Reluctant agreement

Bruno, with his eyes closed, activated his ability, a chilly blue aura surrounded his hand as he faced it towards the crows, his hand now aimed for a bird, and when he felt like one was in front of him, he whispered: " come",

One of the abominations stopped its flight immediately, as if dragged down by an invisible weight, it fell down, not being able to retaliate, the moment Bruno's hands felt the feather touch, he closed his fist with all his might, the neck of the animal completely exploded, and purple blood was sprayed everywhere.

His face was nearly entirely covered in blood, but with a simple wave of his hand, he cleared it away, sending it flying toward the murder of crows at high speed.

As if they were spears refined years and years by a master blacksmith, the blood shards pierced through the monsters easily.

With that, another five crows fell to the ground lifeless, hitting the ground from that height, all their body spattered and the only thing left intact was the mana stone.

In high spirits, Bruno continued to use telekinesis dragging them down one by one, until there weren't any left flying.

Proud of his feat he said: " see you stupid birds, that's what you get when you're messing with m-" before he could finish the phrase, his head hurt as hell , and he felt himself losing balance.

To avoid falling down he held on a tree beside him, this time the Ill wasn't caused by the crows or by a curse, it was exhaustion, all his mana had been drained and his mind was also really tired by the excessive control on telekinesis.

He was now weakened, and an easy prey, so he collected the mana stones and got out of there as soon as he could.

Exited the gate, he was now standing in the little lake, the water arrived at his waist and it was really cold, so it woke him up a bit, while he was returning, the cave felt a little strange, like if it was brighter, he turned around one last time to see if it actually brighter or if it was just his impression, and he remained shocked once again.

Behind the gate he had just came out from, another smaller one was formed, it was completely orange, the words:" no way" slipped from his mouth, while his face just watched in astonishment the view in front of him.

He was still really tired, so he just returned home, during the journey he was still thinking about the two gates, what were the chances of something like that happening, it was near impossible.

That must've been his lucky day, or maybe his unluckily.

When he returned home he found Elsa eating the pancakes with a cup of hot milk in her hand.

He made a coffee now that she was awake and joined her for his second breakfast.

They talked a bit, and when Elsa finished eating, he asked her:"was it tasty?"

She replied:"yeah, super good, buy them tomorrow as well if you find them"

Blushing a little bit he said:"I made them"

"…. What".

Elsa returned inside after that incredible revelation and sat on her bed, meditating.

Bruno went inside as well, bringing his empty cup of coffee with him.

With the door open, he saw her sitting cross legged on the bed and wondered what she was doing.

As he entered the room she opened her eyes and said:"what do you want".

He replied with a curious tone:" what are you doing?"

"Can't you see, I'm meditating"

"Thanks Miss Sherlock, I'm asking why you are doing that"

She sighted and scoffed:"don't you even know the basics, it's the only way to increase the mind rank".

Returning outside, he thought:~ so that's how it is huh, others can't just raise their mind rank if they awaken, they have to train for it, wait than maybe…~

He rushed back in yet another time, Elsa didn't even have time to ask a question this time as he instantly posed his:" Elsa, teach me meditation"

She remained shocked by his request and after a bit of thought she answered:"what's in for me?"

Without hesitation Bruno said:"I'll spar with you".

Her eyes widened, sure enough she was very tempted by this offer, she saw him kill an Otso alone, that meant that his rank must've been at least twenty, well that's what she thought.

Sparring with someone stronger than you was always very useful, but the meditation's methods were extremely rare, the top tier ones weren't even buyable with loads of money.

Seeing she was still uncertain he added:"I'll also make pancakes everyday"

Quite embarrassed, she accepted, but she specified that the pancakes played no role in her decision and she wanted to help solely out of good will.

They started immediately, taking it outside to avoid breaking anything in the house.

Before starting, he asked:"what's your body and mana rank?"

She angrily replied:"it's rude to ask someone their status you know"

His response came back instantly:"I do know, but I have to know what I'm working with, or else I'll just waste time trying to gauge your strength, and I don't think you have much time do you"

After careful consideration she agreed and told him her stats: her body was high rank one, basically that of an average male, her mana was low rank three, and her mind mid rank seven.

For a typical awakened individual, her mind rank was quite high. However, for him, it seemed low since he had the same rank when he was barely 14 and not even awakened.

She specified:" don't ask me for my skill and class because I won't tell it to you even if you beg me, also what do you mean I don't have time?"

He calmly replied watching her in her eyes:"there won't be any need for me to ask you anything, as for the time thing, you know what I'm talking about don't you?

Freya"