Chapter 26
Letter from the Loved
A wave of pain washed over Ha-Jin's body as he dueled with Alex. Moonshadow's magnificent form wavered as Ha-Jin's mana ceased its flow for just a brief moment.
That moment was enough for Alex to slap the sword out of his grip. It clattered on the ground and Ha-Jin collapsed from exhaustion even though it had only been a matter of a few minutes.
A dull ache spread from his chest, radiating from his mana core as he let out a pained groan. Alex bent down, one hand on his knee and one extended to Ha-Jin. He gratefully took it, their hands clasping together as Alex pulled him to his feet with a grunt.
"Don't push your core too much, we don't want it to shatter, now do we?" Alex said with a comforting tone.
Ha-Jin's face twisted into a creeped scowl.
"That sounded stupid, didn't it?" Alex added with a wry smile on his lips.
"Eugh, definitely. Never do that again." Ha-Jin said, his attention drifting over to Arthur who had spent the past few hours refining his mana. The mana particles refined by their core were pure but not completely pure. All of them carried a hint of impurity.
It was frustrating for all three of them. Though all of them were talented, none of them were strong enough to be considered even in the top hundred fighters of the continent.
Beads of sweat rolled down Arthur's face, slowly cooled down by the cold breeze running through the forest. A soft golden hue of mana acted like a silhouette around his body as he continually worked to purify his mana through trial and error.
Whenever his core was filled, he would release a light pulse of mana from his palms. As slow as it was, it was efficient.
Ha-Jin grabbed a flask from the bag of their rations. He swirled the water in the flask, seemingly lost in thought before he brought the flask to his lips and tipped back, the cool liquid travelling down his throat, moistening it as he finished the flask in a few huge gulps.
With a content sigh, he walked over to a piece of flat rock, favoring his left side where Alex's sword had just cut him, the feeble reserves of his mana rushing over to stitch the flesh back.
[Passive Skill:Regeneration (SSS+) has been activated]
However much he hated the ruthless magical blue window they called The Interface providing the humans with power, he couldn't help it as a small smile framed his face at the sight of the all too familiar notification.
He plopped down on the flat piece of rock, a shudder running through him as the heated shell of the rock came in contact with the fabric of trousers, travelling through to greet his skin.
Although a few weeks had passed, the crack in his core remained. It seemed like the wound would stay for a few months or years at least—possibly for the rest of his life even—to completely seal over.
Ha-Jin drew his senses inward, travelling through the various channels for his mana until he came face to face with his mana core. Suddenly, an itching sensation spread from where his core rested on the side of his chest.
The more he focused on the crack, the more the itching sensation grew until he couldn't bear it anymore. The itch wasn't physical, rather it was like a phantom limb, in other words, he felt that the itch was there except it was not.
As he drew back, from the periphery of his vision, he noticed something circular, a rough and tattered sphere tinged with a deep violet, just like the colour of…Atherion.
The tattered sphere resting just below his sternum almost drew his attention away from the growing sense of itch spreading outwards from his fiery orange core—almost.
As the itch caught up to him, it broke his focus, drawing his senses back. He desperately clawed at where the itch grew from but to no avail, the itch was mental, ceasing to be a physical sensation to be satisfied.
With a frustrated groan, he muttered curses under his breath before closing his eyes shut so tightly that white lines danced across the darkness.
He spread the attracting force his body emanated, drawing the motes of fiery orange—as he imagined them at least—the rest of the three attributes and the pearlescent white Mana were drawn through his mana channels and into his core, the process for a reason Ha-Jin failed to realise just yet much faster than the past few weeks.
He kept most of his focus on maintaining the steady flow of mana supplying his core but the rest of his focus went to his time in the Atheric Library.
No matter how much he tried to remember, he failed to draw upon the memory, so close yet so distant like an unfinished dream that he had been woken up from too soon.
The last thing he remembered was his core gleaming a dangerous dark violet instead of the usual fiery orange.
As complicated mysteries ran through his fatigued mind, he was unknowingly drawn closer and closer to sleep until his focus on maintaining the steady flow of mana to his core shattered.
The tightness of his features and eyelids eased, calming. The white lines dancing across the darkness of his eyelids faded away as sleep pulled him into her embrace, lulling him into the darkness.
His head drooped, his breaths slow and steady.
***
His eyes fluttered open as consciousness returned to him.
His drowsy eyes lazily flickered from one object in the room to the other.
