Chapter 13: Chapter. 13: Training & Learning

The arrow had embedded itself deep into the tree bark, far enough to the point only half of it was sticking out. It was as if the Loa Vulpe had been nailed into the tree. In the end, I had to dig the arrow out with a knife, an action that took more than half an hour. I discarded my prey, given that I had no use for its pelt or meat. But the whole event did give me a few things to think about, namely that imbuing things with mana seemed to improve them in some way. Though when I put mana into my bow it would always end up on the string, why?

[Your mana, to some extent, listens to your intent,] Glim said, reading my thoughts.

I thanked him mentally but scoffed outwardly. It was still too weird to have my mind read. I had walked for about two hours, the environment had changed quite a bit. The trees became more varied, some had low-hanging branches and orange leaves, others resembled cones and the ones I was familiar with were also present⁠— among all of them, the latter had the thickest trunks and were the tallest. Sometimes I would see the occasional boulder or beast, but their levels were always lower than mine. Eventually I passed by a small river that was next to a rocky hill. It was the perfect spot to get water. Given that I hadn’t drank any since getting here. That made me think about something. How long had I been here? I glanced at the distant timer at the top of my vision.

[Incubation Period: 6 days 4 hours 21 minutes]

Not even a day had passed. I sighed and clasped some water on my hands, the water seemed uncontaminated, sometimes dangerous things lived in the water, invisible to us. But I didn’t think it was the case this time around⁠⁠— that reminded me.

“Glim, is this water safe to drink?”

[Are you seriously asking me this?] It bobbed, but I simply stared. [Right, right. Yes, yes it is! I am glad you could rely on me on something like this! Though even if it wasn’t safe, the water isn't laced with magic so it’s not as if it could harm you!]

I didn’t know what magical water was, but I began to drink from the river, leaving that for later, I simply savored the refreshing liquid. It passed down through my throat and into my body, the coldness slowly spread as a wave of relief passed. That brief moment also allowed me to feel my body as my muscles relaxed; all the grime and dirt build up on my hands and legs, how tangled and filth covered my hair was ⁠— stiff and inflexible. I could really use a bath. I sighed, dropping my shoulders.

Screeches and rustling entered my ears, reminding me of just where I was. Alas, cleaning myself was on the lowest of all priorities at this moment. I drank sufficient water before remembering the potion vials. I reached for my belt and⁠— I had disposed of all of them. Though, I could at least find solace in the fact that they could only carry maybe one to two gulps. I shook my head and stood up, I didn’t really know what I was doing, or what I wanted to do.

Well, leveling up and being stronger was on the to-do list. Now that I thought about it, mana was a way of being stronger. A quick check on how much mana I had let me know that I recovered about half of what I was missing. I didn’t really know how to quantify how much mana I had, but it seemed that I’d be able to use Explosive Shot about two and a half times before I was completely empty. With that in mind, it seemed I would recover about half an Explosive Shot every two hours, give or take.

I didn’t know if that was slow or fast. But, mana usage was something that I needed to practice ⁠— If I could effortlessly enhance my bow then⁠— I clenched my fist. Then I could be so much stronger. I grabbed my bow, not bothering to grab an arrow. I was still walking, and didn’t really plan to stop. I wanted to be able to enhance my bow while moving and doing other things. With that in mind I felt for my mana, it was slow but the warmth was there, though doing it while walking was difficult⁠—

“Ouch.” I walked into a tree.

I guess getting familiar comes first? I stared at the time once more, only a few minutes had passed. I had gone from level 0 to level 6 in less than a day. I could afford to use a few hours for practicing the manipulation of my mana. With that in mind, I sat under the tree I had walked into, that way I could still see around me, though it wasn’t perfect ⁠— it was at least a relaxing position that allowed me to see most impending threats. My hearing was still considerably sharp, so taking that into account I focused on the important thing. Practice.

I held my bow, not bothering to draw the string, then I focused on my mana. It was akin to sticky liquid without gravity ⁠— or so I imagined ⁠— it would pull each other trying to make a stream of water, it would simply follow after each other. If I pushed it through my arm without paying attention, all of the mana that could go through there would go there. But it was different to use the skill. The skill was almost subconscious, but placing the same feeling of warmth, the mana, on the bow was different.

I stared as the string and the body of the bow began to glow in a bright green. There was no real limit to how much mana would go into it, it would just flow. I sighed and withdrew all of it, the brightness dimmed as if it never existed in the first place. Though… Maybe I was doing it wrong? All this time I had been enhancing my bow through the body, eventually reaching the string. But what if I just touched the string⁠— what if I used the same hand that I used to enhance the arrow with?

I closed my eyes and reached for the string, it was rough and solid as if it was a piece of unfeeling material— cold and tough. The warmth churned through my arm, eventually reaching the tip of my fingers and was spread into the string. The string began to glow with the same verdant brightness. Huh. I raised my bow and pulled, the same resistance as before was there, the string simply wouldn’t bulge, but⁠—

It was easier? I pondered for a few seconds, for some reason transferring mana was easier this way than touching the bow’s body. But what had I done differently? I held the bow normally, and the string normally⁠— was it the point of contact? When guiding it through my left arm it would simply reach my palm, however for me to draw the bow it would go through my fingers first.

I touched the string once more, guiding the mana and allowed it to reach my fingers. This time I didn’t pour it, I simply let it sit on my fingers, it felt warm. I tried to push a small amount, but it simply overwhelmed the string and once again it shone brightly. I sighed before withdrawing the mana and trying with my left hand. I held the bow and guided the mana, it reached my palm and I tried to transfer it onto the bow⁠— there was a brief resistance but eventually it all began to flow much the same, but it was stronger? I withdrew it, then tried once more, but this time letting the mana reach my fingers before trying to push it. In an instant it began to drain into the bow⁠— Huh.

