Cedrick woke up from his sleep and saw the children whose still sleeping soundly. Cedrick looked at the window and discovered it's still dark.
"How long did I sleep for?"
He had fallen into a deep slumber as a result of his fight against the Yatan's Followers that he couldn't tell how many hours he had slept. Despite sleeping late last night, he felt refreshed.
He look at the time in the system and it indicates 4:35 am. Seing that it was still early he went back to his bed. He then think of what he should be doing today.
"My search for that item was postponed yesterday because of those Yatan's bastards. Today I will make sure to find it."
As he was about to fall asleep he suddenly remembered something.
[Parallel Thought Activated.]
[Time Difference Activated.]
"I might have ignored it yesterday but my mana cost is very high. If my dragon heart doesn't automatically regenerates my mana, my skills might empty my MP."
"I was lucky yesterday as no one were able to force me use all my skills but that won't be the case in the future."
"So I should probably create skills or items that will reduce the mana cost or regenerates mana."
"The system has a function that if I constantly do an action it would lead to a creation of a skill. So what should I do?"
As he was in deep thought to find a possible solution, a certain anime flashes through his mind.
"What if I create a breathing technique? And what if I make it to reduce the mana cost and strengthen my skills as well? Isn't it amazing?"
Concluding the great idea he had, he then used a great method that no one other than him could do.
"Saphira, do you perhaps have the data of the best breathing technique?"
Cedrick said with an excited and expectant face. As always his cheat skill didn't let him down.
{Yes I have the data my beloved Master.}
"Transfer information to me."
{I understand Master. Your order will be done in a second.}
{Processing Completed.}
{Sending to Master.}
Cedrick was silent for a while as he took his time to understand every single detail that he got from Saphira.
"Sage Arts."
Cedrick said after contemplating all information he got.
Sage Arts is a method that focuses on extracting powers from within. And this power can empower every living thing with a strength that rivals the power of a god.
However, not all beings have the same thought process or physical attributes. The same can be said about their innate talent and abilities.
The reason for mastering Sage Arts takes so long is because you need time to absorb the essential strength from nature and store it within yourself.
"But I am different."
As Cedrick was the Arcane Dragon, he already possessed an enormous power with his current level. More importantly, he can easily access any kinds of power due to his unique nature.
"Normally, one should begin by maintaining balance, mastering breathing techniques, and accumulating internal energy. But, since I can skip the third step, I'll take an alternative route."
The breathing technique is most fundamental of the Sage Arts. Its original function was to store energy in the body, but it also has another purpose, which is to eliminate the toxins that have been built up in the body, which may be referred to as impurities, while also enhancing the purity of the energy at the same time.
"Since I don't need to accumulate energy, I should focus on extracting the toxins instead. Try to keep all senses focused on the process and inhale as briefly as possible while exhaling deeply and slowly."
Cedrick closed his eyes and sitted on the bed with crossed legs. He calmed himself and followed the instructions on the data.
'Concentrate, concentrate..." He kept saying to his head.
Breathing appeared simple at first, but he soon learned it was more difficult than he had anticipated. As he continued to inhale briefly and exhale deeply, for a moment, he felt he couldn't breathe at all.
"Concentrate on the breathing technique while simultaneously use it with etherion." he thought once more.
After a while, Cedrick feels weird. There was nothing particularly special about this method but simply breathing in and breathing out make him feels that a renewed energy was circulating within him.
The Sage Arts allows a human become part of nature and eventually a god. The breathing technique is the most basic among the basics to become part with nature.
Breathing technique allows one to save more energy than one already have while also suppressing unnecessary waste.
[Perfect Adaptability Activated.]
[Ultimate Talent Activated.]
After concluding and controlling his breathing, Cedrick was able to control the energy within him. Suddenly a notification appeared.
[Sage Breathing Technique has been created.]
[Effectiveness of all abilities will be enhanced.]
After the notification he had waited for came. He opened his eyes and smirked. He exited the slowed time and looked at the new skill.
[Sage Breathing Technique]
Rating: Legendary
[Increases health and mana regeneration rate by 50%, and stamina regeneration by 30%. Skill cooldown time will be reduced by 30%. Mana consumption will be reduced by 30%. All skills and abilities enhanced by 30%.
Type: Passive
Skill Proficiency: 0%
Resource Consumption: None.
Skill Activation Condition: Focus.]
[You have made an achievement that is not easily complished. Additional karma will be provided.]
[You have acquired 10,000 karma.]
[You have acquired 15,000 additional karma.]
Cedrick felt his breathing became even more smooth and he could breathe easily than before. Having nothing to do, he waited for the kids to wake up.
****
In a dark place, several cloaked people were gathering in a heavy atmosphere. No noise were heard among them as they were all holding their breaths. All of them continued to wait for one person among them to speak.
It was the one sitting on the center who radiates the most dark energy among them.
[Yatan's Sixth Servant-Malacus]
The Sixth Servant of God Yatan, Malacus, was the high priest who oversaw all rituals in the Yatan Church. In fact, the majority of the rituals he arranged were directed at the Yatan Church's enemies. Alternatively, he may have used them to cast a curse on the area in order to make people sick.
"So you mean that none of the children who escaped were captured?"
