Chapter 4 - Magic is tough

Suddenly realizing that his path to becoming a powerful Archmage who stands atop the world and drowns his enemies in a sea of hellfire with a mere flick of his wrist was simply lying on the ground right next to him. Adam plucked a small blue cherry from inside the coconut heart and placed it on his tongue. Adam’s realization if proven correct, makes his current and only food source so much more valuable than he had ever imagined. He focused his attention inwards toward his core located in the middle of his body, just beneath his chest and above his stomach. The core had stopped sending out mana pulses for a little while now but as soon as he bit down on the cherry in his mouth, the sweet and refreshing taste trickled down his throat and started dissipating within his body. Adam was kind of freaked out that he could sense all of this, as it was akin to seeing which way his food traveled when he swallowed except instead of traveling down and into his gut, it simply started to spread across his upper body. But when it got a little too close to the small black core, it was immediately sucked in. Adam’s core was acting like an endless black hole for any of the fruit’s mana as it seemed to actively suck in the foreign mana before the core seemed to wake up once more and began pulsing again, however this time it didn’t send the pulses to his muscles despite using the same pathways along his body, instead the pulses had the same effect as the core as it gathered all the mana in his body and sent it down to the core to be absorbed. Not all the fruit's mana was being completely sucked in however, so Adam tried to focus on the clumps that were lingering near his shoulder, and to his surprise, the core's pulses intensified in that spot until all the mana that was previously concentrated there was also sucked into the core.

Adam did his best to carefully observe the changes in his core and body after eating just one of the fruits. It looked like the core had slightly grown and had once again started sending out pulses through his pathways, as the extra energy was indeed used to reinforce his muscles. Adam was practically jumping for joy as his guess was proven true. By eating the fruit he can expand his magical reserves and in doing so get his core to temper his muscles even further. Breathing in the mana from the air seems to work to replenish his core but doesn’t help him grow it. Probably because he needs the magic to be more concentrated like what the fruit seems to have, this was great news for Adam as for the first time since waking up, he finally had a working plan. Use the fruits to grow my core, learn to use the mana in my body to make fireballs, and blast that freaking centipede in the face before flying back home to Earth where he will have his name legally changed to SuperAdamMan… ‘Ok, the last part was just a joke but still, the possibilities are endless and there's no point waiting around for a rescue team’ He may not be in a full-blown panic after waking up on this alien beach but that was mainly because he was forcing himself not to think about it too deeply.

When his mind slipped back to thoughts of home and earth, he tried to make it into a joke as he feared that if his current situation were to truly sink in, then he might actually lose his sanity. Until now his priorities have been that of a survivalist stranded on a deserted island like he had seen on a few survival shows over the years. It was a great way to prevent his mind from truly processing where he was and that he was well and truly alone and would most likely die here. So all that was being deliberately locked in the back of his mind and Adam latched onto his discovery of magic like it was the answer to all his problems. It was the only lifeboat keeping him from sinking into the dark depths of insanity over his dire circumstances since his task of finding food and shelter had been temporarily resolved. Without his magic he would have been truly forced to contemplate his precarious state so he purposely used every ounce of focus he could muster on unraveling the mysteries of his magic, even though all it showed him so far was that it let him lift slightly heavier things and run a little faster than he could before. The image of him cracking the secret to making fireballs and becoming a god of fire and magic was constantly looping in his mind as he filtered through everything he knew about magic from comic books and video games.

Adam was eating handfuls of the blue cherries and watched their mana get absorbed by his core while he occasionally tried to help speed up the process with minor success. By the time two-thirds of the cherries were eaten, Adam began to feel a little bit like he had indigestion. His mana core had grown yet again and his whole body felt hot. He stopped eating the fruit and only now realized that he was so focused on the energies being released and absorbed by his core that he hadn't realized that he felt like he was about to throw up. Getting to his feet while clutching his stomach, he made his way to the cave entrance. He only just found this cave and he didn't want to ruin it with the stench of vomit on his first day. Admittedly, it was hard to tell if this was actually his first day since the sun moved so damn slow, and between his cautious exploration of his new environment and the mana-saturated fruit that removed any traces of hunger and exhaustion, he had a hard time keeping track of time.

