In the Mana Landscape, Ren stared at the Main Vein, also called a Large Vein, while counting in his head.
If one included the Large Vein next to the core, Ren had already created 30 different veins at 30 different Mana exit points,
The other 29 were connected to the Large vein, branching off it like a tree, or obviously, your blood-carrying veins.
1 Large Vein and 29 Mini Veins.
'I need to connect 16 Large veins to the core…'
One may think that you had to make a Mana vein from the Mana core to each exit, but there were over 400 different exits!
It was like a human heart; although humans had many blood vessels, the heart only had 4 valves for all those vessels.
Mana Veins reaching the exit from the core were very long; to make a single Vein that stretched so far, it took Ren half a night, and the other half was spent on the 29 mini veins.
It was clear that mini veins were much easier to make than Large veins.
This was because, although the width was the same, the length was only a fraction of what a large vein possessed.
If Ren had decided to make a large vein to each of the hundreds of exits,
'It would take me an entire year, no matter how skilled I am.'
He only had 190 days left with his [Fate of Annihilation].
By then, he would have croaked over and died before even touching the toes of rank 2!
'So I should make large veins in moderation, while taking full advantage of mini veins. That's why I need 16 large veins.'
16 wasn't any special number, nor did it have any significance; it was just the most efficient number derived from Aria's calculations after learning how many exit points Ren had.
'A calculator in a fantasy world! Glory to the Arilator!'
If she had heard his thoughts, she would have hit him on the head, but luckily, his Mana Landscape was his alone to be in.
Although it didn't show in the Landscape, Ren was pretty happy that he didn't need to do all the calculations, just that alone would take him days.
So, there are Large veins, and the mini veins that branch off of these large veins.
'This Large Vein is one of the smallest, branching into 29 mini veins; most of the Large Veins will branch upwards of 35 to 50 mini veins. Each one connecting to an exit.'
Ren had a total of 487 exits.
The number of Mana Exit Points changed depending on the person, but the general range was 200 to 500.
Since a person leaks mana naturally, having a higher amount of exit points leaks more Mana, which may make Ren's count look bad.
But it was quite the opposite,
'The leakage is negligible. With more exits, my output is higher as well! And my count is nearly at 500, the natural max!'
His body was truly talented, even with his fate [Seed of Self Annihilation] weakening his body and potentially clogging unknown exits, his talent was still clear as day!
'Of course it isn't absurd, but still very good.'
Ren had once met an exception with more than 3000 exits.
An amount so large that the person had to carry mana crystals, stones, and potions with them at all times because they leaked that much mana.
'But they could cast spells instantaneously, if you wanted a direction to disappear, they were the person to ask.'
Ren smiled as he reminisced before starting to focus on creating another Mana Vein.
Looking past the Mana Vein, Ren saw another Large vein that was nearly completed.
He quickly approached and focused as Ocean Blue mana flowed slowly out of the Mana Core.
The mana was wide, but as Ren pulled and moved it around and around, it grew thinner and thinner until it was like a thread.
It looked like a blue thread bobbin, and Ren focused on pulling the threads of mana and creating a mesh.
The thread, now a mesh, formed a tunnel that was akin to a Chinese finger trap.
It stretched and compressed, firm yet flexible, then Ren focused his mind deeply, imprinting the new vein into his Mana Landscape, granting it permanence.
This permanence could only be done with your own mana. This was why others couldn't help you rank up.
Ren sighed, looking at the 2nd Main Vein, it was about 90% complete.
After it was done, he could then add the Mini Veins.
Even if he had made veins before, it was quite the tiring process, both costing his mana and exhausting his mind.
'My head is burning, and I feel dizzy; it seems this is my limit.'
Ren smiled as he roused his mind to leave the landscape.
If not for his improved Mana control from experiencing Hale's Mana, he wouldn't even be a quarter of the way done with a single Large Vein, much less 2.
"Ren?"
Under the green forest trees, two golden eyes met his ocean eyes that had just opened.
"Aria…"
Ren smiled, giving her a peace sign with two fingers, causing her eyes to glow.
"Two already? Maybe I should too…"
"Aria?"
Ren's face warped in concern at Aria, who seemed to want to do Hale's test as well.
'It might actually work, wouldn't it?'
The thought of Aria using martial arts amused Ren as he stood up, looking around.
"How long was I meditating?"
