Eventually, I reached my root hollow. I shoved the bark cover aside, wrestled the remaining fish inside, and pulled the entrance shut again.It was nice to be home again. Home sweet home; nothing beat the comfort of laying down after eating. The feeling was so comforting and tempting that I almost fell asleep and forgot my real goal.
As I lay there for a moment, staring at the dirt ceiling, I thought about the skill that I had obtained from a certain red fish that could fit into a capture ball. The Water Shot skill required mana manipulation, a threshold that I had not currently reached at the moment.
I gazed upon my mana stat.
MP: 0.
So close to having a proper ranged attack, and yet so far at the same time. I was being taunted and teased.
I rolled onto my side.
"Let's lear..." I muttered. "Le.."
The next morning, I woke up groggy.
Damn it, I had fallen asleep.
The sleep Gods had come and lulled me with their beautiful tune, resulting in me dozing off instead of learning a skill necessary for survival.However, such small trials and tribulations didn't matter in the long term because I was going to get this mana manipulation skill in the bag.
No excuses.
I sat in the centre of the hollow, closed my eyes, and proceeded to try my meditation technique that I had learnt earlier. I was embracing the inner Wuxia cultivation techniques from every light novel I had ever consumed.
Slow breathing. Inhale. Exhale. Slow. Controlled.
My thoughts were easier to control this time. I could feel my blood flowing through invisible meridians, visualising a warm current flowing through my body.
This time, however, no good results were yielded. The response was absolutely nothing.
I tried again, this time focusing harder, adjusting my posture and seating stance to represent something more reverent. I even tilted my head slightly for more dramatic effect. But all these theatrics didn't help.After half an hour passed, I finally gave up. Opening my eyes, I looked around the hollow. It was as normal as ever. No mana threads or sparkles in the air. Just the mundane yet comforting warmth of the hollow.
Fantastic.
"Alright," I muttered. "Plan B."
If my meditation + Wuxia cultivation did not work, perhaps chakra moulding would. I tried hand signs, which, as a gecko, looked deeply unimpressive. I focused on "chakra pathways." I imagined blue energy pooling in my limbs. The result was, frankly, quite disappointing.I attempted to feel aura around my body. I tried suppressing it and expanding it. Everything under the umbrella, yet the results always ended in failure.
"ARGH."
My little gecko claws scraped the dirt in frustration.
Another half an hour had passed, and I was now flopped over on my stomach.
"Why is magic so difficult?"
A pause.
Then—
[Do you require assistance, Host?]
I froze, slowly lifting my head up. Some level of assistance would have helped earlier, but at this point, I was too tired to care.
"Yes. Please."
I did not even pretend to be cool about it. My pride was in tatters. After making the meditation breakthrough and surviving on my own pure ingenuity, I had become complacent, believing that I could individually solve any problem that came my way.
But life didn't work like that. I was slowly figuring that out.
The system waited for my quick mental processing before proceeding.
[I am in a good mood today.]
That sentence was mildly concerning; I wondered why. But I was desperate. That could wait for later.
[Now show appropriate gratitude.]
Great, my system had an ego.
"Thank you, oh great System."
And what proceeded was me spending a further 15 minutes performing multiple acts of gratitude until it was satisfied. Honestly, it was quite ridiculous.
Have you ever seen a gecko do a dogeza? I guarantee not, yet here I was performing the most immaculate dogeza in recorded history. A bow so deep emperors would weep. A sacred bow... a legendary bow. I lowered myself reverently and hoped the spirit of humility translated.
"Hey, great System-nim," I added cautiously, "aren't you… sort of machine-like? How do you even have a mood?"
[Do not ruin it, Host.]
"…Understood."
Sensitive topic. Noted.
The air in the hollow seemed to still. Then the System spoke again.
[Listen carefully. I shall only say this once.]
I straightened immediately.
[Mana is an essence that permeates the world. It exists everywhere as fine strands invisible to the naked eye.]
Fine strands. Interesting.
[Each strand operates independently, yet they are part of a greater network. To manipulate mana, one must first perceive these strands. Only then can one weave them together and draw the interwoven current inward.]
I stayed silent, processing the information. Strings everywhere that worked and weaved the fabric of reality. The idea of pulling and controlling them.
"So," I said slowly, "I need to see something that I cannot currently see… and then tie it together."
[Correct.]
"…That sounds inconvenient."
[You are currently incapable of perceiving mana strands.]
Of course I was.
[To achieve perception, you must enter a continuous state of synchronised meditation with your surroundings.]
Okay.
That part sounded familiar.
"How long?"
[Two full days.]
I blinked.
"In total?"
[Continuous.]
I blinked again.
"No eating?"
[Correct.]
"No sleeping?"
[Correct.]
"No drinking?"
[Correct.]
That sounded like torture. What sort of nonsense was that? But something told me that the system was not messing around. This was a brutal truth pill that I would have to swallow.
Well, at least I was on the right track. I just had not been doing it for long enough. Once that idea of what had to be done was established, silence filled the hollow.
Two days of no food, sleep, or fluid. Could I handle it? In a forest that had already tried to kill me twice.
"That sounds terrible," I muttered.
[Power acquisition is rarely comfortable, especially for creatures and monsters. Humanoids have the ability to be either naturally blessed with mana or retrieve it through other means. The same can be said for some creatures that naturally have it. However, if you are neither of those, then the process is quite tedious.]
Fair enough. I couldn't really argue when the system had given me an appropriate answer like that. I glanced at the remaining half of the fish in the corner. Good thing I had stocked up.After two days of fasting, I was going to eat like royalty.
"Anything else?" I asked.
[You must not break synchronisation. Any interruption will reset progress.]
Of course it would.
Why would it be easy?
I looked at my status one more time.
[Name: None]
[Class: None]
[Species: Aenyx Gecko]
[Level: 5/10]
[XP: 126/210]
[Status: Determined]
[HP: 39/39]
[MP: 0/0]
[Stamina: 160/110]
[Strength: Lowest]
[Defence: Low (Low)]
[Speed: Low (Intermediate)]
[Intelligence: Intermediate (Low)]
[Luck: Bad]
[Skills: Heat Tolerance (Lv 1), Cling (Lv 1), Tail Drop (Lv 1), Stealth (Lv 1), Acidic Mucus (Lv 4), Bull Strength (Lv 1), Water Shot (Lv 1)]
[Titles: Early Riser, Void Eater, Resounding Mind]
Stamina slightly overfilled.
Good.
That would help. I exhaled slowly.
"Alright," I whispered to myself.
Two days. If I survived spiders, lizards, and a walking fish, I could survive sitting still. Probably.
I closed my eyes. The forest breathed around me and I began my 2 day meditation trial.