The New Elemental God

"I jumped." As a demonstration, the thin person suddenly descended but stopped just one centimeter above the rocky floor. "Now, I don't even remember the last time my feet touched the ground." 

"I hope you're not telling me to dive into this wall." With a nervous laugh, Adam tried to hide his insecurity. 

"Shut up and let's find you more rocks." 

Before leaving, the Earth God retrieved his rocks from the wall.

They returned to their previous location, where Adam could see more of the other gods training. Hikari had moved closer to Calder, and they were now engaged in close combat. The Fire Goddess was much faster than the Old Goat, forcing him into a defensive stance. Calder used water and ice barriers, always forming them just a second before her hand-to-hand strikes could land. She used the walls, ceiling, and floor to propel herself, skillfully deflecting his long-range attacks.

It was obvious they were both masters of their respective combat styles, but Adam hadn't seen Hikari use fire even once.

"Why isn't Hikari using her element?" 

The goddess relied on her speed, martial arts, and two adages, while Calder wielded at least a dozen water tentacles and threw ice sticks, all while using barriers to shield himself from her sudden attacks.

"That's a question for her to answer." 

Glancing once more at the battle, Adam saw Calder corner Hikari with two massive ice walls reaching from floor to ceiling. While suspended in the air, he made his water tentacles rain down on her all at once, aiming to trap her. From the outside, it didn't even look like training—every move seemed deadly. 

"Adam!" Shu called out.

As the young man turned to his teacher, a loud bang echoed through the cave. Calder's tentacles had slammed into the rock, and a thick cloud of dust concealed the impact site. Curious, Adam squinted, trying to peer through the haze in search of Hikari. Then, a red flash emerged from below and shot upward—Calder had left himself open. With a mid-air somersault, Hikari delivered a devastating kick from above. Calder barely managed to block with his left arm an instant before being sent hurtling toward the ground like a missile.

"Hell yeah, hit that Goat!" 

Getting carried away, Adam cheered like he was watching a professional fight in a ring. Sliding into the student's field of vision, Shu looked pissed.

"Sorry." Turning toward the opposite wall, Adam squeezed his rock and shoved it into his pocket. 

Standing slightly higher than him, Shu made a casual cutting motion with his finger. Instantly, a whooshing sound came from above, followed by a rain of rocks. 

"For your next task, you have to lift them all and hold them in the air." 

Adam rubbed his palms together, then spread his arms in a grand, powerful gesture. For a moment, he felt like Calder—then quickly realized he needed to tone down the theatrics.

"Do I have to use my hands?" He glanced at Shu without moving his body.

"No, but it can help with precision." 

No more distractions. It was time. Adam wasn't going to let anxiety freeze him. He was just going to do it. Any second now, he would lift them all.

"ARGH!" 

Frustrated with his overthinking, he shut his eyes tight and slowly raised his hands like a maestro. As he moved, he felt resistance—as if he were actually lifting something with weight, not just his empty hands. 

When he opened his eyes, the Earth God saw a sea of rocks floating in the air. Excitement was about to explode from his mouth, but Shu interrupted.

"DON'T celebrate yet." Shu turned to Adam and gestured toward the rocks at his left. "Move them up and down."

On command, Adam, feeling sweat bead at his temples, cautiously raised his hands. Most of the rocks obeyed, but a few in the back slipped from the formation. He exhaled, steadied himself, and lowered the stones gently. This time, he managed it without dropping any.

Keeping them suspended, the student looked to his teacher, awaiting further instructions.

"Now, pull them together."

Adam's hands began to tremble. He swallowed hard, sweat running down his face. It felt like even breathing too heavily would cause him to lose control.

Holding the rocks steady, he made a swift motion, pressing his palms together. The floating cloud of rocks mimicked his movement, crashing into each other to form a dense black orb. 

"Make it smaller." Shu didn't wait for Adam to respond before issuing the next command.

To Adam, it truly felt like he was compressing something solid. He applied more force, pushing the mass together until it was half its original size but just as heavy.

Excited by his progress, Adam loosened up and began thinking of it as a baseball. 

First, he tossed the ball from one hand to the other. Laughing out loud, he grew more confident and started throwing it up and catching it. Each time, he threw it a little higher—eventually moving on to juggling it. 

"Don't drop it." 

Following the warning, Shu suddenly bumped into Adam on purpose. For a second, he lost balance but managed to catch the ball just in time. Then, a whip of wind struck his precious stone orb. Adam felt it shift but held it in place. 

Seeing his own progress, the playboy smirked at Shu—who immediately smirked back. 

Adam was just raising an eyebrow when a powerful gust of wind hit him from behind, forcing him to stumble forward to avoid falling. Then, as suddenly as it came, the wind stopped. 

Still, Adam didn't drop the ball. As he pulled himself back to adjust his posture, another gust hit him square in the face. He was shoved backward and was about to fall—until he instinctively started floating to keep his balance. 

Even as his body shifted and struggled against the wind, the ball remained firmly in his grip. At that moment, he realized—this wasn't just about controlling the earth. It was about controlling himself.