Chapter-3 Checking Skills

"Okay, New Michael," he said to himself, feeling a newfound determination. "You've been given a second chance. You need to figure out how this world works and what your place in it will be."

He stood up, feeling a surge of energy coursing through him. The room felt more alive now, as if it were welcoming him into a new adventure.

''It's time to check how the appraisal skill actually works and see its wonders,'' Jonathan said to himself, looking around the room. His eyes fell on the bed he was sitting on, and he decided to use the skill on that first. He activated his Appraisal skill. His eyes glinted momentarily, and then a new screen popped up, this time showing all the properties of the bed.

Item: Double Size Bed

Quality: Common

''I wonder how many qualities exist in this world. Nothing special about this one. There's not much information here. Maybe the skill level is too low to display more. But how do I level up the skill? By using it repeatedly?''

Michael nodded after reading the information shown on the screen. It was a double-sized bed of common quality, and that was pretty much everything. He spent his time appraising the items in the room. The only information he could gather was the names of the items and their quality.

After testing the appraisal skill on a few more items, he shifted his attention back to Inventory. There were other things he wanted to do, but he decided to try this option first. He opened the Inventory on the screen and held the pillow in his hand.

Looking at the pillow and then the screen, he thought about storing the pillow, and it disappeared from his hands, replaced by an item that resembled a pillow in the first box on the screen.

''It really is magical. With this, I can save the trouble of carrying everything myself. Does everyone have this skill? I wonder.''

Michael looked delighted while experimenting with this function. He felt the same excitement when he wanted to retrieve it. He contemplated it, and the pillow reappeared in his hand at that moment. He tried the same with other items.

''All I need to do is place my hand on the item and think about storing it. That's pretty convenient. I wonder what the limits of the Inventory are. Can I store a mountain in it if I want to?''

Michael pondered the limitations of the Inventory. It's not that he wasn't pleased with all this; he was just trying to gather as much information as possible beforehand. After repeating the process a few more times, he shifted his focus to the last crucial skill: Mana Sense.

''I wonder if I can feel the magical power within my body,'' he muttered while sitting cross-legged on the bed. He adopted the same pose he had read about in past Cultivation novels. He closed his eyes, and even then, he could see the screen. It was a wonderful experience.

Michael's heart raced, but it soon calmed as he activated the Mana Sense skill for the first time. A tingling warmth spread through his body, starting from his chest and branching out to his limbs. His breath hitched as the world around him transformed—no longer just solid matter, but a swirling bubble of lights floating around him.

At first, he struggled to make sense of the sensations. It was like seeing for the first time, but not with his eyes—he felt it. Wisps of light danced around him, pulsing faintly as if alive. He could sense energy flowing through the air around him.

His eyes widened in awe. He could almost hear the hum of mana in the air, soft and ethereal. His mind raced, barely able to grasp the sheer magnitude of this new awareness. The more he focused, the clearer it became. He could even feel the faint, subtle flow of mana within his own body, like a stream of warm water coursing through his veins.

Then, without warning, the skill flickered. The world dimmed slightly as the mana began to recede, like the closing of a curtain. He gasped, his head spinning from the overwhelming sensation.

'So, this is mana'... he thought, his hands trembling with excitement. It was far more than he could have ever imagined—an entirely new realm of existence opened up before him. But now, he knew—this was just the beginning.

''Huff''

Michael lay down on his bed, gasping for air—not because he was tired from activating the skill, but because everything had overwhelmed him completely; this was his first experience witnessing something so magical, and with his eyes closed at that.

He rested for a while, then looked toward the window. Darkness enveloped everything, indicating it was still night. In the midst of this whole ordeal, he had even forgotten to glance outside to see the view.

After a moment of rest, he decided to do so, but his mind was focused on something else entirely. When he used the appraisal skill and Inventory, his mana had dropped a little.

[Mana: 480/500]

''A whole two points dropped after using the Appraisal Skill and Inventory a few times. That means I need to determine the exact consumption with a few more experiments.''

Michael muttered to himself. After resting a bit longer, he returned to his so-called cultivation pose and activated the skill once again, this time with his eyes open. Once again, the same view appeared before him, and he could see the bubbles floating around him.

There were bubbles of light in different colors. Some looked red, others blue. There were also green, brown, yellow, and black. He didn't know what those colors represented, but he had a small idea about them.

Most of the bubbles were grey. In fact, the majority of them consisted of that color. He tried to touch the red one, but it bounced away from him. The same happened with the others, but when he approached a grey bubble, it slowly entered his palm, almost as if it were being absorbed by his body.

At that moment, he felt a cooling sensation throughout his body, which then transformed into a warm energy spreading across him. It felt like he was drinking an energy booster that had an immediate effect, making him feel rejuvenated.

[You have learned the Basic Mana Recovery Skill]

"Wow. What's happening all of a sudden? Is this real? I learned a skill just like that? Am I a genius, or was it supposed to be this easy? I think I'll go with the latter, as I don't believe I'm a genius at all."

Michael noticed new text pop up in front of him, and he also heard a voice in his head reciting the exact words displayed on the screen. He realized that skills could be acquired this way too. He hadn't even considered new skills, much less how to obtain them.

Now he had discovered a method to learn them. This new revelation urged him to explore the world as soon as possible. He kept repeating the process of absorbing mana from his surroundings, and soon he saw his mana points rising on his screen.

As for the different colors of bubbles floating around him, he had no way to absorb them for now, at least. It took him only a few minutes to fill his mana tank to the brim once again, so he stopped using the skill.

Now it was time for him to explore the place he was living in, and the best place to start was the room where he first woke up. But before that, he got up from his bed and walked toward the window. As he got closer, he could see a small garden.

''Beautiful''

With no clouds to obscure the view, thousands of stars twinkle against the deep, dark canvas of the night sky. Two moons hung in the sky, one larger than the other, surrounded by a mesmerizing silver glow that captivated the naked eye.

Some stars shine brighter than others, displaying a spectrum of colors ranging from cool blue-white to warm yellow and orange hues, depending on their temperature and distance.

''So, this world has two moons. Truly marvelous. I wonder if I'm actually on Mars, as it also has two moons. Perhaps I'm far into the future where Earth has colonized Mars, but then again, the structure of the room doesn't align with my profound theory.''

After gazing at the sky for a while, Jonathan turned around and headed back. Due to the trees outside, he couldn't see much, so it was time to explore the room, which he had postponed for a while.

He looked around, and the ornate wardrobe caught his eye again; he decided it was time to discover what lay inside. Approaching it, he opened the double doors, revealing an array of clothes—some casual, some regal, and all beautifully crafted.

"Let's see what we have here," he murmured.