Make Connections to Find Answers

The group walked through the woods, in order to make their way to Bill's camp, then to Manley's cabin. The only sounds between them were the pounding of feet. Manley and Bill were both comfortable with the silence, the baby was asleep, but Bob, Bill's son was not.

"How much longer do we have to trudge through this nonsense, there isn't even a path here," said Bob.

The group ignored him and kept walking. Bob made his steps heavier while huffing and gripping loudly.

"If you wake my kid, I will force you to transform repeatedly, till exhaustion. Trust me, I am very curious to see what happens," said Manley.

Bob smirked then lighten his steps slightly. "Whatever you say, Bossman, you won't hear anything from me."

Manley, without turning around, "I don't understand your hostility, but I can assure you that once things settle down, most likely, I will forget all about you." He stopped without warning, "Also, your attention seeking behavior, is rather childish."

"I am a child! You kid, think you are hot shit, I am done taking orders—"

Bill placed his hand on his son's shoulder. "Don't be so quick to anger, the lad gave us our freedom and asked for little in return."

"I said childish, I wonder what level of education did you even complete before going off into the woods? I am young but at least I grew up," said Manley.

"There is no need to antagonize him, you understand what the change does, my boy was too young…," said Bill.

"Now, he is a man, stop making excuses for that—"

Manley doubled over, just barely stopping himself from dropping his daughter. "Uhhhhh!"

He could feel something being pulled from the core of his being, even though he could not identify where that was. His body reacted to the stimulus in an odd way, his bowels released, and he farted loudly. Now on his hands and knees, he put down the baby in his left hand and groaned in discomfort.

"Ha, ahhahahaha." Bob doubled over as well but in laughter. "What the hell, hahaha."

Bill rushed over to Manley's side, gently lifting him by the shoulders. "What has happened?"

"I don't know, I…I feel like my insides are being pulled out," said Manley.

Just as quickly as it started, it was gone and his mana then exploded out of his body, the range more than double of what it was before.

Status Update

INT +10

TRAIT Revealed

Fractured Mind Subconscious and Conscious mind are independent of each other.

Madness Weak mental defense, susceptible to mental influence, immune to mind control.

Manley ignored the information as he tries to get his mana under control. Slowly, he was able to calm down and withdraw his mana into himself. He picked up his daughter and brushed off Bill's hand. "I am okay, I don't know what that was but at this point I suspect it's more bullshit." He looked around before turning back to Bill. "We are close to your camp, lets rest there for now."

The group moved on to the campground, and Bill set out to make a fire, while Bob just sat on a log. Manley found a spot to gently set down his daughter, then tried to figure out what just happened to him.

Just as he was about to check his status, he looked up. In the sky, was an image of his face but with a third eye in the middle of his forehead. "What the fuck is that!"

Bill with twigs in hand, looks over at Manley, then following his gaze, he could see the image as well. "Wha…"

Bob, was deep in thought when he heard the commotion, looking over, he followed the gaze of both Bill and Manley. He blinked his eyes but could not understand what he was seeing.

Manley looked on as the projected image smirked at him, then fade away. "You know what, I don't care." Going back to what he was doing, Manley did not notice the two men staring into the sky, but he noticed them looking at him. "Sorry, I thought I saw something."

Manley "Buff" Hill Race: Human/Mutant/Werewolf

Age: 14 EXP. 404/4000 LV. 3

CLASS: Alchemist [Class Effect] +50% to craft(Alchemy) Skills

TITLE: Mutant, Alpha Wolf [Title Effect] Energy Manipulator, Energy Emulation, Wolves, and Werewolves are drawn to you.

Manley sat down, even more confused than before. "Why in the fuck did my power change, energy manipulation. I do not control any…" He stood up and started pacing. "It can't be, how…" He released conscious control of his body, which allowed him to calm down. "Mana, I didn't get stamina until that chi thing, then that means, mana is another type of energy, and I can manipulate it, what else changed?"

HP: 340/340 MP: 360/360 STA: 180/180

ATTRIBUTES

STR 31 MND 18

AGI 34 PER 26

DEX 26 END 18

CON 34

WIS 18

INT 36

CHA 11

"My intelligence improved but why? Nothing makes sense right now."

Fractured Mind Subconscious and Conscious mind are independent of each other.

"Maybe it has something to do with this, assuming the other one is related to why I am seeing things then this…what is this system?"

*SUBCONSCIOUS Title: Mutate Title effect: Reality Interface*

Manley reeled back at the information; this was vastly different from his usual. This felt intrusive, like someone just pushed something into his mind. "What the actual fuck!"

