"So, gods exist?" Zane asked.
"That's what the commander said," Ricardo nodded.
"The implication that Gods exist, and more importantly, that humans can ascend or evolve into Godhood is fascinating to say the least," Zane pondered. "But what exactly is a God? The fact that Klyde stated that Archmages are on par with Gods implies they are just powerful creatures or entities that have reached a high level in a specific extraordinary path."
There are numerous concepts or ideologies about Gods on Earth. Whether it's from religion, mythology, or even spirituality. Many scientists believe that one day, humans will create artificial intelligence so advanced that it can be considered God. All these ideologies about Gods seemed different from the one Klyde mentioned, but there may be some unknown connections.
"What do you think gods are like? The concept of a Divine Kingdom is common in Christianity, implying a place that believers strive to reach in the afterlife. So, does that mean God also needs believers? I've never heard of Divine Spark or Divine Flame, but since the commander mentioned it, they must be crucial to the Path of Godhood."
"I don't really know, but I don't think it's a good idea to compare those false gods to the one and only God."
"Is he Christian?" Zane thought after noticing Ricardo's strange reaction to his words. Mexico is a deeply religious country, with more than 90% of the population identifying as Christian, mostly Catholic. Not wanting to rock the boat, Zane decided to shift the conversation.
"What happened after you guys started learning breathing exercises?"
"First, he taught us Mana Channeling," Ricardo replied, raising one finger.
"What's that?"
"The breathing exercise did two things: sense the life energy in the body and, more importantly, passively draw mana into our bodies."
"Passive?"
"I think that's the right word," Ricardo's brow furrowed a bit. "The commander said that, unlike mages, knights cannot directly sense or absorb the ambient mana in the air. However, through certain movements and breathing, we can still draw it into our bodies.
"Once we have sufficient mana, we can use a technique called [Channeling] to fuse the mana with the body's life energy." Ricardo started stabbing his spear, displaying a martial arts routine. Zane took a half step backward, his hands already on his waist, ready to draw the gun.
"By combining mana and life energy in different parts of the body, I can make it stronger. In the legs, I can run and jump fast. In the arms, I become stronger and can lift more. If you do it to your face, you can see and smell better."
"Interesting," Zane thought. Focusing his mind, he detected the two different energies: one blue and one white. The white one seemed woven into every muscle fiber and all of his 206 bones. Meanwhile, the blue one scattered throughout his body.
"Hmm? So easy?" His attempt at fusing these two powers was rather simple: they first repelled each other, especially after trying to fuse the life energy into the mana. However, the moment he tried the reverse, everything just fell into place as if it were natural.
Whoosh!
Zane jumped in the air, and he gasped. A brief calculation revealed he had achieved a 36-inch vertical jump, which is much higher than even most NBA players. Before this, Zane's highest record was probably 23-24 inches. But, with a bit of mana, his physical body was enhanced, and he improved by more than 10 inches.
"The fusion lasted less than 3 seconds," Zane analyzed. "Do knights have to fuse them constantly? No, their training involved condensing cores, which implied they needed to achieve permanent fusion. So, do I need more training, or am I missing something?"
"You-You-You…"
"Hmm? Is something wrong?" Zane asked with a frown.
"Did you just use Mana Channeling?"
"Yeah, and?"
Ricardo was quiet for a moment. "I spent three days before I succeeded, and the commander praised me and everybody else who did in the same amount of time." Ricardo did not mention that the fastest individual in their class took a day and a half. Yet, this mage succeeded in a matter of seconds.
"Well, maybe it's different for mages," Zane comforted him. After all, Keldithas described mages as the ones blessed by mana. As people with a high affinity for mana, maybe skills such as mana channeling come more easily to them.
"Maybe you're right," Ricardo said in a low voice. A somber silence descended between, making the situation awkward.
"What kind of title do you have?" Zane asked, trying to get the conversation going. "Maybe we can exchange methods of acquiring titles."
"Sorry, I can't."
"Why not?"
"The Weapon Master told us not to reveal our titles — especially to mages. He said it's the key to bridge the gap between us."
Zane frowned while in deep thought. "Will every knight keep their titles to themselves? Maybe not just them. Maybe everybody will become secretive about their titles or methods of acquiring them."
"It's fine if you don't want to talk about it," Zane nodded. "But who is the Weapon Master? Is he the one who taught you how to use the spear?"
"Yes."
"He must be really good at his job to train you to such a level in just 2 weeks."
"2 weeks? No, it took 6 months."
"What do you mean by 6 months? It's only been half a month since the Dimension Tower appeared." For a moment, Zane thought something had been lost in translation.
"I don't know what to tell you. We had a six-month training program. The Weapon Master said knights need to increase their life energy, and the best way is to exercise a lot. So, every day, for six months, we ran, lifted weights, did squats, and learned how to use a spear and shield. Some people learned other weapons, such as bows and swords."
"Another magical method? Probably related to time manipulation," Zane thought. If he could learn a language in a few days, it's not too far out of the realm of logic for these knights to receive months of training in just 2 weeks. At this point, Zane would not be surprised if there were spells to revive the dead.
"What —"
"Did you hear something?" Ricardo suddenly asked.
Zane frowned and listened, but besides the sound of birds chipping and the wind blowing on the grass, there was nothing worthy of his attention. Focusing his mind, he sensed three intense white lights in a bush twenty meters north of their location. There were other lights, but they were too faint to detect. Thinking of something, Zane channeled the mana into his life energy in his ears.
"Are those footsteps?" He could hear a dozen slow footsteps slowly approaching, and the target's direction seemed to be toward them.
"Get behind me," Ricardo said as he raised his shield with his left hand and pointed the spear with his right. Zane was about to deny his words, but realized that it was not the time for pride or bravado. With someone protecting him, he can have plenty of time to cast his spells.
So, as soon as he was behind Ricardo, he started casting the Mana Shield Spell. However, this wasn't his normal casting process since he wanted to test an idea he had as soon as he heard about mana channeling. First, he enhanced his arm to increase his strength and dexterity, which in turn increased the speed of engraving runes. His effort proved useful as the spell was closed to being cast in less than 4 seconds. If not for the annoying incantations, Zane believed he would have broken that barrier, but even with that limitation, he should reach that level after a bit of practice.
Swish!
A kobold rushed out of the bush and attacked them. Ricardo parries their leader with his shield before instantly counterattacking with the spear. The leader kobold reacted swiftly, moving backward to evade, but the spear tip still cut into his skin. Meanwhile, the other two with immense life energy rushed toward Zane. Ricardo swung his spear like a whip, stopping one of them, but the other still bypassed his defense.
Zane remained calm. The kobold swung his sword, but the semi-transparent remained steadfast in front of its summoner. While keeping his composure, Zane calmly cast the Magic Bullet Spell. He could have used the gun on his waist, but he feared these kobolds would run away. After all, he was only 10 kills away from a title upgrade.
Five arrows flew from the back and hit the mana shield; this hunting team, composed of well-trained warriors, showed how organized they were, with each individual having a role. Sadly, they've met the wrong person. In just 4. 12 seconds, the spell was cast, and a hole appeared in the kobold's head. The creature had tried to evade, and Zane even sensed a method similar to Mana Channeling, but the magic bullet speed was too fast.
Glancing at Ricardo's situation, Zane discovered the latter had no trouble dealing with two kobolds at once and felt relieved. He did not target these two; Ricardo might be like him, trying to gain a title, and since he could handle them, Zane chose not to interfere.
The non-warrior kobolds, the ones without intense life energy that wasn't easy to detect, were not so lucky. Zane sends them to Owuo or Hades, or maybe they worship their own God of Death.