The Guardian gods

Chapter 62

" This can be a lot to take, meet me back at the cave tomorrow, where your mana training will begin with your other siblings" Ikem said to his kids who now looked deep in thought as they walked out of the cave.

The apelings left the cave with a mix of confusion and curiosity swirling in their minds. The realization of being cursed had cast a shadow over the initial awe they felt for the newfound mana surrounding them. As they stepped into the vibrant, magical world outside, the elements seemed to respond differently to their presence. It was as if the very air recognized their changed state.

Terra, Ember, Ripple, and Zephyr exchanged glances, silently processing the information their father had shared. The notion of a curse wasn't entirely negative, but it did carry an air of mystery and uncertainty. Their thoughts were interrupted by Zephyr, the youngest of the siblings, who broke the silence.

"So, we have this curse, and it's supposed to help us, right?" Zephyr asked, trying to make sense of the situation.

Terra nodded " from father's words it will put us above the rest, and i trust his word"

As they walked through the forest surrounding on the way to their caves, the apelings couldn't help but notice the subtle changes in their surroundings. Flowers bloomed brighter, and the leaves of the trees rustled with a newfound energy. The creatures of the forest regarded them with a mix of curiosity and respect.

Now left alone at the cave, Ikem looked at the tree who stretched out a branch Ikem held on to and then established a connection. " What happened Osisi?" Ikem asked the tree.

The tree has now been capable of thought since after it's birth responded " I felt a similar energy like the one inside me so I instinctively reacted to, but it looks like I made him mad"

Ikem wanted to respond on how he doesn't think his father is angry but thinking back on the scary empty gaze he felt a moment ago, Ikem kept his mouth shut " He's is in a sleepy state, i don't think he's is angry maybe he was just reacting instinctively to something familiar yet unfamiliar"

There was no response from the tree until Ikem asked " Do you feel any changes?" " No, nothing has changed, still the same as before" The tree responded before taking its branch back as Ikem also proceeded to walk back out from the cave.

A few moments back before the branch fully bear fruit's, In Ikenga realm where he was sleeping, his eyebrows can be seen to have twitched the same as the ritual began, the curse tattoo around him also began to glow which caused a small smile to show one his sleeping figure.

It is important to note that Ikenga Isn't fully conscious but some part of him can still react to things around like like knowing that his son has settled deon and had his own kids to begin the ritual he had prepared for him, this shows that everything is go well for his boy so that is something of Joy to Ikenga.

The following day, the apelings gathered once again in the familiar cave, ready to delve deeper into the mysteries of mana. The air buzzed with anticipation as Ikem began their next lesson. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

"Now that you've felt the essence of mana and begun to tap into your elemental abilities, it's time to explore the intricacies of the curse and its second stage," Ikem explained, gesturing to a diagram he had drawn on the cave wall.

"As I mentioned before, the curse has two stages. The first is the active state, which enhances your connection to mana. The second is the hereditary stage, where the curse passed down to your descendants who share your elemental attributes."

The apelings exchanged glances, realizing the long-term implications of the curse. Ember spoke up, "How do we control it? And what if we don't want to pass it on?"

Ikem nodded, understanding their concerns. "Controlling the curse is impossible, as the owner of the curse is leagues above you. As for passing it on, once you decide on a successor the curse activates on its own without you needing to do anything. The curse is not a burden; it's a gift. Your descendants will inherit not only the curse but also the potential for greatness that comes with it."

The apelings took a moment to absorb the information. They knew that the power they got now comes with great responsibility, and the choices they made would shape not only their destinies but those of their future generations.

" No to inform you on why this curse is good and puts you above many in this world, my father and i have been learning of this energy called mana once it was found out that, i can't use divine energy, Mana was the energy we found usable to me"

" Mana in its purest form is attributeless, but with mana comes elements, the elements are all around us and in everything we see, with the help of mana the elements becomes visible in which we see trees and even the fire used to roast meat has elements in it which gives it it's fiery form"

" You four each bear an attribute from the four main elements, Ember being flame, Terra being earth, Ripple being water and Zephyr being air, from this four elements you then gets other diverse abilities for example from the element of earth I got the diverse ability of plants"

Ikem stopped for his kids to absorb what he just said before asking " Do you have any question"

They all shook their head which prompted Ikem to continue " Some of your siblings also bear affinities diversed from this four main elements but some of them don't even bear any affinities at all and are attributeless"

Confusion came over there face, to which Ember asked out loud " Why is that"

" Good question Ember, It's a miracle that the four of you has the four main elements, My dad mentioned in his journal if it didn't happen I should proceed another way but since you guys gained this element it is something amazing"

" Reason why some of your siblings don't bear an attribute comes from the cycle suppression when affinities of different attribute can't coexist with each other so nothing is left for the person in this case leaving them attributeless, no this is why you are a nothing short of a miracle"

" You see there four main elements can coexist with each other and at the same time suppress each other in which water suppresses fire, fire suppresses air, air suppresses earth and earth suppresses water. The cycle should be this way but because of the different diversities from the elements, you can see fire suppressing wood, and air blowing out fire, the same as too hot of a fire burns out water leaving steam and plant suppressing earth by penetrating and breaking apart earth"

" This one might be hard to understand from your expression, but a simple way to summarize it will be that if your elemental abilities is strong enough it beats out the advantage other elements has over it, so in this case the one with the strongest fist wins"

Understanding bloomed in their face to which Ikem grins before snuffing out their growing ambition " While getting your elements to be stronger is the case, you also need to expend more mana in exchange meaning That the amount of mana spent on fire to burn out wood will be twice as much needed for fire to burn out water and getting it into steam, sometimes that amount isn't needed if the environment is favourable to you at that moment"

" Environment, what do you mean by that?" Ripple asked Ikem.

" It's simple, if i am surrounded by woods, i am stronger and have no need to expend too much mana to exert my abilities but if i was to be in an environment with a large body of water or fire then I need to expend a lot of mana to use my abilities"

They all nodded hearing that, " Now back to why your curse is good for you, It has to start with an experiment I started with the primates outside once i wanted to teach them how to use elements, it came to my notice that my physique as a demigod is different from mortal species"

" But first let me start with, I have no idea why a lot of creatures out there seem able to use their abilities without needing to reach a certain stage, almost like an instinctive talent!!!" Ikem said the word talent and something seemed to click within him as he excitedly stood up and brought out his father's journal before his finger glowed green as he started writing inside it.

" But first let me start with, I have no idea why a lot of creatures out there seem able to use their abilities without needing to reach a certain stage, almost like an instinctive talent!!!" Ikem said the word talent and something seemed to click within him as he excitedly stood up and brought out his father's journal before his finger glowed green as he started writing inside it.

The apelings watched their father's excited expression as they heard him speak out loud to himself " I have been calling it elemental abilities all this time while instead it should have been called talent, just like I inherited from my mother the talent of fast healing and plant manipulation from father. The creatures then just have a talent to them which coincides with a certain element"