XLVI

  Kaz woke up, and realized it was still somewhat dark, meaning he woke up before the sunrise. Stretching as much as his balance on the tree branch allowed him, he got ready to move on, hoping that the Manashroom Forest was nearby, so he could grab the Manashrooms and rush back to Sarus, definitely needing the comfort of security behind their walls. This journey proved to be way too much for him in his early developmental stages, and he decided that he would take a couple of Quests near Sarus, so he wouldn’t be away from Sarus weeks at a time.

  He mentally pinged his Manashroom Quest, adding a bit of attitude to his request, and his [ Archive ] reciprocated with rough nudge in the direction he should go. With a huff, he traveled in that direction, keeping his eyes peeled for anything that may be prowling in the early morning, such as the typical Timberfang Wolves. With him not running into any monsters, he made quick progress through the forest, covering a lot of ground.

  With the sun resting directly above him, he finally saw something that made him almost want to rush forward. The forest slowly became more foggy and darker, and with a quick, not so kind nudge from his [ Archive ] again, it confirmed that he was approaching the Manashroom Forest, which was right in front of him.

  With a pep to his step, he strode into the fog, keeping his eyes open for any Manashrooms, hoping that they will be easy to spot, as he had to collect ten of them. He was caught off guard when he entered the fog infested space, as he instantly was overstimulated by a few things.

  The first thing that he noticed, was that the forest suddenly changed into a dark place, as if it was night, the environment turning grey with a blue ambiance, sending him chills down his whole body. Another thing were the trees, which looked drastically different to the traditional forest trees he has been walking and sleeping among. The trees in this forest were all curved and gnarly, the only thing remaining relatively straight were the trunks. And finally, the air felt so good. It gave him the same feeling of the mana circulating within him, which confirmed any final lingering thoughts that this was definitely the Manashroom Forest. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, and his mana core hummed in appreciation, sending vibrations throughout his body.

  When he opened his eyes and kept walking deeper into the fog, he immediately saw dozens, if not more groups of Manashrooms. He reached into his sturdy bag, which he noted has kept up very well during this journey, and pulled out the bag that the Adventurers Guild gave him for this Quest. He then kneeled down in front of a rather large blue Manashroom, which glowed a very bright blue, visibly full of mana, and set aside his glaive, bringing out the dagger that the Guard Merin from Forith gave him. With slightly shaky hands, he made a cut as low to the ground as he could and put the cut Manashroom into the bag.

  Kaz opened his [ Archive ] and went to his [ Quests ] page, to see whether the Quest updated. To his delight, the page reflected back:

  Gather 10 Manashrooms from the forest without damaging the Manashrooms.

  ( 1 / 10 )

  Satisfied that he was doing the right thing for his Quest, he continued on his hunt for more Manashrooms. He knew he could probably choose any of these Manashrooms to complete the Quest, but it felt wrong to him to choose any of them. He searched for the biggest Manashrooms, and ones that shone brightly, hoping that these would be the ones that stored the most mana within them.

  The reason behind this is he envisioned someone like Waeloria receiving these Manashrooms, and from what Laelara told him, people rarely took this Quest, meaning that whoever received this Manashrooms would be stuck using these until someone else took the Quest. So, him spending an extra hour or two wouldn’t mean anything for him, but it could mean potentially weeks of supply for these Craftsmen.

  After cutting down his fourth rather plump looking Manashroom, Kaz decided to take a small break, not because he was exhausted, but to just enjoy the space he was in. He wondered how the Mana would feel from this area, so he decided to send out a double speed [ Mana Burst ], letting it crash against a relatively large moss covered rock. After the mana construct left his hands, it made an extremely loud crack against the rock, causing Kaz to wince, grabbing at his ears as they rang.

  Ignoring the ringing in his ears, he quickly got into his mediative pose, crossing his legs together, and letting loose. Before he closed his eyes, he noticed something appear near the edge of his vision that the fog allowed. A large white creature looked at him, and with both fear and joy, he realized he recognized this creature. It was similar to the three-tailed fox that he ran into during the beginning of his journey from Forith, but this one was larger and contained five tails, along with bright blue eyes, similar to the blue of the Manashrooms.

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  The fox approached him and stopped around twenty yards from him. It sat in a perfectly straight and elegant form, looking straight at Kaz, and to his surprise, a powerful and rich feminine voice spoke out to him within his head with a simple message.

  “My forest is not a place for violence.”

  With that being said, she, which he assumed, got up and returned into the fog. Kaz meekly called out to her, “Sorry about that, won’t happen again!”

  After being scolded by what he assumed was the guardian of this forest, he activated his [ Mana Regeneration ], and to his absolute delight, he was filled with such dense and quality mana, instantly filling him with energy. Opposed to the usual feeling of warmth and comfort he usually felt, this mana felt invigorating, as if he was in the hottest of climates and managed to get into a perfectly cold bath.

