The first thing I've already figured out, using energy makes you tired and hungry. I suspect I'm going to be sleeping almost every night again and eating a lot more. I'm not sure I want to get any energy based skills. It isn't too hard to manually manipulate the energy so why would I waste the slots. This is pretty sweet though, this allows me to solve a lot of problems that fall mostly under exercise and mobility. My morning workouts can now alternate between an energy starved workout and an energy overcharged workout.

Before I couldn't really strain my muscles strength or endurance in any reasonable amount of time, now I can limit the energy to my cells which should make me more efficient. Then I can increase the energy to my cells to really strain my muscles to their limit. This does mean I need a more effective way to regenerate energy though, my pool is tiny.

Mobility wise, I don't need to rely on gust anymore, I can still use it for jumps that would take a huge amount of energy or to run faster, but this seems like a better use of resources. I am going to need to put more points into endurance at some point though.

Felix ate what he would normally consider four entire meals of Parroukan before heading out into the forest. He first worked on infusing energy into his legs to jump higher. The process was almost entirely figuring out how much energy he needed to jump specific heights as the manipulation was the same as the lunge from the spear strike. Once he was mostly used to it, he removed his shirt, pants and boots and started running around the forest jumping up onto roots and branches of small trees.

Without expending a massive amount of energy and likely tearing the muscles in his legs, he could jump almost four meters vertically. Running with energy was very easy when he just pushed energy into his legs, ankles and core.

There is no way this is efficient though, when I'm running I am not straining every muscle equally and constantly. I should be pushing energy into muscles proportional to how much I use them and only when I use them.

In reality, this was much harder than it sounded. There were a lot of muscles involved even in simple actions like running and all of them were being strained to a different degree. Felix also incorporated this into jumping, though there was much less effort required to time the energy compared to running.

The timing was complicated not just because of the muscles being used at different times. Felix quickly discovered that his muscles didn't instantly consume energy so he needed just a moment of lead time, requiring him to preempt their use. When jumping, his muscles were also sore right afterwards so he pushed a small amount of energy trailing the expenditure to promote their recovery.

Felix spent the rest of the day working on his running and jumping throughout the forest. He had figured out, earlier this morning when hunting with the guard, that the forest was actually completely empty. He was incapable of finding enemies in the forest because they spawned specifically for the guards when they went looking for them. Clearly anything other than pursuing the quest was discouraged, though Felix suspected the fact that Alrik was a trainer was intentional. As for the monster, Felix hadn't found it yet so he wasn't too worried. Considering the quest told him to wait and there were at least 4 more steps to it, he figured it was probably fine for him to be running around, plus it was still day time.

After a full day of training, Felix redressed and walked back to the tavern then slept the longest he had in almost a month. He spent the entirety of the next day refining his general acrobatic ability using energy. Halfway through the day he remembered that there was a lot more involved in moving than just his muscles. It was obvious in hindsight, but he hadn't thought of pushing energy into his spinal cord and nerves. Considering his nervous system was attached to his brain he also infused it with energy, a cautious trickle at first which gradually increased to a flood when he realized his energy infusions were increasing his stats.

He began testing until he could increase every stat, except endurance and vitality. It wasn't by much at first, around ten percent, but it was an exciting proof of concept. He had to eat and nap every few hours, but his practice was paying off very quickly. He kept his brain, eyes, ears and nervous system constantly buffed with energy, which increased his intelligence, perception, dexterity and agility then pushed mana into his muscles when they were being used as there was no reason to waste energy buffing strength when he wasn't using it.

At night Felix sat and drank with some of the guards. Alrik was busy and apparently he rarely drank, but the rest of the guards he hunted with were present.

"I never got the appeal of magic, why would you want to be limited by so much random bullshit, stand far away, have to avoid every hit or else die. Instead, you can hold a spear, run around, take a hit and hit back, it's fun and exhilarating. The other day though, you made me rethink magic. We hunt as a group because none of us can kill a Parroukan in one hit, we could run around them and slowly take them down, but then it's friends will show up and any of us would get overwhelmed."

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"Yeah, me too. Honestly, the thought that with magic, I'd be fighting someone and I'd be just one mistake away from losing… it's exciting. It feels stupid to make that gamble, be that… fragile. Obviously everyone makes mistakes, but it would be exciting. Constantly having your life on the line, always pushing yourself to survive in every fight. I don't know that I could do it, but the idea is exciting."

"I could do it for sure, I mean I never get hit anyways, but I don't need magic to kill an enemy with one hit."

"Oh really? Coming from the guy who almost died on his first Parroukan hunt, needing the captain to come and drag his ass out."

