=====
5 A.M.
24861 Essence harvested.
=====
Lee jumped up like an unloaded spring. He did not look like someone who had slept all night. Glancing around, Lee realised that he was only one awake. Sensing the silence, he leaned back onto the futon and called D.
'Buddy.you there?'
[Morning kid. How did you sleep last night?]
'It was okay.'
[Then stand up and change the rags. I've bought a set of clothes and kept them in the Inventory.]
Lee slowly stood up and walked out of the tent. He opened the Inventory and saw a long black jacket, an off-white tee shirt, a trunk and a usual denim jean in it.
'D, are there any water sources around here?'
D told him about the presence of a river about a kilometre away from them. He also added that a village stands right next to it.
'Then I'll wear the new ones after freshening up!'
As he responded to D, An came out of the tent. She did not see Lee in his futon, so she came out looking for him. Lee greeted her.
"There is a river about a kilometre away from where we are. Let us go there and clean ourselves. Let's hope that the nearby villagers are not hostile."
An nodded and turned to wake up Mia and Ruella, but Lee told her to let them sleep till they wake up. Coincidentally, Ruella and Mia came out of the tent yawning.
Lee placed the futons and tent into his spatial ring, and informed about the river, which was 1 kilometre west to where they stood. He also added that they can eat breakfast after cleaning themselves.
The trio nodded in unison, and Fero and the antelope came out of the EsGen storage. Lee did not bring them both out yesterday, as one is highly territorial and protective, while the antelope was a cozy one, taking up too much space.
Without further ado, they departed to the river. The landscape was grassy and further south to them was a forest. The terrain was not too rugged for them, to tread with difficulties.
'What are the new insights you gained?'
[Though young and foolish, the Tubian we caught had a lot of information in it. Important among is the last three progression steps in Mana Mastery.]
A panel appeared. It had the complete Mana Mastery levels on it.
=====
1. Rookie
2. Official
3. Veteran
4. Elite
5. General
6. Lord
7. Saint
8. Spirit
9. Essence
10. Sovereign
=====
[Not only that, that thing knew the amount of Mana one needs to advance to each step.]
=====
Rookie - 2100 Mana
Official - 3750 Mana
Veteran - 5405 Mana
Elite - 9105 Mana
General - 15700 Mana
Lord - 221000 Mana
Saint - 1504000 Mana
Spirit - 7080500 Mana
Essence - 29844900 Mana
Sovereign - 1040567500 Mana
=====
[The demand of Mana is exponential. But each step will bring great power amplification. If you reach General level of progression, a single punch of yours will have thrice the strength you currently have.
2100 Mana is needed for advancing to the second stage. Likewise, the humungous amount of Mana you see next to the 10th level 'Sovereign', is used to break the bondages of the Dimension. That means, you acquire a status similar to mine.
But two sovereigns cannot exist in one dimension. The Will of the Dimension will alert them to take a final decision regarding the one who is superior. If they could not, then the Will will try to make a solution, by homing in its power towards the two. The moment one dies or forefeits, the cataclysm will end.
Sadly, whatever I do, I cannot change the fact that you are an outsider, and thus is unable to absorb Qi or Mana. But the EsConv will help you convert Essence to various formats, like Qi, Mana and progress points.
I have brought the remaining two beast crystals for 685000 Essence, and have completely absorbed them into your being. You'll see the affinities in your affinity panel. You have 76487 Essence left with you.
The Elemental Binding realm will have to wait, because we have to concentrate on Mana Mastery now. Since you literally have all affinities, be it Lesser or Greater, using them coupled with Mana can cause appropriate, and powerful effects.
Let me demonstrate. I will take 487 Essence from your reserve and convert it into 974 Mana.]
An and Ruella spoke to each other as Mia walked in front of them. Lee was walking parallel to Mia and Fero silently followed him. The antelope crossed and messed up Mia's peaceful strides. She was annoyed and picked it up. She tickled antelope's underbelly and it wiggled to free. But Mia had a strong grip to which the herbivore yielded.
Lee froze in his steps as D deducted 487 Essence from his reserve and converted it to 974 Mana. He stared at the panel before him, without realising that 5 pairs of eyes were observing him. Uu Yui u uu uu ,. u have uuU
[Mana has an intrinsic compatibility to nature. It is more harmonious with elements than Qi.
Use any amount of Mana you like to create a ball in your hand. Activate one or more affinites simultaneously. Then fire off the ball.]
Lee raised his right hand and his palm rose to his chest height. Fire affinity was activated and a fiery ball formed in the palm. Fero took a few steps backward. Antelope ran and stood by Fero. Mia and Ruella were wonderstruck. But An was most shocked to see Lee creating a fire ball.
The fire ball began to condense and grow more hotter. Lee had to extend his hand due to intense heat. Mia and Ruella involuntarily took a few steps as An pulled them backward.
[Stop the Mana input. You will kill us all.
Now, use a small amount of Mana to propel it to a distance. Or you can throw it manually.]
Lee took a few steps forward and looked around for a target. At a distance, south to where they were, stood a relatively large, but dead tree. It was as tall as the trees in the forest. Since it stood at a distance from the dense vegetation, Lee chose it as his aim.
*Whoosh*
Lee did not use Mana to propel, instead, he threw it. The ball rose up into the air and fell at the foot of the dry trunk.
*Bhoom*
With a bang, the tree shattered into pieces. The ball exploded with so much power that the place where it stood did not recognise it.
The scattered chunks of burning wood astonished all, including the quadrupedals. Lee stepped towards the tree to take a closer look. Fero trailed him, but Lee geatured to stay back.
With shock and pride, Lee scanned the burning wooden pieces. Ruella was slightly angry as he aimed at the tree, but did not mind any further as she saw it dead and dry.
[Congratulations! You have fired a fireball. You can be considered as a Rookie!]