  He couldn’t help himself as he kept cycling his mana, noticing how fluidly this mana flowed throughout his body, not slowing down or pausing during long stretches. Kaz couldn’t help himself from pushing himself again, continuing this process way after his mana core filled back up. To his surprise, his [ Archive ] didn’t cut him off, although he did get a mental slap in the back of the head, but still, his process was not interrupted.

  Kaz must’ve been cycling his mana for hours, and it was only then when his mana core actually flared with pain, and he received a notification from his [ Archive ]. Kaz closed his eyes, honestly fearing what was going to be said, as he might’ve pushed himself too far. Instead, this message was written:

  Pure Mana Enhancement: Mana Core filled with Pure Mana from the Mana Forest. Improve all Mana based Abilities effectiveness by 10% until Mana Core is depleted. Not repeatable for 47 hours, 59 minutes, and 47 seconds.

  He was stunned by this buff, but quickly got over it, as this was only a benefit in his eyes. He also visibly deflated, knowing that he was alright and didn’t cause any damage to his mana core. With that out of the way, he continued on his hunt for more Manashrooms.

  After roughly three hours, he had gathered fifteen Manashrooms, and his bag seemed to have even more space. He opened his [ Quests ] pages, and saw that his Quest has updated, now saying:

  Gather 10 Manashrooms from the forest without damaging the Manashrooms.

  ( 15 / 10 )

  Return to Sarus and turn in these Manashrooms to the Adventurer’s Guild.

  Knowing that he completed his Quest along with having extras, he was content to begin leaving the forest, excitement growing within him knowing that he will be back in Sarus soon. He decided to take a rest near a rather large tree, which had plenty of moss around the base of the tree, and he admired the forest again.

  Kaz vowed that he will take the opportunity to complete this Quest every so often, as this place made him feel a way that nowhere else provided. He was shocked that people rejected this Quest. Sure, it was quite far from the town, but the fact that this forest was a paradise in their Realm, along with no monsters and an ability to provide you with a buff, it seemed like only positives.

  It was also beautiful to him. The way the whole forest looked so different to the Realm that he grew up in, it felt like he stepped into another distant Realm, a Realm that allowed him to escape from his problems. There were no Faedusk, no Kobolds, no wicked people here, just him and the Manashrooms.

  As he was admiring this rather large Manashrooms, he felt a slight pull towards it. Curious by this, he approached the Manashroom, which seemed to glow brighter the closer he got it to it. In almost a haze, he kneeled down to the Manashroom and reached out to it.

  To his surprise, a small thread of wispy mana came out from the Manashroom, directly into his outstretched palm. It felt like a small jolt of energy went into his hand, causing him to straighten up and retreat a few steps away. His heart raced, and to his surprise, his mana core was crying out to him, and it wasn’t in pain.

  His mana core was almost begging him to return back to the Manashroom, but something was holding him back, was it the fear of pain, or was it something else? He retreated back to the tree and sat down, dumbfounded by that small experience.

  Kaz tried to recall that feeling that he just went through, and why it caused him to react in such a way. It all then clicked in his head, his Awakening.

  He remembered when the doors to the inner Sanctum opened and he was overwhelmed by the mana that rushed into him. The pain to his mana core was so overwhelming, and possibly due to that weakness he was barely given a one-star Mage Calling.

  Then there was the incident at the Academy, where Elder Aelon flooded the area with mana, also causing severe pain to his mana core, to the point he lost consciousness. Was he sensitive to mana?

  He couldn’t be, because he just spent over an hour filling his mana core with “Pure Mana” according to his [ Archive ]. He asked his [ Archive ] for an explanation, but as always, it remained quiet. If anything, he might’ve felt a slight tinge of curiously coming from it.

  Steeling himself, he confidently walked back to the Manashroom, and he let his mana core take over. He kneeled and extended out his hand again. Kaz instinctively closed his eyes in anticipation, scared that of the incoming pain. To his astonishment, none of that happened.

  Instead, his mana core was working in overdrive, and he looked into himself, similar to when he is in his state of [ Mana Regeneration ], and what he saw stumped him. Silver wisps of mana were flowing from his right hand, and instead of cycling throughout his body like it usually did, it went to his mana core.

  His mana core was pounding, but in a way that almost made him want to cry, like as if his mana core was crying out in elation. He opened his eyes and saw that the blue mana was being extracted from the Manashroom, and along the way, it turned silver, the same silver of his mana. He also noticed the Manashroom was losing its blue glow, but for some reason, the area around him was being bathed in a silvery glow.

  Suddenly, his mana core clicked, and everything seemed to freeze, causing him to panic. Before he could grasp what was happening, he passed out, but not before an unbelievable pain erupted from his mana core, but it wasn’t from being too full, but from a different feeling. He felt his mana core break free.