Alex sat next to a tree, around him, some vegetation and the dense veil of night. By his side, a small oil lantern illuminated the book in his hands and his back was reclined on his backpack that served as a cushion.
[Incredible seeker of truth, congratulations on learning your first spell 'Thunder Sparks'. With this, you are officially a lower-level acolyte! Surviving up to here, you have shown yourself capable of overcoming the difficult statistics! Don't be discouraged, despite the funneling being even greater in the future, you will certainly be brilliant!]
[With this book, you learned:1: Mana absorption.2: Basic magic theory.3: Mana paths.4: Basic ancient language.5: Initial spell 'Thunder Sparks'.]
[I, the great master Kenuvel, owner of the great abyssal tower, wish you luck.]
As if he had forgotten to put something important, a note written
'Oh, dear acolyte, take this too.' lay on the inside of the back cover.
"Take what? Old man, did you forget to give the last piece of information?!" Exclaimed Alex, confused, as he flipped the last page back and forth looking for what old Kenuvel meant, when just before he stopped looking thinking the old man was just senile, he noticed a slight embossed mark in the middle of the writing.
Running his finger over it, Alex closed his eyes and felt a small and simple magical formation that, once activated with a bit of mana, opened a small crack in the hard cover of the book."Huh?! What is this?" Alex asked, as he dug with his finger into the cover and pulled out the large piece of paper hidden in the cover.
"A map? Seriously? Why didn't you just give me something? Also, where is this?" Alex said, taking the map from his backpack and comparing it to Kenuvel's map. "No reference points? Ah... I can't believe that old Kenuvel's gift isn't even on the region of the 7 kingdoms. Also, I need to see if I can find a map of beyond the seas, I need to know the basic geography of this world.".
"Now, let's now take a look at the Knight book." Alex said, conjuring the other book in his hands.
~~~
"Hmm, so that's how it works. It's similar to a breathing technique in cultivation novels that I read in my previous world. While mana focuses on merging its reserves into a mental space, Qi is a denser natural energy that strengthens the physical and even the soul... By the way, what's the difference between the mind and the soul? Is it just a matter of nomenclature?" Alex rhetorically asked, looking at the dark blue sky with yellowish hues of the sun that was just rising.
"Well, I have to go back to the camp to help the guys store things... But first, I've been noticing that I feel less and less sleepy. 4, 3 and now just 2 hours can meet all my needs. This certainly has something to do with my mental space." Alex says, entering the mysterious space.
In the distance, the large vortex continued to spin, not as large as when he himself interfered, but still continuous and automatic. A mana-sucking machine always turned on.
Exiting the mental space, Alex dusts off his butt as he gets up, puts on his backpack, and looks at a tree next to him.
"Surgat fulgura"*ZAP*
Following the sharp noise of lightning, a bright blue spark comes out of Alex's finger and runs directly to the tree, which receives the unfair attack. With the faint smell of burnt wood and the sap that flowed from the wound in the tree, Alex bounces back to the camp.
~~~
"Hey Alex, there you are. I also woke up with a stomachache." Said the bald Kelvin, seeing Alex coming out of the woods.
Smiling and awkwardly running his hand through his hair, Alex just replies: "Good morning, Kelvin, how are you?".
"Not much better than you, I think yesterday's provisions were spoiled...".
"...".
"Well, but I'm excited. Tonight we'll have as much beer as our pockets can handle!".
"Beer? What do you mean?" Asked Alex, confused.
"Boy, sometimes I think you don't listen when we talk to you." Said the bald man, joking with an irritated tone. "We're going to the tavern in the small village of Copper Miners." He added.Alex, on the other hand, tried to remember what that was about:
**. **. **. **"So I told him, if you're the one paying, I'm in!" -Bald Kelvin.
"Hahahahah!".x3 -Extras.
I guess they're just going to talk about how much they drank. Let me take a look at my mental space.
Ahh... this mental space is so nice to be in... And that whirlpool is still active, hmm... Well, whatever, I'll rest a little here.
"..."."...".
By this time I should already be back, otherwise they'll think I died sitting down.
"Hey, Alex, are you coming with us?" Kelvin, the bald man, asked.
"Huh? What, sure... Where are we going?"
"Stop messing around, kid!" Said bald Kelvin.
"Hahahahah!".x3**.**.**.**
"Ah, so that's what they were talking about." He thought internally.
"Ah, yes, yes. Of course, I remember." He replied.
"...".
"Here, let me help you." Alex said, changing the subject.
"By the way, Alex, why don't you call me big brother? I don't mind, but it's quite rude to call someone older just by their..." The bald man was saying until he suddenly stopped speaking. In front of him, Alex showed an uncomfortably emotionless face and his eyes, once bright, which even exuded a pure air due to their light color, were now opaque and empty.
"A-Alex?" Kelvin stammered.
After a brief moment, Alex's face finally came out of that disturbing state of coldness and, with a regretful face, while holding his neck to calm down, he said: "I'm sorry, Kelvin... I can't explain much but... Let's just say I have a problem with this big brother thing.".
"Ah.. I-I'm the one who should apologize, kid. I didn't know this was a sensitive issue for you."."You're not to blame, Kelvin, it's okay." Alex said, in an apologetic tone.
"Well, kid, finish tidying up these things here and I'll take care of my underp-
*Cough - Cough*, underbrush...".
"...".
"It's my responsibility to deal with this... Haha... See you later, kid." Said the bald man, all awkward as he ran to another corner of the camp.
*Sigh*
Watching the silly bald man leave, Alex sighs: "I lost control a bit when I heard 'big brother'... Kelvin is a good guy, I hope my loss of control didn't harm our relationship..." He murmured, while helping to tidy up the camp for the trip.
~~~
"Hahahahah."x7
"Drink this, little brother." Kelvin said, handing Alex a beer mug the size of a blender."Yeah, it seems like I thought too much." Alex thought, relieved.
"I don't drink, bald Kelvin.".
"Y-you are..." Kelvin was saying, with his face and bald head red from drunkenness, until he suddenly stopped.
*Burp*
A huge burp came out of Kelvin's mouth, his face reddening a little more, as he finished his sentence: "A sissy?".
Surprised, Alex raised one of his eyebrows, thinking "What did this drunk bald man say?"Taking the abnormally sized mug from the red bald man's hand, Alex looked at the drink inside.
*Swallow* "Damn, when was the last time I drank? I was what, 17?" He thought uncertainly.Seeing Alex's action, the reddened bald man looked curious and slurred some dragged words "Ah good, I thought you were a sissy..." Not satisfied, noticing Alex's indecision, Kelvin cheered: "Chug! Chug! Chug! Chug!".
Hearing the call of the challenge, soon the other guys at the table were drumming and cheering: "Chug! Chug! Chug! Chug!"
Swallowing dryly at the sight of the crowd, Alex, gathering courage and accepting the challenge, with a serious and focused expression, brings the large mug to his mouth, pouring the cold liquid.
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