Chapter 46

No one stopped him during the walk back home. Lost in the experience and discoveries made, Kai found himself in front of his door.

Looking at his ugly house, he realized an issue he hadn’t considered. How was he going to explain the kilos of snake meat he packed in his bag? He couldn’t tell his mother the truth on how he got his hands on it. She knew he had spent the day with Moui, but Kai may have skirted on a couple details.

No point making her worry for nothing.

Inside, Alana was the only one present. She was about to start preparing dinner.

“Hi, Mom. I’m back.”

“How did it go? Did you have fun?” Alana appeared at the door of the living room with a smile, then she looked over his clothes. Her face quickly turned into a frown.

“Kai, why did your clothes change color?” A clear warning note in her voice told him he better have a good reason for it.

“I asked Uncle Moui to teach me how to skin an animal.” Kai smiled, sheepishly looking down at his pink shirt. “Well… I wasn’t very good at it, and it got a bit messy.”

Alana raised an eyebrow. “A bit messy you say… I’m not sure any number of washes can fix that.”

Kai nodded, castigated. “Yeah, but I got it in the end. Uncle Moui even gave me this to bring home.” He took out the packaged snake body. Without its scales and guts, it didn’t weigh as much.

“He gave you all that for free?” His mother eyed the pack incredulously.

“Yes, I promised to give him a hand with my mana skills, and he gave me this as payment. He said it was nothing.”

A look of suspicion appeared on Alana’s face. “Didn’t you tell me you were just going to take a stroll on the outskirts of the jungle?”

“Yes, Uncle Moui said we were lucky, he’s a great hunter. He shot all the prey dead with one arrow before I could even see them.”

Kai did his best to look innocent while his mom silently considered if she should accept his story. After a few interminable seconds, she gave him a sharp nod, seemingly convinced. How else could she explain this, except with Moui being so good and generous? Certainly, she would not dare imagine her favorite son wrestle to the death with the snake to earn it.

Spirits be praised for the Acting skill!

Alana had her smile back. “Well, don’t stand there then. Bring it to the kitchen. We need to cook that while it’s fresh.”

“Yes, Mom.”

If properly treated, red-tier meat would remain good for a few days. Naturally, Kai didn’t plan to specify that particular tidbit of information. The boa hadn’t been a powerful beast, with a bit of luck, Alana wouldn’t be able to tell the difference.

“And don’t forget to thank Moui next time you see him. This was… very generous of him.”

“Yes, Mom.”

As the sun rose over the sea the next day, Kai stretched his limbs under the sheets of his bed. He was still sore from the fight in the jungle, but his body and the healing potion had shown their worth.

Last night he took another healing tonic to make sure. In a couple days, he would be as good as new. He planned to take his physical training more lightly in the meantime.

Standing on the pebble beach with the waves and wind sending droplets of salty water his way, Kai focused on Meditation, moving through his weapon stances. He had practiced them countless times, by now they were ingrained into his bones.

Slowly going through each movement, he calmed his breathing and fell into a meditative state. His thoughts stopped wandering back to the shocking revelations of the previous day and focused only on the task at hand.

A small distance away, a group of kids were looking at him and chuckling amongst themselves. He didn’t care, letting their voices flow over him until they faded away. There was only him and his wooden sword. His mind and body were light. Clear of doubts.

Finishing his practice without haste, he sat by the shore. He wanted to keep this state going a little longer.

Yesterday had been a reality check. The fight with the boa reminded him of how ruthless this world could be. If he found himself in the wrong place at the wrong time, his life could easily be forfeited. One stray awakened beast deciding to take a stroll outside the heart of Veeryd was all it took.

Even on Earth, some risks were unavoidable. You couldn’t predict if you would meet a drunk driver while crossing a street or get sick with an incurable illness. People could only live their lives hoping for the best or, in his case, make peace with their fates.

