Free Web NovelChapter 10: Peak
"Surely young master won’t be thinking about training without mana potions..."
Trisha looked slightly stunned as this possibility popped into her head. The next moment, she quickly shook her head to get rid of it. It was very clear to everyone that no matter which path you followed, without mana potions there was no progress. Unlike other races in this world, humans could not absorb ambient mana present in the surroundings. Hell, even if they could, they did not have the mana cores of abyss beasts, nor the mana hearts of dragons, to store all that energy. They relied on their mental acuity to extract pure mana from the surroundings in the form of mana potions to aid their cultivation.
Simply amazing...
Cole inhaled deeply, his gaze filled with awe as he stared at the glistening glass bottle in his hand. It was these bottles that allowed humanity to fight for their survival and carve a small territory for themselves.
Thinking of all these things, a deep sense of respect developed in Cole’s heart for the ancestors of humanity, who, living in the dark ages, did not wallow in despair at their misery but fought against fate itself.
Cole could hardly imagine himself in their shoes, facing abyssal monsters capable of rending the sky and bruising the sea, as an ordinary human with no magical power, only indomitable will to survive.
Just imagining that scene sent a chilling sensation down Cole’s spine.
Cole stayed still, his grip on the mana potion tightened. It was only when a breath of time passed that he was able to calm himself down.
Trisha had noticed his strange state. She could feel that for some reason, her young master’s heart had turned heavy.
Suddenly her face turned slightly guilty.
Was I too harsh with my words...? Damn you, Trisha. When did you start wanting your tongue to regret what it says? Look what you did... how can you hurt your young master’s feelings?
She fidgeted anxiously on the spot while berating herself for Cole’s heavy mood. Trisha only relaxed when she noticed Cole’s mood improving. Taking this opportunity, she spoke in a slightly solemn tone.
"Young master, please stay alert. There is something fishy going on in the family..."
Trisha’s expression was stone serious as she said those words. She still had not forgotten how the fatty refused to hand over the mana potion. Of course, this was not enough for Trisha to panic, but her intuition told her something was definitely going on. She just could not put her finger on it.
Fishy in the family...
Cole’s expression nodded without much reaction, but for some reason Amorpheus’s words echoed in his head.
Father..! Did something happen to my father...?
As soon as this thought popped up in his head, he tried to deny it. His father, the family head of the Saint Family, was the strongest body refining path practitioner in the city. There was no way something could happen to him.
If something happened to such a figure, it should not be him worrying, but the entire kingdom... maybe even the union.
Just as his thoughts were about to spiral out of control, Cole shook his head. Thinking was not going to change anything. It did not matter whether anything happened to his father or not. Just to be on the safe side, it would be better for him to start training as fast as possible.
With that thought in mind, he simply returned to his private training room with the glass bottles in his hand. Trisha waited outside patiently just in case her young master might need something.
Trisha’s head was hung down, revealing her swan-like neck that had turned red from anxiety.
I should have asked young master to stay careful and not overdo it...
Hmmm, even if he overdoes it, I can help him relax... hehe. No, what am I thinking?
...
Once inside, Cole sat cross-legged, uncorking the bottle and pouring one bottle down his throat. Time was of the essence. He could feel multiple things at play, and one wrong move might put him in a life-threatening situation.
Noticing something, a frown appeared on his face.
Strange, every time I drank a mana potion, my entire body would feel as if it had been set on fire.
Not just him, but any human who drank the potion felt the same.
Thinking up to this point, the frown on his face hardened, and he muttered in a slightly disbelieving tone:
Why am I not feeling anything...?
Cole’s gaze shifted to the empty glass bottle in his hand, a questioning look on his face.
Then why am I not feeling anything?
He felt no burning, as if he had not swallowed a mana potion at all, but something plain like a glass of water.
"Saint, do you have any idea what changed?"
Cole naturally asked after not finding a suitable explanation for his problem.
[Humans experience a burning sensation after drinking mana potions because their body is not capable of handling mana. However, your host, after partial fusion with the Lightning Worm bloodline, is no longer pure human but something different. Your affinity with mana has also increased.]
Cole re-read the explanation and realized it made sense.
Lightning Worms, although one of the weakest abyssal creatures, were still magical creatures born from mana.
After this short moment, his focus once again turned inward, trying to feel the flow of raw mana moving through his body.
However, once more his expression shot upward in a tight frown.
Where did all that mana go...?
To Cole’s surprise, he could not find a single drop of mana in his body as if it had just vanished. After looking around for some time, he soon found the answer.
The mana had not disappeared; it had simply been absorbed by his body, a total absorption, not even leaving a single drop of mana behind.
This realization chilled Cole’s heart.
Such efficiency... even the best body refining methods are not capable of achieving such efficiency. Usually, only fifty percent of the mana would be absorbed by the body after hours of grueling effort.
To think that just by fusing with Lightning Worm bloodline I could achieve such a result... simply unbelievable. And this is only the first percent fusion. When the fusion is completely finished, I wonder what would happen.
Cole’s body was like dry desert land after decades of drought. Any nourishment would only grow once the dried earth was quenched.
