Adam found himself floating in the mysterious white space once again. For a moment, he got frightened but then his eyes lit up. "I'm finally back here!"
Ever since he acquired the white lotus, he had been trying all sorts of ways to get inside this mysterious space, which he believed to be the interior of the lotus. But no matter what he tried, he would never succeed.
But now all of a sudden, he found himself back in this place, and he was elated. He looked around at the bright white spots curiously.
"I wasn't able to find out more about this place last time…" Adam tried to swim around in the air. "Just what are these lights—"
The words got stuck in his mouth when he saw what was happening in the distance. More and more glowing white spots were popping up!
"What the…" Adam was speechless. He looked around and saw that bright spots were popping up everywhere, albeit at a slow rate.
All of a sudden, close to a hundred white spots appeared out of nowhere!
Adam was stunned. "Just what the hell is going on?!"
He couldn't understand what these white spots were and how exactly they were appearing in this space. Hell, he didn't even know how he appeared in this place.
The white spots had stopped popping up now. Adam swam towards the closest white spot. This mote of light was only the size of his nail. He took a few deep breaths to calm his beating heart.
"Nothing ventured, nothing gained." He encouraged himself and touched the light without hesitation!
Adam closed his eyes in preparation for what was to come. To be honest, he didn't even know what he was expecting. Nothing happened for a few seconds, but then…
Calm.
Unprecedented tranquility.
Adam felt as if his mind had expanded. Mentally, he felt rejuvenated. He had never felt such a satisfying sensation in his life. It was almost as if his soul had been strengthened!
He didn't know for how long he was lost in this foreign feeling. Only when another white mote of light appeared in this mysterious space, did he finally open his eyes.
"I feel… reborn."
His eyes were shining as he looked around as if he had found treasure. Adam was extremely excited. "That feeling right now… I feel it's very beneficial for my soul."
Adam didn't even know what a soul was, he had only heard a few bards mention it in their romantic songs. But he instinctively felt that the white motes in this space had strengthened him mentally.
He looked at the thousands of motes of light in this mysterious space and involuntarily gulped. "What if… I consume all these lights?"
With a wide grin on his face, he swam to the closest white mote and stretched his hand out to grab it. But all of a sudden, he felt a firm hand on his shoulder and the scene around him instantly changed.
"Hey, you alright?" A voice snapped him back to his senses.
"Huh?" Adam looked around in bewilderment. "Where… where am I?"
Alex looked at him in amusement. "Oh? Did you pass out while standing on your feet? What a guy!"
It took a moment for Adam to realize what exactly was happening. Looking around, he noticed that the wolves were nowhere to be seen. The mercenaries and the children were being tended to by the less injured ones.
"It's… over…" He was relieved that they were out of danger. Before he could reply to the blue-eyed Magus, his eyes rolled over and he immediately lost consciousness.
The gruesome battle from earlier where he was almost killed by a wolf, and the massive blood loss from his left arm had left him incapacitated. Exhaustion finally overcame him.
…
The radiant rays of the sun passed through the window of the moving carriage and gently landed on the face of a fifteen-year-old boy. The youth had taken an entire seat in the carriage and was sleeping soundly.
This boy was none other than Adam.
Slowly, he opened his eyes which appeared to be deeper than before. He then got up and found that his left arm had been fully bandaged and there were blood stains on it.
"Ow!" He sharply breathed. Even a little bit of movement sent pangs of pain through his nerves.
"Good morning, Adam!" A cheerful voice entered his ears. Adam looked up and saw that it was a girl with brown hair who was smiling amiably at him.
"Eh?" Adam was puzzled. This was the first time another child from the traveling party had greeted him. But then he realized why this was happening.
In the battle last night, he had fended off many wolves and happened to save quite a lot of kids who were behind him.
She must be one of them, I guess. Adam was certain in his heart.
He forced a smile at the girl and asked, "Where are we currently?"
One of the other children, a boy, beside her replied, "We're further inside the Crest Valley."
"I see…" Adam nodded. He was feeling slightly overwhelmed by the sudden friendliness shown by his peers. Until last night, everyone avoided him simply because of his status as a commoner.
But after the kids saw him fight last night, they had a change of heart. Everyone respected the strong. Moreover, some of the children were also saved by Adam so they were naturally grateful for him.
Adam turned his head to look at the moving scenery outside the window. He had completely thrown out the matter of last night's gruesome battle as well as Jeffrey's intention to kill him to the back of his mind.
What he was now pondering about was the mysterious space inside the white lotus. His speculations about his soul being strengthened were already proving to be correct.
He felt his perception increase ever so slightly, his thoughts were running smoothly, and overall, he felt his mind operate much better than before.
But most importantly…
Adam had a feeling that he now knew how to access that mysterious space at will!