Mosh awoke to dim, dappled light coming in from the covered entrance. He did not remember falling asleep, it had just beset him at some point when he was trying to cultivate his soul. He looked inward, into the place where his notifications manifested from the mana records but, alas, there was nothing new there. His Soul core information was slightly better, now sitting at 15/50. It looked to be a long haul before the purity improved and he attempted to grow it.
‘You finally awake? Are all you humans so frail? How often do you need to sleep?’ Midkar’s voice was mocking, and upsetting to Mosh, but he needed the mentor. His advice and knowledge were useful, albeit delivered in an irritating manner.
‘Yes, I am awake. Humans generally try to get eight hours of sleep every twenty-four, though those with a higher Body Tier need less. And our need for sleep changes based on our activity level, the busier we are the more energy we use and the more we need. How long was I asleep?
Midkar had no face for Mosh to see, yet somehow, he knew Midkar was rolling his eyes. ‘A frail species. The Kin need that amount of sleep in five of our days, each of which is forty-eight of your hours. But then, the Kin are the superior species, which is why it is so demeaning that the Greater Mileu forces us to accept deviations!
Mosh decided to hold his peace, to remain quiet. He was opposed to the Purist views of Midkar, but a philosophical war against one embedded within his consciousness would lead to madness. Midkar was going to be in his consciousness for a long time. Hopefully, he would remain alive for decades, or even centuries as was the case for the oldest humans in the Game. He grimaced, correcting himself, in the Crucible, it would take time to get used to that. Instead, he changed the subject, ignoring the casual speciesism of Midkar. ‘Now I am awake. After I eat, what is next?’
‘You still need to gain that absorption skill. Gaining your soul core was a good start, but you need the Absorption core,’ Midkar paused, the silence growing though Mosh imagined he could hear him humming, ‘And when you kill whatever you find today, remember to try and launch a PSI attack. You will gain no advancement points for it otherwise.’
Mosh grunted, he had forgotten that in the last battle, along with not using his mana enhancement. If he wanted to grow, he needed to use everything he had, though making sure everything got used was secondary to survival! Midkar had his ideas of how he should grow, but he was a Mentor, not a Master, and Mosh would filter all the suggestions to make sure they were what he wanted, not just what Midkar commanded!
The sun was still low, facing into the low entrance, filtered through the leaves and branches of the bushes that had grown over the entrance. He pushed his way through into the early morning light, cool air striking his face. He hefted his spear, straining his new senses, and checking for any immediate danger. Silky Two sat quietly within a pouch attached to his pack. Occasionally he, or was it she, he couldn’t tell, would stick its nose out and sniff, but they seemed happy to just sit and enjoy the ride.
It seemed calm outside, the song of lizards shrilling through the air, the occasional whirring of wings of an insect flitting past. He moved into the small clearing before the barrow entrance and into the forest beyond, kneeling momentarily to place his hands on the ground and funnel mana to straighten what his passage had bent, to will everything back into place to cover his tracks, and a further boost of mana to remove his scent. His maintenance done; he turned to his task of finding some poor creature to be his prey.
He stalked through the undergrowth, trying to remain silent, all the while looking for any signs of something to hunt.
‘Drat it, kid, by the seven sacred catamites, stop bashing your way through this forest like a horde of monsters besieging a city! No finesse, not even a modicum of subtlety. Yeah, I can see you trying, that someone tried to impart the information of how to be stealthy to you. But at his rate, you will starve and never find anything to train Absorption on! Try the mana assist! Try sending mana to your feet. Imagine it flowing down, coating your foot and boot, imagine it forming a pillow around your feet, a platform that you can walk on without it pressing into the forest floor.’
Mosh listened and sat hidden behind some bushes at the base of a tree. He sank into a meditative trance and felt for his mana core. He found it and tried pushing his mana out, through his body towards his feet. He struggled, straining his senses, trying to see the mana, see the paths within his body. He could feel the mana core, but not see it, though he began to detect a slightly yellow orb. The sun moved across the sky, on Earth it would have indicated an hour had passed, and here he was still uncertain of the time scales. He was aware time had passed, and that he was fatigued. A spike of adrenaline hit him, flushing his fatigue as a notification flashed.
Energy Sight skill advanced Tier 0 Level 2. Observable energy types: Soul, Mana. Further types will be added as Skill advances.
And with that, he could see the yellow energy in his mana core, and how it pooled, not knowing where to flow as he pushed at it. But his newly advanced Energy vision showed points in his mana core where it looked like energy leaked into his body. He pushed mana towards one of the points, watching as the point extended, and became a thin vessel. He continued to push mana through the vessel, extending it down towards his feet. Other vessels occasionally branched off, but he kept the mana in the main one, choosing to send it to his right leg first. He remained patient, pushing through the fatigue and the growing headache. Pain spiked and he was forced to stop.
Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.
He relaxed, knowing he had overdone things. He allowed himself to just relax, lean against the tree, and try to relax while remaining alert to any threats. The headache faded and he felt the tiredness drop away. He returned to the task and found that he did not need to redo the path he had already forged, but that it remained, and his mana flowed down it easily. He completed the path, finding that it terminated in a pool within the arch of his foot. He prepared to start on his other leg but was interrupted by a notification.
