Outskirts of Windspell City, Magic Botanical Garden. Chen Lan adjusted his faded denim jacket, trudging through emerald - glowing mana vines. The "Cultivator" job posting lied – locals called them "Mule Mages".
Three dilapidated cabins stood at the end of the gravel path, moss crawling up walls like green graffiti. The brass plate "C - 357" swayed on the leftmost door. Flirtatious laughter spilled from the central cabin, while whiskey fumes and country tunes leaked from the right. Chen Lan tightened his dust mask. Back in Brooklyn, he couldn't be bothered to remember his neighbor's cat's name. Now in this world of spellstones and incantations? Survival trumped small talk.
The shack reeked of mildew. His "bedroom" was a storage closet repurposed with a flickering mana bulb. On the crate serving as a desk lay dog - eared manuals: "Magical Flora Cultivation", two basic spell scrolls "Steel Thorns" and "Cloud Dew", plus a stained copy of "Mana Meditation Basics".
"Not even a damn cleaning charm?" Chen Lan kicked a mutated rat carcass. The mana density here was one - third of the garden's tier - 2 energy matrix. The Federal Mana Bureau's slogan echoed mockingly: "Equal access to foundational mana for all citizens." The manual's promise was crueler: "Three years of exceeding quotas grants apprentice mage status." Every Mule Mage knew the truth – silver - starred overseers would "recalibrate" measurement crystals to erase your progress. Last week, some old - timer questioning the quotas got thrown into the rad - zones.
This world judged by "Awakenings", not spiritual roots. When the government - mandated serum hit Chen Lan's veins at sixteen, the evaluator snorted:
[Awakening: Incremental Gains]
[Tier: E]
[Effect: +0.5% mana absorption per mastered skill]
His fingers traced the angry red injection scar. Blue - tier elites were probably lounging in floating academies, not counting mutated mana - wheat under radioactive dust. But they didn't hear the mechanical voice when the serum burned through his veins:
「Secondary energy field detected. Unlimited Evolution System activated – this cheat's way better than your trash - tier Awakening.」