The young girl stood up. She was perfectly intact. Even the dried bloodstains on her face seemed to have vanished.
She warmly and sincerely thanked the robed man. He merely scoffed with disdain before turning on his heel, ignoring her completely.
When she spotted Davin, she hurried toward him, but the former human's gaze remained fixed on the departing mage. He took a few steps in his direction.
"Sir, how did you learn that?" Davin asked in a loud voice.
Observing the man's haughty demeanor, Davin figured he might as well just go for it. After all, he had nothing to lose by trying. But the mage didn't even deign to give him a glance and walked up the gallery stairs.
No interest in anyone outside his world, Davin deduced. Noted.
He didn't push it, pivoted, and headed straight for one of the receptionists. Arriving at the counter, he pulled the two lavender ears from his pocket and placed them on the solid wood. The woman stifled a grimace of disgust, picked up the trophies by her fingertips, and handed him his due: two silver coins.
Davin let out a sigh of satisfaction as he felt the cold metal in his palm. Tonight, he wouldn't be sleeping under the stars, and he wouldn't be eating stolen scraps.
"Thank you again for saving me," a soft voice chimed in from behind him.
Davin turned around. He observed the young woman from a different angle, silently sizing up his target. Her short red hair was tousled from the battle. A few freckles dotted a face with juvenile features. Standing still, she nervously gripped the edge of her cloak with a gloved hand.
A kid barely sixteen years old. Naive, terrified, and probably highly malleable.
He put on a fake smile, calculated to appear friendly and harmless.
"It was nothing. Are you and your companions warriors?" he asked, stepping aside slightly to isolate himself from the rest of the noisy hall.
"Yes... well, we are in training to become Adepts. We are considered semi-adepts."
"Semi-adepts? What's the difference? Aren't you apprentice mages or warriors?"
The young girl looked at him, genuinely surprised by his ignorance.
"Not really," she explained with a hint of melancholy. "We study magic, but it remains very complex. Currently, we are just simple warriors. To be considered an Adept, you have to succeed in sensing mana and reaching the 'half-gate'."
Hm. Two conditions. Sense the mana, and open a half-gate.
"My grandfather is an Adept, and he gives me advice often!" she added, a proud smile lighting up her face.
Her grandfather? He's old and he's still only at the Adept stage? Just how hard is this damn system to climb?! "Impressive," Davin lied smoothly. "But how do you sense this mana?"
"But... where do you come from?" she asked in astonishment, her eyes wide. "You really don't know that?"
Davin quickly realized his mistake. This is basic information here. Might as well play the broken survivor card; she won't suspect a thing.
"I've been an amnesiac for a long while now," he replied, lowering his eyes with fake sadness. "I have no family."
"Oh... That explains everything then," she murmured, her doubts instantly erased by empathy. "From what my grandfather told me, to be a Mage, you have to successfully cross the entire first mana gate. But for the Adept stage, only half is enough. A half-gate."
"And how do you achieve that?" he pressed.
"You have to sense the surrounding mana and let it enter your body. It's extremely difficult and requires absolute concentration. I've heard that true geniuses can easily do it on their own, even without a pill."
A pill? Davin's eyes gleamed imperceptibly. He had just obtained the crucial piece of information.
"Where can I find these pills?"
"Uh... I don't know exactly where they're bought. My grandfather gives me two a month. Actually..."
She rummaged through a small pouch on her belt and pulled out a small, dark sphere.
"I'd like to give you one. You saved my life. I'm Sylvia, by the way!"
"Davin. A pleasure, Sylvia."
He took the pill without the slightest hesitation and shoved it into his pocket. His goal was achieved; he had no reason to linger, especially if the hysterical brother risked showing up any minute. He gleaned a few more pieces of information, got some directions about the village, and quickly took his leave.
Following Sylvia's instructions, he soon found an inn. It was a large, multi-story wooden building with a carved sign he couldn't decipher. He went inside. The common room was spacious, occupied by several tables where patrons ate in a warm, bustling din.
He headed to the counter at the back of the room. In exchange for a whole silver coin, he negotiated a room for two nights, a hot meal, and a set of clean, basic canvas clothes.
His room was spartan: a narrow bed, a small table, and a chair. But for Davin, it was pure luxury.
My meal will arrive in thirty minutes. I'm going to take the pill and test her method right now.
