The air was shattered by that roar.
The two opponents both took a step back, startled by the sudden arrival.
A creature resembling a saber-toothed tiger advanced slowly, its orange eyes scanning the scattered carcasses.
"The smell of blood must have drawn it here."
The imposing figure, as large as a school bus, shifted its attention toward the two of them.
The intensity emanating from its presence made it clear—they were facing an Evox at the peak of Tier 1.
That single arrival shattered the balance of the ongoing fight.
The most logical choice at that moment was to retreat.
The unreliability in his mana usage, his aching ribs, and the clear inferiority compared to the newcomer all pointed in that direction.
Fortunately the proud ape was the one to "cast the first stone."
It lunged forward, charging on all fours toward the feline.
The newcomer answered the challenge with equal pride.
"Good… this is the window I needed to slip away," the boy thought as he moved back.
Trying to reinforce his legs with that difficult energy, he sprinted.
The instability of that complex interaction was evident.
At times, his speed surged as the mana responded. At others, he relied solely on his physical ability.
"Damn it… I didn't even manage to recover a single body. I could've sold them for some flux."
Complaining about his luck, inexperience and lack of discipline, he still found himself relieved—he had begun, even if unintentionally, to tap into his affinity.
"I need to prepare better if I want to keep being a raider… more training, better equipment…" he thought, grinding his teeth in frustration.
"And that damn tiger… I had a good chance to absorb another core… I swear, if I run into it again, it'll be its core that I take."
After about half an hour, spent avoiding other threats and still lost in thought, he finally returned to the safety and calm of the city.
But his troubles weren't over yet.
The moment he crossed the threshold of his house, a scream of fear struck his ears:
"SERAN!!! WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU? WHAT IS ALL THAT BLOOD?!"
His mother nearly fainted from worry.
Only then did the young man truly notice his condition:
His tactical suit was torn
His face bruised from the blows
His posture uneven due to damaged ribs
Dirt tangled in his hair
Bloodstains marking his presence
"Maybe I should rent my own place… to avoid situations like this…" he noted to himself, before trying to reassure Sophia.
"Mom, relax. In a few hours I'll be as good as new… after all, I'm not the same as before," he said, straightening up while hiding a grimace of pain, mixing a bit of truth into the lie.
After a long hot shower, he went to his room and practically collapsed onto the bed.
It took his body a full week to completely recover.
Using that recovery time, and the quiet of home, he decided to train his mana control.
Day 1
Sitting cross-legged on his bed, arms resting on his thighs, eyes closed to isolate himself as much as possible, he tried to perceive the essence present in the surrounding environment.
At first, he could feel the mana around him.
He tried to call it toward himself—but without success.
"Why are you so stubborn…" he muttered.
Ten minutes passed.
Nothing.
He paused for a moment, thinking back to the times mana had answered him.
"Wait… Lud compared mana to water the first time it manifested in me. And I was like a vessel being filled…"
"But a vessel has a limited capacity. And if you keep filling it without ever emptying it… eventually it won't be able to take in anything anymore."
He changed his approach. Instead of trying to draw in an undefined amount of mana, he focused on just a tiny portion.
A translucent flow moved toward him and entered his body.
"Yes!" he exclaimed.
Continuing the process, he began to "empty" his vessel, initiating the saturation process.
His cells started to absorb mana greedily. He could feel his body progressing—infinitesimally—but steadily. And as his body improved, so did the capacity of the vessel itself.
He tried increasing the flow slightly.
It worked.
"Every time I've succeeded in manipulating mana, it's because I respected the balance between my body and it…" he continued thinking.
Balance.
That was the key.
"That explains why an F2 can use far more mana than an F1…"
An entire day passed expanding that balance.
And so came the third day.
"Alright… now I need to focus on mana manipulation itself…"
He gathered a small amount of energy and, with sheer will, began compressing it into a shape.
At first, it was unstable, irregular—no bigger than a ladybug.
Hours passed.
The mass of mana grew to the size of a tennis ball, but it still lacked control. Its shape was unstable, almost like an amorphous blob.
"This isn't it… damn…"
If practice made perfect, he knew he would need a lot of it.
Day 4
He changed approach.
Instead of manipulating mana outside his body, he focused on reinforcing himself.
It was one of the applications he had instinctively performed best before.
He directed the essence into his hand. Since it was part of him, the process felt more natural.
It wasn't like filling a vessel—it was like coating its surface without affecting its inner capacity.
By the end of the day, a thin transparent layer covered his entire body.
"Not bad… for now I can boost my performance by about 20%. And if I focus everything on a single point, it reaches 50%" he noted, shifting the flow into his index finger.
"And who knows how many things I still can't do…"
Day 5
He spent the day reviewing everything he had learned so far.
Day 6
"What if I coated my swords with mana?"
From his now inseparable mana ring, his short sword appeared.
Without hesitation, he tried channeling mana into it.
One… two… three seconds. Nothing.
Maybe it was because it was an inanimate object?
"Maybe the material isn't conductive to mana… I can only apply an external coating…"
Testing the theory, a thin translucent layer covered the blade—just like when Ricant shattered that shield during that famous lesson.
Unable to resist, he pressed the tip of the blade against his bedroom door.
A clean hole appeared where there had been none before.
After covering both sides of the door with posters, he tried again with the long sword, noticing it required more mana due to its size.
Day 7
He somehow made it without destroying the house.
His heavy breathing filled the room. Sweat dripped from his body. His muscles were exhausted. His mind under strain.
"Huff… huff… I can use mana continuously for thirty minutes. That's my current limit…"
He wiped his forehead.
"This affects how much saturation I can maintain… then I have to stop. At least another thirty minutes."
The constant filling and emptying of his "vessel" created pressure—as if something inside him was pushing to expand beyond its limits.
The importance of Evox cores became even clearer to him. Unlike ambient mana, they provided immediate benefits without exhaustion.
"If I relied only on ambient mana, I wouldn't reach Floor 2 even in ten years…"
With a new awareness, he looked toward the days ahead—days filled with battles, blood, and danger.