Chương 7: Having fun

We were back on the road already for some time. The time we spent inside the city was less than I would have liked, but that was alright. I got the most important things done, and I too was in a hurry to get to Blackstone Town. The more I kept repeating that name, the more I liked it. And considering the time I spent on the road, I had a lot of things to think about. First, I decided not to use any of my limbo state skills for now. Assassination and Hiding were quite obvious to me as to why.

Both were means to an end I had used to survive, but it wasn't the path I would like to follow. Especially not as a ruler. I would rather give the Skills to somebody that is worthy, then raise them into my personal assassin. Not using Swordsmanship was a harder decision to come to. I couldn't quite put my finger on why I didn't want to learn the skill. Maybe I was anxious because I only could have three General Skills for now. I liked swordsmanship, but it just didn't feel right.

I didn't have the same relationship with it I had with Mana Manipulation. Speaking of the devil, that Skill was awesome. After spending almost every waking moment on it, it had risen in level two more times. Quite a bit less than I would have liked, but the Skill was now at a stage I would consider functional. I activated Mana Manipulation. I focused on my heart, and the Mana there. Then I minimized the amount I was concentrating on before commanding it to move. It followed my will.

The movement of my Mana was instantaneous. And best of all, the quantity moving through me was now at a significantly higher level. I strengthened my body with maybe one-fourth of my Mana. And the power gain I felt was immense. It felt incredible. Like hot oil pumping through my mana channels and powering me like a machine. I clenched my fist, feeling the strength. Drunk on my power, I decided to channel more and more of my mana through my body.

My power kept increasing to incredible heights, and it felt like I could lift up the world with my own two hands. Then I coughed. Blood leaking out of my mouth and the mana inside my body scattered. Some of it just disappeared. Another group went back to my heart, and the rest wreaked havoc inside my Mana Channels. My singular cough turned into a bloody fit. It felt like I had swallowed dust. Worst of all, it hurt like hell. Everywhere. My lungs. My throat. My limbs and most importantly my mana channels.

I panicked. What if I suddenly couldn't use mana anymore?

"Stop using your mana already, or you will get seriously injured," Sebastian's calm voice rang out, and I followed his words immediately.

"Since you love your mana so much, make sure your body can handle it properly. Even mages have to have a certain amount of Constitution Points. If you want to continue playing with your mana like that, make sure you are as tough as you are stupid." I spent 10 of my 25 free points on Constitution. Constitution: 5→15 A cool feeling spread through my muscles, tendons, and bones. The cold entered them, hurting for a brief moment as if thousands of icy needles had been inserted into each nook and cranny of my body.

Then the pain disappeared, and pleasure replaced it. It was like taking a cool shower. I felt myself relax into it. Each passing second the coolness lasted, my body felt sturdier, more durable. I felt my mana channels repair slightly, and the pain from having used too much mana was gone too. As soon as the feeling came, it left again. It was fast. But I felt refreshed. My body felt so much better. It was like having slight chronic pain being gone. You didn't know the difference until you felt it. And I felt it.

I immediately used all of my mana.

"Idiot," I heard Sebastian mutter as he sighed, while Inky seemed to meow in agreement. No pets for her. The mana didn't move at first. But it was my mana. It was going to move when I told it to move. My will flared, and I felt a drop of sweat drip down my eyebrows. Then it budged. And once you got a stone rolling, the hardest part was done. The lump of mana moved through my channels like I imagine sticky glue would. I knew my mana channels weren't accustomed to such a quantity of mana.

Worse, I knew that this was entirely my fault. I am not talking about being stupid enough to manipulate all of my mana. No, but rather the way I went about it. The whole amount traveled through me as more or less one gigantic sphere. It was slow. It hurt. And it was wrong. If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. But now I knew better.

I started to break the mana into more lumps, into manageable sizes until I had a constant stream of mana flowing through my channels rather than one lump. Now instead of feeling like I was about to burst into two, I just felt full. Like I had eaten a big meal and hadn't digested it yet. But who cares about that when you felt the power coursing through you. The feeling from before returned. The strength. The overwhelming sense of might I experienced. This time I did it without getting hurt.

"Wipe that grin off your face," Sebastian sighed.

"Yes, it worked. But it was still dangerous. You took a risk you didn't have to. You could have just trained for a few more days."

"If every time I have the option to take the slow route, I choose it, it won't be just a couple more days. But years I will lose," I retorted, still grinning like a freak. Inky meowed. She agreed with me. She got her petting privilege back. Sebastian didn't say anything. Mana Manipulation [Uncommon] has reached level 5. Looks like somebody else also agreed with me. My stupid grin widened.

