Chapter 123: An Unexpected Discovery
Selena hadn’t expected much when she decided to try cultivating with the pearl, but as soon as she did, what she discovered left her surprised.
’This... what is this?’ she wondered as she tried to put a name to the strange energy flowing out of the pearl and into her mana core.
She thought it might be refined mana, but it didn’t seem to be. It was something similar, in that it wasn’t rejected by her core and seemed to blend well with the mana she had already refined, but it was clearly something differentm, something far more powerful and pure.
A single thread of this energy seemed to revitalize her entire being, something that usually only happened when she was at the peak of her strength, or when she had finished absorbing an entire E-Rank mana core.
And yet she had achieved all of this with just a single thread, and she could clearly tell there was much more of it inside the pearl.
The discovery left her quite surprised, and she immediately felt a certain anticipation as she continued drawing out threads of that energy.
There weren’t many things that excited her, in fact, almost nothing did. She spent most of her time training, improving her combat and weapon techniques, and continuing to grow stronger.
Lirien considered this habit of hers rather boring, and even sad, to the point that she looked for every opportunity to take her friend out and do things she might enjoy, so she wouldn’t spend all her time stuck in the same routine.
Needless to say, this turned out to be more difficult than Lirien expected, because the only thing that remained constantly on Selena’s mind was becoming strong enough, quickly enough, to carry out her revenge.
So now that she had discovered this new source of energy that seemed to give her strength a boost as she tried to reach the next rank, she was thrilled.
Without hesitation, she threw herself into cultivation, something that, since it didn’t involve using mana but only absorption, would keep her safe for the time being from those creatures.
While she lost herself in her cultivation, the trio made up of the instructor, Lirien, and Percival had also managed to find a safe shelter.
Just like Selena, they hadn’t fared well either, all of them were somewhat battered, but among the three, the instructor was the worst off. That was because he’d had to ensure not only his own survival but that of the other two as well, all while fleeing and dragging them along with him, which had slowed him down and made the escape more difficult.
Had it been a single opponent, he might have tried to fight it, but it had been a large group, many of them giving off a constant sense of danger, which made it clear to him that he couldn’t risk taking chances with two students nearby.
’Just where the hell did we end up?’ he thought, frustrated, as he bandaged himself.
He too had already noticed that mana seemed to be what attracted those things, so at a certain point during their escape he had stopped using it, and made sure the other two did the same.
Needless to say, this turned out to be more difficult than expected, because without mana they were vulnerable to the cold and hunger, and among them, one in particular was becoming more irritating by the second.
Percival had never been the type to suffer discomfort in silence. Under normal circumstances, this was already annoying enough. Under circumstances like these, it was quickly becoming a serious problem.
"It’s cold," he said for what felt like the hundredth time, arms crossed, back against the wall, looking like someone waiting on a service that was taking too long. "And I’m hungry. I don’t understand why we can’t just—"
"Because I already explained it to you," the instructor said without looking up, continuing to wrap the bandage around his own forearm with precise, patient movements. "Mana attracts those things. As long as we’re here, we don’t use it."
"Yeah, but—"
"We don’t use it."
Percival opened his mouth, closed it, then opened it again. "This is ridiculous. We’re awakeners. We have the resources to handle this situation, and instead we’re sitting here in the cold like—"
Lirien stood up.
It was a quick movement, sharp enough to make her intentions clear before she even opened her mouth. "If you say one more word, I swear this’ll be the time I beat you to death." Her voice was cold.
Her usual calm, playful personality had been replaced by something colder and more threatening.
It was clear the situation was wearing on everyone, including her in her own way, but that wasn’t what had pushed her to this point, it was the fact that the bastard in front of her had done nothing but cause problems and complain nonstop throughout their entire escape, repeatedly putting all three of them in danger.
If it hadn’t been for the instructor, she would have already thrown the idiot in front of her to those creatures as a distraction so they could escape.
She was already closing the distance, her cold eyes fixed on Percival, who felt a shiver run through him and took a step back.
"You... don’t come any closer, I swear..."
"Lirien." The instructor’s voice wasn’t loud. It didn’t need to be.
She stopped.
"Sit down."
It took a second. Then she sat back down, jaw clenched, eyes still fixed on Percival with an expression that promised future consequences.
"We can’t afford pointless arguments right now," the instructor said in the same flat tone. "Any noise, or use of mana risks drawing those creatures here. So I’m asking you both to stay calm. Both of you."
Percival, who had already been preparing a response, met the instructor’s gaze.
It wasn’t an angry look. It wasn’t even particularly expressive. It was simply deep, steady, with something very quiet behind it that made it clear, without any need for words, that the conversation was over.
Percival closed his mouth.
He fixed his hair, looked away, and said nothing more.
The instructor would have preferred not to resort to that kind of method. But with Percival, normal methods tended to produce limited results, and right now he had neither the time nor the energy for alternatives.
He turned his focus back to the real problem.
Inside his dimensional item he had supplies, food, medical materials, some spare equipment, but accessing it required mana. Even just opening it required mana. Which meant that for now it was effectively out of reach, as useless as if he didn’t have it at all.
’How do we get out of here,’ he thought, his eyes slowly drifting toward the window as he weighed the available options, none of which were particularly encouraging.
Percival, who in the meantime had decided that silence was a form of humiliation and was already mentally planning how to get that arrogant instructor expelled the moment they got out of this place, was glaring at the floor with an offended look when something caught his attention.
Outside the window.
Movement.
He froze for a second, unsure of what he’d seen. Then he saw it again.
"Hey," he said, and for the first time since the situation began, his voice held neither arrogance nor complaint.
"There’s someone out there."