[STT] Chapter 101: Might As Well (Patreon)

AN: Sorry, really short chapter today. I did not have a lot of time today between work and life, but I didn't want to miss the day again.

Ben POV

Ben burst forward with [Ignition Step], making considerable distance on the open ground.

It was the third day since his tempering pill dosage had been reduced to a quarter, and he'd been getting used to it.

Since he couldn't temper his body for quite some time, the next best thing to do was work on his skills, and that was what he had been doing since the last three days. Honestly speaking, he had been neglecting [Ignition Step] for quite a while now.

If he remembered correctly, the last level up it had had was when he dueled with Martin.

Since then, he'd been ignoring it, mostly using it to cover distance when necessary.

Thankfully, he'd managed to find a secluded area to train thanks to Alice, and he was utilizing it to the fullest. It was a small forest close to the back of the main house, with a small lake, and it was where a lot of animals came to drink water. It was actually supposedly a garden tended by Alice's grandfather, but Ben couldn't see a garden anywhere... All he saw was a forest.

Maybe the old man likes things more natural...

Alice had told him to not disturb the animals, and she'd asked him to be careful of what he practiced out there so as to not ruin the place.

And he of course agreed. He did not want to ruin the place, it was quite beautiful.

Regardless, he was trying to push [Ignition Step] while also trying to refine that new [Mana Cannon] attack he'd developed. Failure as it had been, he expected some usage out of it after making some changes, so hopefully he'd figure out more about the attack in time.

Using it over and over, trying to maintain the [Mana Cannon] as he essentially teleported, increasing his momentum.

A burst of mana into his feet and he left the ground, and was ten paces away. Of course, he wouldn't actually use [Mana Cannon] here, as he did not want to leave any kind of scratch in this place.

The old man was scary like that.

Fortunately, all the training he'd been doing the past few days culminated today, and he got a level in [Ignition Step].

[Ignition Step Lvl 8 > Lvl 9]

Hehe.

Ben opened his status:

Name: Benjamin Vane

Title: [Hunter]

Tier: 2

Skills (8/11):

Parallel Focus (Rare) - Lvl 18

Mana Sonar (Uncommon) - Lvl 19

Ignition Step (Rare) - Lvl 9

Warforged (Rare) - Lvl 16

Mana Cannon (Uncommon) - Lvl 15

Adaptive Regeneration (Rare) - Lvl 2

Mana Compression (Rare) - Lvl 4

Mana Shaping (Uncommon) - Lvl 6

Constructs (2/10):

Learning Model

Healing Mark

Titles:

- [Hunter] - Equipped

- [Lurker] (46/100)

- [Hound] (12/100)

His overall progression had been decent these past few days, but he wanted to be faster. However, he knew that that wasn't really possible and that he should be satisfied with the progress he'd had so far. 

To be honest, he hadn't expected to get to this point in his life. To be invited into a noble house, to be given the chance to grow, and all these opportunities... he'd never thought he'd be able to do so much.

While training, the bird went away again, making Ben curious where it was going. It had to be going out to eat mana or something, right? Maybe it could lead him to some unexpected opportunity?

Thus, today, when it disappeared, Ben decided to find out where it was going.

[Hound] worked wonders for this, he'd found, as he could sniff out where it was going—figuratively, of course, his sense of smell obviously wasn't that super human yet.

But [Hound] gave him a sense of where the bird had gone and he followed, using [Ignition Step] to close the gap as fast as he could.

It led him deeper into the forest, and when has going so fast, one of the guards trailing him slipped and got a bit too close, getting into his [Mana Sonar] range.

Interestingly, he'd realized two days ago that he'd been getting followed pretty much always. While it was creepy at first, he grew used to it.

They were careful when following him around usually, staying out of his range so as to not arouse suspicion, and they undoubtedly thought he wasn't good enough to catch them the few times they slipped.

But he was.

Or they think my range is smaller than it is.

He thought about it for a moment and decided he didn't want them following him to wherever he was going, because it was starting to get on his nerves. He deserved some privacy.

[Lurker] helped with that, and it was soon that he managed to lose the guard and make his way closer to where he sensed the bird.

It was soon that he stumbled onto a little clearing, and he realized it was a garden, with a pond so clear he could see the bottom of it. There were little fish, plants and flowers, all in the middle of the forest, making him think it had been designed to be hidden.

A proper garden, hidden in the forest. The old man, Gerald, sat there with his eyes closed, and beside him, the bird was eating mana right off his palm.

Okay, he was not expecting that.

"You're not sneaky," Gerald said. "In fact, you're as sneaky as a bear."

Ben stepped out of his hiding spot. "Sorry, I followed the bird."

The bird flapped its wings indignantly, but Gerald just shook his head.

"You both are at fault. I gave the creature a bit of my mana and now it follows me around for more. Like a damn child. To be fair, he goes to wherever the mana is thickest, like a moth to the flame." He stared at the bird. "From what I see, he's made of your mana, and my daughter's, with something else in the mix. I can't quite tell how she made it. I'm quite proud of that, actually. To think she could make something like this."

"What is he, exactly?"

"You'll have to figure that out yourself."

Ben wanted to sigh.

Should he leave? Or would it be rude to leave like that...

"Are you going to stand there like a lost dog, or are you going to sit down and meditate or something?" Gerald said, opening his eyes. "Since you're here, I might as well teach you a thing or two. I don't get students these days."

Ben was surprised at the offer, but he wasn't going to turn it down. He sat down, and crossed his legs, and Gerald started speaking.