In the previous room, our solution was almost elegant. Someone yanked on my rope the moment I landed on a suspect tile. This time, with no clear idea of which tiles might detonate, our approach was far less graceful and involved a lot more sprinting. The group decided I should start at one end of the room and dash to the other. By ‘group,’ I meant everyone but me. They planned to stay safely behind, well out of the blast radius of any potential explosions.
So for the next ten minutes, that was exactly what I did. I chose a line and sprinted across to the other side of the cave as fast as I could. After clearing the first rows, we rotated our position, and I continued the mad dashes. Each time I reached the end, I walked back to the starting point and tackled the next row, all while my so-called friends waited for me to trigger a trap so they could yank on my rope. It was a nerve-racking way to spend ten minutes. I ran at full speed with the constant fear of being blown to bits.
What lovely friends I had made in this world, indeed. I was glad they came to ‘repay’ me for saving their lives.
Well, at least Kaylie and Jack were here partly because of that. As for Sana, I had a sneaking suspicion she was more interested in spying on me. Not that I had much to hide aside from Rabbit. But my concerns were minimal. More specifically, I suspected she was trying to figure out whether I was an agent for the Unionists, the Black Rock Islands, or perhaps some other faction that I hadn’t yet stumbled upon.
The area was small, so checking it only took about ten minutes. It could have been quicker, but I had to muster the courage each time I dashed to the next side. It was truly unnerving.
The only oddity we encountered was four sets of circular indentations on the floor. These were not ordinary marks, but deliberate ones. They were deeply etched circles about the size of my feet. It seemed clear that they were intended for each of us to stand in.
Unsure of their purpose or safety, we decided to play ‘Let’s Fish with Alf’ once more. I stood on one of the marked spots with a rope secured around me, and they yanked it as soon as I positioned myself, but nothing happened. We tried again, this time with me barefoot, yet still, there was no response. After testing all four spots without encountering any dangers, we concluded they were safe. It seemed we needed to activate them all simultaneously.
When we all took our designated spots, still nothing happened. It wasn’t until Jack turned around that our bodies suddenly froze, as if paralyzed. A wave of panic washed over me, fearing we had triggered an obvious trap. Fortunately, the paralysis lifted after a brief moment, allowing us to move freely again, yet nothing further occurred.
We tried numerous combinations, but the only reaction occurred when three of us were oriented in one direction, while the fourth faced the opposite direction. It was as if it wanted two of us not to be able to see the others.
Our best guess was that it simply wasn’t the right time. The riddle had mentioned, ‘The time to act is when the eyes of heaven are upon you.’ Unfortunately, none of us knew what the eyes of heaven referred to. We spent the rest of the day combing through the cave, though interest waned quickly. Jack was the first to lose interest, giving up after about thirty minutes. It seemed that if he wasn’t yanking me around or killing something, he quickly got bored.
Kaylie persisted for two hours, but eventually conceded that revisiting the same spots was futile. Soon after, Sana took a break and began reviewing the documents from the Black Rock Islands again. She had been at it for days, and I couldn’t fathom what more she could be seeking.
I continued to search the cave until Sana approached me, papers in hand. “I am finished looking through these and didn’t find anything,” she announced.
“What were you looking for?” I questioned, genuinely curious.
“I don’t know, but I felt I would know it if I saw it,” Sana replied before walking away.
As I was about to stuff the papers back into my pack, Rabbit chimed in, “Spread the papers out.”
“What’s wrong?” I asked, laying out the papers as instructed.
“The count is off. We are missing a page. I need to look at each of these to see if I noticed the page we’re missing before we handed them to her.” I meticulously went through all the pages, realizing I hadn’t done so initially, unsure if we would even recognize what was missing. Eventually, after Rabbit cataloged everything, he continued, “The missing page is the inventory report for the ship we stole.”
“Why would she take that?” I questioned, puzzled by the oddity.
“I’m not sure. She could have lost it? We’ve moved around a lot since we gave it to her. Or maybe she wanted evidence of the transmutation crystal. From what Kaylie said, that thing was extremely valuable, and that page recorded its exchange. Hmm, maybe…”
“Maybe what?” I prompted.
“There was a note that the crystal was collateral, but no more details. Maybe she was looking into the specifics of that collateral.”
“Why would someone give something so valuable as collateral?” I wondered.
