Chương 41: Back on Track (1)

Rowan wasn't sure how much time had passed, but his mana pool had filled and emptied several times as he practiced his [Mana Manipulation] and [Chain Manipulation]. It had been tedious, but as he looked at the notifications before him, he knew that it had been worth it. [Mana Manipulation lvl 17 → Mana Manipulation lvl 18] [Chain Manipulation lvl 12 → Chain Manipulation lvl 13] Now, though, he was done practicing his skills. A smile broke onto his face as, gritting his teeth, Rowan got to his feet.

He'd been waiting long enough for this, so the moment he realized he could walk, he did. He swayed for a second, nearly falling as his still-injured body struggled with all its might. But he held, and with a laugh, Rowan took a shaky step. Then another. And then another. He continued until he'd reached the cave wall. Then, he leaned against it, letting himself rest. Already, he could sense that this recovery was going to be far faster than any before this.

Not only had his stats increased, but the moment he could, he'd begun stretching and moving his body. Even if he couldn't stand up yet, Rowan had still tried to prepare himself so that he wouldn't have to spend hours or even days rehabilitating. Before all that, though, the very first thing he'd done after regaining proper control over his limbs was, of course, to drink water. Even if he hadn't done much exercise, his thirst had still built up over the time he'd spent there.

It was only after that that he'd begun to prepare his body to avoid as much time spent restrengthening his muscles as possible. And it had worked. He would have to remember to do so again next—he stopped himself. Why was he assuming there would be a next time? Rowan shook his head. He didn't want to have to go through this again; he'd been incapacitated far too many times since he'd arrived in the Tutorial, and the last time hadn't actually been that long ago.

It just seemed like, no matter what, he kept getting into situations where he ended up crippling himself. Taking a deep breath, he began walking once more, walking down the tunnel he'd found himself in. Even with the preparation he'd done, he recovered surprisingly quickly, and it only took a few more minutes before he could walk almost as well as before he was injured. It wasn't perfect, but he doubted it would be much longer before he was in top shape once more. Except for his arm.

The limb was still in bad condition, and while most of the muscles had repaired themselves, the bones were still recovering. He shook his head again. Just like being unable to walk, it seemed that one of his arms was always out of commission. But that was just what happened when he was stuck in the tunnels with nothing for company but deadly creatures out to kill him. Stretching his body, he looked at the brighter side of things.

Not only had he recovered quickly, but he'd gained lots from just observing his possessor's mana control and even learned a bit about himself. To top it all off, after that experience, Rowan doubted most things that would've been enough to incapacitate him before would be able to now; nothing could compare to the sheer agony that'd accompanied the being taking control of his body. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.

Speaking of it, Rowan glanced down at his chains, unsure of how he felt about them. On one hand, they were one of his greatest assets, but on the other, something resided in them. And that something seemed to want his body. He sighed. He'd been able to feel the presence's power while it was within him, and he'd felt how much it'd waned. Whatever it'd done while in control of him had taken its toll. As he thought, he realized something.

What if whatever was within the chains was waiting for him to get stronger before possessing him? After all, the only reason it'd done so earlier was that Rowan had been about to die. As for why it had tried to keep its hold over him, he wasn't sure, but he had some theories. The one he thought was the most likely was that since it'd spent so much energy on whatever it'd done to save him, it had decided to commit and try to fully take over and minimize its losses. Looking back at his chains, Rowan shrugged.

It wasn't like he could get rid of them, anyway. He let out a breath and stopped himself from thinking about the topic for any longer. It was all just speculation, and he had better things to do. Namely, finding his food bag that'd been left behind after his fight with the brute. Eyes widening with panic as he realized that he may well have lost all of his rations while possessed, Rowan jogged through the tunnels. He would've liked to sprint, but in his still-injured state, it wasn't the best of ideas.

Luckily, the being had taken a relatively straight path with his body, but it wasn't a short distance, either. Gritting his teeth, he forced himself not to rush ahead and risk damaging his body; the fate of his rations wouldn't change, even if he arrived a minute later than he would've if he sprinted. The journey couldn't have taken more than five minutes, but to Rowan, it felt like an eternity. And, as he finally reached the end of the tunnel, he saw the bloodspawn's hulking corpse.

Maintaining a steady pace, he pushed onward until he arrived in the cave where he'd fought the massive creature. Its body was bruised and broken, still covered with marks from the chains that'd squeezed it to death. But that wasn't Rowan's focus. Glancing around, he searched for the leather bag that contained all of his food. After a moment, he spotted it, still resting against the cave wall where he'd left it before engaging with the bloodspawn. But it wasn't the same as when he'd left it.

No, running down the side of the bag was a ragged tear. Panicking, Rowan rushed over to it, ignoring his body's protests. Dropping to a knee before the bag, he gingerly pulled it towards him, trying not to spill any through the rip in it. Carefully, he opened the tear a bit further, trying to look inside. But before he even saw the contents, he knew things weren't good. The bag was far lighter than it had been before, and bits and pieces of food lay on the cave floor around him, having spilled out of the bag.

He wasn't sure exactly how much was on the ground, but it seemed to be at least half of what he'd had. Looking into the bag, Rowan cursed. There was only about a third left. He didn't need food as much as he used to, so he'd likely be fine for at least a little bit, but without the reassurance of a full bag, he would have to ration it. He turned his attention to the dried meats and fruits on the floor. It was tempting just to grab and add them to the bag, but he restrained himself.

The stone they rested on was mostly covered in a layer of red, bloodlike mold. And while it didn't seem to have any effects when he touched it, Rowan wasn't willing to take the risk of ingesting it. Especially not when the same fungus, when part of a bloodspawn, ate flesh. With a sigh, he gathered up the bag. He had no way to tie it closed—though he was getting some interesting ideas about using mana to do so—but the low level of food within allowed him to squeeze the tear closed with his hands.

Before he left, Rowan realized that he'd left his mace in the area as well. Needing something to take his mind off the loss of his rations, he walked in circles around the area where he'd fought the huge brute, but the mace was nowhere to be found. He shrugged. It wasn't like it was too important, anyway. His chains and mana constructs were already more powerful than it, and while it might've still found a use had it been brand new, the weapon had been through so much that it was barely more than a hunk of metal.

It held sentimental value, though, so Rowan silently thanked it. It'd served him well, saving his life many, many times against both ants and bloodspawn. With a sigh, he turned his attention back to the food bag, cursing his misfortune. How had it gotten slashed? Had it been during the fight by a rogue chain or mana construct? Or perhaps a curious bloodspawn had decided to see what was in the leather container. Huffing, Rowan set out. He'd wasted enough time already.

It was time to get to the surface—or at least where he thought the surface was.