"About 20 minutes, let's head back now."
Ren nodded and picked up his duffel bag as the two returned to the knights.
Making their way out of the forest, they entered the rest area where the knights were taking a break.
Since there close to the capital, there was a large, well maintained road as well as lights powered by Mana stones.
'So many Mana stones.'
It was a thought Ren couldn't help but have.
In the Abyss, Mana stones were scarce due to overuse, whether it be for heating or growing food.
But in this world, Mana stones were used for night lights, such as the lanterns on the road or the one inside the tent they used last night.
Ren also noticed that the horses of the knights had mana stones that slightly controlled temperature.
Hell, Ren even saw a magic stone that gave off a glittering effect with no practical use in battle other than to look pretty.
They were used excessively without care, something Ren found quite intriguing.
'Mana stones can be recharged, but they break after a couple of uses… isn't this a big waste?'
As Ren contemplated this world's economy, Relia approached as if she were looking for the two.
"Aria, Ren! Where were you?"
Since Ren was slightly tired, Aria smiled and replied,
"Lady Relia, I was just helping Ren create his mana veins. We wanted some quiet."
Although Relia had told them to drop the 'Lady', they couldn't really do that in public, so Aria kept it in,
Relia smiled. She also understood the difference in their positions, so she wouldn't make a fuss over it,
Instead, Relia spoke lightly and more openly, smiling, she believed she was allowed at least that much.
"Mana veins? Congratulations, Ren."
Just the creation of a single mana vein was already an indicator that a person was a step in rank 2.
Of course, you couldn't fully cross until all the veins were connected, but the creation of the veins was a tedious endeavor at the same difficulty as creating your core.
If you noted the time it took, it was an even harder process than creating the core at rank 1.
It was clear that ranks were harder to advance as they went up; even with Ren and Aria's decades of experience, they still had to go step by step.
There were ways to shorten the time it took to rank up, but they didn't have access to them yet.
'Of course, we have that thing right?'
'Yes, let's open it up later.'
Ren and Aria communicated with their eyes, as their thoughts continued.
On top of being able to control mana to build the next road to the higher ranks, you also needed a developed body.
This meant that the body of a fully grown person or an adult,
If you forced core creation in an underdeveloped body, the mana could bring more harm than good if you couldn't control it well.
Since their bodies weren't fully developed, they shouldn't even be considering creating a core, let alone pushing towards rank 2.
Yet here they were, using their deep experience to circumvent the problem.
"Thank you, Lady Relia."
Of course, the girl in front of them was also an anomaly.
Relia had not only started ranking up, but had actually succeeded in becoming a rank 3 at such a young age.
During their talk the previous night, she mentioned that there were only a handful across the empire that were comparable to her in talent, and that they were focused on the 6 ducal families.
"We're about to arrive at the capital."
The three were currently in Relia's carriage.
Typically, they would ride on borrowed horses, but there weren't any extra, and the large horses made it impossible for the smaller Ren and Aria to ride them properly.
"The capital… we saw it on our fall down here."
When they were teleported to the clouds and fell, they saw the capital from above.
It was circular and had thick and massive walls. There was also a large dome-like magic barrier that covered the entire city.
Relia nodded. She had heard their story before and confirmed it further at their talk during the night.
Although Ren and Aria left out many details, Relia knew that they were actually on their third life.
It wasn't like the two had any reason to hide it; of course, they wouldn't be going around spouting the story, only limiting it to people they trust, like Relia, if they ever met any in the future.
'A world of Ash and a world with 8 stars, how interesting…'
Relia trusted them. Although she was still young, she had met many people and was taught how to tell if a person was lying or not.
She also had a magic tool that caught lies.
At first, Relia felt pity for them; it didn't seem like they had good lives in those worlds, but seeing them unburdened while telling their stories, she felt slight shame.
'I thought I had it bad, but they…'
Relia then shook her head of the thoughts,
"No, comparing suffering is foolish, it's belittling to myself, Ren, and Aria.'
The three were now in the same boat, trying to save the world.
And their first steps to doing so were here at the capital, where the Chaos Cult would first appear.
As the carriage and the knights exited the forest, massive walls met their view.
With Relia alive, things were different, so very different. A new piece had arrived on the chessboard that would affect the fate of the world.
They had arrived at the capital of the Rael Empire.
Baeleon, the birthplace of creation.