“Oh, that’s easy,” Rabbit explained. “Imagine someone sails into your port with something you desperately want, but they won’t trade it for money. You agree to a deal where you give them something valuable as collateral. They leave with it until you can deliver what they want. If you fail to deliver the desired item, they keep the collateral, which is worth more than what you were supposed to provide. This ensures you fulfill your end of the bargain, or else you lose a small fortune.”
“What happens if they run off with the collateral?”
“Then you never trade with them again.”
“That sounds risky,” I replied.
“That’s why you never bargain for something you can’t secure,” Rabbit noted. As I paced the room for what felt like the millionth time, I realized I was thinking more about Sana than the cave. Deciding I needed a break like the others, I set out to clear my mind and let my subconscious tackle the problem.
Looking to distract myself, I wandered over to Jack. He was deep in meditation, seated cross-legged with his arms outstretched, intensely focusing on his ax. He had been in this state for quite some time.
“Hey, Jack, what are you doing?” I asked curiously.
“I am cycling my mana,” Jack responded without opening his eyes. His serene pose had led me to believe he was in a deep meditative trance.
“Why?” I prodded, trying to understand. From what I knew from my use of mana, that would do absolutely nothing. Mana was used for spells, and it didn’t spoil, at least to my knowledge. The only way I had seen mana being used oddly was from Jack himself with the mana strengthening technique he taught me.
He finally broke his concentration, opening his eyes. “You’re going to be a child about this, aren’t you?”
“Sorry, just curious,” I apologized, taken aback by his tone. “You can go back to what you were doing.”
“I’m already out of it, and not precisely calm of spirit anymore with your questions,” Jack said as he stood up and started stretching. I’d guess that position must have been uncomfortable to hold for long periods.
I did my best to brush off Jack’s frustration and pressed on with my inquiry. “Why are you cycling mana?”
“You know that technique I taught you?” Jack replied, his tone slightly softer.
How could I forget? Just the other day, he pushed me to my limits. It wasn’t exactly torture, but he had driven me until my body nearly gave out. At that point, I naturally learned to force my mana through my body so I could move just a little bit more.
Jack continued, “This is the final stage of that technique. I’m working on continuously cycling mana through my body automatically. Once I master this, my body will remain enhanced without my conscious effort.”
From what I’d observed, mana naturally cycled through the body, or at least mine seemed to. But perhaps Jack actively used his? If he were continuously expending mana, he’d need an extensive mana pool. Actually, that was not quite right. He would require a substantial amount of Wisdom, since Wisdom enhanced mana regeneration, whereas Intelligence increased the mana pool size. My own investment had been more in Intelligence, not by choice but because my race automatically assigned a point to Intelligence with each level-up, whether I wanted it to or not.
At that moment, I felt that investing in Wisdom or Intelligence was rather pointless. My magical collection was limited to just two spells, and neither was particularly suited for combat. The first spell slightly accelerated time for me by 1 percent, an effect so subtle I could not perceive it. The second was admittedly more practical, allowing me to teleport small objects over short distances. However, its utility was limited. I could easily throw objects farther than I could teleport them. While it had proven handy for creating diversions, it offered little advantage beyond that.
The fact that my race automatically allocated an attribute point to Intelligence with each level-up didn’t seem beneficial at the moment. I was holding on to hope that I would eventually master Jack’s Mana Strengthening technique and find a practical use for my mana. Jack was talking about using the mana all the time, though, which seemed like he would have to regenerate it faster than he expended it.
“Doesn’t the body naturally circulate mana?” I asked.
Jack shook his head, his smile tinged with impatience. “Yes, it does, but that’s the mana flowing with your blood. That’s why spells often require hand motions. What I taught you is how to redirect that mana into your muscles, which is entirely different. Mana isn’t meant to be in your muscles. Forcing it there can damage your body. That’s what makes it so challenging, but also why it grants such incredible strength.”
“Wait! If magic is in your blood, then why don’t people use it for spells?” I asked, trying to figure out what seemed to be common knowledge.
“They do. It’s called Blood Magic. Did you really not know this? How do you think the sword you came with to the village became so powerful?”
My ears perked up. I didn’t know it was powerful. I thought it just had historical significance when Sophia took it from me. I doubted I could get it back even if I wanted to, but if it did have some hidden power, I wanted to know about it. “How so?”
