179. Dual Cultivation Circuit
Inside a gloomy underground cellar, a hairy middle-aged man with four muscular hands is currently having tea on a stone table.
The man is none other than the headmaster of Lacra Academy.
Not far from him is a large transparent tank containing greenish water and inside the tank is a human boy suspended at the center like a laboratory experiment.
Almost an hour ago, after opening seven Mana Nodes within Clay, he did not expect that Clay would exhibit Foreign Mana Rejection.
Since the boy was not discovered at the age of eight, the Royal Military decided to have his Mana Nodes forcefully opened and later be taught in a cram school about Body Reinforcement Magic. It was a good plan but Clay had an adverse reaction to the miniscule amounts of mana left during the ceremony.
Only a minute and the boy almost turned into a vegetable. And if not properly attended, he might have even turned into a zombie-like monster.
To ensure the boy’s body will not undergo change, he had him contained in a medicine tank.
At the same time, Clay opened his eyes. He is curious as to how long they plan on containing him. Having remembered everything, he is now aware of what was fed to him.
Back at Elifar City, he was given a potion and analyzing the residue left within his body, he believes that it is a Spiritual Qi based medicine. However, it is not the Spiritual Qi he is familiar with but rather a different kind.
Clay has rudimentary understanding of primordial energies and having participated at Vidri’s experiment about “nothingness” during his past life, he felt that the Spiritual Qi he had consumed bears resemblance to the devolving nature of Mana within a Negative Subspace. But since it is a different universe, he reckons this world he reincarnated to has different laws as well when it comes to these energies.
However, what he is really concerned of is the adverse effect of Mana and Spiritual Qi simultaneously circulating within one’s body.
Earlier, he was given a mana based pills to open his Mana Nodes.
He is worried his body will experience the same fate as Merea (his maid at A’U Planet introduced at Chapter 97 and 133).
During his life at Gar Wahger he may not understand why it is a taboo to have someone’s energy invading another person’s Circulation Circuit but on this world, he noticed that the Spiritual Qi he had consumed had yet to stabilize and when ingested the Mana-based pills, it already created a reaction forcing his body to undergo change and couple that with a foreign energy coming from the headmaster, it created an imbalance causing the excruciating and unbearable pain.
Clay did not mind the face-aging effect but being short lived like a Goblin is another matter. While he can infinitely respawn, only now did he experience amnesia. Who knows if it happens again after this current life.
Although on one hand, it is technically not a bad thing to not recall his past life like every soul should be when they undergo Samsara but to partially remember fragments of his previous lives and think that he is under a spell of illusion on his next life, he may forever act crazy every time he starts over.
*Knock, knock
The headmaster turned towards the door.
“My life would have been easier had you just let him die.” A dejected voice came from the old military officer who brought Clay and while standing at the entrance then he said, “Sorry, I had to make a phone call.”
“Do they still want me to teach the boy?”
“The good news is, you won’t and we get to leave.”
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“And the bad news?” The headmaster was delighted.
“The bad news is for me. Take the boy out. I’m sure you’ve been itching to see us leave.” The old man forced a smile then turned around and left.
Evening came and Clay and the old military officer rode another train heading towards north. For normal people, not having a day rest would exhaust their bodies but having a few Mana Nodes opened means stronger and more resilient overall fitness.
“You alright, kid?” The old man asked as he noticed the boy staring at him.
“Mhhh” Clay nodded.
“Do you still feel pain anywhere in your body?”
Clay maintained an innocent look then responded, “Pain, no more.”
The old man mused upon hearing Clay talk. To his surprise, Clay can actually talk. He reckons Clay must have been misunderstood. While he is curious, he did not want to pry as they will part not very long.
