"You mentioned of positive and negative states of mana, but isn't there something called neutral state?" Rayne inquired, hoping for some miracle to happen so he could awaken his mana without suffering. He did not lose hope.
"Oh! That actually exist." Max answered, giving Rayne a bit of hope. Then Max continued, "But humans does not have the capability to produce it."
In Rayne's mind, a string of hope that he was holding into suddenly snapped. Then he fell in to a pool of cold water. This woke him up from his delusions. He could only accept his fate and go through it.
"Now. Let me ask you. Do you have the courage and try the Hostile Mana Injection method to awaken your dormant mana?"
After being asked by Max, Rayne thought hard about it. Aside from the painful experience, another reason is actually bothering him for a while now. If he really had a dormant mana in him.
After a careful consideration, Rayne looked at Max in the eyes and said, "Let's do it."
'I am already a nobody in the real world. I would not let it happen in this world as well.' Rayne thought himself. Even with the risk involved, he willed himself to face it head on and overcome such hurdle. He was determined as he want to be a successful person, in here at least.
Seeing the conviction in Rayne's eyes, Max stood up and said as he went to one of the racks, "Good. Don't worry, I have already known of your capabilities, I have confidence to awaken your dormant mana. You just have to man-up, grit your teeth and endure the pain."
He then retrieved a golden glove that have a red jewel with the size of a marble embedded on it. He wore the glove on his hand and return to where Rayne is, positioning himself in his back.
"Are you ready?" Max asked, opening and closing the hand with the glove on. He could feel Rayne's anxiety and nervousness.
It took Rayne a while to resolve himself and answered, "I am ready."
"Use this."
Max provided him with a something to bite on.
Rayne immediately accepted and affixed it in his mouth. then took a couple of deep breathes and prepare himself, physically and mentally. He felt Max's hand on his shoulder as he apply force to hold him in his position. He felt a tinge of danger from behind as Max began to inject a precise amount of mana in the gloves.
Without further ado, Max began the ordeal as he touched Rayne's back.
[Argh!....Argh!....Argh!...]
Long muffled screams filled the basement room as Max continuously injected hostile mana into Rayne's body.
Pain invaded every corner of Rayne's body. For the while, he was able to endure the pain, akin to a sore body being hit. But as time goes by, the pain only intensified, as if being poke by thousands of needles all over. One could only compare it to torture. And this was not the worse of it.
On the first hour mark, Max needed to pin him down on the floor as he tried to struggle and run away to escape from the unbearable pain.
On the second hour mark, he began to bleed as small cuts appeared all over his body
On the third hours mark, Max stopped injecting mana into him and focused on pinning him down.
On the fifth hour mark, blood began to flow in all orifice of his face.
On the last hour mark, his body began to emit a hint of mana, which began to slowly heal him.
The whole ordeal lasted for a total of 6 hours. But to Rayne who had suffered from it, it was definitely longer. He was covered with a combination blood, sweat, snot and whatever bodily fluid that discharge out of him, in addition to the countless cuts all over his body.
"D-d-d-d-did... I... suc-c-c-ceed?...." Rayne asked, using all last of his strength he could muster as Max helped him up.
Max smiled and replied, "You did, kiddo. But don't lose consciousness now. You have to stay awake for a while more."
Rayne just nodded, gritting his teeth.
They headed to a room still in the basement where a tub half-full of water containing different types if herbs was prepare beforehand.
"This will help you with your recovery." Max informed, helping him remove his clothes and enter the tub. "Remember. You must stay awake."
Although he was not able to talk at the moment, he still sincerely bowed his head to Max to express his appreciation and gratefulness. One must know that the herbs in the tub was not cheap. Not all people would be this generous to their relatives, much less him who can be said to be a complete stranger to them.
Pain again began to assaulted his body as he entered the tub full of medicine and herb as his body's sensitivity was at its peak.
'This must be the effect of the herbs and medicine.' Rayne assumed as he grimaced with pain. 'I will not forget their kindness and will definitely pay this debt in the future. I must.' he reminded himself as he closed his eyes to rest but remaining awake.
Max left him to his own device after telling him he would just get him something to drink.
Silence once again return in the inn's basement, a total opposite of the long muffled screams which filled it few hours ago.
Time passed by, and little by little, the pain he felt began to subside. His energy was also recovering bit by bit, enabling him to move his body again. Though, his body is still sore from the ordeal and he still felt pain as he move, it's something within his tolerable level. He then wash himself up, removing the blood combined with his bodily fluids that had dried up, sticking on his body and face.
Having been soaked for a while now in the medical bath and cleaned himself up, he could easily discern the noticeable changes in his body. His skin are not very healthy and glossy as his muscles are more pronounce and full of vigor. His senses had also sharpened, even being able to faintly detect the mana in his immediate surrounding.
"Such a wonderful feeling." Rayne mumbled, voicing out his feelings.