Chapter 6: Mana absorption and Arrival

Akira pushed himself to his feet, and spat blood to the ground. Wiping blood from his mouth, Akira grabbed his water skin and rinsed his mouth with it. "God that's foul! Why didn't it bother me in my wolf form? I guess canines have a dulled sense of taste or something."

"Hahaha! I could've told you that'd be foul as those little beasts don't exactly know what hygiene is." Thorin laughed uproariously at Akira's misfortune, and clapped him on his shoulder. "Cheer up, lad. Now let me show you how you can gather mana from the monsters before it disperses."

Thorin took a seat on the ground, legs crossed and his battle axe laying horizontally across his lap. "Take a seat, lad. You need to know that this world is much more brutal than these little beasties. The sentient races out there meditate and gather mana passively slowly ranking up through the accumulation of mana. The body of mortals has twenty thresholds before they form a mana core and become Demigods, and you, having just gotten your Blessing are at rank one. The power you have shown is already astonishing for a rank one, but I would say you are, at most, at the skill level of a rank 6."

'It'sl like the levels in a video game!' Akira thought, but he knew that he still had a long way to go. "Thorin if it's so slow gathering mana passively, then is gathering mana from slain monsters faster?"

"Aye it is, but it can't be done continuously as the mana from monsters is usually extremely impure. Therefore, you have to circulate it through your body multiple times to expel the impurities. Otherwise, your mana will be low quality and weaker than someone of higher mana quality. So watch as I attract mana from the Stoma over there." Thorin gestured in the direction of one of the Stoma he'd split in half previously. Now a greyish white mist could be seen rising from it's body.

Akira looked on as Thorin closed his eyes and took a deep breath before releasing it slowly, and he seemed to fall into a trance. Akira felt rather than saw a ripple of energy come out from Thorin until it enveloped the mana rising from the Stoma's body. As if it was being assimilated, the greyish white mana was pulled into Thorin as the ripple of energy returned back to him. A minute passed before Thorin awoke from his meditation, and he stood up patting the dirt from his backside. "That's how you do it, lad. Now it's your turn, and don't worry if it takes longer than me. I'm rank sixteen, and one Mene Stoma isn't much mana for me after extracting the impurities."

Akira just about stumbled as he went to seat himself next to a Stoma corpse. Taking a seat on the ground, Akira closed his eyes and took a deep breath through his nose. Then he slowly released it out his mouth, and repeated this several times before he seemed to fall into a trance. It felt as if his heart slowed, and Akira felt his senses expand outwards stopping at an even 20 feet from his body. He focused upon a seemingly glowing mass that appeared in his mind's eye realizing it as the Stoma's mana. Akira reached inside himself almost as if he was calling his gift forward, but instead of shifting he used this power to spread out an imitation of what he'd seen Thorin do. A ripple spread outward like a fisherman's net catching the mana inside, and with a simple urging of his willpower, Akira drew it into himself. The mana net dissolved once it returned to him, and Akira groaned in discomfort as the beast's mana ran amok in side his mana channels. Instantly, he felt a warm stream of energy that felt as if had the destructive power of an inferno driving the mana around Akira's mana channels in a complete circuit. Thanking Thorin in his head, Akira took over as Thorin's energy left his body pushing the mana onwards making five circuits around his body before it gained a silvery-white hue shining brilliantly. Finally, it fully assimilated into Akira, and he stood from his meditation feeling stronger and faster than before.

"Good you have already finished, and don't let it get to you that I had to intervene as most families will have a Demigod ancestor sit down with their families descendants guiding them through the process. The fact that I just gave you a small push and you took the initiative is good enough. Alright well it took you ten minutes, and now we must leave before something comes to investigate the scent of blood."

"What about the other Mene Stoma's mana?" Akira asked, but Thorin shook his head.

"Look for yourself. The mana is dispersing." Thorin gestured toward the now thinning mist of mana and within seconds it dispersed entirely. "Mana from weaker monsters isn't thick enough for it to stick around longer than fifteen minutes or so. Now we have to be off as I can guarantee that all kinds of beasts will gather here in the next hour or so."

Thorin helped Akira recover his bow, and they hastily moved further on the path.

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With the darkness of night encroaching upon them, Akira and Thorin found a clearing to set up camp. Crackling flames soon lit up the night with the campfire they'd started. Akira looked to Thorin asking, "Thorin before you met me, what caused you to wander like that? Your smithing skills alone surely would be welcome anywhere."

Heaving a deep sigh, Thorin gazed into the fire with a faraway look. He spoke with a somber tone, "Well lad, I'm a refugee if you will. My clan were prosperous, and our hold had just gotten ahold of a magic item that's power was unlike anything we'd ever seen. It could channel the users mana into casting a lightning bolt down upon a targeted building razing it to the ground, but my clan head's son, the bastard that he is, grew greedy. He conspired with an outsider, hoping to keep the item for himself, offering the wealth of our clan in hope of gaining their protection. The blasted fool invited disaster upon us, as his so called friend laid siege to our hold. The God, for that's what he was, sent monsters like giants and goblin hordes to assault our walls. Caught wholly unprepared, We didn't last a day before they overran our walls, slaughtering everyone in sight women, children, and the elderly alike." Thorin clenched his fists in suppressed rage.

"I was but a boy back then, not even 18 yet. I wandered for the longest time afterwards and waited until I gained my Blessing in hopes that I'd have a chance to turn things around. How naive and stupid I was as I know now that I'm not going to be able to do anything alone. Thankfully, I stumbled across some poor sods who decided to rob me. Otherwise, I'd have never met the brave boy who fought for a complete stranger. Akira, as I said before, I will help you in your cause." Thorin's tone had lost its edge, as he smiled heartily raising his water skin in toast to Akira before taking a gulp.

"I will also promise my aid in bringing your clan justice, my friend. The god that wiped out your clan will pay with his head one day!" Akira also raised his water skin in toast before drinking. In Akira's mind the hatred he held for Loki now extended to this unknown God who didn't hesitate to order the execution of an entire clan just for riches.

Akira and Thorin slept through the night in shifts, and without incident reached their first destination by the next afternoon.