“Ignore that for now,” Jack said. “What you need to understand is we are pushing mana through our muscles as well as the natural flow of our blood. By learning to push and cycle it through the muscles, it becomes easier with time.”
“So, you have a high Wisdom?” I asked, trying to determine how high it would have to be for it to run continuously.
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“Oh, no,” Jack answered with a smirk, like he was laughing internally at me. “I haven’t invested in Wisdom at all. I have invested in Intelligence but not Wisdom. I understand what you are thinking. However, what I am doing is cycling the mana so that it doesn’t leave my body until it is spent. This means I can utilize my strength instantly. For example, if I stepped on a trap like you did and it started exploding, I wouldn’t have to channel mana into my legs to try to jump away with greater strength. The mana would already be there, strengthening my body. If I push my muscles, it will burn some of that mana without me having to figure out what to do.”
Rabbit jumped in and said, “Ask him if that increases his mana pool.”
“Yes.” Jack looked at me in a positive light. “I am surprised you guessed that. The mana in your bloodstream is your current mana pool that cycles around. When you use it up, it slowly regenerates just like the natural energy your body creates. By pushing it into your muscles, it essentially creates a second mana pool that won’t regenerate. It also gives you a distinct advantage of having extra mana reserves when fighting.”
After Jack explained it, I understood Rabbit’s question. If I could hold extra mana in my body, that would be a huge advantage. I could hold on to it before fighting and use it in a battle, and then once the extra mana was depleted, I’d use my regular mana. Also, the ability to react instantaneously without having to force mana into my body would be great if I were taken off guard. At my level, it would be beneficial because I hadn’t figured out how to wield my mana in a battle yet effectively. Well, that was unless a monster just sat there while I concentrated on pushing the mana through my arms. I doubted any beast was going to sit there for a couple of seconds while I did that, but if I could get to Jack’s level, it could be a game-changer.
“How much mana can you hold in your body?” I asked, interested in learning as much as I could about this.
“It depends. The more you push mana into your muscles, the more your body is destroyed, but it also allows your body to acclimate more to the change. Take note, everyone’s body is different. I have no clue how much any other race can hold. It could be more, less, or even none. The only people I am aware of who use this technique are my family. Currently, I am holding half of my mana pool in my body. When I am not concentrating like I was before, it starts flowing away. My body naturally pushes more mana into it, but it will eventually be gone. I have been doing this for years, and I am almost at the equilibrium point where I am efficient enough with my cycling that I won’t ever run out. My father can hold twice his mana pool, but his is a lot larger than mine. He is efficient enough never to run out.”
Considering Jack’s mana pool had to be significantly larger than mine, and if he was right that his dad’s was even greater, with the ability to hold twice his mana in his body, it meant a lot could be stored. It might be a second or even third level of mana pool. I didn’t know if that mana could be used for something like spells, but I didn’t need it for magic. Just like Jack didn’t need it for spells, we both needed it for combat, which was what it was there for.
“Can you teach me?” I requested, eager to learn.
“No.”
Dejected, I repeated the word, “No?”
“You haven’t even mastered what I taught you yet. That’s the first step, and cycling would be the second. You need to spend time learning to push mana to your muscles and burn it right away, or it will cause damage. Once you’ve perfected that, you’ll need to use your control to find the correct path through your muscles to start cycling. Over the years, you can gradually widen the flow until it’s like a river. But if you don’t learn to move your mana with precision, it would be like running into a wall instead of walking through a door.”
It was true. I hadn’t even worked on what Jack taught me. We had been busy. Mainly, I had been looking for traps and such. It was true that I had time the other day, but I also had to read Sophia’s book. I guessed this was a little more important, so I should be spending some time on it.
“Thank you, Jack.”
I decided to spend some time mastering his technique.
“Rabbit, where do you think I should start training?” I asked in my head. “I don’t see anything I could chop, but I could fake-chop something.”
“That was classic. Let's take our cues from Jack. You see what he’s doing?” To me, it seemed that Jack was returning to cycling while in a meditative state.
“You heard what he said. I need to learn fine control by pushing my mana into my muscles and then expending that energy,” I replied.
“Do you think you have years to follow his path?”
“Probably not, but I don’t see a better way. There’s nothing that will give me the fine control I need except practice and time.”
“Exactly. That’s why we should ignore that completely. Instead of trying to find the right path with fine control, why not flood your muscles with mana and not expend it?”
