After several hours of meditation, I felt like I was going mad… I could sense the energy, but I couldn’t control it. Maybe I should increase my magic and see what happens, that should make some difference, I had free points to use, after all.

‘Nah, it is too risky… I have to keep doing things like this. Magic shouldn’t be that important for the build of a rogue, so I would essentially throw those points away.’

‘Let me try now.’

The other guy stayed quiet until now, probably because he wanted to be the one controlling my body to complete the quest to change classes. It really bothered me that I couldn’t deny the fact that he had higher chances of succeeding in both things.

‘All right.’

The other guy began to meditate while feeling the energy, now I could sense my mana pool even more clearly than before. The more it increases, the more obvious it would become. Perhaps controlling it as well.

Since I didn’t have any skill that used mana, I couldn’t tell yet how to control it… perhaps this training was a waste of time without such skills. It was already impressive enough that we could get a new class just by having the mana control skill.

‘I give up, nothing is working.’

‘You didn’t try even for five minutes…’

‘Which was enough for me to realize that it is useless.’

Perhaps he had a point, but I didn’t want to accept that this moron was always right. I just needed a single small step… just any progress in controlling my mana pool and I would be satisfied with it.

The small step soon was taken when I was about to take over my body… I didn’t know what I had clicked on, but the moment the other guy got ready to switch, I felt my mana pool trembling.

‘Did you feel that?’

‘Yes… I was able to make the mana respond to my intent… just when we were about to switch up. I guess it was because at that moment, neither of us was controlling my body.’

Was that truly the reason? Would that mean that to control the energy, we would have to focus so much that we couldn’t even control my body? That seemed way too risky. We tried again, and soon the same thing happened. The same reaction when a pebble touches the surface of a pond, the mana pool reacted to my intent.

‘Let me try now… Nope, can’t do it.’

‘It is probably because you are you, someone who can’t calm down and clear your mind properly.’

I decided to clear my head as much as possible and then focus on the mana pool, it took a while to pull that off… I also was bad at that kind of thing, but the more I focused, the more I felt like I was submerging in that pool of energy.

As I submerged, the ripples on the surface of the mana pool started to feel more and more constant…

‘Hello, for how long are you planning to do this?’

‘Why did you have to break my focus?’

‘Cause the sun is setting.’

I opened my eyes and then saw the city through the window getting darker… it looked like I lost the notion of time while I was focusing. I checked my parameters and confirmed that nothing had changed aside from the feeling that I could submerge in my own mana pool.

Name: Ryan Winters

Class: Apprentice Lv Max (00/00)

Job: (00/000)

HP: 140/140

MP: 140/140

SP: 140/140

Strength: 15

Magic: 14

Dexterity: 14

Vitality: 14

Wisdom: 14

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

Endurance: 14

Toughness: 14

Spirit: 14

Adaptability: 14

Free Points: 08

Origin Coins: 4111

Skills:

Job Skills:

‘It seems that mana is only used when it affects the outside world… Well, I guess I am satisfied with this much progress.’

‘Why don’t you keep going zen and all that while I complete the quest.’

‘I am not going to take such risks.’

I left the inn and then headed toward the northern gate of the town… I couldn’t help but wonder what happened to my boss. Knowing him he probably was fighting alone given his insufferable personality.

While looking around, I could see some people that were losing weight quite fast… some of them were sleeping in the dark alleys while holding their knees. It looked like no one went as far as committing crimes, but I wondered for how long things would remain like that.

Before long, I reached the gate and then changed my mood in order to focus. Crossing any territory without being noticed was difficult enough, even more so when there are so many enraged dire rats around.

‘Keep a distance of forty meters from the holes and the tall grass and you will be fine.’

‘Really?’

‘That is my experience with them at night, anyway. As long as you keep your distance and don’t throw anything at them, it will be fine.’

Although it was dark and cloudy, I still could see the holes of the dire rats thanks to the Map, it marked exactly the location of those spots. Thanks to that, I was able to zigzag around them and avoid making any of the monsters inside come outside.

Some of them were already outside, but I could see the red dots in the map showing their location as well. Half an hour later, I left the area and reached the entrance of the forest. The fog of war was clear on the map from here onwards… perhaps I should have come here during the day to see where they have their bases or something.