After several tries, Manley was able to confirm that whenever he inquired about the nature of the system, the same discomforting message pops up. He tried to get more information, but nothing worked. "Okay, let us say that this system, was created by my subconscious then a lot of what it says may not be accurate. So then, how do I determine what is my power or what is the effect of the system.

Manley moved his mana around in his body as he spoke, he not only had greater range than before but also tactile sensation. "Wait! could it be because of my improved senses? If I can manipulate this energy then I must have a sense for it as well, right?"

As he moved his mana around, he felt something. It was some kind of string, connecting to him. He followed the string, but it went beyond his range. He looked at his daughter, rubbed his chin, then sent out his mana towards her. There was a string attached to her as well. Bill and Bob were within ten meters of him and well within his range, so he checked them too.

They all had a string attached to them, wrapping his mana around them all at once, he let his mana sink into the strings.

MANA MANIPULATION MASTER LV1 Gained

MAGIC SKILL Gained

CONNECTION LV1 Gained

As soon as the mana saturated the strings, they broke apart. A slow rumble went through the mountain, originating from the place they came from. "What did you do Koga?" Manley looked up in the direction they came from.

CONNECTION LV1 Form a connection through time and space within line of sight.

After gaining and understanding the new skill, a new theory started taking root in his mind. Despite the confusing set of circumstances, his mind was sharper than ever. "Right, stupid, I just gained ten points in intelligence."

"Do you know what that was?" asked Bob.

Manley looked over at him, then at the curious Bill by the fire. "No, Burning Bit—I mean Bob. Hey why don't you two, go stab yourselves?"

They both looked at him, intensely, Bob was holding himself back from throwing the spear that was now in his hand, while Bill just glared. "What I mean is, you two should now be able to gain control of your transformations like I did. You just have to transform some more, then you would not need me."

"How do you know this? What is responsible? Why would you free us from your control?" asked Bill in succession.

"The same reason I can influence you, I am, and don't fucking question me." Manley could feel his anger rising, he wanted to tear Bill's head off. "Oh fuck! Blood lust…do not try my patience if you want to live."

Bill nodded his head in understanding, he watched Manley cautiously. Bob on the other hand was still upset. "Why can't you just make us?"

Before Bob could blink, Manley was charging at him, he smiled, then readied his spear. Before Bob's eyes, the tomahawk he had seen before appeared, out of thin air, into Manley's hand. Manley knocked Bob's spear aside with Lock, as he reached out his other hand, he transformed Gab from the bracelet on his left hand, aiming for Bob's throat, only for Bill to grab his hand.

MELEE WEAPON LV5

"Please, I beg you, spare my son. He is all I have!" said Bill.

Manley ignored him but withdrew his hand, his attention completely caught by the change in his weapon. The ivory handle of both weapons had turned a shadowy black.

"Thank you, Lad," said Bill.

Manley transformed one of his weapons back to a bracelet, but it was now a black band around his wrist. "Go stab yourselves."

Bill walked away with a terrified but still angry Bob. Manley looked over at his other weapon, still in axe form, he hacked it into a nearby tree. As he released the handle, he then decided to evaluate his new skill. "The system doesn't update with my input; mana is still listed, and my skills say magic skill when it should just be my mutant ability."

He channeled his new skill, feeling the energy string forming in his hand, he directed it to the handle of Lock. The string connected, although he could not see it, he could feel it.

CONNECTION LV2 Gained

The string of energy was in place, but nothing happened, after waiting twenty seconds, Manley broke the connection. He stood in place trying to figure out what happened, but after twenty seconds, his tomahawk slammed into his hand, surprising him. "Wha..."

He looked at the weapon in his hand, then the tree where it was before. The tree still had a hole where the axe blade used to be. He stuck it back into the tree, formed a connection, then immediately broke it. the weapon, flew out of the tree in less than a second and was back in his hand, the handle first. It all happened so fast; he almost dropped it in surprise.

Manley stuck the tomahawk back in the tree with a smile on his face. Just as he was about to try a new test, two giant wolves walked up to him curiously. "You two in control?" the wolves turned their heads in confusion. "Turn back, but away from me." The wolves walked away, with their tails between their legs. "Shitty new title or was it something else…"

Manley took a moment to look around, but no other wolves were following him. He next tried, connecting his weapon to something else but he could only form the string in his hand and could not release it. he ended up with one string of energy connected to his tomahawk and hand, then another string still flowing out of his hand, so he just connected it to his tomahawk as well. Now, with two strings connected to his hand and tomahawk, he broke the first connection, then the other. Nothing happened, until the time of the first string elapsed, then his weapon teleported into his hand, falling to the ground as he did not grab it.

CONNECTION LV4 Gained

"How! Shouldn't the time add together, why did it teleport? Shit, I really cannot deal with anymore mysteries right now."