“Wouldn’t that be painful, destructive, and wasteful of mana?” I asked, worried.
“It’s not like you’re using the mana for anything else anyway. Each time you flood the area with mana, it should naturally find some path through. He said it himself. It’s like hitting a wall or going through a door. We just need enough attempts that some make it through the door. The more mana you push through that door, the wider it will get as your body naturally recovers. Plus, your muscles should acclimatize to the mana faster this way as well.”
“Okay, what about the pain? Any ideas on how to avoid feeling like needles are being shot into my muscles?”
“Nope. The pain is on you. Do you want to be weak or suffer? The choice is yours.”
Naturally, I wasn’t thrilled with my options, but once again, Rabbit was right. He had found me a quicker method, though it would be painful and horribly inefficient. Instead of spending years carefully channeling mana to my muscles and then using it, I was about to flood my muscles with mana to damage them intentionally. This approach was a painful alternative, and I would have to sacrifice the fine control that years of practice would have afforded me. My edge, however, lay in healing.
I thought that was why Jack had taught me the ability in the first place. If I could spend the initial years mastering fine control, I could then channel mana through my body, creating pathways. Then, instead of waiting days to heal and try again, my quick healing could allow me to resume practice in minutes. I could potentially master the ability long before Jack, even though I started much later.
Rabbit, however, was more ambitious than even Jack. He essentially wanted to continuously flood my muscles and break them down until paths formed on their own. No fine control, no gradual building of channels. Just brute force, pain, and time to push me through to the finish line.
I sat down and folded my legs, placing my hands on my knees. Feeling the gritty texture of the earth beneath me, I tried flexing my muscles, attempting to harness the flow of mana.
“What are you doing?” Rabbit asked.
“I am trying to push the mana through my arm,” I replied in my mind, focusing intently on each muscle fiber, especially the ones in my biceps and triceps.
“You need to change how you think about this. Last time, you had to push mana because you physically couldn’t move. But now, your muscles are functioning just fine. Flexing them isn’t the key here.”
“But last time I was using my muscles,” I protested.
“Look at Jack. He’s meditating right now, probably visualizing pulling light through his breath. He’s calm, not using his muscles. He wore you out earlier so you could learn to push with something other than brute muscle force, in a way you were used to.”
Jack was as calm as a lake at the moment, so I closed my eyes to better concentrate and tried to emulate him. I imagined the light, just as Jack might have, seeing it as a vibrant stream of energy, pulling through each breath I took. I visualized a luminescent glow traveling from the air around me, entering my lungs, and circulating through my heart, aiming to direct it through my entire body.
I focused harder, trying to guide this glowing light across my chest, down my arms, and through to my fingertips, mimicking the flow of a serene river. My breathing synchronized with the visualization, each inhale brightening the light, each exhale attempting to push it further through my limbs. But despite my efforts, the connection felt superficial as I couldn’t feel any change in my limbs.
Frustration mounted as my efforts felt increasingly futile. The vivid images I conjured in my mind failed to translate into any tangible sensation in my limbs. The more I tried, the more distant I felt from achieving my goal. Eventually, doubt crept in, whispering that perhaps this was all wrong. Maybe I should stick to what Jack had taught me until I gained at least a decent measure of control. Once I could manage the mana to some extent, perhaps then I could attempt this again.
“What am I doing wrong?” I asked, my voice tinged with defeat as I struggled to mimic the technique successfully.
“Nothing and everything,” Rabbit replied in an infuriatingly cryptic manner. How was I supposed to improve with such vague guidance? “Remember, this is a subconscious effort. It’s akin to trying to control your heart rate consciously.”
“But I’ve already managed it before. Perhaps we should reconsider our approach and follow Jack’s methods for now. I can always come back to this later when I’m more experienced.”
“Okay, let me try with you. Here is what I think is going wrong. I think you have two problems that I can see. The first is that you are still trying to use physical force to change a subconscious action. If it were that easy, anyone could move their mana by trying hard enough. Instead, I want you to relax fully.”
Relaxing proved to be more complex than I expected. I wasn’t consciously flexing my muscles like before, but I was still tense from all the failing. It took several minutes, and the only way I was able to relax fully was by using the breathing technique Jack had taught me. This time, instead of visualizing mana flowing in, I focused solely on using my breath to slow my heart and let my body unwind.
