Chapter 11: Chapter 9

Announcement: I surprisingly have a lot of free time right now, so I may be updating more frequently. It really depends though if my free time will continue, but there will still be at least one chapter every week. That's pretty much it. Hope you enioy!!!

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World Trees, one of the many great wonders of the world.

They are a type of tree that naturally intakes the mana in its surrounding, making it grow to an unimaginable degree, which makes it the perfect setting to practice and obtain the Ikilux magic.

"Hello everyone. My name is Jessica, your tour guide for today and it's my pleasure to be of service to you," the woman in a formal blouse uniform with a red emblem on her left chest, Jessica, greeted. "On behalf of the Aoit Guild, I'd like to welcome you all to Goldwyvern City!"

Guilds pretty much work in the same way as businesses do, but it's catered for Mavens. There are different kinds of guilds like the Adventurer Guilds, Mercenary Guilds, Merchant Guilds, and Hunter's Guild. And anyone, usually non-Maven citizens, can post up a job notice at the guild of their choice with the payment.

I was sitting on the far end of the tour bus, fiddling with my phone for several minutes, before the bus actually departed for the tour.

The reason I decided to ride the tour bus instead of getting a cab or just walking was that the ride was free and faster.

The tour guide, Jessica, started to talk about the history of the city and their pride and joy, the World Tree, but I wasn't interested in any of that as I already knew what I needed to know about the city and the World Tree.

So, while waiting for the bus to arrive at the World Tree, I decided to meditate for a while to train my body and mind.

About an hour and a half has passed before the bus arrived at the location.

"Now, we have arrived at our final destination—Goldwyvern's main tourist attraction, the World Tree!" Jessica announced enthusiastically.

The driver has parked the bus a fair distance away from the World Tree.

Stepping out of the bus, the close-up view of the World Tree once again took my breath away. Even when I'm a fair distance away from the World Tree, it's still huge; it took up my entire vision. 

"Did you know? There are three known World Trees in Vanteer: one is located here in Goldwyvern City, which was also the biggest and tallest of the three, and the other two are located in the Kingdom of Ralecien and the United States of Naya." Jessica started to explain. She then went on explaining the mysteries behind the purpose of World Trees, which I wasn't interested in.

My focus was on the World Tree in front of me, more specifically at the crowded place to the left.

There was a group of people with a harness strapped on their bodies as they walked towards the World Tree. They should be climbing the tree, which is allowed but at a high price.

Unfortunately, minors weren't allowed to join in the 'fun,' because there are numerous cases where those tree climbers would lose their footing and fall to their deaths.

Of course, no one had sued the city because, before they could go climbing, they were made to sign a written agreement that basically states that Goldwyvern City wouldn't be responsible for any mishaps that may happen when an individual climbs the tree.

But I need to be in close contact with the World Tree so that I can be both in nature and feel the mana flow.

Of course, if you are a (Total) Maven or recommended by a certified professional, then the whole 'minors aren't allowed' rule will not apply, but I'm neither a Maven nor was I recommended by a professional, so I'm in a bit of a bind here.

There's also the method of breaking in, but it's an impossible task with their technology and my current abilities.

Getting recommended by a professional will take too much time, so that's out of the table.

So my best bet would be proving that I'm a Maven, well more specifically, making them believe that I am one.

Fortunately, kids awakened as a Maven are not an uncommon thing in this world, however, it was more prominent for the more influential families here.

Moving away from the group of tourists, I grabbed an earpiece from my pocket and placed it in my ear. I called out, "MERLIN. What's the process of them verifying if an individual is a Maven or not?"

[Notice: They would usually ask for a guild card which would take a few minutes to verify, however, you can skip the process by simply showing your magic.]

The latter would be a better choice. I could create a fake identity at a lesser-known Adventurer's Guild, but it would take long, at least a week, with MERLIN's current processing power.

What magic, one may ask? Of course, it'll be the Ikilux magic, well, an incomplete version of it anyway, just enough to 'prove' that I am a Maven.

"MERLIN. Are there any hotels that are close to the World Tree?" I asked.

[Notice: there are currently four hotels available near the World Tree of Goldwyvern City.]

"Good." I began walking into the downtown area not far from here. "Reserve a room closest to the World Tree for a week. Make sure that it has a balcony and not on the ground floor."

[As you wish, sire] With that, I removed the earpiece and placed it back in my pocket as I walked into the downtown area.

Many shops and vendors were advertising their products enthusiastically to the obvious tourists and passersby.

I checked out one of the shops that sell electronics, and their products were reasonably priced and of great quality, though they came from lesser-known brands, unlike the products in Dublin City where every product that was being sold there was backed up by a popular brand but was overpriced by a huge margin.

