Rudra was extremely excited seeing the lightning element spirit. From what he knew, the lightning element magic was one of the best types of low-ranking magic there was. The offensive potential that the lightning element possessed was by far the most useful; it could stun the enemy and directly attack the internal organs of the enemy. Rudra figured if he wanted to survive, lightning element would be his best option.
Without wasting more time, Rudra began the process of learning the lightning element magic on the spot. He guided his Spiritual power to surround the spirit; even though it was being surrounded, the spirit didn't resist. Rather, the spirit seemed to be enjoying itself as it started floating up and down, expressing its enjoyment. After Rudra was finally able to surround the lightning spirit, he started analyzing the spirit itself. By analyzing the spirit, he knew that he would be able to understand how the element worked; he was hoping he would be able to replicate what the spirit did.
'So this is how it's done? Seems pretty easy' Rudra thought as he let go of the spirit he had trapped for almost an hour. He studied every little thing that the spirit did to control lightning; only after doing that was he able to figure out the mysteries of elemental magic and the spirits. First of all, the spirit was not controlling the lighting itself; rather, the spirit was somehow converting its spiritual power to match that of lightning.
This was the first time Rudra had seen or felt someone converting their spiritual power itself, so he was very intrigued. After releasing the spirit Rudra, he started imitating the spirit; he did everything it did to be able to use the lightning magic. It didn't take him too long to succeed, as he was quickly able to see a few sparks circling him as he kept on trying to convert his spiritual power.
"This should be enough," said Rudra as he finally finished learning the new technique. He was now capable of using lightning magic to its fullest, but just the basics. A win was still a win for Rudra, though, as this new magic brought a lot of possibilities to him. For a while, Rudra started practicing with the lightning element magic; small bolts of lightning started appearing on top of his hand. He wanted to be very familiar with this magic before he used this in fighting.
'Let's make something first before heading out.' Rudra was done practicing as he suddenly remembered something that might be helpful to him. He suddenly stopped everything as he started searching the forest for some materials. After he was done collecting everything he needed, he sat down and started crafting spears. The spears were neither too long nor was it too short; he crafted them to fit his size perfectly.
"Who knew that learning bushcraft in a previous life would really pay off? Well, if I knew beforehand, I would have focused more on learning new things." Said Rudra as he kept beating on a stone as it slowly chipped away. He was currently trying to make a spearhead by hitting one rock with another. He had learned this skill when he was trying to prepare himself for a solo trip. He had decided to visit some faraway place where no humans lived for a retreat of sorts, which was why he had learned many survival tricks.
He had already made about three of the spears; they all had pretty long and sharp heads. This was the last spear he was going to make, as he didn't want to carry more weight around where he would need speed to stay alive. Rudra kept on making the spear as he kept on remembering his past. He remembered that even after learning all of these things, he was never able to go on that trip. At that time, he hated himself for learning these skills; however, he hated himself more for not quitting his job and following his dreams.
"Finally done, let's be on my way." Just as he said that Rudra heard some rustling coming from the bushes not far away from him. As soon as he heard the sound, he didn't dare to waste any time as he ran in the opposite direction. He didn't know what made the sound; however, he was sure it was no good news.
....
After running for some time, Rudra finally stopped as he found a tree. Under the tree, there were many skulls. From what he could gather, Rudra knew that the skulls belonged to many different species of monsters. The skulls seemed very old as well; the monsters had been dead a while. Rudra wondered who could have gathered all of the skulls here in one place, so he started exploring the surrounding area.
"KI KI KI" Rudra heard a sinister sound, and he could feel his feet get cold as soon as he heard the noise. He was instantly able to tell that the noise was made by a goblin. That is why he started scouting the area where the noise came from. It didn't take that long for him to find the exact location from which the noise had come.
'So this is where they live.' Rudra thought as he absorbed the arena in front of him while sitting on top of a tree. He was finally just a few meters away from getting his ticket to leave this strange place. The goblins seemed to have been living in caves. Although he had finally found the hideout of the goblins, he was still not sure how many of them there really were. There were many cave entrances, so if he recklessly went inside one of them without a plan, and if the other goblins were alerted, he would be surrounded by both sides in no time.
"I wish I were just able to charge inside the caves," Rudra thought as he quietly stared at the caves. He was really desperate to get out of this place as soon as he could. Controlling his suicidal urges, Rudra sat there quietly for a long time, wanting to gather intel. Soon, he was rewarded for his patience.
"KRIIII KRIIIII KRIIIIII" Rudra was suddenly shaken as he heard the cry of a goblin that came from somewhere else. He didn't move from where he was positioned, as he knew if he moved now, he would most definitely be exposed to the goblins. Soon after the cries were heard throughout the jungle, three goblins suddenly ran out of the cave.
'So he is the one who scared me earlier,' thought Rudra as he saw a goblin carrying another goblin on its back. Rudra instantly recognized the other goblin who was on the back as he was the one who killed it. The goblin slowly arrived in front of the cave and threw the corpse right in front of the other goblins.
"KI KIK KIK." It was almost as if one of the goblins started laughing, and soon the others followed suit as well. Rudra didn't understand why they were so happy. For some reason, the goblins started dancing around the corpse. Rudra seemed confused; however, it didn't take him long to figure that out.
'Tsk, to think that they would even do this. The books really tried to portray them as saints.'