In the back of my mind, I wondered if that was what the visualization was intended for all along. Perhaps it had nothing to do with drawing and manipulating mana, but rather, it was just a means to relax the body and sharpen focus.
“Good, now I think your second problem is will,” Rabbit continued, cutting me off just as I opened my mouth to protest. “I know you’re going to say you were trying your hardest, and I understand. That’s exactly why you were so tense. But please, hear me out. Consider how Jack’s grandfather mastered this skill. He was in the heat of battle, exhausted, and with no other options, he fought until he could fight no more because his survival depended on his sheer will to persist. Now, think about how you and Jack learned. Jack was taught by his father using the same grueling methods he used on you. Do you really think the purpose behind those methods was heartlessness?”
I had thought Jack’s training method was harsh, perhaps even cruel. But Rabbit’s words made me question that assumption for the first time.
“Relax,” Rabbit spoke again, seeing my tension rise with the realizations. “I’m telling you this because you’re trying and pushing as hard as you can, but the will behind it isn’t strong enough. Yes, you want it to happen very badly. But is it something you truly need?”
I immediately tried to argue with Rabbit. “There are very few true needs in the world. Food. Shelter. Security.
“I want you to consider something, and it’s not going to be pleasant. You need to eat, right? But what if you saw someone who hadn’t eaten for a week? Would you give them your food?”
Still with my eyes closed, I said, “Yeah.”
“Now imagine you haven’t eaten for a week, and you see someone who hasn’t eaten for two weeks. Knowing you might not get any more food, would you still give them yours?”
I didn’t respond immediately, as I was grappling with the scenario. Eventually, striving to be honest with myself, I murmured, “Probably not.”
“You have to realize all wants and needs are on a spectrum. You can’t tell me Jack’s need for his father’s love outweighs the need for a single meal. And at the same time, I won’t tell you that someone’s last meal isn’t more important than every ounce of dignity they’ve preserved their entire life. Yes, there are a few things you technically need to live. However, many things are needed for a fulfilling life. What I want from you now is to find a need so deep that it drives your will.”
Rabbit’s words resonated deeply. It was impossible to examine every part of your life, but unquestionably, he was right. When I was with Jack in the forest, my desire to prove him wrong escalated until it became a need. A foolish but determined need. It was this need that had driven me to exhaustion, pushing me to the brink of death.
Digging deep within myself, I found a need stronger than steel, burning with an intensity that overshadowed all else. I needed to get home, be safe, and bring this adventure to an end. It was a longing that consumed me, driving every step, every thought, every breath.
“Yes, perfect. Your will is your breath,” Rabbit said, his voice tinged with excitement. “Keep that desire and draw in your purpose with each breath, like a current of warm air. With each breath, imagine drawing the warm air into your lungs, where it fuels your deepest desires nestled in your heart. From there, let that energized will push outward, flowing through your body. Now, steer that flow, guiding it directly into your arms.”
Fueled by my deep-seated longing to return home, the mana began to respond more readily to my will. Initially, I felt nothing. That void made me doubt whether I was succeeding at all. Yet, as I continued to draw each breath deeply, focusing on my desire to see my journey through, a subtle warmth began to seep through my arm. It was the sensation of a mild warmth slowly spreading through the skin, reminiscent of stepping into a patch of sunlight.
This comforting warmth began subtly around my shoulder, gently spreading downward through my arm. As it reached my elbow and wrist, the sensation intensified, culminating in a tingling that enveloped the tips of my fingers. This tingling soon morphed into a persistent prickle, reminiscent of countless tiny pins and needles dancing beneath my skin. Focused on my breathing, I drew more mana with each inhale, and with each exhale, I pushed it further, amplifying the sensations.
However, the pins and needles soon converged into a crescendo of pain. It was as if a storm were raging within my muscles, each surge sharp and electrifying, testing my resolve and challenging my capacity to endure. The pain escalated, spiraling into a sharp ache that seemed to burrow deeper into my muscle fibers. Yet, my desire to return home burned fiercer than the discomfort. With each breath, I summoned more willpower, pushing the mana further, using the pain as a marker of my progress. I envisioned the pain not as an obstacle but as a transformation, reshaping my very essence to harness the power I needed to achieve my goal. It was a crucible, and I was determined not to falter.
