CHAPTER 18 (Patreon)

I grabbed my mother’s hand and we descended the stairs to go deeper into the depths of the pyramid. The mana in the air got even denser. When I used my Mana Sight, the light of the particles was almost overwhelming. I wondered what was generating this much mana. And more importantly, what needed this much mana?

I had a feeling the next sanctum would be harder and would push me even further. So naturally, I couldn’t wait.

The second sanctum was larger than the first. The first room had been an antechamber, but this was a living quarters. On the other side of the room there was a strange arched doorway. I could faintly see that it led towards a stairway descending deeper into the ruins, but there was a smoky, liquid screen of something blocking the way. Like a membrane. It flowed in the air like a river leading nowhere. In the middle of the room there was an altar with some object hovering above it.

I nodded to myself. It seemed that there was another puzzle here. Figure out how to pass the screen.

And blessedly, the wide room had amenities: There were four beds in the room with sheets and pillows similar to industrially made ones from my old life, but nothing like I had seen in the village. There was also a fountain with water as well as a pantry with some brown bricks that smelled like herbs.

“These are food,” mother said. “Thank the spirits!”

“Do you think this water and food is safe to ingest?” I asked.

Mother shrugged. “My Sixth Sense is not saying anything. And we either take the risk with these or the Silverback. What do you say?”

“I don’t want to turn back yet,” I said immediately. “Having said that, what is this room?”

She cupped my cheek. “That’s for you to figure out, little gem. Go run off to your studies. I’ll cut up some pieces of these ration bricks.”

There was another altar in the middle of the room. But this one was different. There was a rolled scroll hanging from a beam of black stone. The scroll was of intricate make. Even though it had to be thousands of years old, it still looked pristine. The parchment was dry, but not flaky. It had a wax seal that kept the scroll closed.

I used my Mana Sight, and saw that I needed to infuse it. This one was a little trickier than the spell book. I needed to produce a pattern that was dictated by the seal, which required a lot of precision. Fortunately my Perception was so high that I could detect the minute details and broke the seal after a few attempts and the scroll unfurled.

The ink was still a clear gleaming black, and the golden filigree adorning the diagrams and titles was flawless.

“What a masterwork…” I muttered.

But the contents were all the more interesting. It was detailing some kind of a learning process. Wait was this…?

I gasped with delight. This was some kind of a new way to wield mana!

“By the spirits…” mother muttered when she appeared behind me. “It’s a Skill scroll.”

I had gathered as much. The scroll was detailing learning a new Skill. “What is a Skill scroll?”

She reverently brushed a finger against the parchment. “These are… rare.”

“How rare?”

“Well, it depends on the Skill’s rarity,” she said. “And the quality of the scroll. Anyone can make a Skill scroll of course. It is just an instruction manual for learning a Skill. If you know how to write, you just write out how you learned the Skill.”

“But that is not all they can do, then?” I asked.

“I have only heard of these…” mother muttered. “The higher tier Skill scrolls can magically assist you in learning the skill. I have even heard of enchantments on the scrolls that make it easier to level in the Skill.”

“What do you mean?”

“Like if you learn the Skill from the scroll, you’ll get a blessing.”

“Like Elder Piraka’s spell?”

“Exactly,” mother said.

“Ooh. So it’s magical?” I asked and activated my Mana Sight.

Now that was interesting. This was a massive discovery…

“Wow…” I muttered.

“What do you see?”

“You know how I just see the mana particles like floating dust, right?” I said. “Except when I impose a structure on them, that is.”

“Yes, little gem?”

“Well the scroll has a structure to it,” I said. “It has an active spell on it. I… wonder if I could copy it. Oh… my god.”

Mother raised an eyebrow. That was an odd thing to say in a society who swore by spirits and heavens and rapids.

I now understood why Mana Sight was a Mythic skill. I could see the structure that was used on this scroll to make it magical. In principle I could copy it and make the spell myself, provided I had the required Mana Manipulation and Spellcrafting skills to use the spells.

Well… not exactly. As I peered into it, I realized my Mana Sight and Spellcrafting were too low level to attempt this. There were intricacies I couldn’t comprehend. Like there was a smaller unit of mana used than the particles I saw. Like the particles had been split to create some of the details. I hadn’t even had the faintest idea that was a thing.

This was an extremely high level enchantment.

Magic was so awesome. What a depthless art to master.

“I want to train,” I said to myself.

Mother laughed. “You always do. Well, it seems like you have the perfect opportunity. You have a free Skill Slot, don’t you?”

“I do,” I said. “I have been waiting for something like this!”

“What is this Skill exactly?” mother muttered as she traced a finger along the parchment.

“It’s called Mana Absorption,” I said as I studied the scroll. “Huh, that’s interesting. This Skill is about absorbing mana into your own body and holding it there. Why though?”

“I think it makes you stronger,” mother said.

“I don’t think so,” I said. “Mana as it is, doesn’t really do much. It just exists almost as if to be used.”

“That’s not entirely true, little gem,” Mother said.

I looked at her inquisitively.

“Why do you think the Silverback got so strong? Why do you think there are natural magical phenomena like the System?”

I pondered for a moment. “I think mana beasts get strong by eating magically infused food and breathing mana rich air. That’s why the Silverback is protecting this area.”

“That’s right,” mother said.

“But I think humans are different, mom.”

“Why?” 

“Because there is mana everywhere. I learned to control mana inside our home. It was just floating around there, doing its own thing. We were breathing it in, and it's in our food.”

“Yes, little gem,” mother said. “But why do you think the fish your father catches is so valued? Even if you are special and awoke the System early, why do you think Danek is so smart? What do you think powers my Sixth Sense or why does the Strength Surge Tonic give such power?

