When Cui Xuefeng didn't respond, Cray was more certain of his view. He harrumphed, "They said you found some things? Let's see them."
"I receive 5% of whatever is found, correct? Am I allowed to choose among the gains what I want to keep?"
"As long as it's within 5% of the total price," Cray replied carelessly.
Cui Xuefeng already knew he would obtain 5%, but he'd also heard adventurers say they were cheated out of their 5% and given crap. This should be why. Either way, it didn't matter. Anything he didn't want to sell could stay in his inventory. Nobody would know if he kept something for himself. There wasn't much reason to do that, though. Even if he wanted to stay under the radar it may be seen one day. They could sue him. All portals are counted as country property, after all. So it was better to keep things as transparent as possible. Anyway, he wouldn't get paid for anything he doesn't bring out. So it would either have to be a consumable or something that he would leave in the inventory forever. Or maybe until it no longer mattered, if that time came. Probably when the world ended; he hoped he never had to see that happen again.
Cui Xuefeng wanted to ask him to move to another place, but Cray didn't seem up to it. He decided to use a few just as proof. He began pulling things out of his inventory, using the small bag on his thigh as camouflage. He pulled out a few fist-sized Orange Rose Obsidian, pumice, and other igneous rocks, a fern bundle that was 70 cm long, a flowering plant with its roots, two of the spined blue stones, and some red gems. Then he paused and looked at the full table.
He looked at Cray, "Would you like to keep going?" Then he pulled out a meter-tall, half-a-meter-wide rock. It looked like granite. "I have a lot of these."
Cray was shocked at the sight of a space bag. Then he came to himself and looked serious. He touched the fern bundle. "Why are there no animal parts? And how did an ordinary person get these?" He had a severe face on. He looked up at Cui Xuefeng.
"I didn't say I'm unawakened." He held his hand out and used mana to create a small wind tunnel on it. He closed his hand and it dissipated. He opened it again and a flame flickered on his palm. He closed and opened it again and summoned water, which fell down off his hand into a waterfall. There was only about a cup of water before it stopped. He didn't pay attention to the new wet spot on the floor. It would dry soon.
"But you didn't have any reaction earlier…" He grabbed his hand looking for tricks and gimmicks. "And how could a mage have so many elements? Are you not training properly?" He asked this even though he was still checking for gadgets.
"There are no animal byproducts because I am a gatherer, not a warrior. If you were to sense my mana through such a foul trick I would not be able to blur the perception of the monsters. That would make me a terrible gatherer." Cui Xuefeng pressed a finger against Clay's wrist and injected mana into him.
Clay's arm dropped to his side. "What the hell!" He couldn't use his arm. Perceiving this action as an attack, he took up a stance.
Cui Xuefeng stood unmoved across from him as if they were talking casually. "The numbing will only last a short while. However, if you inject your mana like that into someone who hadn't adjusted their body to their mana, it would paralyze their core. This includes those who haven't regulated their mana through their body, used magic, are newly awakened, or who've had a qualitative or type change recently. For the record, my awakening was this morning, and I also had a heat-resistant change half a day ago." Cui Xuefeng realized it was almost the middle of the night now. He'd texted the little creature when he left the dungeon so she wouldn't worry, and left her a note for when she woke up, but there was no response yet. He hoped she wasn't worrying herself.
"This is how we check for awakenings." He immediately dismissed it. But when he looked at his arm and the items on the table he turned back to look at the young man. His brows were furrowed and his posture was still tense, but he looked like he was actually listening now.
Cui Xuefeng thought of something, "Do you know what can happen when a core is paralyzed?"
He shook his head, "I've never heard of such a thing."
"Inject mana into me again. I'll show you what it feels like." He slowly raised his hand in front of him. He didn't move to go towards Cray, though, allowing the man to make his own choice.
Cray didn't go over right away. He continued watching him with his guard up. His fingers were finally getting some sensation back.
Cui Xuefeng didn't mind. He kept his hand out and continued to speak, "It may have little or no effect. Under special circumstances, it can give someone mana sickness. Even an awakener."
The most common scenarios--for raw mana with minimal changes such as most humans had today--included other possibilities as well. They could lose some mana while rejecting the intrusion. If their mana is compatible, they can integrate it into their core. For more advanced mana usages or mana types, there were innumerable ways to use them. It could be used medically or for killing. It could be used to boost their abilities, or for teaching. He wouldn't be able to count all the ways he'd seen it used if he tried.
Cray was now a little scared, "You- you seem to know a lot for a guy who just awakened and doesn't know how to call the authorities when they find a portal."
"When I awoke I obtained information. That is a type of mana I spoke about earlier. Another type would make someone awaken as a water magician. You are familiar with this, yes?" There was a famous water magician on a TV in his mana-sensing range today. Therefore they should be somewhat aware of the existence of inheritances.
This is what he was pretending to have. Or maybe it was actually true, but it was manual inheritance given by this 'Manager' thing. He didn't know what to think of the idea.
"That- Let me call my boss."
While Cray spoke on the phone, Cui Xuefeng took his seat again and returned to his learning. Knowing the top most common languages should be fine for communications for now.