The idea of taking a bath first had crossed his mind, but the fear of getting this precious pill stolen in the communal showers took precedence. He pulled off his filthy tunic and sat cross-legged on the wooden floor.
"AI. Based on the information recorded today, help me analyze my flows to sense mana after ingesting this."
[BEEP. System Message / Assistance Mode Activated. Awaiting ingestion of the foreign substance.]
With a knot in his stomach, Davin took deep breaths, put the pill in his mouth, and swallowed it.
He closed his eyes and waited.
Nothing.
He concentrated. He searched for the slightest spark, the slightest warmth, the slightest change in his environment.
Still nothing.
Could that kid have fooled me? he wondered, his jaw clenched in frustration.
He waited a long while yet, seething internally, until someone knocked on the door to bring him his meal. It was a bowl of steaming soup containing grilled meat and unknown vegetables, accompanied by a loaf of bread and a hoppy beverage.
He devoured his meal ravenously. The warmth of the food somewhat soothed his anger over the pill's failure.
Once satiated, he left his room and headed to the inn's communal baths. The hot water running over his battered body was a true liberation. The mud, goblin blood, and accumulated grime vanished down the drains. For the first time since his traumatic arrival in this world, he felt clean and at peace.
As he was drying off, a sensation of diffuse heat suddenly prickled his muscles.
Intrigued, he paused.
"AI, analyze my body and display my stats."
[BEEP. System Message / Analysis in progress...]> HOST STATUS:
Name: Davin (Unknown Vessel)
Biological Age: 19 years
Strength: 1.2 (Standard Average: 1.0)
Agility: 1.1
Vitality: 1.2
Mana: 1.5
[Alert / Recommendation: Effects of the alchemical capsule assimilated. Malnutrition eradicated. Muscular reconfiguration complete. Detection and nomenclature validated: The foreign energy flow corresponds to the local designation 'Mana'.]
Davin widened his eyes.
I succeeded. Not only was this pill not a scam, but by being digested, it fully repaired my muscular atrophy! And my mana increased by 0.3!
He stepped out of the bath and walked back to his room with a towel wrapped around his waist. He slipped into his new purchases: a long black t-shirt that resembled a tunic, ecru canvas pants, and black shoes.
The clothes of this world didn't look purely medieval; they were functional and rather classy. The villagers wore simple garments with almost modern cuts. The warriors, meanwhile, simply wore armor pieces over them. The blend was atypical, but the whole thing had its own style.
"AI, scan my body and project a visual. I want to see my appearance."
[BEEP]
A translucent hologram appeared. He could finally look at himself. Regular features, a straight nose, dark hair, eyebrows, and deep black eyes. He was not strikingly handsome and certainly wouldn't attract attention.
He was an ordinary man. The perfect camouflage.
"AI, assist me in sensing mana."
He sat cross-legged on the floor once again. Inhaling and exhaling forcefully, he progressively slowed his breathing rhythm for about thirty seconds to lower his intensity and keep a perfectly calm mind.
After a few breaths, he felt a dull heat traveling through his body. This heat intensified more and more. His breathing, however, remained stable and unbothered; he suspected the AI's assistance was the reason.
He could finally feel the mana within him. He felt this energy converge and concentrate at a specific point on the right side of his chest. This point seemed to fill up right before his eyes.
It's the mana gate! he exclaimed internally, thrilled.
He forced his mind to calm down and resumed his observation. The cavity wasn't very large, but it possessed a strange depth. However, what he saw inside shocked him profoundly.
According to Sylvia's information, a mana gate at awakening should be gray. So why was his radiating a verdant jade green?
The apple. Without a doubt. But the most staggering part was yet to come: the gate was already half full of mana. The mystical artifact hadn't just killed him; it had altered his very nature. The jade apple was undoubtedly a hidden blessing.
A wide smile stretched his lips as he checked the latest update on his stats.
[BEEP. System Message / Analysis in progress...] > HOST STATUS:
Name: Davin (Unknown Vessel)
Name: Davin (Unknown Vessel)
Biological Age: 19 years
Strength: 1.2 (Standard Average: 1.0)
Agility: 1.1
Vitality: 1.2
Mana: 2.5
[Alert: Half-gate stage breached. Body adaptation in progress.]
[Rank: Initial Adept (Half-Gate Stage)]
A predatory smile lit up his face. The game could finally begin.