I kept my charming and seducing grin for a few more days. By now, the process of filling my body with mana and strengthening it in return ran much more smoothly, almost automatically. I also noticed how taxing it was. First, it burned a shit ton of mana. While channeling the mana through my channels, some of it would leave me. I don't know how, but it did. In small quantities, it was barely noticeable, and I could somehow stop it a little from leaving. With my whole mana, that was impossible.

It was like trying to fix a broken dam with some duct tape. It ain't gonna do shit. Now came the second problem. It took a heavy toll on my body. The more I used the mana, the more exhausted I felt physically and sometimes even sore. Sebastian forbade me to train after I felt that soreness. It was my limit, he said. There were two solutions to this problem.

First, strengthen my body either with exercise, which would only work until a certain point, or invest more of my stats into my Constitution, Strength, or Dexterity, preferably all three. The other solution was getting finer control of my mana. Now, one option led to having less of my darling to play with, while the other was the opposite. I think I already know which option I won't be taking. Anyway, before I could get another session of Mana Manipulation done, the carriage abruptly stopped.

My entire upper body was yanked forward, and Inky slid down my lap. Luckily, I caught her. Sebastian, on the other hand, spilled some of his tea. This time, he wasn't able to catch it. Oh, he looked pissed. His face darkened, a heavy frown appearing on his face. And for a second, I could have sworn his eyes flashed red for a moment. He glanced down at his suit, a dark stain on his white undergarment. His jaw clenched tight.

"Goblins and a couple of orcs!" One of the knights yelled outside. Weapons were unsheathed, hooves pounded against the ground, and primal screaming followed. They were trying to scare the greens. It worked sometimes, apparently.

"They aren't leaving! Prepare formation 3. Priority is the carriage and the safety of the package." It took me a moment to realize what was happening, and by that time, Sebastian was already stepping out of the carriage. I followed him promptly.

"I will take care of it," he said calmly. The expected refusal didn't come. Instead, the knights quietly moved their horses towards my side, while still allowing me to get a look at what was in front of us. While walking, Sebastian muttered to seemingly no one.

"Safe roads, huh? Goblins haven't touched the roads for years, and yet here they are in front of us. Just bad luck? And Orcs too? Weird." And then it hit me. Calamity Points. Were these the consequences? I didn't have time to think about this as my attention was drawn to the grotesque beings in front of us. Maybe a dozen four-feet-tall green creatures were standing a hundred feet away from us.

They held various kinds of weapons in hand: some primitive clubs and makeshift stone daggers, while others were clearly human-made. Swords, spears, and even pitchforks. Their clothes were ragged. They heavily breathed through their mouths, like an overheated dog would. Their jaws were deformed, and their heads bald with a few strands of hair. Eyebrows were entirely missing. In conclusion: ugly. In between them stood a few other figures. They were much more muscular and twice as tall.

They looked like the big brother version of the small ones, just without weapons. And much more ugly. Their ugliness didn't last long, however. The moment only a few dozen feet were in between us and the group, multiple walls of fire erupted from the ground. All the orcs were enveloped in a storm of fire. The flames licked their skins until they began to melt. Their screams were full of anguish and pain. A few seconds later, only ashes remained of them. I marveled at the power of those flames with wide eyes.

I glanced back at the cause of that destruction: Sebastian. His face was impassive. And his attention barely upon the panicking goblins. A flame the size of a candle burned atop his finger as he held it near his undergarment. He was trying to get the stain out. After a few seconds, the liquid evaporated, leaving a dry dark line of tea. He pulled out some water, then wetted the spot and repeated the process until he had washed away the stain. All the while, the dozen Goblins were reduced to nothing more than a few.

I didn't even notice. So, this was the power of a peak Bronze mage... I want it. No, I need it. Excitement bubbled inside my gut. My hands were itching. They were itching for a fight. I didn't want to admit it for the last half month, but quite frankly, I enjoyed the thrill of battle. And honestly, I even missed it while we were inside the carriage. Only Mana Manipulation kept me at bay. It was like wrestling for control, and I loved it. I loved dominating my mana and making it submit to my will.

I loved the battle. I didn't know when, but my shit-eating grin had returned. Sebastian looked back at us, then he took a double-take at me. His eyes widened slightly, and he stopped a few steps away from me. He looked me up and down and squinted before an emotion I couldn't quite tell passed through his eyes. Pain? Sadness? Grief? I didn't know, and his next words made me forget it even happened.

"You had fun manipulating your mana, right?" Sebastian said, as he straightened his slightly loose tie.

"Care for a little more fun?" My shit-eating grin widened, and I nodded eagerly like a child that was asked whether they were a good kid or not by Santa himself. My hands itched, waiting to unwrap my gift.

"Well," Sebastian said. I could see the hesitation. Yet he continued anyway, "How about you take care of the rest?"

"Yes."