"That was years ago."

"What about last week, Brask, when you-"

"OKAY, I'm just saying… I think I could do it."

"And what do you mean you could kill them in one hit, you can't even hit us when we spar."

"Can't kill something you can't hit."

"True that."

Brask blushed as he chugged his ale and the rest of the guards laughed.

Some things don't change at all.

Suddenly, all the Drakene at the table stood, first those across from Felix then those next to him a moment later. They all turned to face the door then started to sit back down when Felix turned to see who had just entered.

Walking into the tavern, in a long brown robe was a very saggy Drakene of about average height covered in brilliant chrome scales with one curling horn and one stub. Felix could have sworn their eyes flashed in his direction too quickly to be a natural glance before looking away just as quickly. They walked confidently towards the bar, knowing everyone was watching them.

[E - Uncommon] Chromatic Drakene (Lvl 53)

The guards at Felix's table were all sitting again but with a new found tension. Their posture excellent, which was impressive considering their drunkenness. They were all trying to sneakily glance over at the new arrival who was ordering something from Borrugra.

"Who is that?"

"That is elder Arzime, the ritualist."

"She's the oldest one."

Before anyone could add to the whispered descriptions, Drakene elder Arzime walked over to their table with a large tray of mugs.

"A round for the guards' finest?" Arzime said as she placed the tray down on the table in the empty spot the guards rushed to make, before picking up a mug herself.

"I just wanted to extend a warm welcome to the visitor I was hearing about. I trust that everyone has treated you with kindness, and I wouldn't be much of a role model of the Drakene code myself if I didn't come to personally welcome you to the village. I hear you are an impressive caster, I should wish to observe this for myself, maybe some time next week, if you intend to stay that long?"

"I definitely feel welcomed, thank you. Sure, sounds good to me, I will come find you a week from today."

"Excellent, well gentlemen, I am getting rather old and I don't tend to stay out and drink much these days, you all have a good night, don't drink too much, and good luck on tomorrow's hunt."

Then she turned around, finished her mug in a single swig then placed it on a random table as she walked out of the bar. Only a few minutes after the door had closed behind her did the atmosphere return to it's normal rowdy state.

Felix was the one to break the awkward silence at their table, "What is the Drakene code?"

"More like the Drakene Dogma if you ask me." Brask said.

"Shut up, you shouldn't say things like that, you know they look down on that."

"We all think it."

"Shut up."

"The Drakene Code is a set of fundamental laws the entire race follows. To be honest, we don't know if the entirety of the Drakene race across the multiverse follows the same code, but that's the idea. The original Drakene came up with a set of rules or laws that they passed down throughout the entire race as we spread throughout the multiverse. Theoretically, the first rules are all the same, the rest vary based on your integration and ancestors in general."

"What are the rules?"

"Everyone should be treated equally, we are led by the three eldest Drakene, we are allowed to have our own laws but they are always beneath these, welcome everyone and treat them with kindness, within reason."

"Don't jail or constrain people, execution or banishment are acceptable punishments, never containment."

"Those are the main ones that supposedly came from the original Drakene tribe."

"There are more specific laws for our village but not much, don't steal blah blah blah."

"There could be more, but the code is only passed down to the council and they enforce it. There could be more but that's what we know."

"That doesn't seem right, the rules seem reasonable to me, but keeping the original list secret is weird, isn't it?" Felix asked.

"Yes, yes it is, but don't question it, don't question anything, just believe it. It's the truth, gotta be cause the elder's said it." Brask ranted, getting loud enough towards the end for the guard next to him to try and physically shut him up.

"Don't you humans have something similar?"

"Not that I have ever heard of. We have some common laws, but those are mostly based on our shared moral values, even then though… nothing so set in stone."

"Huh, whatever works I guess, just seems uncivilized I guess. No judgement, glad it works for you guys."

Felix shrugged, "Well I will see you all tomorrow, don't drink too much or you might sleep in."

"You are leaving now? You don't even drink, why do you have to sleep early?"

"I am a simple man, I feel tired, so I sleep. I'll see you all bright and early tomorrow morning."

The guards waved him off and ordered more drinks.

"He's probably just going to vomit all the food he just ate. There is no way a tiny little human like that eats more than the rest of us combined, where would it even go? He was probably just trying to impress us and now he has to deal with the consequences."

"I don't know man, maybe that's how he restores his mana, do you know how magic works? Maybe the food is a sacrifice to the god…"

Felix faintly heard with his lightly buffed perception as he walked into the back to sleep for the night. . . . . .