On Elydes it was different, and not for the better. He could be careful and avoid the most dangerous areas. Keep a low profile and pray to the spirits to protect him. It was a game of numbers and probabilities. The chance of something going wrong was not something remote here. Unless he hid under a rock, the question was not if something would go wrong, but when.

Even the peaceful Baquaire Archipelago hid numerous dangers, and Kai did not want to remain stranded in this corner of the world forever. There was a continent to explore. Maybe more than one.

Strength and power may not be everything, but he needed a good dose of both if he wanted to keep the chances of an early death low. In his previous life, he had lost a game with far better odds. He wasn’t going to take it laying down this time, leaving it in the hands of fate. He was going to do everything possible to push the numbers in his favor.

Speaking of which, I should look into ways to increase my Favor. Maybe it’s not all random probability. Not on Elydes at least.

As for the discovery regarding Life Experience, he suspected there must be a reason why few people reached the peak of Orange. It was a huge blow, but not enough to chip away at his determination. At least everyone was on an equal field.

The lack of will from the islanders made more sense now. From what everyone said, the archipelago was incredibly safe compared to any other place on Talthen. For that same reason, it also offered fewer opportunities for growth. The Guide could only help so much. Someone would need an iron will and years of hard work to rise above the chasm of Orange and reach Yellow.

In light of how Life Experience worked, his early start advantage appeared even more valuable. He didn’t always have the best discipline for training, but even in his earliest years, he must have gained significantly more weekly XP than any child.

It might still not be enough to compare him to the golden babies on the mainland, but he was miles ahead of the natives of the archipelago.

I may not have won the lottery, but I got a pretty good ticket. Now l need to make the most of it while it lasts.

Around an hour later, Kai was in front of Moui’s house. His lips curled in a slight smile. In his mind, he still remembered how Virya laughed after hearing he had a Teaching skill. Who knew what she would say if she saw him now, about to give a lesson on mana.

“Hi, Uncle, ready to start?” Kai greeted him excitedly.

Maui grunted a yes, but his face said otherwise. The hunter had a somber appearance, wondering what he had been thinking when he agreed to this.

Kai’s grin grew wider. This would be the perfect opportunity to have a little fun. The temptation was strong and Moui seemed to know that too.

A small voice in his head kept telling him that it was payback for the day before.

Stop yourself. Don’t fall to the dark side!

On the other hand, his boring side reminded him of all the times Moui had helped him. If he wanted to balance their relationship, he shouldn’t take advantage of this opportunity to mess with him.

Luckily for the big man, Kai felt in a charitable mood. Having an adult listen and follow his instructions would already be fun. He could try to be fair.

“Did you take the Mana Manipulation skill, Uncle?”

Moui nodded.

“What about Mana Sense?”

“I don’t have space for that.”

Kai sighed, exasperated. They had gone over this point many times the previous day. His uncle was so stubborn and short-sighted, refusing to take one of the best skills ever.

“Do as you want, but it is not going to be easy to control something you can’t see.”

“You said internal mana manipulation wasn’t hard,” Moui rebutted.

Trying to use my words against me? You are still a rookie.

“Well, I meant it was easy for me. You on the other hand…” Kai raised his hands and shrugged. “Who knows if you’re talented enough.”

All hesitation fell away from the hunter’s demeanor. “Try me.”

I guess it was no accident he reached his level.

“Fine, we’ll see how this goes.”

Since he was the only one with Mana Sense, Kai needed to be the eyes for both. He didn’t exactly have a plan on how to tackle this, but he tried not to show that.

“Are you sure you know what you’re doing?” Moui asked at Kai’s prolonged silence.

“Do you want my help or not?” Kai snapped. “You can go look for someone else. I’m sure old Selly can hook you up with some charlatan more to your taste. Doubt she will have a mana skill, but maybe being an old fossil matters more to you.”

Moui raised his hands to pacify him. “Just tell me what to do.”

