Chapter 7 - Breakthrough

Damien stepped outside of the cabin and into the grove. He peered into the shadowy forest that had the massive treeline and carefully observed his surroundings he couldn't help but shiver. He noticed the deep impression in the ground left from the previous battle to his left once he was back out into the open. He could see a clear path of a deep 3 meter wide trench and downed massive 60 foot tall trees for hundreds of feet away in that direction.

"I have to learn how to control the power of my spells he thought. If I had cast that wind spell in any city on earth, it would have cleared many city blocks and killed thousands. If not, I'll draw much unwanted attention to myself that I don't need right now. I have to learn my way around this world before I can even begin to fill my unwanted harbinger role and trying to make my way home."

He had no idea where to start so he opened his map and noticed a stream to the north of his current location. It was away from the mountains so he figured that he would start there. He closed out his map option and began to walk.

Streams usually turn into rivers and both usually leads to civilization, so he would begin there and in that direction. Damien also thought he should test his new physical stats so, he took off in a dead sprint towards the stream. His body moved much faster than his mind anticipated and after his fifth step, Damien fell flat on his face leaving a short 1 meter long impression in the dirt. "Wow, that was way too fast he thought. I definitely need to take this slow and steady." Damien needed to test his ability with other people so he could gauge just how powerful he actually was, but for now it slow and steady. He took off at a trot towards the river and picked up the pace slowly.

After making it to the river a few hours later and without any incident, Damien made it to his destination in record time. He ran 2 times faster than an Olympic 100-meter dash sprinter for hours and if he were to guess he was going over 30 mph. Damien was winded at this time but, he was already recovering his stamina once he halted his run and reached his destination.

Looking at the beautiful 4 meter wide stream and looked to be fairly deep despite being so clear. Damien could see right into the bottom and noticed some of the various large and small fish coming and going up and down the stream and white, light and brown rocks coating the bottom. He also observed his surroundings, seeing large boulders on the other side of the stream with one being the largest in the center of the boulders. He noticed the surrounding trees had large thick vines attached to them going up and down the tree that made them look easy to climb. The trees looked similar to earthen pine trees but looked to bear some fruit beginning on the lower branches and going up higher into the tree further than he could see from the ground. After he had taken in his surroundings he focused back on to the immediate task at hand, hydration.

He was about to bend down for a drink before he stopped himself and reminded himself not underestimate the wildlife on this planet, even in a small stream the fish could be large piranha-like fish.

So, he wanted to use a cup to scoop water out of the stream so he pointed his hands at the ground and visualized a cup began trying to channel mana at the earth. The effect was definitely not what Damien was trying to do. A 4 meter wide and 2 meter high bowl rose out of the earth bowl rose of Damien. This was far beyond the desired effect. The only upside was that the massive bowl had scooped some of the stream water into it in his attempts at casting.

Still needing a drink Damien used some of his higher strength to punch a rough fist sized hole in the side of the bowl and he began to drink deeply out of the water that poured from the side of the bowl. The cool stream water quenched his parched throat and Damien felt revitalized. As his hands come in contact with the clear cool water he felt a tingling sensation inside of his body that reminded him of the absorbing effect and he could then feel the moisture in the ground and in the air. Damien began trying to control the element but was not able to. He was missing something.

Trying again he stared at the water a moment and thought about how the flowing stream made him feel. The water was calming and made him want to relax so he did. He then began trying to channel his mana inside of himself and he felt a twinge of mana nut unlike the previous times he used his magic but it was to a lesser effect. It was only a tiny trickle that began to flow in front of his hand. He remembered that he hadn't worked on his mana control yet, and that may have been an issue. He did unlock the water magic skill but was having trouble casting the spell. It was much easier to cast air and earth magic for some reason. After a moment of distraction he looked around warily.

Damien didn't want to get into another battle without properly being able to protect himself better. He didn't trust anything not attacking him while he stood there pondering on his magic. He didn't want to stand on the forest floor to practice. Something may attack him from behind while practicing. Damien was surrounded by trees and boulders so began to climb one of the massive trees that favored pine trees that grew on earth.

