It worked and healed my body but if I didn't stop, it wouldn't only heal my wounds, it would explode my body. They say that the human body is too weak to handle mana that is why humans created their Elemental Anchor where they store mana and manipulate them to their desires because they are unable to house mana physically, that is also one of the reason why mages are prone to head-to-head combat.
Their physical body is weak.
Around 20 minutes or so, I was done with the absorption process. My body hasn't completely healed yet and I could still feel the pain but the wounds had stopped bleeding — that was good enough.
I stood up and I was faced with Neph, seeing that I didn't look as bad as 20 minutes ago, she was happy with a smile that reached her ears.
"So, anything caught your attention?" I asked just to be sure nothing was out of place.
She just shook her head, "No..." She replied in a cute voice.
She could more or less understand me and could even reply accordingly.
I nodded, we started to move after. I couldn't be patient whilst the sun was moving. I had to reach the village before night.
The sun had already rose, and the fog was chased away.
My mana was wholly recovered and even though my body felt a little bit heavy and sore, I could handle it. Absorbing the mana shard didn't only do wonders on my body and recover my mana but it also increased my stage, albeit only a little bit. Still, I couldn't expect too much, after all, I just reached tier-2 as a novice mage, I can't be expecting the rate at which I advance in levels stay consistent.
As a mage grows more powerful — reach higher levels, it would also increase the difficulty of advancing without sufficient resources or talent.
I should be satisfied at my pace, imagine, it only took a month or so for me reach Tier-2, I don't know how that might compare to others but it must still be an amazing feat.
______
As we got closer to the mountain, my heart pounded in excitement and expectation. Hope was present in my eyes, after everything I went through in this godforsaken forest I can finally experience being in human settlement.
I couldn't wait to be in the embrace of my own kind and not some blood-thirsty beast. I can finally talk with humans, even though there was Neph, she couldn't understand all I'm saying so, most of the time, I do the talking.
It was disheartening really.
Even though I am not much of a talker myself, it seems that being all alone had took a toll on my mental health. With Neph around, it became even more apparent as I talk around with her more often than usual.
If before, I barely talk and keep my thoughts in my mind, now I could express it to her. Still, it didn't change the fact that Neph, even though is growing at a fast rate mentally, was but a mere child whose comprehension ain't on the same level as an adult human.
It was much better to talk to someone who can understand and relate to what you're saying, after all.
Soon enough, I could see the foot of the mountain. I had arrived before the night descended just as planned, if not even a bit early.
Infront of me, was the village I had been looking for. The hope and excitement that burned inside my heart was...distinguished.
Thats right! for infront of me was no village. It was ruins! The remains of a village was all there was — rubbles of destroyed houses were on the grounds, some walls stood but looked so old enough that it could be destroyed with just a touch.
A village that suffered against a natural calamity — is all I could say about it.
My face grew dark, my eyes grew colorless. Even Neph was affected by it, she looked disheartened.
She could feel how it was important to me, after all.
I gnashed my teeth and walked into the village of ruins. Houses were destroyed, even the ground was not spared as it was a little cracked.
I walked around and inspected everything that might need noting, all I could tell was that this village had been destroyed long ago.
It was a ghost ruined village, there was no trace of life anywhere, the village wasn't all that big and was actually small, so my inspection didn't take long.
I didn't find any semblance of life, more than that, what was even more disturbing was that I didn't find any bones. It must have been either corroded by time or chewed by beasts.
I entered one of the houses I noticed that was much more preserved and still stood. Even though it had seen better days, I wanted to see what was inside.