Adam sat at the entrance to his cave for what felt like an eternity but it was likely only about an hour. His core seemed to be having indigestion since it was still doing something as its size seemed to grow and shrink several times. His entire body hurt as his pathways seemed to be having a similar problem except every time they expanded even the slightest amount, his muscles threatened to tear apart. He sat there in terrible agony and thought back to how stupid he had just been. After eating only a single fruit he had clearly observed it being digested by his core for several minutes until all the foreign mana was absorbed. Obviously he should have been careful with the fruits, but since he already ate a handful when he was on the beach, he didn't even think that anything bad could happen. But then he didn't have his core to suck it up like a miniature black hole, that handful of fruits he ate then must have been responsible for fully saturating his body and forcibly bringing his mana levels to a tipping point and imploded inside him forming the condensed mana core. In hindsight, he probably shouldn't have done that either. The adrenaline coursing through his body was probably what helped jump-start that process of forming his core and empowering his muscles during his mad dash from the monster. This realization made his eyes grow wide as he tried to remember how he felt after eating those cherries and before being jumped by that thing. His memories seemed to confirm that what he just did and what he did back on the beach was very stupid. Back then, his body felt lighter than ever and he was no longer experiencing any fatigue, his mind also seemed sharper and that added alertness was probably the only reason he heard the slightest sound of something trying to creep up on him. The memory sent chills down his spine.

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

However, while sitting in an awkward position right outside his cave with one hand clutching his stomach and the other placed on the ground in front of him for additional support, Adam decided that this magic stuff was really important for his survival and would likely be the key but was also not something to take lightly as it could just as easily kill him. The new information about the fruit and its obvious value also brought to light a different question. Was that centipede really after the fruit all along? Since this world has magic and a higher concentration of which can form a core and double a person's strength then do the wildlife also have mana cores? And if so then does eating other creature's cores help upgrade their own? “Is this why I wasn't attacked by anything when strolling the jungle before? Cause eating me wouldn't do shit for them? But if that were the case then why didn't they just eat the fruit from the trees themselves, it was a pain to get down but I'm sure they would have had an easier time than me.”

Adam would have to check his theory about a beast only attacking mana-dense prey when he next went out to get another fruit, but it wasn't high on his list. He could live with not knowing that answer, as the only way to do so would be to place himself on the food chain since he himself was now a mana core creature and he didn't like his odds of confronting any other mana beasts, apart from the normal looking ants he saw, which he doubt had cores. Nothing was likely weaker than him in that jungle. Even the smallest bird he saw had to be the size of a pony and would try to eat him whole if it got the chance. Very much not wanting that to happen, Adam crawled back into his cave as the pain had definitely faded but his core was still pulsating and changing. Adam decided it would be a good idea to get some rest now since the pain was now more of a background noise than a debilitating problem and he honestly felt exhausted by now. He didn't dare use those fruits to remove his fatigue. The cost of such miraculous effects still made themselves known with the occasional jolt of pain across his pathways and his shaking core that threatened to explode at any moment. The cave echoed his movement slightly as he moved away from the entrance and towards the right side of the wall where it was darkest. Despite being located right next to the ocean, the cave felt rather dry and warm even in the shadows. He hadn't noticed any wind at all until now and nor did he notice many clouds. The few he saw were more fine light patches but his eyes always locked onto the giant planetary rings stretching across the sky and out to the horizon. He briefly wondered how the birds flew if there was no upper draft but an hour of his body threatening to tear him apart and the accumulated exhaustion he was suppressing with the fruit's effect really took a toll on him and he passed out a few minutes later.

When Adam awoke, he found his throat extremely dry and his stomach was completely empty. What truly struck him however was that the whole cave had a low blue tint to it now. The sun had most definitely moved as the sky was covered in a ghostly blue color. He could also see the jungle in the distance but had to do a double take when he saw that the once bright green vegetation now looked a pale blue color. Mixed with the light fog that seemed to permeate the island, it looked rather creepy. Adam looked up at the sky but couldn't see the sun anywhere. It wasn't dark like nights on Earth, as the rings of white and blue across the sky were practically glowing with light. “I guess this is what night looks like here, if I didn’t already know magic was real then this would have convinced me” he thought, but he was momentarily confused as the sun had barely moved since he got here. Just how long had he been out for? He was about to turn to grab the coconut heart and quench his hunger and extreme thirst but before he could, a thought suddenly struck him. He turned his gaze inward and was elated to see that his core seemed to have finally stabilized. It was a few sizes bigger now and all traces of the fruit's mana seem to have been fully digested. He didn't notice any pulses to strengthen his muscles so it must have finished that process while he was asleep too. Enthralled by this new development he willed his status window to open to observe any changes.

Adam Hartwell

Mana core: [black - middle - (???)]

??? (???): [???]

Spells: [ - ]

(???)

“Hell yeah baby, a middle-grade core” he was about to throw his hands up in celebration but his dry throat made itself known once more. Adam turned from the cave entrance to look for the coconut heart. He remembered it being left at the cave entrance near the left of the passageway. However, the fruit was not there anymore. A quick sweep of his surroundings told him that wherever it is, it's not here, which can only mean one thing.

“THIEF. God damn it someone stole my breakfast”