The mana covered Edric’s body, his muscles began to relax, bruises healed, and his mind became clear.
This is mana, it’s so easy. Well, maybe it’s just muscle memory. Edric concluded his theory, or else everyone would easily handle mana.
Edric felt great; he felt his power growing more and more. He wanted to continue this forever, but it only lasted 5 minutes. The warm sensation soon turned to suffocation, his chest felt like it was being pressed inwards, he opened his eyes and spat out blood uncontrollably. Thank god no one was around.
[Mana overload]
What do you mean by overload! It was going so well. Edric, frustrated, wiped blood from his lips, picked up the book for answers.
He read:
“Don’t cultivate mana for exceed periods of time or else your body will forcefully exert, or it can also lead to death.”
Darn it Edric muttered to himself as he read more. He got a better understanding in the next set of paragraphs, similar to how muscles grow from endurance training, mana cultivation, and usage grow too.
Probably the reason his abilities leveled up, speaking of abilities ,he checked his status.
[All abilities leveled up by 1]
Nice, so that’s one way to do it. At least now he doesn’t have to do any unnecessary jobs. Some simple meditation would suffice.
Edric wanted more answers; he read through the entire book in an hour. The later chapters talked about advanced techniques, types of mana, specialized abilities - albeit only a summary of each. Thankfully, there were references with books at the end.
His stomach growled. Guess it’s time for lunch. He might as well head to the bank on the way.
Edric went down stairs to the receptionist area to borrow the book, unfortunately, no one was there. His stomach growled even louder, he couldn’t wait. So he wrote a paper with his name, book title and number code and left it on the desk.
He knew a bakery located en route to the bank that smelled lovely. Edric couldn’t wait to try it. Before coming here Edric asked Lester about the banks in Magnus. Lester elaborated in detail– there are private banks and government banks. Lester suggested opting for private if Edric was concerned about privacy and gave a location to the bank called “SS BANK”.
He passed by the bakery stall, got a bag to go filled with as much bread as 1 silver could afford. Surprisingly, a lot, enough to manage till dinner. Well, he planned to go to the mercenary guild afterwards, then explore the city.
He read in the book that a user can increase mana by consuming potions and solid food made from materials, mostly from beasts and herbs. A city like Magnus is bound to have a store selling these items. Edric looked at the shops in his pathway.
Mostly the usual- clothes, armor, restaurants, and services. Each had its own unique theme to it. After a few minutes, Edric reached the bank.
He walked inside to the main hall. Compared to the library, the bank was busy. There were three counters in front, an he looked for the line with the fewest people and stood in the back.
He waited in line for his turn; there were five people in front of him, so it would take a while. He observed the people in the bank; most were mercenaries and travellers. Make sense of what Lester told about forged documents.
Edric’s turn came, and his counter had a young man tending to him.
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“Good Afternoon, sir., How may I help you?” The man’s voice was friendly, typical of a receptionist.
“Hello, I would like to open a bank account.” Edric slides his documents on the desk.
“Will do, sir, just let me verify your documents.” The man flips through each page, his gaze focused. For a second Edric got nervous. “All seems good sir. You just need to sign here.”
The man hands over a document and a pen. After a read through, Edric signs it.
“Alright, sir, now you need to deposit a minimum of 50 silver coins or more to get a magic card.”
Edric checks his pouch; he has 5 gold,20 silver coins ,and 10 bronze coins. According to his knowledge, 1 gold = 100 silver coin , so it should be enough. He slid his pouch, only keeping 1 gold coin, 10 silver coins ,and 5 bronze coins for himself.
The man checks the pouch, takes it to the back. He came back with a metal card in his hand. “Sir, this is your card” He hands it to Edric. The card was mostly plain– there was the bank logo and a number written.
“Now, sir, you need to enchant your mana and a drop of blood to finalize.”
Blood, hope there’s no DNA search in this world. Edric panicked for a moment , he pricked his finger and tried to embue little mana as possible .The card glowed for an instant.
“Let me check the card sir” The man takes the card and taps it on a artifact, a hologram pops up with has his name and account balance.
Woah, it’s a fancy debit card.
“All done sir, you can use this card in any of SS bank outlets in the kingdom.” The man gave the card back along with a receipt.
That was easier than expected. Edric took the card and went off.
Edric walked into the mercenary guild, the scent of sweat, leather, and burning wood lingering in the air. The place was noticeably quieter than before. He glanced around and only spotted a handful of mercenaries lounging at the tables, most chatting and sharpening their weapons.
When he reached the Job Board, he frowned.
What the hell?
The number of available jobs drastically decreased. The board, once cluttered with jobs, now had gaps where contracts had been removed. Bounty missions were sparse, and escort jobs, which were always in demand, were few and far between.
Looks like no new jobs have been issued since the lockdown.
Edric used the system to scroll through the list.
Delivery not basic… Escort to risky
Edric finally settled on a hunting job.
[Job: Hunt down wolf pack , terracing the fields]
[Reward:30 silver + 5-10 silver per wolf killed]
Well I might learn a thing or two in hunting.
As he reached to take the job slip, a pale hand grabbed it at the same time.
He turned his head , to meet a pair of crimson eyes.
The woman beside him was petite, yet she radiated confidence. Her black hair, streaked with deep red, was tied to a ponytail. She wore whats looks to be a rogue outfit. She had two sabers tied to her belt , a dagger, some pouches, and various potions.
Where does she get these items?... Edric thought for a moment.
The woman barely spared a glance before speaking.
“You're taking this job.” Her voice was low and disinterred.
“Yeah, but look we can take this as a group” Edric hesitated
She rolled her eyes , exhaled through a noise , then shrugged. “ Fine , just don’t slow me down”
As they handed the request slip to the receptionist Edric decided to break the ice.
“So, do you usually take hunting jobs?”
The woman didn’t even look at him and responded with a single word.” Depends”
Edric sighed. Great, she's the grumpy type.
“I’m Edric by the way”
She didn’t respond immediately, after a few second, she muttered “Aeris”
Well, that was something.
The job was at night, so before heading out Edric wanted to get some items.
“Hey, Aeris. Do you know where I get items and materials for potions”
Aeris was planning on going to buy material, traps and potions anyway. She gave a him a deep stare, that screamed “annoying ,”
“Sure , just follow me” She started walking to the door, not peeking a glance at Edric.
Edic stood in silence for a hood second, before following her, trying to keep up with her pace.
That’s it? No, introduction or anything . Great this job is off to a great start!
Edric asked : “So where to?”
“Black market” She replied bluntly , already past the door
Edric blinked . “Wait What?”
“Cheaper , better quality” Aeris replied without turning around. “Unless you want to ripped out by merchants”
Edric hesitated , then followed her. He had no idea what he was getting into.
Aeris maneuvered through various alleys and shortcuts, as if it was second nature. Edric almost got dizzy with all the twists and turns. Eventually, she headed to an alleyway. Aeris stood in front of a wall. She observed the wall for a good moment, Edric who stood beside her awkwardly staring parted his lips to ask. Then--
She touched the wall, did something strange with her hand. Then procedded to walk right in.
Edric blinked. “What the hell.... a magic door!”
Edric followed her. Immediately, there was a set of stairs leading down, and Aeris walked in front without turning back. As they descended the stairs, the air grew heavier. The tunnel walls were lined up with glow stones, and the further they walked the more Edric could smell spice, smoke and something metallic - blood? Followed by the sound of metal clashing with each other.
By the time they stepped into the underground market, Edric realized something.
This place had no rules.
