Chapter 11: Becoming an egg
"Damn it. Why are they not stopping?"
It has been a week since the calamity that befalls the earth. Although the first impact was devastating, the aftermath was terrifying. It's like having a tsunami after an earthquake. Kim has been running endlessly since the day he buried his family.
"It's mana. Your mana uncontrollably leaking out. You need to learn how to control your mana before anything else. It's also the reason why you can't use it willingly before."
Due to their instinct to survive monsters are highly sensitive to mana. They live in a harsh world of survival of the fittest. Eat or be eaten. If they don't eat others they would get eaten by other monsters instead to accumulate more mana within their bodies.
"Hard for me to say this but, your mana capacity is above mine when I first started to use mana. Making you a delicious meal for any monster out there. Unfortunately, you can't use it effectively yet."
"Didn't you say you going to teach me?"
"Call me Mas-"
"No"
"Then try your best to survive"
When he was on the ground he would be chased by several dozens of dog-like monster that are three times bigger than him. He couldn't hide properly due to their amazing nose. It felt like he was getting chased by a police dog. Except that, each one of them was trying to eat him.
When he tried to jump into the river nearby Kampung Meranek to wash off his scent, he would get ambushed by crocodiles that could swallow a small boat. He would get out instantly and end up getting chased again by the packs of dogs. Despite the unknown dangers, he went to the forest to hide.
Although Kim wasn't able to utilize his mana, he was able to move around without getting tired due to his body being tempered by his previous fight with the two ferocious mythical beast. His movement was agile as he was jumping around from one tree to another. He thought that by staying on top of the trees the dogs would not be able to catch him. To his surprise, the dog actually stopped chasing him the moment he steps into the forest.
He felt relieved but he didn't let his guard down. There might be bigger danger hidden within the forest. At least he could rest for now. So he took refuge on top of one of the trees.
Kim breathes out a sigh of relief and lay with his back against the tree. He looked around the familiar forest where he played around with his friends from before. But something seems off.
"Surprised?"
"Yeah, I played around here a lot before. It seems different"
"It must have undergone some changes by absorbing mana. Every living being needs mana to survive. Now that the mana in this world has become active, nature which is a part of the world would be the first thing that could quickly adapt to mana. Since they are directly linked to the world, they could absorb mana at a terrifying speed. The world you knew before is constantly changing"
"Until when?"
"Until nature could not absorb any more and the world reaches an equilibrium state with the universe. It's the law of the universe. Everything will gradually shift to equilibrium and creating harmony in the universe."
"So, even if no one disturbed us in the first place, mana would eventually awaken somehow?"
"Yes. But different from now, you will have the time to get adapted. Eventually, the human would create a new system and able to protect one another."
"I see"
"But I won't promise you that your friends and family would survive. Death is inevitable for every living being."
"How about you then? You are still alive till now."
"Yes, but no matter how powerful I am, I will die eventually. There's no such thing as immortality. Even I could not escape death if it comes to me"
Kim gave himself a thought from the short conversation. Maybe, it was already the time for his friends and family death. He could have been dead a few days before but he was still here breathing. However, he still could not forgive the mastermind behind the calamity that befalls them. He needs to live and get stronger to exact his revenge. Afterwards, he could just think of what he should do in the future.
"Don't waste time. I need you to stay alive for you to call me Master. Concentrate and control your breathing"
Kim instantly followed the voice instructions as it sounded urgent. He now confirmed there were approaching danger coming from the forest. He diligently followed everything that was instructed.
"Usually, a few years of careful thorough training should be done for you to effectively utilized your mana properly. Considering your talent I think sending you my mana memory would suffice. Make sure you always maintain your breathing as it is the key point to use your mana. Now empty your mind and don't reject what I'm going to transfer to you."
Kim closed his eyes and tried to calm himself down. He controlled his breathing and was prepared to give full concentration. Then he felt a sudden warm sensation of energy enveloping his entire body. It had the same feeling with the domineering forced that push him down the ground a week ago. Except, it was protecting him instead. The monsters that were tracking him down stayed in their place. Their instinct tells them that the moment they touch Kim, the would be annihilated into dust.
"I can't use my full power in this state. But this could at least last for half a day. Make sure you accept everything completely by then or you will die"
"Why didn't you use this earlier?" Kim replied in a somewhat annoyed tone.
"You should call me Master earlier, then"
Kim snorted and fell to silence once more.
"This ignorant bastard. Don't cry to me if you fail"
The person who let out the voice then smirk.
"Be prepared. You will feel.. a bit of pain"
Physical strength can be obtained through consistent training and practice. However, mental fortitude is excruciating hard to achieve as the mind is very vulnerable. People often reluctant to practice their mental strength due to its level of difficulties. That's why a little number of people such as athletes, businessmen, and researchers could reach the top. They all share the same thing which was extreme mental strength.
In Kim's case, he was born a genius with natural strong mental fortitude He could comprehend information at a very fast rate. Especially when mana has tempered his mind, he was able to take loads of information less than a millisecond. He could read hundreds of pages of books in a second without missing any words while understanding the content. Taking these facts, the voice decided to use a rather risky method instead of a conventional one due to urgency.
