Cultivation

"Are you alright?"

The old man asked after seeing Kaiden's worried expression. He's unsure what was happening but it seems that fixing the Magic Item was indeed a difficult job.

"I'm still fine. Just allow me to concentrate for a while."

Kaiden answered as he put all his attention into absorbing the excessive mana within the Magic Item.

Every person living in this world has a level of affinity with mana.

Depending on how they will utilize this affinity, the people can become Magicians who can control the mana as a means of creating new things or perhaps use it as a medium in combat.

However, right now, Kaiden is using a technique that will only be popularized after about 8 more years.

This is the Mana Body Cultivation and the Players will be using it to achieve the requirement for the Awakening… No, perhaps they are already using it at this time since the Players should be in the southern region of the continent by now.

'Urgh… This is tougher than I expected.' Kaiden thought as he failed to properly gauge the difficulty of this task.

It was because he miscalculated the frailness of his current body.

Nevertheless, he's already in the situation and he needs to redeem himself.

'Urgh...'

The Mana violently flowed in his body as he endured the pain…

'I'm full… I need to release the excessive mana…'

As he thought of this, he suddenly had an idea.

He closed his eyes and concentrated.

On the other hand, the old man watched the young man nervously as he waited for him to complete whatever he was doing.

Whoom~

A shield made out of mana covered Kaiden's whole body… The shield wasn't just big but it was also thick enough to block any physical damage caused by an adult person. It may be weak in front of an Awakened or Magician, but it is still very impressive for a young man like him…

The store owner was surprised from seeing this Mana Shield but he kept his silence.

Time had passed as Kaiden stabilized the Mana within his body… He felt that his Mana Body will be 2 or 3 % percent complete after this. A pitiful amount but it is already impressive.

As a matter of fact, it is easier to achieve a Mana Body when a person is young compared to adults.

He remembered before that when he started his body cultivation, it took him a day just to fill his body with Mana.

It was due to his previous body not being used to it. Aside from that, the environment where he grew up didn't allow him to cultivate the mana.

Nevertheless, once the body is filled with mana, Kaiden has to guide it to his heart and other vital areas of his body. After completing this process several times, he'll be able to achieve a Mana Body and fulfill a requirement for the Awakening.

As the old man waited for Kaiden to finish, he noticed that the Memory Bank Crystal became deep blue in color!

"You fixed it!"

"I told you, didn't I?"

Kaiden replied as he smiled widely. It wasn't an easy job and he wanted to boast a little. After all, it was really difficult with his current frail body.

"Can I have a little rest for now?"

"Go ahead… Let me check the Crystal for now."

"Sure…"

Before Kaiden left to find a chair where he can sit and rest, the old man suddenly called out to him.

"Kaiden, Thank you for your help this time… You can call me Hanson for now…"

"Sir Hanson? Alright... I will. You can go ahead and check the item for now. I'm sure it has precious contents."

"I will." Hanson even bowed a little as he thanked the young man.

As soon as Kaiden left the room. He quickly found a sit to stabilize the mana in his body…

Because it was his first time using the cultivation method, his body was somehow rejecting the mana and stopping him from increasing his strength…

Meanwhile, as soon as the young boy left, Hanson quickly checked the Memory Bank Crystal…

"Amazing!"

The contents were preserved and the Magic Item no longer shows any signs of malfunctioning or being destroyed…

It was a very fascinating work by Kaiden.

After celebrating for a short time, Hanson suddenly realized how mysterious the kid was. After all, Kaiden knows about the issue on his magic item which should be only known by the Magicians whom he asked to resolve the problem.

It was suspicious.

"Well, it shouldn't matter now."

Since the young boy solved the problem that was troubling him for several days, he decided not to look too much into his background.

Hanson then went downstairs to prepare the Emblem of Fate for Kaiden. It was his time to fulfill his end of the bargain.

Although he's about to lose several thousand gold coins in his investment, he didn't mind it at all and was even thinking of suggesting another useful item. However, after thinking about it, he decided to just let him look around his store and find something for himself.

Anyway, he noticed that Kaiden was still resting so he didn't bother him for now.

After another 10 minutes of waiting, the young boy finally opened his eyes.

"I did it!"

It was a success. He managed to incorporate the mana within his body!

Finally! He can use this tiny amount of mana to defend himself from the enemies.

As he celebrated for a moment, the old man then approached him to give the reward he asked for.

"Here is the Emblem of Fate… And I told you before that I'll give you one more item. Just choose one from my collections…"

"Really?! Thank you! But please, give me some time to check the items displayed."

He didn't think Hanson was serious about the deal so he couldn't help but be a bit shocked.

"Haha… Alright. Go ahead, young man."

***

After finding a piece of impressive equipment, Kaiden returned home like he didn't do anything crazy outside.

His father was still not at home and his mother was still at the clinic… She may be giving birth to Rian as of now.

"Mhmm…"

As he was thinking of visiting his mother, he suddenly recalled the place where the medallion was pulled out by his father…

'It should be about here…'

Clank! Clank!

A secret drawer suddenly opened from the floor. He found it!

As soon as he saw the contents of the drawer, he quickly closed the plank covering it as the medallion would be safe in there for the next seven years.

'I can't rush things...' Kaiden said as he went to his room to clean his body with a damp cloth before going to bed.