Chương 12: Injured (2)

Rowan let himself relax as he watched the ant collapse, dead. But he didn't rest. Not yet. He was too thirsty. Immediately, he opened his status screen and selected his quest to kill 10 enemies. Quest: Defeat 10 Enemies (10/10, Complete) Rewards: Rations 15 System Credits He focused on claiming the reward for his quest, and a moment later, the screen disappeared, only to be replaced by another.

Quest Received: Defeat 20 Enemies (0/20) Rewards: Rations 20 System Credits He skimmed over the quest but quickly dismissed it. He had more important things to attend to. Namely, the pouches that had appeared beside him. Rowan's hands were shaking as he snatched up a waterskin. He opened it and, without another thought, brought it to his mouth. Seconds passed as he kept it pressed to his lips, trying to suck up every last drop of the precious liquid.

Only when he realized water was dripping down his chin from the spillage did he manage to stop himself; he couldn't waste such a valuable resource. Having quenched his thirst—at least partially—he took a moment to really look at what rations he'd received. Including the waterskin he'd already drunk from, there were two, each the size of a large water bottle. On each one was a small hook, seemingly so he could carry them around more easily. Rowan nodded.

His pants might've been damaged beyond repair, but his belt was still fine. If he could find a way to attach the skins to his belt, it would make it far easier to carry them around. Then, he turned his attention to the final pouch. It was larger than both of the water skins combined, and while it had a hook as well, it didn't seem practical to attach to his belt. Just like the waterskins, it looked to be made of some sort of leather, and it was tied shut with a small string.

Grabbing the pouch, he undid the loosely tied knot, revealing the contents. While his thirst had been far too great to hold back, his hunger was just barely weak enough that he could take a moment to inspect what he was getting. The pouch, unlike so many chip bags Rowan had purchased in the past, was full almost all the way to the brim. The majority of the food was an assortment of dried meats and jerky, with about a third being dried fruits.

Taking a bite of jerky, he let his head rest on the stone floor as he savored the taste. It wasn't anything special, but he was starving. It'd been years since he'd gone so long without eating—not that he knew how much time had passed since he'd arrived in the Tutorial. It just seemed like it'd been days, and maybe it had. Rowan didn't like the feeling of hunger. Not at all. It reminded him of his… less fortunate times, back when he was living off the streets.

It'd been a wonder that he'd managed to survive, much less get to where he'd been before the System had come. And Coco… he cut himself off before the emotions could well up within him. He was stuck underground with giant ants and crippled. It simply wasn't the time for such thoughts. So, as he continued to munch on his newly acquired rations, he thought about the ants and his skills. His first problem was that, every once in a while, the insects would wander down the side tunnel he was stuck in.

There had only been two since he'd been stuck in the caves, but that was enough to make him wary. His eyelids were drooping, and without being able to move around to keep himself awake, Rowan didn't trust himself not to doze off. It seemed like his improved stats helped with sleep deprivation and hunger, but they had their limits.

After a while of consideration, he couldn't think of anything better than to keep his mace nearby and hope that any ants that might stumble upon him wouldn't be strong enough to do serious damage before he could wake up and finish them off. Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author's preferred platform and support their work! Rowan took a moment to grab a dried fruit that somewhat resembled a plum before resuming his thinking. [Bind] was interesting, especially with his new insights into the skill.

First, he didn't actually have to say 'bind' to activate it. He still wasn't quite sure how he knew, but it seemed as though he gained some instinctive understanding of how to use a skill after activating it once or twice. He didn't know if he would continue to do so in the future, but it was certainly useful to know that it wasn't necessary. His second realization was that he could control the chains.

He'd already known this in the sense that he could constrict them; he'd done it the very first time he'd used the skill. But the fact that he could entirely control the chains was interesting. What if he could command the chains to [Bind] multiple enemies at once? Or even tie them together? Rowan resolved to do more experimenting the next time he used the skill, but for now, activating it would just be wasteful.

When he'd used it against the last ant, it'd consumed far less mana than the first time, but it was still a lot. He just didn't know enough about how mana worked to activate the skill without an actual need to do so. Grabbing the waterskin he'd drunk from earlier, he looked inside. It was about half full, which meant that he'd drunk an entire quarter of his water in one go. He was still thirsty, but not enough to justify another drink. He would have to try to ration it better from now on.

As for food, Rowan thought the rations in the pouch should be enough to last him around five days, depending on how much energy he used. Deciding to try to attach the waterskins to his belt, he winced as he shifted to a better position. Ignoring the throbbing pain in his legs, he put the hooks through his belt holes. It wasn't the best fit, but it worked well enough. As for the pouch with his food, it was too bulky to attach, at least while he was lying down. So, with a sigh, he tucked it under his arm.

Then, with nothing else to do, he began practicing [Mana Manipulation]. Cycling it through his body almost felt natural, but it still required concentration to do so. Rowan considered trying to increase the amount of mana he could move around at once, but in the end decided it wasn't worth it. So far, the only use he'd found for the energy was activating [Bind], and while the skill was certainly costly, it wasn't that expensive.

The amount of mana he could reasonably control was more than enough to activate the skill. One thing he'd noticed about [Bind], though, was that it continued draining his mana after he'd already activated it. He wasn't quite sure, but he thought that it'd cost more mana to keep the soldier ant restrained than it had the worker. Shaking his head, Rowan continued cycling his mana, trying to increase the speed instead of the quantity. He could move enough mana, but just not quickly enough.

It would take him several seconds to activate his skill, and while he'd timed it perfectly with the last ant that'd stumbled upon him, what would happen if he was a split second too slow? What would happen if he were taken by surprise? So, he closed his eyes and continued practicing. Of course, he didn't let his guard down, keeping his ears peeled for any signs that an ant might be coming. Rowan cycled energy faster and faster, making far more progress than he'd expected.

After a while, he slowed down his cycling, opting to try and practice his control outside of his body. It was still far, far harder to maintain control of the energy once it'd left him, but he was doing better than before. Eyes still closed, he focused everything on keeping the wisps of energy under his control. He didn't know how he knew where they were. He just did. Five seconds… ten… twenty. As his control grew strained, Rowan decided to try something new. Moving the energy.

He'd technically done that when he had first activated [Bind], but that had just been moving the mana in the immediate vicinity of his chains into them. It had been a split second and a few inches at most. Now, he wanted to do something more. Teeth gritted with concentration, Rowan willed the mana to move, and it obeyed. He circled it around his head a few times, but the drain was just too much. He felt his control slip, and the mana began to disperse into the air.

As he watched it, he realized he'd just done what he'd been trying to avoid doing—wasting mana. It wasn't that much, but he still didn't want to waste it. Pushing his mind to its limit, he took back control over the energy. Then, he moved it toward him, pressing it against his skin and trying to move it back into his body. Nothing happened. He pushed harder, pouring the last drops of his concentration into the effort. And, to his delight, he felt something shift. Then, it all slipped away from him.

Cursing, Rowan was forced to watch as the mana he'd just fought so hard to keep disappeared. He wasn't sure exactly what he'd felt at the end, but he was pretty sure that it was possible to bring mana into his body. For now, though, it was beyond him. Far beyond him. Right before his concentration had failed, he'd made the slightest bit of progress, but from what little he could tell, he wasn't even close to achieving his goal.

Still, it was nice to know that sometime in the distant future, he would probably be able to do it. Then, too exhausted even to practice his [Mana Manipulation], he let consciousness fade, entering the warm embrace of sleep. All he could do was hope that no ants stumbled across him. Just in case, though, Rowan wrapped his hand around his mace's grip, taking comfort in the feeling of it in his palm.