Assuming what he thought was a dignified pose, Kai asked the hunter to show him what he could do with Mana Manipulation while he observed. To his surprise, something actually happened. The considerable amount of mana in Moui’s body shook like an angry storm, beginning to influence the area around him too.

“Yeah, that is something. Even if what we need to achieve is the opposite.” Kai tried not to sound impressed. It was just a rough show of strength with no technique, but he still remembered how long it took him to move a few motes of mana and unlock the skill.

Without careful control, mana had little use. Telling the hunter to focus on his hand, Kai gave him different instructions and exercises he came up with on the fly. Using his Mana Sense, he could tell Moui what worked and what did not.

If the stars aligned and his plan worked, the hunter might gain some amount of mana perception through touch rather than sight. At least, that was the theory Kai came up with.

Time flew as they focused on their respective skills. And Moui was growing frustrated, even if he tried not to show it.

Did you think mana skills were easy? Where is all your bravado?

Kai had to use every creative neuron in his brain to invent and adjust his exercises.

I don’t get paid enough for this.

It would all have been much easier if Moui just took Mana Sense, but no, he had to make things difficult. There had been some progress. Either the hunter was decently talented, or his higher stats were helping. Probably both.

Moui was giving his all, but this wasn’t something that could be resolved with brute strength alone. Mana Manipulation required finesse in equal measure. The more impatient he was, the worse it got.

“Let’s take a break. It’s past lunchtime,” Kai said. They both needed a break anyway, and he was hungry.

Moui nodded somberly.

Kai put on an encouraging smile. “You’re doing great. Mana skills are among the hardest to train. These things take time. I’m sure you’ll get it.”

There you go, a bit of positive reinforcement. Tell me I’m not the best teacher in the world.

Moui got busy in his kitchen. Unsurprisingly meat was the main dish. The hunter sure knew how to cook a steak.

“How strong are awakened beasts in the heart of the jungle?” Kai asked between one bite and the next. It was always a good time to learn more things.

Moui chewed and swallowed before answering. “Very strong. The low mana stops many animals from awakening, but once they manage to unlock their Guide, the scarce mana doesn’t inhibit their growth.”

“Don’t beasts use mana to grow?” Kai had always assumed that was how it worked. That they were qualitatively different from sentient species. Could they just gain XP by being animals and keep growing?

Thankfully Moui stopped his fears. “They can grow passively by absorbing more mana or slowly earn a little XP by hunting and surviving, but those are both slow. The main method beasts are known and feared for is devouring. Be it other beasts, compatible mana treasures, or people…”

Seeing his scared look, Moui smiled. “Don’t worry, they prefer other beasts’ meat. That’s why they remain in the deeper parts of the Veeryd jungle.”

“Are there any yellow-tier beasts?”

“One,” Moui said.

“One?” Kai asked confused. “How can you be sure there’s one, but not more?”

“Because the king of Veeryd kills any other beast before it can break through to yellow.”

That sounded a lot like an underground legend. Kai was a bit skeptical. “What kind of beast is it?”

“There are always groups of young fools who go to the heart looking for it and don’t come back. But you’ve seen its scales when I sold them to the merfolk merchant.”

Kai remembered the strange emerald scales. They had been as big as his palm.

“I found them by chance when I was still an inexperienced hunter. Most say it’s a colossal snake or a drake. The truth is much worse: it’s a basilisk.”

“A basilisk?” An image popped into Kai’s mind, several of them. “What’s a basilisk?”

Moui had lost his smirk. “A fucking huge reptile, but you won’t see it coming until it wants you to. A drop of its poison is enough to kill any adult man no matter his grade. And its gaze pierces your soul, leaving nothing but sheer terror. It could kill you before you had time to react, but it rarely gives that mercy. It loves playing with its food, enjoying the chase.”

Moui turned silent after that, in a gloomy mood. It didn’t take a genius to guess this story was a bit more personal than he let on. For once, Kai didn’t feel like prying.

“Let’s go back to mana training.”

The conversations with Moui sure never disappointed.