The Manual, Part 2

Gerald left the auction house after talking with master Ashbrew about a few details about the Potion of Focus, and then immediately returned to his residence.

He had greatly expanded his horizons today and gained plentiful experience of the great world of magic. However, the true victory was in the form of a book he held close to his chest.

The [Essence Extraction Manual]!

It was written in a different language than his High Elven Codexes, appearing even older and more mysterious.

"Thank god I can read it!" Gerald breathed in relief. Although it was as he expected, you never know.

Giving the pages a quick look, he realized that the whole process was quite short, but that didn't mean it was simple.

The basic premise was: Every being could have its power extracted and refined for another to inherit, although it all depended on the capabilities of the one doing the refinement.

This skill was generally used by elders to help the young generation develop faster. It was not made for a person to extract power and essence from beasts stronger than himself. The higher grades of essence would naturally degrade quickly if it was extracted by a lower grade of energy.

It basically meant that weak mages could only extract the essence from even weaker beings, but that would have little to no effect on their own growth.

"Okay, I think I understand the process, but… What the hell is a higher grade of energy? I think my automatic translation is not perfect… Mana is energy, right? Can it somehow become stronger? Or does it change somehow?"

Gerald scratched his head in confusion. The author of the book clearly thought that these higher-ranking energies were common knowledge and didn't care to elaborate further. It made Gerald quite upset.

"Fuck it! I'll just have to test this thing out and I'll probably be able to figure something out."

For the Essence Extraction, it didn't matter what lifeform it was used on, only the freshness of the flesh mattered.

The processed Warg meat was therefore out of the question. And the Minecrawler Queen, although fresh since it was stored in the Space Pouch, was not something Gerald was ready to sacrifice for his experiments.

"I'll have to go on another hunt it seems…" He took out a map with all the dangerous beast areas and glanced over to see if anything attracted his attention.

"Hmm, I just need something in maybe early Silver ranks… Yeah, that seems about right."

Looking over the comments and tips people left for him, he found a few approximate rankings they left.

"Ooh, this might be something! Mountain Lions in the North-West mountains! And they have a Winged Lion, Silver-Rank 3 leading them…"

Gerald thought for a bit and there smiled, "Sure, why not… Let's go play with a few big cats!"

***

Gliding above the forest, Gerald traveled quickly and silently. Unless someone was specifically looking for him, it would be nearly impossible to discover his figure.

Not to mention that he was going fast, he even used his primitive Invisibility and made himself look like a blurry distortion in the sky.

He already had the mountains in his line of sight, although they were still quite far away. The distance he could see from his height was probably many dozen kilometers, before the hills and mountains blocked his view.

He flew past or above many small villages and farms, as well as hidden hunting cabins in the forest. A bird's eye view was great for spying, especially since he could see every living being in a radius of approximately one hundred meters, with his Magic Eyes.

"Man, I fucking love magic! Coming to this world was the best thing that happened in my life!" Gerald shouted in the sky.

This was true freedom. He could do whatever he wanted and go wherever he wanted! No laws, no rules, no annoying regulations! He could be his own boss and have fun at the same time!

He landed on the forest floor with a loud 'thump'. He felt he gained a bit of weight in the last few weeks and he felt his body becoming stronger as well.

When he first arrived in this world, he was about eighty to eighty-five kilograms, and he was slightly chubby. Then, by walking, fighting, and running, he lost that little bit of fat and his body became leaner, dropping almost ten kilograms in the process.

But now he felt like he gained that weight back, although it seemed to be mostly muscle, which was quite surprising for not even half a year of training.

"I wonder if it has something to do with me eating that Queen's heart?" Gerald wondered and squeezed his fist, feeling his increased strength.

He was currently leisurely walking on a mountain path, enjoying the scenery, and recovering his Mana. He could be considered one of the most powerful mages in the kingdom already, at least that's what he thought.

And it didn't seem like his strength would stop growing any time soon. He just needed the proper herbs and knowledge and he could become a god among men.

"Hyaaaaaa!"

A shrill scream coming from the forest above almost scared him to death. It was so peaceful before so he relaxed completely, but then his mind was suddenly interrupted by that scream.

"What-?" Gerald swiftly turned towards the source of the shout. He heard the human-like screaming a few more times and decided to check it out.

He sprinkled the Scent-Removing Powder all over himself and became invisible, before running up the steep slope.

He even had to fly up the side of a small cliff, before landing on a rocky ledge. Then he suddenly saw the source of all that screaming. Seeing the sight, he almost didn't know whether he should laugh or cry.

It was two Mountain Lions screaming at each other and testing the waters by swiping at the other's face with their front paws.

They were clearly two males fighting for a female that was not far away. They made themselves look bigger and more threatening by walking on their tip-toes and even raised their backs, just like house cats usually did.

"They are bigger than I thought…" Gerald found the entire thing comical and sat on a rock, observing them. He even took out his notebook and quickly captured the intense moment.

"Hey guys, there is a human!" the female Mountain Lion suddenly spoke.

Both males immediately stopped their intimidation tactics and turned around. Indeed, there was suddenly a human at the edge of a cliff! They didn't even notice when he came there.

It was like an apparition, completely silent, and without a smell.

If it wasn't for Gerald removing his invisibility, they probably wouldn't even realize he was there.

"Oh, hey!" Gerald waved at them. "Don't mind me, I can wait until you guys finish your stuff…"

Growl!

One of them growled quietly and took a position low to the ground like he was stalking his prey. The big brown eyes were focused on him.

"Hehe," Gerald chuckled and stood up. He twisted his silver hand and revealed the cannon barrel. "Okay then, I guess we can play right now if you want…"

The Mountain Lions didn't seem to care for his words and only showed him their sharp teeth. They slowly approached him from two sides while the female stayed behind and watched.

A cannonball floated out of Gerald's pouch and entered the barrel. He leisurely lifted his hand, aimed, and...put it back down.

"Nah, that would be too easy!" He fixed his silver hand back in place and took out a knife instead. "Come on! Let's have some fun, you big cats!" he taunted.

The female Lion snorted and said, "This human is so annoying!"

"Indeed, his actions are ticking me off!" the bigger of the males agreed and suddenly accelerated forward.