15 Chapter 15- Maybe I am not that different?

Walking up after an unknown amount of time, Oliver was staring at the ceiling recalling what had happened last night. He was sure that everything that happened, none of it was a dream, as the aching hands keep reminding him of the pain he felt with every clash with Olson.

"What's the time Arthur?"

{It's 4:14 am. You have woken up 16 minutes earlier than daily. It might be because you have been sleeping since just after the practice was over. Either way, I would recommend you should eat something light before you go for practice, after all, you haven't had your dinner and stannous exercise without any energy to burn will be more harmful towards your body. But don't fill your stomach because that will affect your practice.}

"Yeah, I might as well drink some milk or something before heading out."

........(15 minutes later)......

Oliver headed to the backyard with his sword sheathed to his waist. When he reached, he saw Olson sitting on a pile of metal right in the center of the backyard. He was bare-chested while his upper body glistened with sweat which was tripling down his well-sculptured muscles. You could see his muscles contracting and relaxing again and again to an extreme degree, while he breathed in and out periodically.

Olson slowly opened his eyes and smiled, "Ah Oliver. Come near me."

"Yes bos... yes master"

"Master, what is all this metal for?"

"Haha, you will know soon enough. But first, tell me how much do you know about our world. Mister Ben told that you have some sort of memory loss in his letter, is it true?"

Oliver shook his head in reply, "All I remember after I woke up from the battlefield was my name and after I ran from there I met Ben and Martha. They saved my life and were kind enough to let me stay at their place and take care of me for such a long time."

"Hmm, I see. Well then let's start from the basics. After all, I won't be able to live with myself if someone came to know about how much of an illiterate country bumpkin my successor is."

" So from today onwards, your training to become my successor will officially start. From today onwards from the first ray in the morning to the last sight of the moon in the night, I will be training you, and you will follow my every command. Is that understood?"

Oliver nodded with a solemn face.

" Ok, Oliver first you need to understand that our planet Hatheria is a miraculous but unforgiving place. It provides us everything and more, but to seize any opportunity you need to be strong enough. Strong enough not only to grasp the benefit but also strong enough to keep the perks to yourself from the predatory eyes of scavengers rooming all around you."

" Initially humans were weak too weak to even have a place for themselves in this world. The constant threats of the monster race made humans fear for their lives. They didn't have any strength to defend themselves in front of the formidable power that monsters held within since the day they were born."

"But mother nature had already given us the power we sought. One day a Man was born, crazy to the point of brave and brave to the point of crazy. He spent his whole life analyzing, studying and battling these monsters who were blessed by the heavens with these powers. He obsessed over the strength they had and wanted nothing more than to make this strength his."

"After around 40 years of living and breathing monsters, this MAN finally found it. How these creatures were so strong, how they were able to dominate the entire planet, how even the weakest of monsters could breathe fire and create floods, and most of all how humans could do it too."

" He found out that our planet had different kinds of 'energies' floating all around us. From the deepest of oceans to the highest of mountains everywhere these 'energies' could be found. Both humans and monsters could breathe in and out, these 'energies'. But why was it that even after that monsters were strong and humans weren't? Well, that's simple, because that was how monsters' bodies were made. Since birth, they started to absorb these 'energies' and a part of it would remain in their bodies. This would start to make their bodies stronger while the rest of 'energy' would get stored in their heart. They could use these 'energies' to do all sorts of supernatural things."

"Finally around 10 more years later, that MAN finally found a way to make humans stronger. He first gave the name to these 'energies'. He started to call them 'Mana'. Seeing how monsters used mana he created two ways for humans to get stronger. The first one was to absorb mana into humans' bodies making their bodies stronger, faster, more durable, and increasing their healing capacities. He called those people who used to follow this method to make their bodies stronger, Body cultivators. While those who absorb mana and store them into their heart to use them as a fule to perform otherworldly skills, as Mages. His teachings reached every corner of the world and humans finally started to gain the power of their own. They finally started to retaliate against monsters and finally started to establish strongholds that they used to call their homes."

"This happened more than a millennia ago and now after continuous trials and experimentation, there have been many sub-branches that grew out of these two ways of manna manipulation and many improvements were made in the original manna manipulation methods"

"While the way of mages flourished, the way of body cultivators started to become more and more a thing of the past. The reason for that was that there were much suffering and pain on the path of body cultivation. Although mages bodies were almost as weak as any ordinary humans they had much destructive powers which they obtain without trials of suffering and pain."

"Though the path of mage has its own limitations, not anyone can become a mage. Unlike body cultivation where any ordinary person who had will power to endure can walk the path of body cultivation, only the who have high talent are qualified to become mages. But no ordinary person is willing to suffer just to obtain power. That's why mages have taken over the world while body cultivators have become one of the extinct ways."

While explaining the history of humans Olson got so engrossed that he didn't see Oliver sweating his balls off...

'What the fuck.... you are saying that not only have I come to a planet where magic and cultivation exist... I am not even on 'Earth'. I mean aren't mc's usually get transmigrated to another earth in light novels? Even if they have sword and magic which changes 'the earth', at least it's a familiar planet. What happened wrong while writing the script of my light novel, I mean isn't the whole plot twisted?'

{We should be grateful to Olson for explaining all these things to us. If we had a big shot suspected about our lack of general knowledge regarding the planet we live on, then I doubt that even the excuse of amnesia would work.}

'Yeah right, but man seriously mana and cultivation. Even if I knew about mages it is really surprising to know about all this.'

{No, it explains a lot of things.}

{I have been trying to analyze a lot of things about the world, you and myself}

{Firstly I did start to feel these energies in the atmosphere. But since now I know it's mana, it makes sense how your body is getting affected by it. Slowly and steadily the mana enters your body and leaves out when you breathe. But just a minute part of it remains inside your body making it a bit stronger every time you breathe. Unfortunately, as mana isn't staying too long in your body and only a tiny amount of it is getting absorbed, the improvement is negligible.}

{Last thing I was wondering that since I am basically a biotechnology with a soul who can function independently, How am I still working?}

'Hmmm, what do you mean?'

{Think about it, every piece of technology needs a power source to keep on functioning right. So how is it that even though I have no such 'power source' am I still working at 100 percent?}

'Now that you have pointed it out, that question is a very obvious one. Maybe I just took everything for granted after coming to this world that I didn't even think of such an obvious problem.'

{From what I have analyzed and after hearing Olson, I think I have a basic theory. I think I am too using mana as my power source but not from the environment like all the organisms. I think I am absorbing it directly from your body. Just like some sort of symbiotic relationship}

{I think, if I am provided with more amount of mana maybe my processing power will increase. Or maybe even some of my hidden functions will get unlocked, or maybe something completely new will occur. Well the only thing I am certain of is that the more mana I absorb... the better I become.}

{I guess I am not that different from humans or monsters}