Using his newfound strength he tested out his jumping ability and found himself flabbergasted at his own ability. He jumped 20 feet straight up onto the tree and grabbed onto one of the vines that hung on the tree. He then climbed the rest of the way 4 more meters up and grabbed on to one of the lower branches.

He then noticed the fruit was larger than it appears from the ground. The major difference was the red and purple colored pear shaped fruit that hung from the branches. There were also light green blooming flowers closer to the top of the tree that he couldn't see from the ground. Noticing the flowers Damien remembered that he was in a fantasy world and these flowers could make alchemy ingredients or something else possibly useful. He jumped up higher and higher while grabbing more of the flowers and fruit. Stocking up as much as he could. For the next half hour, Damien just collected fruits and flowers into his inventory. Once grabbing as much as his stamina would allow, Damien went back down to the lower thicker branches closer to the base of the massive trees and sat down.

Once reaching the lower branches it was at that same moment that Damiens's stomach rumbled loudly. Damien sat against the tree and grabbed a red fruit out of his inventory by simply thinking about it this time instead of saying it loudly and it worked. He figured to try this out since everything else worked with his mind. Damien used his knowledge from previous novels that he figured he just had to think about what he wanted from his inventory and it would appear in his hand or surroundings where he mentally placed an item.

Not knowing if all the fruit he collected was poisonous or not he reluctantly bit into the sweet tasting fruit. The red colored fruits had the flavor of a plum from earth and he devoured the whole thing greedily. He didn't feel bad so he ate a few more of the different colored fruit. Now that hunger taken care of for a while, Damian wanted to take care of his mana problem.

The system said that he needed to learn control and to develop a mana core. Damien looked into the divine shop tab and shop and found the scrolls right at the top under recommend. Both scrolls cost zero divine points but he actually had to read the scrolls, they weren't inserted into his mind like skill books were.

Damien didn't mind and spent the next few days reading both scrolls while drinking from the pond and doing the introductory breathing exercises for both skills. Seven days later Damien was ready.

"Time to develop a mana core."

With his back against the tree trunk, Damien crossed his legs and closed his eyes. Now it was time to see if he could figure out where that tingling feeling was coming from. He would usually feel it when it was coming through his arms after channeling a spell. He began breathing in and out deeply and begin to attempt to place his focus inwardly. For a time nothing happened and he was just breathing, but then he began to feel a tingling sensation inside of his body.

The feeling was closer to his sternum area and he placed his mental focus there. When he did, he felt a torrent of power that wanted to overwhelm his whole being. The tingling turned into burning and then into pain. Damien grunted from the constant intense pain that increased by the second but he continued anyway. He knew he had to get control of this power no matter what or he would always be at a disadvantage. Damien focused hard and more intently, harder than he focused on anything in his entire life. An unknown amount of time had passed and all Damien knew in the world was pain.

Just as he felt like he was nearly about to lose control, he mentally felt tendrils of light grabbing the massive torrent of energy and he began to force the energy to condense. The tendrils of light found the edge of energy and began pulling the torrent closer and closer until the tendrils were able to circle the massive energy and make it into a purple ball of energy the size of a small fist.

It was at this moment that the the intense pain abated and he began to feel a calming feeling. He could feel everyoart if his body being bathed in mana. Damien slowly opened his eyesband released a turbulent breath. It was night time and the three moons and stars filled the sky and he was drenched in sweat. He had a massive headache, he was starving, and mouth felt like it was dry as a sandy desert but he also felt amazing.

He took out 5 fruits and ate them all in record speed. With some of his hunger and a bit of his thirst abated He had no energy to move at all and passed out falling into a deep sleep. Right as slumber had begun to take him It was at this moment Damien noticed the system had new notifications, then darkness.

"Why the hell was he all was being forced to pass out!"

Damien thought before darkness took him.