the body of the bowl which is the essence that he didn’t want to mess with, the water being the ousia and the tank being the obvious dimensional domain he is trying to reach.

What he discovered which also brought much excitement was that he found a way to accelerate the extension of the tube without breaking it and also making it very sturdy, wider as well as keeping the bowl stronger and thicker!

If one wanted to point out the location of the bridge on his physical body, that would be in his heart. A metaphysical breach sat in there at level so small that it was basically invisible to all manner of senses that was not his.

He started 3 hours ago and he didn’t stop until he felt a strain on his body, the essence within him as this was the first try and a good one at that which made him very happy as he would soon be out of this god forsaken forest.

Clenching his free hand as he felt a receding heat in tempered muscles and sinew, the other piece of good news was that his progress in the technique of Ullo was astounding!

“Haha! Who knew that the way to advance faster and stronger was a technique from a different world. And that is going for both my techniques.” He mused.

“At this progress and speed, the original 3 months waiting period has been cut down to 2 if my estimate is true and I keep at this.” He thought out loud as he rubbed his smooth chin, which got him thinking once more.

“But I can lower it even more if I train under heavy pressure, such as a waterfall or with weights. Hehe! To think I would come to train like those Wuxia body cultivators.” Ezekiel chuckled at his joke as shook his head slightly making his wet hair flip about.

Having stabilized his body and breath, he had to returned to the cave to get refreshed, he has to go out hunting for both fresh meat and to get himself some external strength. Such a thought made his glint as he stretched for a moment making his body pop slightly before he walked towards a position not far from his current one, it was a big boulder. Stepping behind it, be bent down to move the grass there, and as he did it gave way to a hole to size of a manhole back on earth.

Stepping in, he closed it from the inside and placed a thick wooden beam that was also very sturdy and heavy, he used it to block the entrance from the inside.

Walking through the familiar corridors that had been lit by sun stones that Ullo kept around but had run out of light when Ezekiel, he kept them outside the entire day while he took a rest and familiarized himself with his new home.

Ezekiel found himself in a large chamber that had nothing but a large stretched body out of crystal blue water that almost took the entire chamber that enabled one to see the bottom at the shallow part, but if one looked a bit further they would see that it got deeper and deeper until it was nothing but dark where it met the walls of the chamber.

There were small openings in the ceiling of the chamber, perhaps for ventilation, yet for some reason there were no beasts of any kind within this place as if it warded off beasts. Ezekiel tried to find a reason for this, even searched the strange writings on the walls yet came out with nothing.

Recalling the robe within him body and then removing the leather armor from his chest his godlike body bare once more, Ezekiel quickly dove head first in the cold water that cleansed and cooled him.

He had to admit that he was feeling a little annoyed that there was no soap but he had to make due. Not like his new body had issues with hygiene anyway, in fact he discovered that he emitted a fresh and strangely tantalizing fragrance, not even his sweat was stinky. No, it was clear and fresh, much like a newborn baby’s scent of course his was manlier.

After washing of the sweat and dirt he picked up in his training and of yesterday as he was not even dirty, Ezekiel decided to relax at the shallow part with his back resting against the edge with his eyes closed and his mind at peace. Suddenly they snapped open as he twisted his head towards the deep end of the pool.

He had checked this waters before entering but with a sensory ability that can only go as far as 15m was not easy, which was the reason he kept to the edge, that the ability was somewhat passive and he didn’t need to turn it off or on.

He had sensed a being enter the edge of his range, from what he could pick up it seemed like it noticed that he had felt it too, so it stopped.

The air got heavy while the water got colder, Ezekiel had a calm and serene look on his face without a single hint of panic as he could feel whatever was in the water was not hostile or had malicious intent, well at the moment anyway.

This made his mind churn, Ullo had been down here before and felt nothing. This could only mean that there was always something here that noticed him and he didn’t or that it had just discovered him, if it was the former this meant that something like that must be a beast at Greater beast level as they had the intelligence to even bother to think.

Or it could be a Fierce beast that got curious if it is the latter.

Thinking until there, Ezekiel decided to try his other ability even if he was not sure what good it would bring but this was better than nothing in the end.

A gentle green glow lit up in his eyes, turning the once blue irises into an enchanting emerald green then a small ripple suddenly went out from his position even without him moving at all, it was an invisible wave of energy that affected the water gently as the only indication that he had done something.

And as soon as it reached the creature underneath the water that was still at the edge, Ezekiel who had his senses focused on it that he could see that it was as a human but as it was at the edge he couldn’t fully tell how long it was, he felt jolt for a moment when the wave reached, this made him slightly tense, ready to react at any moment.

But it did nothing after that, in fact if his sense were not deceiving him, he seemed to sense it hesitate? This made him hold his breath and clench his fist slowly but kept a calm spirit.

After what seemed like an eternity the creature moved. It came closer but at a very slow and cautious pace.

This made Ezekiel gave out a smile as well as release the breath he had been holding in gently, ‘Good, it worked even in this world.’

This was another ability called Spirit affinity.

This ability much like the others was for survival, it increased his affinity with intelligent, calm and peaceful beings. Which was the reason he was relaxed and elated that whatever this creature was, it fell under the three requirements, had it been the beings that had neither of the three it would most likely just ignore him and turn around or continued attacking him.

Of course it had an another use too, it was that it made him seem friendly towards spirits and ghosts. Well the neutral ones or calm ones, the malicious ones would at most hesitate for a moment instead of just jumping at him.

So this meant that this Greater Beast had to be a spirit type, or must have gained a spirit type power or ability due to its evolution.

With a gentle smile, Ezekiel waited for it to reveal itself, as he sent gentle waves of comfort and friendliness towards it through the ability a little something that he had picked up over the years.

And soon enough about 10m from him, it stopped, from below the waters he sensed that this creature was long and slender, but there was something about it that seemed familiar as he was about to ponder to try and remember it, he paused his thoughts as it started to rise.

First was a head of wet pale blue hair that had a sort of coral tiara that was imbedded with shiny pearls, followed by pale white skin with an arrow-shaped azure-colored scale on its forehead, and then a pair of large beautiful aqua blue eyes came into view that stared at him full of interest and curiosity as well as a hidden glow in them that he thought he imagined.

Ezekiel watched with interest it or her rise out of the water. By her he meant that he saw her long thick hair drop down her shoulders and cover her large breast that seemed to be held by a strange bra of some sort and down her back reaching her waist, she had a pink seashell neckless too that hung from her neck.

Her belly was flat and smooth, with a cute belly button. But she didn’t raise any further and he could see azure blue scales around her waist and a slender long blue tail beneath the clear water.

‘Ah! A mermaid, huh? To think I would meet one here too. And a young one at that.’ He mentally mused at this as he released his ability, returning his eyes to their usual blue as he gazed at this creature.

She was beautiful as these creatures came even in this world, looked to be around the age of an 18-year-old human girl. She had a small delicate nose, pink gentle lips, and smooth fair skin, her supple cheeks had a cute rosy color on them as she then gently tucked a strand behind her small fin-shaped ear and for some reason, she stared at him bashfully, yet Ezekiel couldn’t shake off the feeling that she was being flirty with him.

Ezekiel was a little surprised at this development and couldn't stop a ridiculous thought from forming in his mind.

‘Is this little mermaid princess flirting with me?’