Chapter 16: Essence Extraction

After leaving the shop, Kai headed back to the inn. Since he and Luca had decided to meet up there and he had nothing better to do, he figured he might as well relax in his room.

Upon returning, Kai put away his storage bag and took a moment to rest.

After about fifteen minutes of relaxing, Kai began absorbing the surrounding Ki—still lying on his bed.

He continued absorbing Ki for about two hours and managed to increase his Ki reserve by 2 points.

"Stats!"

[User: Kai 

Age: 19 

Ki: 151 

Profession: Apprentice Alchemist 

Innate Ability: Devour 

Heaven Gift: Clear Mind (F), Heightened Senses (E) 

Skills: Fire Control (F)]

"I should get something to eat." Out of nowhere, Kai felt a wave of hunger. Leaving his room, he headed to the dining area.

The kitchen at the inn was open twenty-four/seven, so Kai had no problem filling his stomach.

After returning to his room, Kai continued absorbing Ki. Increasing one's Ki reserve through absorption was a simple but monotonous task—especially in a world without the internet.

As he absorbed Ki, his mind drifted from one topic to another. Even the dark, dangerous thoughts he had been trying to suppress resurfaced.

Still, Kai remained persistent and continued absorbing Ki.

After three hours of continuous Ki absorption, Kai had significantly increased his reserve in a single day.

[Ki: 154]

"It's evening—let's head to the inn's lobby." Checking the time on his clock, Kai got up and left his room.

Stepping out, he made his way to the inn's lobby. Unlike the dining area, which was always lively, the lobby was usually quiet, with only the occasional person passing by.

After waiting for a long time, Kai finally saw Luca entering the inn. Standing up, Kai walked toward him.

"Did I keep you waiting?" Luca felt a little bad for making Kai wait. After returning from hunting, he had planned to head straight to the inn. However, he ran into a friend along the way and got delayed.

"I didn't wait long." Although Kai said that, deep down he was a little annoyed. They had agreed to meet at five, but it was now well past six.

Still, Kai didn't let it bother him too much—he had more important things to focus on.

"Should we grab something to eat first?" Kai offered, suggesting they eat before getting down to business.

"Sure, I'm kinda hungry." Luca wasn't one to turn down free food, so he quickly agreed.

After heading to the dining area, Kai and Luca ordered some food. Although Kai had eaten not too long ago, he felt hungry again after absorbing so much Ki.

"The thing I need your help with is this: Can you use your Ki to extract the essence of this herb?" After finishing their meal, Kai got straight to the point.

"How exactly do you mean to control my Ki and extract the essence?" Luca had a hard time understanding Kai's words—after all, not everyone had knowledge of Alchemy.

"How should I explain this... In simple terms, I need you to form a Ki thread and insert it into this herb. Once the Ki thread is inside, you'll feel the essence of the herb. I need you to pull that out," Kai explained, doing his best to describe what he had seen during the demonstration of the D-rank Gift [Ki Control].

"Let me try."

Following Kai's instructions, Luca formed a Ki thread and attempted to insert it into the Whispering Fern. However, the moment the Ki thread came into contact with the herb, it bounced off.

Seeing this, Luca adjusted his Ki and tried again. This time, the thread passed through the outer layer of the Whispering Fern and reached the essence.

"I feel something," Luca said, as he sensed a type of energy inside the herb—something similar to Ki.

He then tried to bind his Ki to the essence of the Whispering Fern and pulled the Ki thread back out.

Unfortunately, the only thing that came out was the Ki thread—without the essence.

"I can feel what you called the essence, but how am I supposed to take it out?" Luca asked, realizing that extracting the essence of the Whispering Fern was not so simple.

"You need to wrap the essence with your Ki and then pull it out," Kai explained.

According to the books about Herb Weaving, extracting the essence of a herb is supposed to be very easy. You just need to understand the internal structure of the herb, then wrap the essence with your Soul Power and pull it out.

This was why Kai had chosen Whispering Fern and Ironblood Root—because their internal structure is simple, making it easier to extract the essence.

"Okay."

Luca once again formed his Ki into a thread and inserted it into the Whispering Fern. After sensing the herb's essence, he followed Kai's instructions and wrapped his Ki around it.

Making sure the essence was fully coated, Luca then pulled his Ki thread back out of the Whispering Fern.

"This isn't right," Luca muttered, frowning as he saw his Ki return empty-handed. There wasn't even a single droplet of Whispering Fern essence.

He followed Kai's instructions and even felt the essence of the herb move alongside his Ki. However, he still failed to extract the essence.

"One more time."

Luca once again turned his Ki into a thread and guided it inside the Whispering Fern.

"What is this?"

As Luca's Ki entered the Whispering Fern again, he noticed that the essence wasn't as solid as before. Instead, it was now divided into three parts.

He wrapped his Ki around the part that felt smallest and attempted to pull it out. However, the same thing happened again—his Ki thread returned empty-handed.

Kai observed everything and began to have second thoughts about the D-rank Gift [Ki Control].

"I think that's enough."

Sighing in his heart, Kai decided he had seen enough and reached out to take back the Whispering Fern.