‘Just move alongside the wind and not against it and you will be fine.’

‘When did you become an expert at unseen movement?’

‘This much is common knowledge.’

For a stalker, perhaps. In any case, at least his words made sense… I began to move to the dark forest while trying to be mindful of my surroundings. I tried not to move without reason and not hesitate as well… When the wind began to blow, I moved to the shadow of another tree, just a bit at a time was enough for me, there was no reason to worry.

I checked the map and despite the darkness that made things hard to notice, I could see the layout of the area around five meters just fine. I could use this… I was starting to get confident, so soon I began to move out of impatience even when the wind wasn’t blowing. The sound of my steps in the grass felt like I was walking and shattering glass on the ground and the atmosphere around me suddenly got insanely darker.

‘I told you. The wind can mask the sound of your steps. Let’s hope that your smell won’t give your position away as well.’

I didn’t do anything all day aside from meditating, but taking baths lately was kind of hard with no showers… the rooms that I rented had a bowl with water every time I was there, and I used it, but nothing works like a shower. Soon enough, the wind began to blow again and I followed it. After hiding behind another tree, the atmosphere suddenly calmed down again.

‘Hopefully, this will be easier when I get the stealth skill… I wonder how it works.’

Aside from that misstep, I was being pretty stealthy, so I wondered if there was no way to learn skills in a different way. Still, I decided to do some research about that later and just kept moving.

After crossing five hundred meters in the dark forest, I finally was able to find some areas where the trees gave some room for the moonlight and I could see a group of monsters ahead too.

The three four-armed bears lay sprawled on the forest floor, their massive bodies heaving slightly with each deep, rhythmic breath. Their thick, shaggy fur shimmered with earthy tones of brown and black, blending with the shadows cast by the surrounding trees. Each bear’s additional set of muscular arms rested awkwardly across their sides, adding an unnatural yet intimidating aspect to their hulking forms. Their claws were sharp and curved, even while they lay idle, showing they could shred through intruders with ease if disturbed.

Close to them, perched precariously on a low tree stump, was their honeycomb, the treasure trove of golden, glistening nectar that I had to steal. The honeycomb was unnaturally large, its hexagonal structure sparkling with amber hues in the faint light.. The scent of sweet honey mixed with the earthy musk of the bears made the air thick and heavy.

The challenge was not just in stealing the honeycomb but in doing so without waking the slumbering beasts, whose every twitch hinted at their power.

‘I wonder if I can run faster than them… I can’t see their parameters yet, after all. I heard that some bears can run at forty miles per hour. Perhaps they can run at thirty for a while since they will be sleepy once they wake up.’

‘Move around the area, the other side is closer to the honeycomb.’

I nodded and then began to do exactly that when the wind blew in the area. Still, now and then, I would step on a branch and the creatures would move a bit. I thought that bears were heavy sleepers, but that wasn’t the truth at all.

While I was moving, I couldn’t help but wonder… the dire rats were enraged at night, so why were those guys sleeping peacefully. Only a single explanation came to mind… they would get enraged when their honeycomb were to be stolen.

I didn’t know the strength of those creatures, so the mystery was two times more difficult to grasp… my back started to get damp thanks to the sweat and I wondered if the smell would give away my presence. At some point, it felt like my heartbeat was as loud as a fucking drum.

Eventually, I reached the other side of their territory and slowly began to move away to the honeycomb. The smell started to get stronger and that made me realize why they didn’t feel my smell. Still, once I took that away and ran away, they certainly would find my scent and chase me.

I decided to take out my shirt and then toss it away in the distance to make them waste some time when they wake up. I was planning to buy new clothes soon, so that one wouldn’t be missed.

Eventually, I reached the honeycomb and slowly touched it to put it in my inventory.

Honeycomb (Common)

Restores 20% of your HP, MP, and SP.

I opened my eyes widely since it was insanely valuable, it would be even more valuable in the hands of those who are much stronger. Before long, I grabbed the honeycomb and then moved to the other side of the camp before storing it in my inventory. When that happened, I ran for my life.