I took my mana back and stared at my fingers, rubbing them together with strangeness. Easier wasn’t quite right, so much as just smoother. While touching it with my palm made the drain much more pronounced. For some reason it was easier to transfer it through my fingers than with my palm. Perhaps I could use the knowledge for something. I grabbed the bowstring, and began the process once more.

The mana eventually reached my fingers.

Your mana, to some extent, listens to your intent. Those were the words that Glim had said. If it listened to intent, and my intent all this time was to push my mana then⁠—

I closed my eyes once more, and focused on the warmth in my finger, but I didn’t want to transfer the mana into the string, I wanted the string to… be a part of me? I tried pushing the warmth to the tip of my fingers without trying to transfer it, instead imagining as if the string was my finger. Somehow. I felt warmth spread to the bow, it was as if my skin was being stretched, rubbery⁠— I opened my eyes, and the string was glowing green, but not overflowing to my surprise.

This was⁠— I lost concentration for a second, and all the mana that was on the string dissipated, it did not return to my body, it simply, vanished. I frowned. Was it because I stopped considering the string to be a part of me? That seemed wrong, other than the difficulty just the sensation alone was odd and strange, almost uncomfortable. If it was about intent, then I needed a different kind of intent.

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“Glim,” I called. “Do you have any ideas?”

[Uh, you called?] Glim shook. [Let me process…] It idly bobbed for a second. [Ah ideas regarding how to transfer your mana to the string, yes?]

I nodded looking at Glim strangely. Was it alright?

[Sorry, you seemed so concentrated on things that I simply went to sleep. Well you can call it sleep, I simply stop most functions and only respond when queried.] Glim explained something I did not understand. [Have you tried wanting your mana to enhance the string?]

“Sort of?” It felt odd to think about my true intentions regarding mana. “I tried wanting to transfer it and considering it part of my body.”

Glim bobbed. [Right, I cannot speak too, too much, but I can at least give you this hint. What if the string was a magical artifact? Just like your quiver. What if your desire goes beyond wanting to enhance⁠—] It shook. [I spoke a bit too much it seems, but wanting to enhance the string is what you’re looking for.]

I nodded once more, Glim seemed strange, but… well I doubted anything could happen to it. As long as The System existed anyway.

[Hey, just because I was memory wiped and restored in an instant, does not mean I don’t suffer! It’s quite torturous!]

I shook my head, once more I did not understand what Glim was saying. Instead focusing on the string. I had thought of enhancing it as the result of putting mana into the bow. But I never thought of it as the desire that I wanted from my mana? I frowned, it was slightly confusing to me, at the same time it almost sounded too easy. Though perhaps these were just the basics of mana. I was level 6 after all, level 20 existed.

“Glim what is the level limit?”

[The limit?] It asked with a weird voice. [I cannot say, but I can say that you’re at the bottom of the food-chain in the universe. Not at the very bottom, but might as well be grouped with it⁠— oh that sounded harsh, let me say it differently. You aren’t strong, but you will soar with me by your side!]

I nodded and ignored whatever Glim said after a lot. Needless to say that even if I was one-third as strong as the Rime Worm, I was at the very bottom. Though perhaps the Rime worm was way stronger than that. I shook my head, it was no use to worry about the supposed level 20 beast that resided in that hole. For now I simply had to focus on learning mana.

I held the string and pushed my mana to my fingers, the familiar warmth was nice. I needed a stronger string, one that allowed me to draw the bow with more strength. A stronger string, one that I could still draw. I felt the warmth slowly leave my fingers the more I repeated the chant inside my head. As it carried on eventually it stopped flowing, and the string shone in a verdant hue. I focused on the feeling of balance before raising my bow and trying to draw it.

My hand trembled and the string creaked, but I had enough strength to draw it back to full length. I sighed and stopped the desire of enhancing, instead wanting to withdraw it. The mana came back to me and that was that.

I stared at the bow oddly. There was supposed to be a grand feeling of achievement, but instead it just felt disappointing? I felt happy that I knew how to use mana properly now, but it was… simpler than I expected? Though I was unsure if I could use Explosive Shot without the skill, if the idea was fed to me I think it would’ve just increased the piercing power of the arrow or something.

I stared at my arrows before shaking my head, now was not the time to think about how to enhance my arrows. I had to practice and get familiar with string enhancing. Including being familiar with moving while doing it. With that in mind I stood up.

◇ ◇ ◇

I continued my trek ⁠— three hours passed and my mana was full ⁠— randomly drawing and enhancing my bow at various intervals. Sometimes trying to move and dash, though not much since I would tire myself. At first it would take me two to three seconds to enhance the string of my bow, but after practice it went down to half a second of concentration. I wondered what would happen after letting go of the string, and⁠— well the hue disappeared and the mana was gone.

But when grabbing it, it instantly became enhanced once more since I retained the thought of enhancing it. Shooting would consume mana, it seemed. I was happy with how fast I was learning and reared to go and try shooting things.

A few minutes passed as I noticed a clearing in the forest, only a single tree at the center, its width thicker than a boulder or any other tree I had seen so far. Leaves fell to the ground and the sun brightly shone, only the shadow of the tree visible to me. That was when⁠— the shadow slithered? I squinted my eyes with confusion, there was a pale thing coiling around the tree, sliding through its tree bark. It was wide, and its body covered about a third of the tree.

A snake?

[Guardian of the Osthus Tree. Lvl. 10]

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