Malacus coldly asked which makes everyone sweat and shiver. They were afraid that they will face his wrath and killed like a bug.
"It doesn't matter, the plan is still on going anyway."
The Yatan Church is currently active in their plan making one kingdom submit to them. To have their base of operation and to have a disguise to make their future plan go smoothly.
That's right. The Yatan Church had set their eyes on Lubana Kingdom and Malacus was assigned to oversee the operation.
"How many virgins are ready to be used as a sacrifice for this operation?"
"We have 35 virgins at the moment your excellency."
Malacus feel into a deep thought as he heard the report from one of the Yatan's Follower.
"Still not enough. Seems like we have to wait for a while. We needed 87 virgins to make the King of Lubana our puppet that will follow our every single order."
Currently they were on dilemma as gathering those 87 virgins were very hard. They have to disguise themselves to identify a virgin then abduct them.
Due to the notoriety of the Yatan's Church, kidnapping one virgin is already hard enough even so when they needed 87 virgins.
Malacus remained silent for a long time before opening his mouth.
"We currently have a problem. There's an unknown variable."
His gaze sweep through everyone who were gathered around.
"Now, what would you say on the matter?"
Heavy silence and no one answered.
The unknown variable. Some of the Yatan's followers disappeared overnight without leaving a single trace. All of them were feeling anxious as they didn't have any prior information about it. None of them knew if it was going to be a hindrance to their plan but they were sure about something.
Someone capable of annihilating twenty nine Yatan's Followers without causing a commotion and spreading the news about the fight to other people were not coincidence at all.
"The real issue is we don't know his real objective."
None of them knew if it was someone had known about their plan or just someone avenging and finding the kidnapped virgins or any other motives the unknown variable has.
The silence became too unpleasant and uncomfortable for one of Yatan's followers, so he eventually spoke up. Regrettably, that was the ignition source for the fire.
"You think we don't know that? Instead, why don't you provide us a solution? I insist there is a solution."
As if the Yatan's Followers were waiting for this moment, loud yells exploded from the crowd.
The Yatan's Follower possessed strong pride and due to their black magic, it also caused to narrow their minds. So they didn't know when to back down.
When the other Yatan's Follower began criticizing him, the first Yatan's Follower who spoke yelled loudly.
"Do any of you have a solution in that case? Why don't you speak up and stop pretending to be mute!"
"Mute? Did you actually say something like that to me?"
"Of course! Who do you think I'm talking to?"
Everyone fell into disarray and chaos instantly. Malacus closed his eyes. All the noises and quarrel of the idiots could still be heard. Suddenly,
"What's the matter? Why don't you continue?"
Everyone around the now-quiet Yatan's Followers turned their attention to Malacus. Some of them lowered their heads as low as they could to avoid meeting Malacus' gaze. He was the one who had caused the silence.
"So you say that the problem is the unknown variable?"
Malacus locked his gaze the one who opened his mouth earlier. Malacus discharged his magic power.
The Yatan's Follower body was crushed and blood splashed. He was crushed before exploding to chunks. The previous clean chamber's floor were now soiled by a bloody mess.
Everyone froze when they saw Malacus killed one Yatan's Follower without a sliver of hesitation. They knew that all Yatan's Servant were vicious and cruel but these was beyond their expectation.
"Now that I have removed the nuisance, shall we continue?"
All of them fell into deeper silence when they heard that.
"Focus on gathering the virgins and pay attention to the unknown variable. We can't afford to waste more time now."
The meeting continued as Malacus felt there is nothing to worry about. For him, the other Yatan's Followers were just expendibles. He didn't know that ignoring the severity of the unknown variable would lead to their demise.
****
Cedrick exhaled deeply as he opened his eyes. He look at the kids who just woke up but they still have a sleepy face for having a proper rest. Cedrick talked to them after all of them regained clarity in their minds.
"You three are free to do whatever you want today. As you wore luxurious clothes, none of them will recognize you guys."
Laurence, Joross, and Ruzzel listened to Cedrick and did not complain. They didn't doubt what he had said.
"As for me, I have something to do that was delayed yesterday. I can't bring you guys yet as you will only slow me down."
Hearing Cedrick's remark, all of them lowered their heads. They took Cedrick words to heart.
'We were still too weak to help.'
All of the simultaneously thought as determination filled their eyes to become strong and be in use for Cedrick and no longer a hindrance.
Cedrick liked the determination in their eyes and he gave them 100 Gold Coins to spend. Their eyes widened when they looked at the amount Cedrick had gave them.
"100 Gold Coins!?"
Laurence shouted in surprise as Joross and Bill were inwardly surprised as well.
For them 1 Gold Coin is already a big amount much less than 100 of them.
(1 Copper- 100 Silvers
10 Silvers- 1 Gold.)
For them who had grown accostumed to copper coins it was a big amount as they now have 100,000 copper coins to spend.
But to Cedrick who got thousands of gold coins, none of it matter to him. Especially money was his last concerns in this world.
After giving them the money, Cedrick bade farewell to the children as he went to his destination. As he was on his way, he suddenly thought.
"Is that item really here in Lubana?"
He looked at his destination and smiled with anticipation.
"This is exhilarating."