A sudden rush of information came surging into Kim thought at one time which caused veins at his forehead to bulge. The wisdom of a being who had lived for millennia was rewinding inside a kid mind in a mere of a split second. The domineering force that is crushing every piece of bones and tearing each strain of veins in his body was nothing when compared to the mental burden he was taking.
When we do a certain repeated movement we would get used to it until it becomes a habit. It is how a pianist able to accurately hit the right note while reading scores without looking at piano keys. It is also the reasons how someone was able to juggle blindfolded without making any mistake. After years of practice, one would be able to master their skills and could effortlessly execute them at any given time.
Mana memory is fundamentally the same thing. As mana-users trained in a specific skill, they could enhance their muscle with no time gap or call out a fire without imagining it. A conjurer could even create illusions without enemies noticing.
The voice is trying to transfer several millennium worths of mana memory to a person in a single time! If Kim is able to accept everything then he would be as skilful as a thousand year master, but chances were his mind would be overloaded with too much information which would destroy his mind and make him a living dead. A piece of meat with no thoughts.
He felt like a mountain was sitting on his head is trying to crush his entire body. Every single nerve cells of his brain were rapidly transmitting signal and interpreting a non-stop mass of information that was coming in like a falling waterfall. He let out a painful scream that lasted for several hours.
'Is this too much? He is tenacious enough to beat two top-tier monsters in a single day. I'm sure he could survive with guidance'
"Direct your mind to my voice. Don't try to comprehend everything as to how you used to. Block all your sense and focus on sensing the mana that is surrounding. All you have to do is to accept."
The soothing gentle voice sounded like a parent taking care of their child. Kim felt calm and continued to endure the unimaginable pain he is having now. Eventually, he reached his limit. Every breath he took, more and more pain accumulated until the point he was almost going to pass out.
'Tch... He's going to die at this rate'
"Come on, kid! Didn't you want to show your brilliance to the whole world? What is this pain when compared to your lifelong dream? Don't tell me it's all talk!"
The sudden change in tone shook Kim from his concentration.
"Arrrghhh, shut you old geezer! Grrrrr..."
Kim gritted his teeth as he was enduring immense pain.
"If you have time to reply, then put some effort! Show me some result you annoying bastard!"
What once to be a soothing caring voice suddenly changed into a coach training his team.
'It seems this kid ego is quite high. Making provoking him more would make him more resilience'
"Are you giving up, you little crybaby? All I've seen you did was to cry cry cry.. boo hoo.."
"..."
"Kid?"
There was no reply from Kim
"Kid.. don't tell me you really-"
"I said shut up old geezer."
Kim replied with a cold voice that could send a chilly sensation to anyone who heard it. He wasn't screaming as he did. He was still sitting down concentrating as sweat profusely coming out making his body soaking wet. The pain he felt just now was still there but he was enduring it with complete serenity.
Although Kim has blocked all his sensed, he could actually see, or more like he was able to sense his surrounding. He was inside a thick forest at night with no light passing through but he was able to see clearly what is happening at the moment.
He could sense the presence of dogs that were chasing him before. Above the sky, huge birds were swirling above him as if waiting for him to come out. In front of him, dozens of monster were already waiting on the ground and even beneath the ground. Hundreds more were still approaching as they sensed his mana the moment he entered the forest. And behind them was a monster that was almost as huge as Cerberus is residing under the ground.
The only reason they were not attacking him right now was due to a protective layer that was covering him. He could sense a somewhat familiar feeling from the mana of the layer. He reminded me of the moment when he was a child. His mother would hug him to sleep when he would wake up crying from nightmares. He felt safe. His heart wavers a bit from the feeling.
'He's still a child after all. I won't let you die, kid'
Again his body radiating with white lights as the surrounding mana being absorbed into his body. Before, his mana would uncontrollably be leaking out as if he was asking to be noticed by everyone. It's like he was screaming using a loudspeaker, making him easy prey for monsters as they don't need much effort to sense him. Now he was able to keep his mana in place instead of wildly going into random directions.
"Now direct your mana into yourself. Think of an egg in the shell. Keep that shell unbroken to contain your mana. Put it as much care as it could break if you don't keep your mana stable."
Kim took a deep breath and followed the voice guidance. He tried to contain his mana within his body and the first attempt failed. The failure had caused a crack at the protective layer due to a high density of mana gushing out.
"Just focus on handling your mana. I will manage it."
Kim tried again and this time he tried to follow the mechanism of the protective layer and failed several more times. Even if he had received the mana memory, it was impossible for him to comprehend everything in a short time for him to utilize it properly. It's like giving a gun to a beginner. Even the person was given the latest state-of-the-art rifle, it would take time for him to be able to hit a target.
"Egg...egg...egg..egg...egg..egg"
The voice continued to chant the same things which in ends getting ignored by Kim. Again he failed. For every failure he had more and more cracks were formed at the layer.
"Ignorant fool! Even with all that memory, you can't even contain your mana"
The voice panted while scolding Kim. There was a clear sign of tiredness coming from the voice. It seems to be struggling to keep up the protective layer. It was understandable since it was transferring its mana memory while keeping a defensive shield to protect Kim. At the same time, it continued to transmit its voice from who knows where it was.
Finally, it shattered. The waiting horde of monsters all rushes onto Kim at the same time.
"Become an egg or you die kid!"
Kim let out a cold snort and finally focused all his mind to become an egg!