The day was still bright, and over Ren's stay in Enesh, he had noticed something particular about the time, and that was that the day was longer than night. On Earth, day and night were equal, both at twelve hours, with night starting upon sunset, but Enesh's split was different. Day almost felt twice as long as night, with the world plunging in darkness quickly upon sunset. He still had no way of telling the time however, but he could tell that he still had enough time to go further into the woods and test his abilities before sunset.
Tunish was laid back, everyone woke up when they wanted, worked when they wanted and everything worked fine enough. Ren had been quite the hard worker back, and yet, the village's laid back nature was getting to him, he got up whenever, there was no competition to motivate him, and contrary to Eldrad's words, the village was safe enough. However, when he realized that with his system, he could get much stronger, and could possibly test his strengths, he got some of the motivation he had lost.
He charged into the forest, hoping to test just how fast he could go, and how well he could react to obstacles. His steps were light, he had more energy than he thought, and avoiding the trees came easily. With a swoosh here and there, a sidestep, he avoided tree trunks that were sure to break his nose should he hit them.
He suddenly stopped noticing a sizable boulder, and a fallen tree right next to it. The tree was by no means massive, considerably on the smaller side compared to most of the trees in the forest but nevertheless, it was a good test for strength.
He went after the fallen tree first, tensing his muscles. He gripped it tightly from underneath, and with all the power he could muster at once, he lifted, and the fallen tree rose. It went up rose up easier than he had expected. Ren could feel the massive weight, but it was bearable, nothing that would rip his tendons, or cause some injury, at best only causing muscle fatigue after holding for a while. He raised it by his chest, and feeling even motivated by this feat, raised it higher, over his head, and threw it in the air, sending it flying some tens of meters above.
"Alright, it is quite clear that I am stronger than the average person."
He went for the boulder next, and as expected, it was heavy, much heavier than the tree, but Ren was still able to lift it up. Strength at [57] was significant. It was quite the struggle to raise it over his head, but he achieved it, throwing it however was slightly out of reach.
Still, this was clearly a testament to how much he had evolved, if only he could wield mana the same way.
He was far from giving up, Mahābodhivān was over thirty when he discovered the ways to manipulate mana, he was younger, and unlike the pioneer, he had studies that he could learn from. A sudden silence fell upon him, and without thinking, he executed the Shen stance, closing his eyes. The sounds of critters, of the wind blowing, of leaves bustling were suddenly magnified, it was like he was shrunken and reduced to a size where subtle changes like that would affect him.
He controlled his breathing, taking slow rhythmic inhales, and exhales. He remained still, unmoving, unflinching for about twenty minutes. It was like he sunk into nature herself, a deep void of great inspiration. He felt himself as one, as a tether between the world and beyond. When he decided to open his eyes, he noticed a bright blue aura enveloping him. It was almost difficult to describe it, the closest sensation would be as though one was opening their eyes for the first time, and experiencing the beauty of life for the first time.
He turned his arms over, observing the changes in the flow of the energy as he moved.
"So this is mana. Mahābodhivān wasn't hallucinating after all." He chuckled, gladdened by his progress. Projection was still far from fundamentals, but with how he felt in the moment, he was certain he could do it, at the very least, it would not hurt to try.
He had such a vibrant energy over him, like he was a plume of fire. He pulled back his arms, balling his fists by his flanks, and he punched the air. His arm moved faster than he anticipated, and with it traveled a jet of destructive mana, striking a tree, scarring it and causing an indentation.
He sent another blow, striking the tree again,
and scarring it further. He wore a wicked smile, excited by this power he wielded, but just as he did, the vibrant energy suddenly rescinded, and about two seconds later, disappeared like it was there no longer.
"What?" He held up his hands to his face, his aura was gone, and so was the momentary feeling of invincibility.
"No, no, no, come on!" He continued thrusting his arms forward, blasting out beams of energy. Nothing came forth.
He repositioned himself, taking the Shen stance, but mana did not surge back. A vein popped on his forehead in frustration. What could he have done to have sent the energy back into hiding?
He grunted in frustration as he did the stances over and over and over again only to yield nothing. He tried this for about an hour before giving up.
Although, he was frustrated by the sudden disappearance of his mana, he resigned feeling hopeful that he could do it again, and besides, he was not supposed to get it all entirely in his first trial. What Ren did not know was that he had expended most of his mana.
He refused to resign however, and spent the rest of the day simply going through the manual.
*******
"Finally," Aleides uttered, spotting the artufact that he had long chased. Never did the old dragon think he would ever have to hide himself. Humans, elves, and the other races had known of their inferiority, of how futile it was to challenge the might of a dragon, but ever since destroying that fortress, and killing the mage, figures have been on his trail, powerful figures, some of which like the mage could speak the language of the gods, and some with physical capabilities comparable to his.
No one had been able to challenge a dragon and to Aleides, all that changed overnight. A proud dragon such as he needed to go into hiding. One thing remained thoough, wherever the dragons went, only pain and suffering delivered in the robust heat of flames followed.
The esoteric sect of monks, the gazing eye had been laid to waste by his flames, they had something that he wanted,or rather that he needed.
The Ring of Quiet Becoming.