Chapter 16 – Unexpected Find

Maximus woke early with the first rays of sunlight piercing through his curtainless window, spilling across the room in soft gold. He yawned and got up, Sprout hanging off his shoulder, as he walked outside and sat on the ground, directly bathed in the sun’s warm, gentle rays.

He took a meditative position, with Sprout climbing on top of his head, as he slowly started breathing spirit energy in and out, steady, controlled, carefully guiding it into his seed, while Sprout devoured the excess energy that Maximus expelled from his body as it finished a cycle through his system.

Slowly, his body started growing a bit sturdier, like a seed when you fertilize the soil and pour water over it, nurturing it into something more resilient.

As he finished a few cycles of strengthening his insides and the seed, he finally opened his eyes and smiled. “Small steps, Sprout, my friend. Seeds need to be tended to with care.” He smiled as Sprout rustled his leaves contentedly.

“Morning…” Felix walked outside and coughed, spitting a bit of phlegm. “Nasty…” he muttered with a grimace.

“That doesn’t look healthy.” Maximus frowned slightly.

“It’s fine. What are you doing?” Felix asked, intrigued despite himself.

“I’m absorbing the energies of nature into my body. You cannot just wait for the system to make you stronger; you need to put effort into it as well.” Maximus preached calmly.

“Oh, didn’t you promise to show me as well?” Felix suddenly remembered, straightening his back a bit.

“I am not certain that I can, but let’s try. Sit in the meditative position and turn your back to me. Close your eyes.” Maximus ordered evenly.

Felix nodded. “Alright, but don’t try anything odd,” he added as he sat and closed his eyes.

“I’ll try to guide mana into your body. You need to focus on the sensation and try to follow its path; it should go somewhere within your body where you usually store mana. Probably your heart, but some people have other organs they use as mana storage.” Maximus explained.

“You know a lot…” Felix thought aloud as he waited.

Maximus feigned ignorance and activated his Mana Sense. He then pulled a sliver of mana, but instead of drawing it inward, he made it swirl around his palm before pressing it onto Felix’s back and slowly guiding the mana into his body.

As he did, he started sensing the inner state of Felix’s body. Oh, this is interesting. His mana is pure elemental ice mana; there is not even a sliver of any other element. And what is this? He possesses a mana core? Do all participants have a core, or is he special? Maximus thought as he carefully guided the sliver of mana into Felix’s core.

“Are you feeling this? Focus on the sensations!” Maximus raised his voice slightly.

“I can feel it; you don’t need to yell!” Felix muttered.

“I will now show you how to strip mana into elemental mana and then store only what you can use,” Maximus explained.

Within Felix’s body, Maximus slowly separated colorless mana into countless hues before he found a thread of icy blue, then guided it into the small, nail-sized core.

Finally, he led the remaining mana into Felix’s lungs. “Now exhale the remaining mana,” he said.

Felix listened and exhaled. As the mana escaped his body, a small icy breath danced in the air before it melted away under the sun’s warmth.

“So? Did you get it?” Maximus asked.

“I’m not you. I got some of it, but not the main part, really,” Felix admitted.

“You need to spend your time sensing the mana yourself. Once you can do that, then you can do what I did. Come here.” Maximus turned him toward himself, and Felix blushed for a brief moment.

“What are you doing?” Felix shouted, backing away.

“Calm down. What are you yelling for? I swear…” Maximus muttered.

“I’ll unlock your Mana Sense. Since I’ll do it forcefully, it will hurt, but bear with me,” Maximus said simply as he rose.

He condensed mana onto his index finger until it glowed like a firefly. Then he approached Felix and jabbed him between the eyes, pushing the mana into his pineal gland.

Felix screamed. “What are you doing?! What the fuck!!!?” he roared before collapsing unconscious into the dirt.

“Oh, he reacted better than expected. I see potential in this one.” Maximus smiled, scratching his chin thoughtfully. “Well then, let’s pull him inside,” Maximus said as he dragged Felix, bumping his head along the ground and steps before leaving him on the hallway floor and closing the door.

“Alright, Sprout, my boy, let’s go find us some information. Leveling up is the name of the game!” He clapped cheerfully, Sprout mimicking him with his two tiny leaves.

“Haha, you are so smart! I should find you a good spot to absorb some high-quality spirit energy,” Maximus said as he headed toward the center of the massive village.

***

Maximus walked slowly, taking in the sights until he reached the district from last night. There, he saw in one of the restaurants Oscar sprawled atop a large table, with a couple of men, including the guard from last night, lying scattered across the floor.

Well, he sure had a lot of fun. Ah, to be young. Maximus chuckled and put his hands behind his back as he continued walking until he reached the main gates, where he found a single guard sleeping, leaning against the wall.

“Uhm, good morning, young man!” Maximus shouted.

The guard jolted, scrambling to look presentable until he saw Maximus standing before him with a plant on his head. “What the fuck, man?! I almost had a heart attack. Who wakes people like that?” the guard cursed, spitting on the ground.

“Apologies, I just felt it was a shame for you to miss such a nice morning. The sun is quite pleasant today.” Maximus said with a polite smile.

“Oh, another nutcase. My fucking luck. What do you want?” the guard asked with a long, tired exhale.

“I wanted to know if there are any good leveling places around here. Or maybe a place with a thick forest, one that looks extremely lush.” Maximus explained calmly.

“What am I, a tour guide, for fuck’s sake? Yes, yes, there is one place not that far from here, actually. It’s almost like a swamp, but there are some nice trees there, just beautiful!” the guard said, winking for some reason.

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“Oh, can you point me in the right direction then, kind sir?” Maximus said, trying to remain polite, feeling slightly bad for scaring the man. He hadn’t expected him to be so useful.

“Kind sir, my ass. Yeah, yeah, just go northeast from here. It should take you half an hour to reach it; you can’t miss it. Large willows grow there.” The guard explained.

“Thank you, I’ll pay for your lunch once I’m back,” Maximus said as he left the village the moment the guard opened the gates.