Chapter 88 | The Thicker the Better
Chapter 88: 88 | The Thicker the Better
Natasha reluctantly pulled the shirt away from her face and moved to stand in front of him with her arms crossed. She pushed the dirty thoughts aside and decided to focus.
"You need to sense the mana first and absorb it into your body to enter the Mana Awakening Realm." Her voice was serious now. "After that, I’ll transfer the mana technique to you."
"What do I need to do, Master?" Dante asked with an innocent face while an exciting idea popped into his head.
"Close your eyes and gather all your focus. Your mana circuits are fully healed now, so you should be able to sense it within some time." She pulled over a chair and sat down since it was going to take a while.
Sensing and absorbing mana for the first time depended entirely on the person’s aptitude. It took her three minutes to sense it, and for an average person, even one hour was considered good.
’Since the system said his body is hiding a lot of secrets, he should be able to do it within five minutes, right?’ Natasha watched Dante with curious eyes as he sat there trying to focus.
Ten seconds passed and a frown formed on his face.
[Ugh, I can’t sense anything at all. Did Master leave out any instructions? At this rate, I don’t know how long it’s going to take.]
An amused smile appeared on Natasha’s face.
"You’re trying too hard." She said, leaning back in her chair. "Don’t force it. Mana isn’t something far away from you."
"It’s already all around you, flowing through the air, the ground, even inside your own body. You just can’t feel it yet."
"Think of it like breathing. You don’t think about the air entering your lungs, right? It just happens. Mana works the same way. Stop chasing it and just let yourself feel what’s already there."
Dante kept his eyes closed and tried to relax.
Five minutes passed and nothing happened.
A frown slowly formed on Natasha’s face.
’Did the system lie to me?’ She was starting to doubt its words. If Dante was destined to face people blessed by luck, he needed at least her level of talent.
’Dante...’ Worry crept into her eyes as she thought about his future.
Ten minutes passed. And then she heard another one of his inner thoughts.
[Ah, man. I give up. This method isn’t going to work for me. I need to figure out something else.]
’He’s giving up already?’ Natasha’s lips pressed together but she decided to wait and see what he came up with.
[Okay, think. She said mana exists everywhere. But it’s definitely spread out. So I need to find a denser source.]
[Wait a second. The stronger the cultivator, the more mana they have. Master is one of the strongest people I know. That means her body is basically overflowing with mana right now!]
[So instead of trying to sense the mana scattered in the air, why don’t I just focus on the mana around Master’s body? That should be way easier to detect.]
’That’s... actually not a bad idea.’ She was almost impressed, but then sighed. It was destined to fail.
Sure, the mana around her body was denser.
He would be able to sense it, but that was as far as he could go.
To pull mana away from an awakener, you needed a higher affinity than theirs. And that was assuming the other person wasn’t even trying to resist or absorb it themselves.
Judging by how he couldn’t sense a single thing after ten minutes of trying the normal way, there was no chance his affinity was higher than hers.
’I guess I expected too much...’ Disappointment flickered in her eyes. ’Good thing I didn’t say anything to him.’
After all, none of it was Dante’s fault. Mana affinity was mostly fixed at birth. But as his master, she couldn’t help having some expectations.
’Actually, it’s fine if he takes his time. That just means I get to spend more time with him.’ She tried to look on the bright side.
It was at that exact moment she felt something that gave her goosebumps.
’T-the mana is moving...’ She glanced at him in shock. ’It’s actually moving toward him!’
It hadn’t even been a minute since he decided to try his own method.
’H-how is he doing this?’ Natasha was completely lost. None of this made any sense.
Logically, this could only happen if his affinity was higher than hers. But if that were the case, he would have stepped into the Mana Awakening Realm long ago.
She could feel the mana around her body drifting toward him on its own. He had gone straight past sensing and was already trying to absorb it. That meant it only took him seconds after switching methods.
’What kind of ridiculous method is this?’ She couldn’t hide the confusion in her eyes. ’Why is he absorbing the mana around me when there’s plenty in the air right next to him?’
Just as she was thinking, Dante’s body shook for a second before he opened his eyes.
He looked down at himself with a blank expression, like he didn’t actually expect it to work. Then he looked up with an excited grin.
"Master, I did it! I ACTUALLY DID IT!" He jumped to his feet with a big grin, using the excitement as cover to slide right into a hug.
"I’m an awakener now!"
Natasha was more than happy to let him, but she wanted to know something first. She stopped him with a hand on his forehead.
"Tell me. How did you sense the mana?"
Dante’s face went stiff the moment he heard her question. A flash of guilt and shame crossed his eyes but disappeared just as quickly.
Natasha caught it immediately.
"What do you mean, Master? Haha, I just followed the method you told me." He said, rubbing the back of his head.
"Is that so?" Natasha had an understanding look on her face, but inside she was puzzled by his reaction. ’Does he think I’ll get angry because he absorbed the mana around me?’
Dante didn’t make her wait long as he showed her another one of his inner thoughts.
[How the hell do I tell her that I sensed mana by targeting her tits, thighs, and ass? That my brain went ’the thicker the body part, the greater the density of mana’ and I just rolled with it? I basically groped my master through mana.]
[I’d be dead before I finished the sentence!]