45 Mana Pond

Austin remained sitting on the floor whilst his energy recovered. During this time, he wanted to observe the changes in his body but found himself unable to activate Magical Eyes, the reason why quickly making itself clear.

Since the skill required a large expenditure of mana to be cast, then naturally he would not be able to do so without a sufficient amount of it. This means Austin indeed used up the mana in his body just then, and he smiled upon this realization.

Regaining enough vitality, Austin stood up and immediately noticed an improvement in his body. It was sturdier than before and his feet were more firm on the ground. He felt like he would be immovable standing in the center of a raging thunderstorm.

However, with the remarkable mastery he had over his body, Austin knew he was only being lulled into a false sense of security.

The exaggerated sensations he was having now was only because it was his first time tempering his body. The strength increase he had from the first time would be the most significant, but it was still nowhere near the level of Heinz who had trained innumerable times longer, let alone compared to someone like Bram who was capable of denting mountains. 

It was still in the midst of night and Heinz was not going to wake up any time soon. After performing a series of stretches, Austin walked over to the pond.

He crouched down and dipped his finger in the water, it felt cold to the touch. Shortly after, another feeling entered his senses, one that was profound and could not be described, but Austin knew exactly what it was.

It was the essence of mana, he could not mistake it. 

He saw the peculiarities of the pond water earlier when he applied it to Elena's wounds but did not think anything more of it. But after seeing the traces of mana in it with his Magical Eyes, there had to be something special about it and he had confirmed that.

The pond water actually contained mana that was much denser than the air, he could feel it entering his body at an abnormal rate. The mana was entering through his hand as the channel and the recovery speed was almost triple as when he was absorbing it from the air.

This discovery came as a surprise to Austin, who didn't know mana could be contained in such a way. But this made sense, recalling the creation of the universe he had seen in the star constellation.

If worlds themselves were made from mana, then it would naturally be embodied in everything of nature, not only the air, but also the trees, ground, and oceans.

Water is denser than air, which is most likely what allows it to contain more mana. But Austin was sure that not all the water in the world contained mana because he had never heard of this until now, meaning this pond was special in some way. For what reason... he did not know.

Dipping his entire arm into the pond, Austin instantly felt a difference with more mana entering his body. Usually one would not be able to feel their bodies being revitalized but he was vividly experiencing the perplexing but comfortable sensation. It felt like a raging fire was burning inside his body whilst a calming ocean was washing over it at the same time, removing all his fatigue and replacing it with new energy.

Only a short moment later, the mystical sensations stopped with his arm still placed in the pond. 'I've fully recovered?' This had to be the case because Austin felt all the mana in his body restore to its original amount. No, it was slightly more than how much he had before, thanks to the tempering of his body he had just done. 

This was a ridiculous concept. It meant Austin did not only have the abilities of both a Warrior and Mage simultaneously, but he could also train as a Mage using Warrior Cultivation. 

The only way for Mages to improve their mana storage is by increasing its purity through comprehending spells. Now, however, Austin had another way to do so and that was by training as a Warrior. And using his previous life's experience, this was no hard task for him, demonstrated in how he had just accomplished Heinz's hours of efforts in a matter of seconds. 

Austin already achieved the limit of mana at his level by perfectly comprehending every spell,  now he was even able to break that limit. If he kept going down this path, wouldn't he be approaching the threshold of unlimited mana?

How many Mages have dreamed of this? To be able to unleash their spells without restriction. The notion itself only appears in exactly that, dreams. It if was ever brought to reality, no one can predict what would happen...

Austin did not share the same sentiments of pursuing strength for he had already stood at the pinnacle and experienced what it was like, but he was certainly happy for being able to protect the people he needed to protect better. 

Any other Warrior would not be able to contain their excitement after making the discovery of this mana pond. They would immediately temper their bodies and exhaust all the mana in the pond.

Austin had no such temptation, instead walking over to Heinz who was still laying on the floor and carrying him over to the pond. 

Though it was taking all he had to hold him for only a short moment, he would not have been pick Heinz's weight up at all if it was a day before. 

Placing his legs into the water, Austin let Heinz experience the same recovery his body went through.

Colorful rays of light shined in his eyes and sure enough, he could visibly see the streams of mana entering Heinz's body from the water.

He didn't notice last time when looking at the pond, but the source of the mana was coming from the giant waterfall connected to the cliff above, most probably stemming from another water source.  This made Austin want to explore further, to see if there was anything special about the mana source and whether the mana content was even more concentrated there. 

Austin sat in wait for Heinz to recover and before long, he was already more than half-restored. He brought Heinz out of the water back to his original position and controlled a fireball to dry his clothes. Austin did not want Heinz to find out about the mana pond. Knowing his maniac mindset, Heinz would certainly go even crazier in abusing his body.

Although Heinz was fully intent on killing him just now, Austin held no grudges for he was clearly in a crazed state. For a ten-year-old child to be driven to such a degree, something tragic must have happened in his past. The hostility he showed was a hostility he would show to everyone, resulting from the demons that have developed inside him. 

Austin did not need to know what exactly happened to Heinz, although an extreme case, he had seen many children like him in his past world. In the world that was filled with slaughter, countless innocents died, leaving children without parents who are left with only hatred for the world. With everything taken from them and nothing left, their desire for strength becomes, in most cases, the only thing that remains. 

His parental instincts kicking in, he wanted to help the pitiful Heinz and set him on the right path before he becomes totally lost in the cage he trapped himself in. With him being Maya's sister, Austin already decided to expend some effort in doing so whilst waiting for Elena to wake.

He did not know that this casual decision of his would be one that creates a demon whose name eventually goes on to shake the world.