The cabin was constructed entirely of wood and wooden logs. It consisted of a bed covering the middle of the small cabin with a small chest of drawers to the right of the bed.
Atop the chest of drawers rested a glass of water and beside it a… stamped letter with his name on it.
First, his hands closed around the glass of water as he chugged it down in a single gulp. The glass clinked—hard—as he slammed it down on the table, cracks running along the thin glass.
His heart thumped in his chest, threatening to break through his ribcage and escape into the warm basking glow of the sun. Butterflies danced in his stomach.
If this letter really was from who he thought it was from…
He carefully took the thin letter from the table, opening it carefully before taking out the paper inside.
His heart leaped as his suspicions proved true.
From: Joo-Hee Lux
To: Ha-Jin
I hope you are doing well with your training and are not too injured…
The letter went on about her being worried about this training of his and that if he were to get too injured, she would come there herself to give him a piece of her mind.
His eyes flitted from one word to the next in rapid succession as he examined each word carefully yet quickly.
However, it was three words that Ha-Jin's eyes lingered on the most, a flush creeping up his neck, travelling until it tinged his ears a light pink.
I love you
Though he would have wished to see her right then, he knew he needed to get stronger and just how far away Yunxi really was.
Though his excitement died down after the thought coursed through his brain, it still undoubtedly lingered.
He ran a hand through his hair, now thick and unruly after lacking grooming for a long time.
It had taken him some time to come to par with his hair suddenly turning a light brown from the dark black it was before.
He threw his feet over the edge of the bed, his legs numb from being in bed for however long it had been.
After a moment with his feet on the warm wooden floor, letting his blood flow freely, he pushed himself off the bed.
With a stifled yawn, he did some light stretching exercises, getting his inactive body used to the movement once again. After he was done, he planted his feet parallel to his shoulders.
Thanks to Joo-Hee's letter, his groggy mind was now fully awake and ready to learn more.
He closed his eyes for a moment, pushing away all thoughts as he focused on the Mana around him. Although unable to see the Mana, he could feel it wander about or cling to their respective attributed objects in the room—Earth, of course, was highly abundant in the room.
There were plenty of things he wanted to try but above all of them, he needed to figure this out.
Though the meditative position was best suited for Mana absorption, it limited combat capabilities drastically if you were to run out of Mana in the middle of a battle.
The attracting force spread outward from him, pulling the infinite motes of Mana towards him in a steady flow like a river.
They entered his mana channels, leaving a warm feeling wherever they touched, sending a shudder through him. The flow of the Mana through his body was much slower since he stood instead of sitting in the usual meditative position.
Travelling through the mana channels, they disappeared into the circular shape of his Mana Core.
As the steady flow continued through his channels, he raised his foot to take a step. The warmth travelling through his mana channels ceased its flow, leaving him with a sense of coldness as the warmth washed away, only faint traces of Mana clinging to the inner walls of the channels.
Cursing under his breath, he retreated his foot. Only then did he notice the sweat clinging to his brows as they furrowed in concentration.
Instead of letting disappointment overcome him, he delved deeper into his concentration, everything around him melting into an abyssal dark before shaping itself into the wide connection of the mana channels of his body.
He drew his senses further inward into the fine network of Mana Channels in his body while he split his attention as best as he could, simultaneously drawing Mana into his body as he watched it flow.
He signalled for his body and his right foot raised into the air to take a step when the mana flow abruptly cut off once again.
This time however, his incorporeal presence tugged at the mana before it could fully exit, creating a pulling effect at the mana with his body, guiding it through his channels as he took one slow step after the other, growing more comfortable as his steps increased in speed.
His presence would travel from one stream of Mana to the next as soon as it reached his mana core.
After about an hour—or very possibly much more—of the exercise, he learned to control multiple streams of mana at once, the Mana filling his core to the brim, exuding a faint fiery orange glow.
The excitement of being able to do this overwhelmed him and his tether to the Mana cut off, the streams coming to an abrupt halt, escaping from his channels.
Even if he had managed to circulate Mana whilst in motion, it took a great amount of concentration and would take weeks—months even—to master doing it subconsciously.
As he realised the fatigue growing in his body, he walked over to the bed, plopping down on it, a fine sheen of perspiration covering every part of his body.
Fatigue and excitement clashed against each other in his mind as he resisted the urge to fall asleep again.
He let himself fall back fully onto the soft cushion of the bed, letting go of all the tension in his body, relaxing each individual muscle as he forced himself to relax.
After all, he'd need it.
This next process was going to be much harder.