The candidate has forged his first mana path. Soul Cultivation advanced. Soul Cultivation Tier 0 Level 1 Base Core 1
He was startled and awaited information from Midkar, but his mentor remained silent. He gave a mental shrug and moved on to the next step to activate both feet; his other leg. He returned his focus to the point where the path split between his legs, knowing the path would remain open, he let go of the one already completed and pushed down on the next path. Knowing what to do made the job far easier, he needed less effort to achieve the same effect, it almost felt like his intent was guided along the path mirroring his other leg. He was still exhausted when he completed it, the fatigue overwhelming him as he felt the pool fill, another notification swimming across his vision.
The candidate completed the forging of the lower core mana path. Soul Cultivation advanced. Soul Cultivation Tier 0 Level 2 Base Core 2
He returned to his meditative state, remaining hidden, remaining as aware as he could. He sent a request to Midkar to alert him if anything approached, but he was overwhelmed with exhaustion before he heard a response and sank into the oblivion of fatigue.
He awoke later, the sun past its zenith. He berated himself for his carelessness, he knew better. He should have done his experiments with moving mana in the relative safety of the barrow. He had survived his mistake this time, he could not afford to make more!
He relaxed, he had made a mistake, and he had to move on. He returned to what Midkar had advised, sending mana to the base of his feet. This time, with the mana paths forged, it was much easier. He imagined his feet wrapped in mana, got up, and took a step. He felt his foot fall, felt into impact on the ground, but when he looked down, his footprint was much shallower, barely there, and he did not hear the squelching noise he had come to associate with walking in the mulch. He continued his trip through the forest, finding it harder to maintain concentration both on maintaining chi for his extended senses and mana flowing to his feet. He was rewarded after half an hour with a new notification.
Mana stealth skill awarded. Tier 0 Level 0. Minor modification to sound made when attempting stealth. Minor modifications were made to lower traces left when moving. Minor mana drain while using.
Mosh rejoiced, another skill! He stalked forward, catching occasional glimpses as small creatures fled as he approached. But they fled when he was closer, he saw more of them, and got closer than before. A few more hours passed. He still had time before he had to turn back, but he needed to rest. The drain on his man might be low, but he had kept it going for a long time and it felt like he was on empty. He found a depression beneath a large tree and sank to the ground, loosening his pack and letting it drop to the ground as he did so, though he kept his grip on his spear.
He sat, trying to recover mana, all the while trying to remain alert. He was startled a bit as he felt Silky’s nose prodding at his hand, but he gave it a quick scratch and retrieved a slice of meat for it. Silky sat, eating contentedly, but suddenly came alert its ears high and nose twitching. Its eyes opened in alarm, and it dived into the top of his armour, looking for shelter.
Mosh gripped his spear in both hands and came to his feet in a crouch. He had detected nothing but the behaviour of Silky alarmed him. He strained his senses, felt for his chi centre, and tried to push more energy into his eyes and ears. He did not detect anything, and felt no effect on his senses, but a headache began to grow as did a growing ache from his body.
He dropped his attempt at pushing his enhancement, remaining alert, keeping watch for anything that may come. He thought he saw something and shifted his head just in time to avoid the rock that had been thrown. It smashed into the tree behind him, dislodging some bark as it dug in. He peered in the direction it had come from, not seeing anything through the thick underbrush.
Another rock came from the same direction, and this time he caught a glimpse of what threw it. A small biped, green skin, large eyes of almost all pupil, and a wide mouth displaying a set of sharp incisors. Its body was nude, with no vestige of clothes, and as he saw it bend to retrieve another rock, he spotted another one of the creatures, a female from what he could see, about to throw her rock.
Feral somethings. I don’t know what they are, but they won’t be sapients in the outer ring, though they do appear to be proto-sapients with their usage of tools. He regretted his lack of a long-distance attack. In theory, he could throw his spear. But he only had one, he was far from proficient with it as a ranged weapon, and it would be easily spotted, avoided and turned against him.
‘Foolish child, are you braindead, are you a complete idiot? Humans may be inferior, but surely not this lowly! You forget most of what you are! You have Mind and thus can use Psi, you have Mana and can try to create a new attack. You have Soul! Use what you have, not just what you remember!’
Mosh felt foolish, even as he resented the put downs from Midkar. It would need to be discussed, or he would need to see if he could be assigned a different mentor. But for all his put-downs, Midkar was right. He kept his eye on the two, dodging the rocks as they were thrown while trying to find a way to use PSI. He had found his mind core between his eyes, now he needed to find a way to get it to leave his body. Midkar implied that he should be able to make it into a ranged attack. He concentrated, pushing and prodding at the PSI centre, trying to feel its energy, find a way to manipulate it,
With rocks coming, the time may have been short, but it felt like an eternity. But the familiar itch of a Mana records notification arrived.
Energy Sight skill advanced Tier 0 Level 3. Observable energy types: Soul, Mana, Psi. Further types will be added as Skill advances.
He felt some relief, his prior advances in manipulating the different energy types had come after he had been able to observe them. Hopefully the same applied here. He returned to his manipulation of his PSI centre. Hopefully, his success would be soon, and he could strike back.