Creak Creak Creak
The creaking wagon wheels blended with the sound of leaves rustling in the forest. The warm sunlight filtering through the leaves, making the ground seem like a canvas of light and shadow.
Kass sat in the last wagon of the caravan, his sword resting on his lap as the rhythmic creak of the wheels echoed around him.
'Focus', he thought to himself as he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He was currently meditating to sense the natural mana. The first step began with quietening the mind.
Inhale
He breathed in deeply, the air scented with earth and water droplets, as he tried to feel a world beyond his physical senses. But despite his many attempts at meditation since he had left the village, he had not been able to sense the presence of mana at all. The constant chatter of Tanya and Leonard on the same wagon was not helping either.
Poke Poke
Kass felt something poking his cheek every now and then for a while now, so he had no choice but to stop meditating and open his eyes to look at the culprit who was disturbing him. Unsurprisingly, the one who was teasing him was none other than Tanya.
"You… What are you doing?" Kass, who was about to scold her, was speechless when he saw her innocent expression, so he could only ask what she was doing.
"Kass! It can't be helped. You've been spacing out," Tanya replied. Her cheerful voice still prevented him from scolding the child.
Kass could only keep a straight face and answer her in the calmest tone. "I'm not spacing out. I'm practicing."
"What are you practicing? Daydreaming?" She laughed, nudging Leonard sitting next to her with a nervous smile. "Are you just pretending to practice so you don't have to talk to us? You know, if you put this much effort into talking to us, maybe we'd make progress as a team."
Leonard hesitated for a moment, but then chimed in softly, "Or… you could teach me how to practice together with you too."
Kass decided to ignore them and closed his eyes once more. This time he suppressed the outside chatter with the ability he had practiced in his previous life when he worked as Association receptionist.
He focused on the sounds around him—the sound of wooden wheels hitting the ground, the sound of the wind blowing through the leaves, the faint sounds of animals in the forest. Slowly, his mind descended into silence, searching for the invisible mass of energy that really existed.
And then he felt it: a faint rhythm like a beating heart, moving without any rules. 'There!' He mentally grabbed it. But similar when it suddenly appeared, it vanished just as fast, causing his mind to feel a sense of emptiness.
Frustration rose in his heart. He couldn't do anything but clenched his fists to release his anger. 'It was no different from his previous life. Will it be the same this time?'
In his previous life, mana sensing was a huge obstacle for him. In order to advance to the 4th stage of the Tree of Entis, he needed to have at least one mana-related skill. But he had spent years practicing this skill, so he was only level 32 before he died in his previous life.
"Your mind is restless." Jade's soft voice startled him. She was sitting opposite him, the eye holes on the wooden mask looking straight at him as if looking inside of his mind. "Mana isn't something you can force. You have to let it come to you."
He glanced at her, and said sarcastically. "That's easy for a Soon-to-be Priestess to say." But there were words he didn't say either, 'Especially the youngest Bishop in his previous life, along with her Mana Lord title.'
She didn't answer right away, and she put her chin on her hand to consider her words before speaking in a calm, amused tone, "Even I have to start like you, Kass." She moved her mask to keep it from falling off her face before moving closer to him and reaching out her hand in front of him, speaking softly as if she was talking to herself, "Mana is all around us. You just have to learn to listen to their feelings. But if you can't, let me help you with this."
Kass stared straight at her white hands for a moment before sighing and closing his eyes again, then he reluctantly held her hand. Relying on someone else felt like admitting weakness, but Jade's calm demeanor steadied him. For the first time in this life, he allowed himself to trust others once again.
He stopped seeking mana, pulling his mind back to himself, and made himself still as stagnant water. Slowly, a warmth spread from his hand that was clasping with hers, and it spread to cover his entire body.
The warmth felt like the world itself embracing all living things. His mouth formed a smile. I never thought that in this life I would be able to feel it this quickly with her help. This is how Mana feels like.
Suddenly, a silver system screen appeared in front of him.
[Detected that you have passed the skill acquisition conditions…]
[You have acquired the skill: Mana Sensing]
[Skill Name: Mana Sensing]
[Skill Proficiency: Low(1/1000)]
[Skill Effect]
– Activate this skill to enhance your senses to sense your external mana within a 5 meter radius, including but not limited to the mana of the environment, objects, and creatures.
Kass's breathing slowed as he slowly opened his eyes, then surrounding sounds fading away, replaced by waves of the world's mana surrounding him. He could feel the flow of mana in the ground, in the trees, and even in the air.
But there was something else in his perception, something strange that he couldn't figure out what it was. Unlike mana, it didn't have a smooth, steady rhythm. It gave him the impression that it was cold, scattered, and messy.
He frowned as he tried to focus on the sensation. It was like a whisper in this still and silent world, not knowing where it came from, but it was always there, drawing him to it.
"Something's not right," he muttered, pulling his hand out of Jade's.
"What's wrong?" Jade asked him, pulling her hand back as well.
Kass didn't answer her, but his eyes scanned the interior of the wagon, the canvas separate them from the outside. Suddenly, the sensation intensified, a strange pull. Then he saw it—some particles floating in the air, glowing faintly within his senses.
The particle didn't provide the same warmth as the life-giving mana, but it was so translucent that it was almost invisible to him, and it moved around Tanya strangely, as if it were orbiting her.
Kass reached out cautiously, over Tanya's shoulder where the particle had been moving.
Swoosh!
The moment his hand made contact with it, a jolt shot through his head—not pain or agony, but images that flashed through his mind. They were hazy and distorted, like the images we see when we dream. He staggered back, his heart beating wildly.
"Kass!" Tanya's voice rang out as she hurriedly moved to support him. "Are you alright?"
He looked at her with wide eyes and said in a husky voice. "Not... nothing. I think I'm just a little dizzy."
Jade got up as well, her brow furrowed as she looked at him. "What did you see?" She said in a more serious tone than before.
Kass slowly sat down with Tanya's help, and replied, "I... I just see some particles."
Jade looked around for a moment before turning back to Kass. "I can't sense anything except mana. Are you sure you're not imagining it?"
"I'm not imagining it." Kass blurted back. A sense of hollowness washed over him, because when he turned to Tanya, he found that the particles had vanished as if they had never been there in the first place.
"They're gone," Kass said in a helpless tone.
Jade tilted her head, her voice became quiet again. "What does it feel like?"
Kass hesitated before putting it into words. "It feels… cold and messy and strange, but… familiar at the same time. It's like it's pulling me somewhere." He shook his head, his frustration growing. "I'm sorry, but I can't correctly explain it."
Jade's expression was unreadable behind her mask, but she nodded slowly as if she had found the answer. "Mana is just only one of the forces in the fabric of this world." Jade calmly said. "There are others—forces that twist and pull at reality in ways most can't see. What you accidentally sensed might be one of those."
"But for some reason, I feel like I've encountered it before," Kass muttered unconsciously.
"You've encountered it before?" Tanya asked with a doubtful tone.
"It's nothing," Kass interrupted before closing his eyes, trying to rest before they reached the city.
Kass chose not to tell the whole truth about the images he saw, as the images continued to burned into his mind: a massive figure seated on a bone throne, a golden star consumed by darkness, and… Himself, locked in battle with Another Him.