“Oh,” it dawned on me.

Mother smiled at me. “My Sixth Sense is much more powerful in the jungle, because there is more mana available here.”

I was starting to understand.

“Mana and the System are connected,” I said. “Because we eat the fish and the herbs, and breathe the mana in, we activate the System.”

“That’s right my little genius. Mana is required for using Skills. It is fuel for the system. I think… yes. Use your Mana Sight on me.”

I did, and I saw a concentration of mana inside my mother, forming something of a cloud or a network. Additionally I saw the thick mana moving around everywhere around her. Nothing new here.

“Okay?” I said.

“Now shoot that water spell at me,” mother said. “I’ll dodge it. Keep your eyes on me.”

I shrugged and prepared a Water Bullet and fired it at her.

She slipped aside with feline grace as the spell flew over her shoulder. In that moment she inhaled and some of the mana floating around her surged into her.

My jaw dropped. And my mother grinned. 

“So you saw it? How much mana did it use?”

“Not much, I think,” I said. “Wait. Do that again! I want to see!”

We spent some time playing this game and I learned a lot during it. Whenever I told mother it was coming, she only spent a smidge of mana. She spent more when she closed her eyes, and couldn’t dodge as consistently. When I increased the velocity of my projectiles, she also consumed more. 

After we had our fun, we turned our attention back to the scroll.

“So this Skill…” I looked at the scroll thoughtfully. “Teaches you how to actively absorb the same mana you would otherwise need. That sounds either completely useless or very powerful.”

“Read it to me aloud,” mother said.

I did.

“It is a wonderful skill,” mother said after I was done. “If this is truly how it works, this Skill just makes you better at everything. I can’t believe such a Skill exists.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Well imagine this,” my mother said. “Say father sees a fish in the waves. He uses his Skills and Class Abilities to catch it and wrestle it down, right?”

“Right?”

“How much more powerful would his skills be, if he had been gathering mana into his body while he was looking for a fish, instead of just using whatever mana was available in the space around him while he wrestled?”

“Oh— OH!”

“Yes, little gem,” mother said. “This is a very good Skill, even for non magicians.”

Mother had a very focused look in her eyes. A certain greed I recognized in myself. I started laughing.

She blinked and looked at me. “What is it?”

“I think I know who I got my thirst for learning magic from.”

She chuckled. “I must admit, I want this Skill.”

“Do you have a Skill slot open?”

She frowned. “I had… I picked up Teaching when we were in the jungle. I even leveled it to two just now. I figured it would be a good Skill for parenting, but now that I realize how advanced you are, I’m not sure I can even use it.”

“Mom, you just taught me something I didn't know about the System and mana. I think you're doing fine.” 

“Thank you, little gem.”

“Do you want Teaching?” I asked. 

“I guess,” mother said. “But I really want this Skill. I think everyone should have this Skill.”

“I could teach it to you later back at home.”

She smiled sadly. “My second lowest Skill is Foraging, at level 28. It will take weeks to unlearn it.” I’m not sure if Teaching will be helpful.”

“But you two are planning a sibling for me,” I said. “They will need you to teach them.”

Mother nodded. “Unless they are another genius like you.”

“Stop calling me a genius, it’s embarrassing.”

She pinched my cheek. “Then you need to stop acting like one.”

“Hmph.”

We were silent for a while. I looked at mother, and found she was lost in thought.

“What are you going to do, mom?” I asked.

“I think I will unlearn Teaching for now. It won’t take long, since it's only level two.”

I was already fidgeting impatiently. “I’ll leave you to it.”

Mother laughed. “You do that. I’ll sit down and do a bit of meditation of my own.”

“It makes unlearning a Skill faster?”

“Focused intent does,” mother said. “If I just keep my thoughts on wanting to lose the Skill, it will happen faster.”

 And so I surrendered to the joy of studying.

The Mana Absorption Skill was simple on its surface. It was simply a case of taking mana and retaining it inside your body. I activated my Mana Sight and understood the assignment immediately. The ration bricks mother had cut were wafting off dense mana. The water in the fountain was also infused with mana. We were supposed to ingest these and retain the mana inside our bodies. Basically doing the same thing we passively did with the fish father caught. Only consciously. I wondered if it would make a big difference.

Naturally, I had no intention of doing that. The room was thick with floating mana literally everywhere. I didn’t need the food and drink. I sat down in meditation and started using Mana Manipulation to infuse myself with mana.

It was surprisingly hard, but very rewarding and interesting.

I started forming clumps of mana particles, and creating a superparticle. Then I guided it inside me towards my navel. I don’t know why I guided the particle in that direction exactly, but it just felt natural. 

However, the superparticle would not enter me. It just bumped against my belly. I knew I had the ability to control superparticles by now. That was not the problem. I tried again, and focused deeply on the sensation. It felt like my body responded to it. It rejected the superparticle. 

I sighed and let the superparticle dissipate. I was being too greedy and impatient again. The released mana particles zipped around everywhere to their natural orbits. Except the one that I captured with my will. I’d start small and I guided the single particle towards my navel.

After some struggle, it passed into me. I felt a jolt that run up my spine. I felt energized and alert.

How very interesting…

I just observed the particle of mana inside me for a while. It seemed to be radiating some kind of energy. Then it started to gradually wane, until it vanished, like sugar dissolving into a hot drink. 

Excited by this, I did it again. And again. It was a little difficult to will the particles to enter me, but I started to get the hang of it. After some work, I finally got the skill.

[New Skill Obtained: Mana Absorption (Epic)]

An Epic Skill? Holy crap!