Awakening skills II

The mage was seated at a desk reading an old book when Khaos entered dragging behind him the carcass of the reindeer. 

" Impressive! So you killed it yourself?" His voice hinted surprise. 

Khaos bowed. "The deer willed itself to be killed, formidable lord." He couldn't help but feel a sense of pride in his accomplishment.

Zorvath chuckled. "Nice thought, but I think your wit felled it, not its willingness. Okay?" He eyed him with a hint of amusement.

"Okay" Khaos nodded hastily, knowing better than to annoy the powerful mage. "Where shall I prepare the meal?" He asked, eager to please.

"Over there" he pointed to an hearth. "I'm going to watch you eat the lot of it"

"But ..." Khaos was about to protest. "it will help you recover your health, as for the lost mana we'll do something about that" the mage explained and returned to his reading while Khaos got to work. 

Without looking up from the book, the mage instructed him on how to properly cook it, the what and what not to put in it in the end he looked on as Khaos who never realized he this ravenous ate a significant amount of it...

" Thank you for your generosity, formidable..."

Zorvath gave a wary smile. " I beginning to get sick of this bootlicking "formidable" of yours"

"But what do I call you" Xi'an asked perplexed. Zorvath narrowed his eyes. " Just call me master or simply Zorvath, now get yourself some well earned rest" the mage said and left Khaos who fell into an easy doze. 

He woke a few hours later and saw that the mage had not returned, he yawned. " Every thing feels real in here, even sleep"

" I see you're awake now" a voice boomed from a different room, he headed in the direction of that voice and spotted the mage sitting at a desk studying the same book. 

" I understand that you might like to be on your way now" the mage said with a smile and Khaos thought about this, sure enough he did have a couple calls to make later in the real world, the mage looked him deeply in the eyes. " You may go and return anytime you need to" he informed him and thanking the mage Khaosreluctantly left...

He opened his eyes and discovered that he was back at his humble abode as a human, it was 4pm. He had played the game for just an hour in real time. He planned on playing the game for the remainder of that day. 

He made quick calls to whom it was deserved, nibbled a little of his lunch, downed a cup of milky coffee and returned to his gaming throne, there he logged back into the game. 

He appeared back into the game and strolled to the mage's home and knocked on the door. 

" Come on in, Khaos" The mage called jovially and the door magically opened on its own. 

" I'm back master" Khaos said. 

" Yeah, I can see that, so how can I help you?" He asked curious

" Honourable..." Zorvath pegged him with a hard stare... "Master" he corrected " I would like to acquire some skills and I think you can help me with that"

Zorvath thought about this " okay but first let's do something about you non existent mana, follow me" he said and led him to a dark room illuminated by a blue glowing portal. 

" C'mon" he urged and passed through, they emerged in front of a tree in the garden. 

" Now this is your first lesson not one exactly for beginners but I have a good feeling about you, they call it " The Active Mana Generation Technique" 

Xi'an narrowed his eyes, intrigued " and what do you call it?" 

" The Active Mana Generation Technique" he replied dismissively "Now let's begin, close your eyes and follow my instructions I believe you have an infinite grasp of your mana lobe" he said and got a blank stare 

 "Oh dear"he muttered to himself "okay, let's start with the basics, close your eyes and consentrate on your self till you can hear a quiet clicking in your head" he instructed keeping a watchful gaze on Khaos who eagerly complied and after a full thirty minutes had passed heard the click. 

 " Good now without opening your eyes concentrate on your surroundings. What do you see?"

 He could see everything in different shades of red depending on their active life force, Zorvath of course being the greatest looked like an active volcano. 

 " I..." Khaos began but Zorvath cut in. " Nevermind I can read your thoughts" he said quickly " now all what you see is the active life force around you, you can absorb them but it will lead to the death of the organism you choose, are you with me so far?"

 Khaos nodded almost imperceptibly but Zorvath was watching his every move " Good now concentrate on the tree behind me and absorb It's life force" he narrowed his gaze " slowly". 

 Khaos let out a deep breath and concentrated on the tree slowly pulling out its life force and absorbing slowly and soon began to feel a sudden heat. " Go on, you're almost there" Zorvath urged noting the way leaves wilted of the tree at alarming rates. Then Khaos began to feel really hot. 

 " Don't you dare let go now!" Zorvath hissed and Khaos have another deep breath while he absorbed the last strand of life force the tree had, then opened his eyes as he senses a sudden movement. The tree which had once been a healthy hunk of wood fell to the ground now twisted, gnarled and devoid of life. 

 "New skill acquired ( Active Mana Generation), Mana upgrade unlocked and new level 2..." A notification alerted him. 

 " Well done! You can now perform it easily enough without blowing up" Zorvath said 

 Khaos smiled, pleased with his progress. "Thank you, Master." He bowed, grateful for the mage's guidance.

Zorvath chuckled. "No thanks, you just gave me fresh firewood!" He snapped his fingers, and the tree's remains vanished...