I woke up covered in mountains of sweat. I must have slept like crazy, since the sun was right above when I glanced outside the window. Damn, my clothes were a mess, and I just noticed. With or without my permission, dust had become one with my clothes. Guess I’ll have to ask the elder for a change of clothes when I have the chance. I left most of my things upstairs, knowing that I wouldn’t need them anytime soon, and went looking around the house for the old man.

"Elder, are you here?" I spoke in a voice perhaps too soft for his hearing, but I couldn’t just shout like I owned the place.

After checking around, I realized that he wasn’t home. Well, all that was left for me was to have a walk around, least that I could do was talk with the people around here. Before exiting, however, I decided to take my backpack with goodies, just in case I needed them—that, or to sell a few.

With an open mind and my soul ready for judgment, I walked outside. The village looked the same as it did when I first arrived there, and the villagers all appeared to be heading somewhere. Curious as to what was happening, the question popped up when someone passed nearby.

"Excuse me. Do you happen to know where everyone is going?"

The man looked at me with a bit of a weirded out expression, but he sighed and told me.

"Everyone’s going to the market. It’s been some time since we could afford to do such things, and everyone is eager to try and make a bit more than a living."

My ears picked up on everything he said, during which my brain tried to process it all. Just what caused this place to change so much?

"Oh, that’s great." I pulled out a little something from my stash, as a ‘thank you’ token for answering. "Here, I hope you can earn some money from selling them."

His eyes opened wide, transfixed on my hand—or rather, what I held in it—and he forced his mouth open like one would a rusty door.

"Wha, whe, huh? For me? Just where did you get these things?"

"Let’s just say that I had a walk in the forest."

"Huh, the elder found someone special once again. Well, I’ll gladly take it. Oh, and if you happen to need something made by a smith, ask around, I’ll make sure to make everything of the highest quality I can for you."

We said our goodbyes, and I watched as he got into a cart and, together with at least ten more people, made way for the market. I felt like asking him for a ride, but getting lost was not my priority for the moment.

I kept walking around, looking around. Entertainment was something that such a small village could not offer. I thought about going back into the forest, to hunt some more, but the simple thought of doing it all again made my body spring in pain, as if it were yelling at me.

"I’m so bored, man, I feel like dying." I cried out, hoping something would happen.

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"Then drop dead, how about it?" The elder’s voice scared the living shit out of me, which he could see as well from the way I jumped and spun around.

"Oh, elder, you’re back? I’ve been looking for you."

He scanned me from the top of my head down to my toes, then gave me a look of contempt. "Dressed like that? Oh, come on, let’s go back so you can change. I bought you some stuff."

I offered to help with carrying the goods, but he almost smacked me. He claimed it was the little effort he could still put in on a consistent basis to keep his frail body in shape.

Once inside, my eyes fell on the objects he took out of his sack.

"Here, some clothes for you, nothing too fancy, just practical clothes for everyday use. I also bought you some shoes, and last but not least, a mana potion, as you called it." He had a wide smile on his face, like a parent buying something for their children. I completed the act, since I was happier than ever to get some clothes, and the mana drink topped it all off.

"Thanks a lot. I’ll head upstairs to get changed and try something."

Once in the room, I changed as fast as I could, and went straight for the mana potion—yes, I will keep calling them potions. Placing myself on the floor with my legs crossed together, I gulped down the whole thing. I was waiting for it, but I didn’t expect the pain to be so severe. I felt my blood rushing through my veins like it was boiling and trying to find a place to explode and scatter outside. My muscles were tensing harder and harder. It was hard to breath, but I had to force it.

Somehow, my hands found their way in the right position, despite being as solid as steel, and pressed lightly on my burning stomach. I felt something inside, flowing with my blood. My head was crawling with thoughts of pain and anguish, but I had to shut them down somehow. Calm down and focus on the flow. Down to your stomach, feel it flow out into your palms, then force it back in.Repeat this cycle, as many times as I can.

Pain fought for control, it wanted me dead, to tear me from the inside, since I dared achieve something my body might not have been built for. My composure was starting to crack, the same way I felt everything inside of me crack, unsure if it did or not.

"Just... once... more!" My shallow scream flew out between my gritting teeth. I couldn’t hold out longer, and I passed out.

A hard slap, then another one, followed by one more.

"Come on, wake up child, I still have more of them in store if you don’t."

My eyes shot open, and my mouth gave way to my cry.

"Ok, ok, got it, I’m fine."

Getting up seemed to be more difficult than walking after getting a good beating. I tried feeling it, and I did. Mana seemed to generate inside my body.

"Yes, it worked! Hell yeah, let’s go!"

The old man inspected the empty glass bottle.

"You gulped the whole thing? I've seen a few things during my lifetime, but I gotta admit, this is the second most mad act I’ve ever seen."

I smiled lightly, "Second? Which was the first?"

He smiled back, wrinkles accentuating themselves on his face. "The first one... was a child trying to fight a wolf, but the damn thing was as big as a cow. If I hadn’t seen the whole thing with my eyes, I would have never believed it."

I brushed it off as an old man trying to impress me, but the genuine voice he had threw me off guard. Did it really happen?

"Well, leaving that aside, guess what I did?"

"Other than almost dying?"

"Yes, other than almost dying. I did it, I managed to form a mana core within me."

"Yes, and I sure am just a young man playing with you."

Seeing as he was not convinced, I tried to light up a flame within my palm, and it worked, despite the flame being the size of a match.

He stared at it for a good amount of time, before going downstairs, as if seeing nothing.