I simply roamed around downtown for a bit, since it's the first time I've left Dublin City, so I wanted to explore more of my new environment while I wait for MERLIN.

—Bzzzz!

After an hour or so, my phone vibrated in my pocket. Picking it up, the screen brightened as MERLIN announced that she had successfully reserved a room that fitted my needs, which cost 1,995.00 UNV.

A location of the hotel was sent after.

With my room available, it was time to head back.

As I walked, a product from a store caught my eye.

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It was a yoyo, so I immediately went in to buy it.

I made my way to the hotel as I play with the yoyo. Doing tricks with the yoyo was oddly satisfying for me. It started out as a way to keep my hands busy after I stopped manufacturing weapons, but now it's something I like to do for fun.

"Good afternoon." Arriving at the hotel's location, I greeted the receptionist before continuing, "My name is Arthur Bennett and I believe I had reserved a room online about an hour back."

"Alright, sir, please wait for a moment," the receptionist said with a smile as he began typing on the keyboard. "Your room number is 30 on the second floor of the building to your left." He then handed me the keys.

As I accepted the keys and began making my way to the room. The man's voice sounded behind me.

"I hope you enjoy your stay."

Well, he was nice. If it was the protagonist, then the man would probably scowl or something.

Arriving outside of my room, I unlocked the door and headed inside. The interior was pretty simple in design, a far cry from my condo unit.

The room only had a bed, closet, television, one bathroom, one small desk, and a sliding glass door leading to the balcony, which I headed towards.

The balcony gave me a full close-up view of the World Tree, and below it was a garden filled with various flowers, which made it a good environment to acquire <Ikilux>.

Luckily, the balcony gave me enough room to meditate and practice.

So, I sat down and began meditating, which I've been getting a hang of.

Taking a deep breath, I began to focus on acquiring <Ikilux>.

To reiterate, the <Ikilux> ability is a concept wherein a non-Maven can manipulate the mana in the surroundings to conjure physical constructs based on the thoughts of the user, and its strength or durability depends on the user's willpower, which is why having a clear and strong mind is necessary.

However, <Ikilux> can only do so much, since the mana that the user is manipulating isn't theirs to control.

So, constructing swords, guns, and barriers is possible, but only to a certain extent before they shatter. Obviously, more deadly constructs are out of the picture, which is why Ikilux magic was more useful as a utility tool than an actual weapon.

However, its usefulness will go through the roof once I acquire the All-stone and become a Maven since I could combine my mana with nature's mana to use <Ikilux>.

Pressing my fingertips together, I began concentrating on the flow of mana and tried grasping it.

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Arthur resembled a meditating Buddha statue as he sat on the ground in a lotus position with his fingertips pressed together in front of his chest, trying to feel the mana flow and manipulate it.

However, his brows became more and more furrowed for every minute that passed. He was getting distressed as he couldn't feel any stimulus from his surroundings.

This went on for 30 minutes.

'Maybe I'm just tired,' he thought. 'After all, I've also been absorbing the tomes.'

Just as he was about to stop for the day, he felt the mana flow. Arthur knew that it was mana because the sensation was revitalizing. However, the mana dispersed when he tried to grasp it.

Arthur opened his eyes with a smile plastered on his face, slightly showing his white teeth. He was visibly excited.

It was an outstanding feat for a non-Maven to sense mana in under an hour without any help, even for a little bit. Not groundbreaking, but certainly impressive.

"Haah." Arthur took deep breaths to calm himself down. He can't let himself be too cocky here, otherwise, it may bite him in the ass in the near future.

He closed his eyes and pressed his fingertips together as he began meditating again.

It now took only several minutes for him to feel the mana flow again.

However, it was the same process. Every time he would try to grasp it, it would disperse, but he wasn't discouraged.

After several trials and errors, Arthur decided to try a different method. Instead of trying to grasp the mana flow, he would let it flow naturally. Then slowly, he redirected its flow into his fingertips and tried materializing the mana.

It took several more attempts before red sparks started to come out from Arthur's fingertips, which he vaguely felt.

It had a warm and faint stinging sensation, which was good progress for him in acquiring the <Ikilux> ability.

Arthur began focusing even more on that feeling. After several more minutes of practice, he became more and more smooth in sensing and grasping the mana, then...

He finally achieved it.

—Crackle! Crackle! Crackle!

"Haha!" Arthur laughed aloud as he separated his hands, forming faint red crackly lines that connected one fingertip to the other. He was about to celebrate until…

—Boom!

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