Chương 11: The Theory of Flow

The walk back to the dirt roads of Oakhaven was silent, punctuated only by the heavy thud of the two stone tusks of the Razorback strapped to Ren's back. Selene glanced at him sideways every five minutes, keeping a safe distance as if walking beside a time bomb pretending to be human. Ren, maintaining his steady pace, broke the ice without turning his head.

"Back in the clearing, you mentioned the monster's hide was infused with mana," Ren said, adjusting the straps holding the materials to his back.

"How does your energy system work around here? How do you actually control this mana?" Selene blinked, surprised by his coldness to ask about magic theory right after nearly being obliterated. She huffed, adjusting her worn cloak over her shoulders, but her mage's pride won out."Mana is divided into two basic concepts," Selene explained.

"There is Internal Mana, which is the biological energy generated by the body itself. Warriors and swordsmen use this. They channel the energy through their muscle pathways to increase strength, speed, or create force fields on their skin, like that boar's stone armor. It's limited by physical stamina. If the warrior tires, the mana runs dry." Ren nodded mentally. The previous night's training had been pure physical grunt work.

To strike with real power in future missions, he would need to understand how to activate this internal circulation." And destructive magic? Like your fire cannon?" he added." That is External Mana, the Environmental Flow," Selene puffed out her chest, reclaiming her superior posture.

"It's the hidden energy in nature, in the air, the trees, the rocks. Mages function like antennas. The process has three exact steps: first, Perception, where you feel the mana around you. Second, Compression, where you shape and calculate the magic in your mind—that's where my four seconds come in, because complex formulas demand mental focus. And third, Release, firing the condensed energy through a catalyst, like my staff. Without a quality catalyst, external mana explodes in your own hand."

Ren engraved every detail into his gamer mind. He stopped by the side of the road, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. He tried to forget the wind and focus on the environment, searching for the natural energy she had described. At first, the air remained just air. The physical reality of this world seemed too rigid for him to access. But then, something clicked in the depths of his mind.

A strange, overwhelming sensation expanded through his soul—as if an invisible block, one he didn't even know existed, had been shattered by the sheer impact of his recent resurrection. The world changed color beneath his eyelids. Lines of blue and golden light began to flow through the trees and rocks. At the same time, a cold, dense, dark energy throbbed in his own veins, perfectly at his command. Not only did he feel a hidden force within himself, but now he could actually see and touch the world's normal mana.

His body had finally adapted to the rules of this place. Ren opened his eyes. His pupils flashed for a fraction of a second. A cold smile crept onto his face. His brilliant mind immediately recalculated the path of the game. I can feel and see both flows, Ren realized, his thoughts sharp. The common external mana and this cold energy that just awakened within me. But I won't use this to shoot flashy fireballs... My goal is silence.

I will use mana for Stealth, distorting the air and perception around me to become invisible to the senses of others. And I will use it in Alchemy. If I can perfectly see the energy flows in plants and monster organs, I can manipulate their properties at a molecular level. Comprehend the substance, decompose its elements in my mind, and use my mana to fuse them into something new. No cheat skills, just perfect fusion science. I will create potions and poisons that no ordinary human could ever understand."

Gave up fast, newbie?" Selene taunted, seeing his silence.

"Sensing mana takes years of—""I understand enough," Ren interrupted, adjusting the weight of the tusks on his back and resuming his firm stride toward the stone gates of Oakhaven.

"Let's get to the guild and collect our thirty silver coins. After that, I have some Alchemy books to buy." Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.