Martin raised the torch in front of him as he moved down the ladder, determined to push forward since it was his final chance to grow stronger.
It was a one-way passage, and he didn't need to activate mana detection. "I wonder where such dense mana is coming from," Martin said as he moved closer to his destination.
The mana lines that had appeared in his room were very thin, but even without the mana detection skill, he could feel the thickness of the mana in the passage.
He somehow still wanted to activate his meridian eyes, but it could waste the mana supply in his energy pool. A little whirlwind swiveled around in the middle of his palm as he took steps forward, he was getting bored already, and he wanted to suddenly turn the other way.
The distance was quite lengthy, making him wonder how far it was from his house.
Martin's house wasn't this wide, but the distance he had walked made him understand that where he was going was a long way from his house, yet he was determined to make this journey.
There was a possibility that he was right under the floor of the Kiams' mansion
The walls felt damp as Martin placed his hand on them. If the wall was this wet, it meant this place was probably close to a body of water.
Martin knew that the only body of water close to the city was the Navethadrath Sea.
He had read about it in a geography textbook.
This sea was separated from the city by the forest areas and was quite large, covering two million square kilometers.
Martin wondered if this passage was somehow connected to this sea, but it had to be impossible.
The air was heavy with the strong smell of earth. The pathway of the passageway looked like no one had been down here in ages.
As the passage continued, it gradually split into two separate paths.
"I'd be suspicious if there weren't something stopping me from getting to the source of this mana," Martin said as he looked at the similar paths in front of him.
From the start, it felt like the journey had been too easy, and it wasn't once nor twice that Martin hoped to see maybe some skulls or bones littered at a corner to give him a sense of excitement.
Both paths were covered with a thick veil of darkness.
Martin pointed the torchlight directly at each path, and it still looked like an endless line of darkness. Something had to be off here; it seemed like there was a trick, but the type of trick used didn't occur to him. So he decided to find another way, Martin went down on the floor and sat cross-legged.
He would use Mana detection to detect the direction of the mana flow.
It would be hard because of the thickness of the mana, and he would have to use his mind's eye to break through every layer to note the direction.
Martin closed his eyes and pictured the environment in his head before opening his eyes.
Then he started to see the mana lines, clearly visible because of their thickness.
Martin stared closer and realized that the mana signal at the entrance of the left path was stagnant; it didn't move anywhere, it just flowed, which meant it had been separated from its source.
Martin realized that he just needed to go through the right path to find what he was truly looking for, but it didn't stop him from wondering what lay at the end of the left path that produced such darkness.
He would have gone searching, but he needed to return home soon enough.
If he didn't, he was sure that sneaky baby Ace would get rid of all his food, and he had just a little change left after giving that annoying family head one of his gold coins.
Maybe he would go on one of those adventures, but that would be after he had increased his strength and improved his wind spells.
Maybe he could even find ways to increase the tiers of his spells.
"I should slow down with these plans; I haven't even seen if it was a good mana source. It could be some strange monstrosity emitting such a mana presence,"
Martin uttered as he took the first steps into the right path where the mana was coming from.
"I really hope it's not some shitty beast. For once, let my path be without pain, oh dear whoever is in charge of my life."
Martin pointed the torch in all directions as he moved forward, his footsteps echoing softly against the stony floor. The torch in his hand flickered, causing Martin's eyes to widen.
"Don't try anything, torch; I'd die right now if you go off."
Martin raised the torch, not lying about the consequences. It was so dark that Martin couldn't see a thing without the help of the torch.
He couldn't count how many times he had tripped on a stone and how he had escaped a small pit just by a slight chance.
As if the torch heard Martin's plea, it stopped flickering and went back to normal.
The torch casted eerie shadows on the dark surfaces of the wall as he walked further into the unknown darkness.
Martin couldn't explain why he didn't want to turn back now that he had gone through a little hurdle of choosing the right path.
He had been walking for a long time, and he could bet that the sun was about to set.
Yet, he wanted to see what was at the end of this tunnel. It was a mysterious feeling, yet it fueled his adrenaline.
Martin looked up as the passageway suddenly widened, revealing the large opening of a cave.
There was a strange light coming from within it. He couldn't help but smile, knowing that he had reached his destination.
"Finally." This was where all the thick mana signals were coming from.
Martin's smile widened as he took a step inside, greeted by an amazing sight.
There on the wall were mana stones, embedded into the walls and scattered on the floor. Martin placed his hand on a gem on the wall, feeling a huge rush of pure mana energy. A gemstone with pure mana! This was a massive find!
"I can't believe this," Martin whispered as he moved his hands on the wall filled with gemstones of different shapes and sizes. Martin's smile became even wider.
He had read about these things, but there were no pictures in the textbook because of their rarity.
Even the people who found them were very protective of them.
It was called an Energy Cavern, and there were different levels of Energy Caverns.
Martin couldn't determine what level this Cavern was yet; he still needed to go through some things.
But he still couldn't believe that Axton's house had become the pathway to such a huge treasure.
Energy Caverns were the power centers of nations, and that depended on their size.
A town with an Energy Cavern could become a nation in a few months, depending on the size.
That's how influential these caverns were. People killed, and wars were fought just for them.
Martin looked at the shimmering beauty of the gems scattered on the floor, feeling like dancing around.
This was a truly significant discovery.
Martin needed to confirm the true worth of the cavern, and he wanted to see what was truly inside.
There was no need for the torch, as the brightness of the gems had illuminated the place. He moved forward and came upon a wide pit filled with water.
"Why is there water in such a place?" Martin thought as he bent down. It didn't look natural; it reflected the dancing lights of the mana gems.
Martin dipped his left hand, and a huge rush of energy flowed through him, causing him to remove his hand immediately.
"What the?" Martin said, looking at the body of water with narrowed eyes.
The water was thick, and Martin had a thought. He suddenly activated his meridian eye, causing his natural eyes to widen at what he had discovered.
What was in front of him was not water; it was mana!
Liquid mana! It was so thick that it had become a liquid.
This was the true mana!
"Hahahaha…" Martin couldn't stop laughing; he was standing in front of liquid mana.
Never had he heard or read that mana was in a liquid form. He wondered who else knew about this place.
If someone else did know, he would be forced to get rid of them without hesitation.
If anyone found out that he had found such a place, he could be killed immediately, and his body thrown into the forest for the wild beasts to feast on. Therefore, he had to keep it all a secret.
From the look of things in this Cavern, it could be the center of a nation.
It could help his city—The city of Nyssria to grow into a nation, but Martin was never the heroic type.
They could all shove their sticky fingers up in their asses but he wasn't going to let something as extravagant as this slip his fingers.
He would be in regret all his life, he was sure if Ace knew about it, that little baby would slap the heroic f**k out of his head before proceeding to insult the stupidity in his head.
Martin wasn't going to give it up, he also had the problem of that family head, but he would think of a solution later now he wanted to truly enjoy this discovery.
Martin didn't care if he had taken a long time to get here; he wanted to do something before he left. He wanted to practice mana absorption; maybe he could absorb such dense mana and make it flow into his body. He just hoped it would work this time.
Martin switched to a cross-legged position as he sat on the floor. "Let's try this now." If he couldn't absorb mana, then coming here would be a total waste.