Meanwhile, Clay is in deep thought. Earlier, he activated his Godly eyes for a test and was relieved his cheat is working and on top of it, he had confirmed that the presence of two energies in one’s body is actually normal in this world. Just now, he had been observing the Circulation Circuit of the old man and he was amazed to discover that he old man actually has two Circuits, one for Mana and another for Spiritual Qi. However, there is no dantian and the center of circulation is literally at the heart and what interesting is that the old man only has Spiritual Qi Nodes around 35 which when equate to power level is equivalent to Peak Late Condensation Realm as limit.
He finds it almost unbelievable that within a human, two energies are co-existing in one body under the same condition without turning into a monster like his previous world.
Clay bent his head pretending to be asleep but in fact, he wanted to check his body.
Just as he suspected, the medicine he drank at Elifar City is similar to Qi Sensing Pill. Although not properly lit like his Mana Nodes, he can see traces of Spiritual Qi Nodes overlapping on his meridians.
“I hope Dao will work on this world as well.” Clay thought to himself. Once he obtains power, he will go home given the chance.
After an hour, the locomotive train stopped and they rode a cab before finally reaching their destination, a military base.
Clay could not believe his eyes. While the vehicle they rode was not yet that refined, before him are five towering buildings and center being the tallest reaching almost 500 meters. He felt like he is back on earth.
“State your business.” The guard at the gate greeted.
At the same time, Clay’s travelling companion handed what looked like and ID and a small wooden box.
“Show Master Kraus that box.”
“Understood, sir.” The guard thought he was dealing with civilians but when he saw the ID, he instantly saluted and ran into the building and after a few more minutes, Clay and the old man gained clearance and was guided towards the top floor.
“This is low tar made from a tobacco grown from monster feces. Not only does it have bitter aftertaste, it also wants to make me puke.” A six feet tall and well built middle aged man complained as he smoked a cigar from the wooden box given by Clay’s companion earlier.
“My apologies for coming unannounced. The higher ups do not like their business being sniffed.”
“Ha ha ha ha.” Master Kraus tilted his head upwards and blew the smoke slowly with his lips. “How do Frontliners enjoy this taste?”
“Believe me it tastes better during combat.”
“Ha ha ha ha.” Kraus laughed again then continued, “So what does a retired Frontliner need my office for?”
“This kid here has some potential and even with no Affinity, the big boys wanted to groom him properly but unfortunately, he has very low tolerance to foreign Mana. Teach him Runic Inscriptions and if he’s lucky, he gets admitted to Erindal otherwise, he gets to become your new boss.”
“Why is it that if it’s trash, it’s always us?”
“His name is Theodore Rosenthal from Elifar City. No significant background.”
“Please let there be good news?” Kraus rested his arm while holding the cigar on his hand.
“If you have affairs in the royal capital, I will personally help out. Provided of course I’m still alive.” Clay’s companion stood up and getting ready to leave.
“No rewards, no benefits, nothing?” Master Kraus is itching to punch the old man. He wanted to raise his objection but when he saw the profile of the other party, he’ll probably lose a tooth or two if he said no.
“You can adopt him if you want.” The old man turned around and left the room.
Meanwhile, Clay ignored their conversation. Earlier, he was observing Master Kraus’ circulation circuit however, he saw something from the background.
They are currently in the top floor and he can see as far as ten kilometers from their location. Just now, the image projected on his Godly Eyes reminded him of that time when he participated to become a Federation Soldier for Navarum Tri-Empire (Chapter 148).
The location of the test was an unknown Evolving Planet and one property of this kind of planet are spatial tears spewing out random terrifying beasts.
Even from afar, he can see dense fluctuating energies and if it’s the same spatial tear he is familiar with, he estimates that it will open in less than two months.
But what is really interesting are the Arrays laid out within the entire area. In fact, he could feel that two of the towers nearby are part of the Array Pillars surrounding the entire fifteen kilometer radius.
He could not help but wonder how people are able to resist those beasts coming out from those spatial tears. From his estimate, he had to be at least an Ascendant if he does not have his monstrous Dao.
Clay looked at Master Kraus again. Judging by the Mana Nodes projected from his Godly Eyes, Master Kraus is a level one mage.