So I reached the half-gate threshold in just a few hours.
Sitting in the silence of his room, Davin analyzed the situation. With the AI's assistance, the process had seemed disconcertingly simple, almost mechanical. But for the local population... just how abnormal was this speed? He knew full well he had been frighteningly fast. After all, Sylvia and her group hadn't even reached this level, and from what he understood, the girl's grandfather had been stagnating at this stage for years.
Davin narrowed his eyes. Was the AI an overpowered anomaly, or was the talent of Sylvia's entourage just pathetic ?
He inspected his stats. His mana now displayed a value of 2.5. If mana is at 2.5... logically, reaching 5 is equivalent to breaking through the first mana gate. The mysterious robed mage in the guild is an Adept. Am I theoretically capable of rivaling him?
Questions piled up. He burned with the desire to test this theoretical power, but he sorely lacked technique. By focusing, he noticed a striking novelty: his senses. He perceived subtle fluctuations in the air, heat currents invisible to the naked eye. Even more unsettling, he could hear and pinpoint the exact location of tiny insects crawling in the floorboard crevices.
I'm still too weak, and my ignorance is my greatest vulnerability, he thought coldly. There has to be a magic academy or a learning structure in this world. I need to infiltrate it as quickly as possible.
"AI, run a full analysis. List all perceptible physiological changes."
[BEEP. System Message / Analysis in progress...]> HOST STATUS Name:
Name: Davin (Unknown Vessel)
Biological Age: 19 years
Strength: 1.3 (Standard Average: 1.0)
Agility: 1.2
Vitality: 1.4
Mana: 2.5 (Half-gate reached)
[Alert: Overall improvement in muscular and skeletal structure detected.]
[Alert / Recommendation: Mana perception awakened. Visual, auditory, and olfactory acuity enhanced.]
My vitality has also increased nicely since the beginning... I thought it was simply due to finally eating enough. I was wrong. Mana restructures the body itself.
Davin left his room and went down the inn's stairs. The change was undeniable. His field of vision had widened. He could better perceive the grime under the customers' nails, made out the worn fibers of their clothes, and his sense of smell caught the wafts of sweat mixed with meal grease. These details, invisible to ordinary mortals, saturated his senses.
A wide smile briefly stretched his lips. With these reflexes, I would slaughter an ordinary human without the slightest difficulty. He went out into the street. The two suns still bathed the village in their harsh light. Time was of no importance. He headed towards the Adventurers' Guild, hoping to blend into the crowd.
But upon pushing the heavy doors open, the effect was immediate. A dozen heavy stares locked onto him. Davin suppressed a sigh.
Behind the counter, a receptionist quickly looked away upon seeing him—not because of some fetid stench, he had washed—but with a newfound deference, unsettled by the aura he now exuded.
"Hello..." she stammered. "Do you wish to join the guild? We offer attractive compensation in gold, as well as exclusive benefits... We have mana crystals that could help you and..."
"That's enough, Stella," a deep voice cut in.
Davin turned his head. It was Kys, the mysterious mage who had healed Sylvia. The man stepped forward, draped in his impeccable robe, sporting a courteous smile.
"Dear colleague, how are you? Come, follow me. Let's discuss this over a good drink."
Davin hid his surprise behind a mask of impassibility.
This asshole doesn't even recognize me? Makes sense, I'm no longer covered in mud and blood. Good, let's exploit this flaw.
"With pleasure," Davin replied, offering him a perfectly hypocritical smile.
He followed the mage upstairs. They entered a plush office, furnished with a heavy purple wood table upon which rested strange azure flowers. A silent butler served them a steaming beverage.
"Sit down," Kys invited him, the smile still hanging on his lips. "To your health. It's a concoction of my own making, based on Tulia flowers and botanical extracts from the Cascade Forest."
Davin wet his lips. The biting bitterness quickly gave way to an intoxicating sweetness. His eyes widened slightly, a detail the mage did not fail to notice with satisfaction.
"It's excellent. The flavor contrast is perfectly mastered."
"Thank you," Kys replied, sipping from his own cup. "Please excuse our receptionists, they always overdo it a bit when facing a new Adept. It's a great opportunity for them to spot talent."
"It's nothing. I'm Davin."
"Pleased to meet you, Davin. I'm Kys, the sub-master of this guild. I invited you here because your status makes you a VIP. You now have access to my network to buy or trade high-value resources. The ground-floor employees do not have this clearance."
The sub-master. Perfect. A goldmine of information.
"It's a generous offer," Davin lied skillfully, "but I have only just awakened. I haven't yet had the opportunity to amass any wealth."
Kys's smile froze for a fraction of a second. The laugh that followed sounded hollow.
"Oh, I see... That's not an issue, haha."
Davin immediately caught the shift in attitude. The pragmatism of this world was refreshing: no money, no interest. He decided to get straight to the point.
"May I ask you for some information?"
"I'm listening. Though certain sensitive information comes at a price."
"Is there an academy for Adepts? And if so, how does one get there?"
Kys seemed slightly taken aback by the question but regained his composure.
"Of course. There are several per kingdom. The closest is the Aethelgard Academy, adjacent to the great city of Mehian."
"The distance?"
"Thirty kilometers to the north. Merchants and knights frequently make the round trip. Getting there shouldn't be an issue. A word of advice: pick up a merchant escort mission at the front desk. With the bandits and monsters on the road, they pay well."
Davin nodded and thanked him. The sub-master made one last, half-hearted attempt to recruit him into the local guild, but faced with Davin's polite refusal—and obvious poverty—he didn't push it. The meeting was coming to an end.
"Boss!" an employee suddenly burst in at the door. "Another critically injured person just arrived. He has the healing insurance!"
"I'm coming immediately," Kys sighed, standing up.
Healing insurance... Davin instantly understood the economic model. Selling survival for a premium. Sylvia surely must have taken it out too. It's brilliant.
He bid Kys farewell and went back downstairs. In the hall, an adventurer with a half-shredded face was screaming in pain, supported by his panicking comrades. Davin ignored him with clinical coldness and headed toward the counter to pick up an escort mission. He had gotten what he wanted; he needed to prepare for his departure to Mehian.
When suddenly, a girl scrutinized him and her eyes widened. She hadn't recognized him at first glance when he came down the stairs, stripped of his grime and smell of death, but his gait, his build, and his cold stare told her something. After all, he was the one who had carried her on his shoulders earlier that day.
"Davin?!"
The voice called out to him from behind. He stopped and pivoted slowly. A few meters away stood five people. It was Sylvia, sitting around a table with her group, accompanied by an elderly man. The girl was staring at him, wide-eyed.
"You... you reached the half-gate in just a few hours?!" she choked out, unable to contain her shock.
Silence brutally fell over the guild.
"WHAT?!" blurted out a mercenary nearby.
Even Kys froze for a brief moment, struck by the shock, before recovering and resuming his healing incantation on the injured man. Behind her counter, Stella let slip her ledger, which crashed to the floor. For the vast majority of these fighters who would spit blood their whole lives without ever brushing against mana, Sylvia's words had just hit like a bomb.