Chapter 98: Guidance

Putting his hand on his chin, Ethan knew that building a container to contain mana wasn’t going to be something that could be accomplished on short notice.

After all, not only would he have to measure each material to find their absorption limits, but he would have to test various situations to see how the materials fared and check if the mana being stored had a time limit.

He had so much to check, and unfortunately, there was so little time.

’The training of the Awakeners is only set for two weeks. Not only that, but there’s the competition, and the fact that there are only ninety crystals left now after this test.’

’Plus, I need to upgrade my own ability. If my Max-Level Comprehension could increase, perhaps my breakthrough to the 3rd Circle would be faster.’

’Adding to the fact that I need to hunt for system users to upgrade the Magic Web...’

’At this rate, I wish I could split myself into two.’

’Sigh~’

Talking to himself, Ethan took out the walkie-talkie from his side pocket.

"Hello, Uncle Adrian. It’s Ethan. Arrange for the local huntsmen and craftsmen brought to the shelter to begin processing materials."

"When you can, ask everyone in the veteran squad what cold weapon they would like, as well as the Awakeners."

"As you know, bullets aren’t infinite. We have to start preparing."

"Also, ask Grandfather, if you can, to pass some mana into the materials. The ones that absorb the most, keep them aside; I’ll handle them later."

"Over..."

Hanging up the walkie-talkie, Ethan slumped onto a nearby chair, spinning around in a circle.

Now that that was settled, he had to do some hunting.

’This might be a good chance to go into the city and check the current situation of Emerald City.’

Talking to himself, Ethan made a decision.

As long as he got back before the competition date, then everything was fine.

With that in mind, he sent a message to his grandfather, sister, and Alfred on the Magic Web telling them to keep everything calm and hide his disappearance while he left.

Although he didn’t feel like anyone was going to attack when he left, he couldn’t be too sure.

Giving the illusion that he was still in the base was the best decision he could make.

"Alright then, shall we go for a little bit of hunting?"

Holding the broken crystal shards from the destroyed monster cores, Ethan’s lips curled.

He didn’t know why, yet he felt this trip of his might bring an unexpected harvest.

....

That night, while everyone was sleeping, Ethan made his move.

No longer wearing his signature white suit, he wore an all-black suit, with a larger black jacket hanging over his shoulder.

His long silver hair blew through the wind as he used his Air Walk, stepping on the very night sky.

Below him were the walls and buildings of the Smith Shelter.

For a while, he couldn’t help but pause as he admired the view.

Not only that, but under his Mana Sense, he could see the mana of the mages he had cultivated so far shining like torches in the pitch-black night.

"It seems no one is slacking off in their training; their mana is much stronger than it was yesterday."

Muttering under his breath, under his sight, the person with the brightest signature came from the orphanage section of the shelter, which was probably Lucy.

Next was from a bedroom in the main house, probably his sister.

Afterwards, from the location of the mana, he could tell who was where.

"Wait a minute... where is Grandpa?"

Looking at his grandfather’s room, he couldn’t see any mana signature.

He also couldn’t find any of the veterans’ mana signatures.

It was a situation he hadn’t expected.

However, before he could react, a boisterous laugh resounded through the night sky.

"Haha, Patriarch! I can’t believe you wanted to leave without your legion! If your grandfather hadn’t told us, I would not have known."

Laughing without a care in the world, Darius, followed by his grandfather, Alfred, and the other fifty veterans, appeared to see him off.

"Hey, kid. Who knew? When I told these old fellows, they all said they’d come with you. Ever since you gave them another chance to fight, it seems like they even care about you more than me."

Smiling lightly, Christian chimed in.

Looking at his grandson, who was dressed in all black with his silver hair blowing in the wind, he wondered where he got his handsomeness from.

Were his genes really that strong?

Bang! Bang!

Hitting both Darius and Christian over the head with the butt of her sniper rifle, Lauren stepped forward, grabbing hold of Ethan’s hand.

"Hey, kid. Although you might not try to show it, we who have lived so long can tell."

"Something is troubling you. Perhaps one thing, perhaps a lot of things."

"Something you think no one would be able to understand... something only you can solve."

Listening to this, Ethan paused. Indeed, her words were true.

Deep in his heart, no matter how he strengthened everyone and built his base.

ever since he heard about the invasions of multiple other worlds by the system and thought of all the disasters to come, subconsciously he had imagined himself having to fight and resolve everything alone.

Not only that, but the weight of being the only one who knew the true face and future of the apocalypse, all of this was weighing on him heavily.

At the age of twenty-three, he felt like he had the weight of the world squarely on his shoulders.

This was why, even though he had said this trip was to gain crystals, only Ethan knew that the real purpose of this journey was to clear his head.

This was also why he didn’t want to go with anyone else.

He wanted some alone time, some time to recollect himself.

So hearing Lauren’s words, Ethan didn’t say anything. Rather, he just hung his head low.

In front of these elders of his, he wasn’t the First Mage or the Patriarch of the Smith family.

Right now, he was just a young adult who desperately needed a bit of guidance.