15 sDo you know whats an Immortal?s (2/2)
Skill Activated:
Perception
He could perceive all the Mana around him. He could clearly sense a feeble Aura at his side. It was Lumia. Her Mana looked calm and placid, majestic in its tranquillity.
Helial fell deep in meditation. But after about ten seconds…
Skill Failed!
He had run out of Mana.
Shit. Damn Curse. More than Curse of the Demon, it should be called Curse of the Shit. AHHHHHH I can't wake Lumia up. It's going to be hard to level up Perception if I can't devote all my energies to it. I also need to keep Communion with Mana activated…
Skill Activated:
Perception
Skill Activated:
Communion with Mana
The Skill weighed down on the mind, not so much as to damage it but it was still taxing. The higher the number of Skills activated at the same time, the more difficult it was to control them. Up to that point, Helial had only used one Offensive Skill at a time. If he wanted to use two, he had to flow Mana in different Meridians at the same time. He had been able to keep the same intensity while using two Mana Pistols at the same time, but just because it was the same Skill. The body is symmetrical and he just had to flow mana in the same Meridians right and left.
Actually, the most powerful Skills did not allow that. They could be used only one at a time, since they involved the use of one-sided Meridians, not present both in the right and left sides of the body.
Helial emptied the mind from useless thoughts. There was only him, his Mana and the two Skills. Breathing deeply, he amplified the radius of Perception as much as he could.
700, 750, 800…
Despite the maximum radius being one thousand yards, it was difficult to analyze the maximum distance of the radius. The farther it went, the more difficult it got to perceive the Mana resonance. He could feel some blurry presences – probably some animals. Helial had not yet reached the level where he could clearly distinguish animals, and even inanimate objects.
***
Floralivory City, two years earlier
”Master, how come some people can detect inanimate objects using Perception?” asked a young Helial, scratching his chin. His eyes were too deep wells of boundless curiosity. He would have listen to Vidio talking for days on end. The talkative Vidio enjoyed bestowing his knowledge upon that boy. Helial was like a gigantic sponge, absorbing Vidio's every single word.
That boy can do everything I explain to him. He's amazing… but he should stop lying. He told me he has taken Perception to the second level and that he can reach a 700 yards radius… I know he wants to impress me, but the maximum one can do at that level is 50 yards. What kind of unthinkable control one should have to achieve 700 yards at the second level of Perception? He could reach that distance maybe at the tenth level. Once reached the Intermediate level it can even go as far as 4 miles.
”Boy, the ways of Mana are infinite. Do you know what's an Immortal?” asked Vidio, the corners of his mouth curling in a mischievous grin. Obviously, that boy from a village forgotten by God could not know that, and Vidio would have had another chance to boast his vast knowledge.
”No…” grunted Helial, rolling his eyes. He was fed up with that act, ”Bestow on me your boundless knowledge, oh Master.”
”Ungrateful brat”, sighed Vidio, ”you should be thankful. Do you know how much money I would make as the private tutor of some wealthy little kid?”
”Then go. I'm going back to my sister, I have to make her dinner”, declared Helial, standing up.
”Where are you going?!” blurted Vidio, who still felt like chatting. ”Ahhhhh, sit down and listen to me.”
Helial halted. After a moment he sat down cross-legged in front of the Master and smirked. He had already learned how to play the famous Master.
They were sitting on the stone floor in Vidio's private quarters, made of a special material that amplified the Mana contained in the room. Even though it was not of the same quality of the platform for Mana Seed Condensation, it was still very powerful.
Helial felt reinvigorated just by sitting there. Flowing Mana in that place must have been a real treat.
”An Immortal, as the name indicates, is a person that can live forever…”
”WHAT? Aren't those just legends?” Helial cut him short, disbelief clearly painted on his face, convinced that the man was kidding him.
”Let me finish, insolent brat! Immortals are people that reached a perfect communion with Mana. They are extremely rare and hold the highest positions in the Nation. Despite that, they don't take much interest in mundane affairs and stay secluded for thousands of years, focused entirely on their training… But this is a world you shouldn't worry about yet, boy. We'll talk about it some other time. I indulge in chit-chat and now I lost my train of thought. Uhm, uhm, what were we talking about? Oh yeah, Perception…”
***
In the present, inside the cave
850, 900, 950…
The higher the Skill, the more living things one can detect. Nevertheless, the level of a Skill is not everything. The degree of Mana Control influences greatly the effectiveness of the Skill. Two people both with level 10 Perception could present great differences in terms of radius ad Mana perceived. In spite of that, it was difficult in real life to find two people with such different control. Control was a Hidden Stat, so it did not appear in the Stats window.
In ancient times, several methods were discovered to reveal this Skill. At present, only empirical tests could carried out. The most common was to compress a sphere of Mana; but this was usually done only from the First Phase onward. It is almost impossible to manifest the Seed's Mana in a sphere outside the body. Once surpassed the First Phase, many Meridians went through changes and new ones were created. Actually, before the First Phase, it was improper to state to know one's Mana. Even manifest a Skill like Mana Pistol before having reached the First Phase was nearly impossible, and that was why Vidio had never taught Offensive Skills to Helial.
Vidio was indeed lazy and carefree, but if he had had any valuable Skills to teach Helial, he would not have thought about it twice. He could have taught him some Autobuff Skills, but he was convinced to not have one at Helial's level…
950, 960, 970…
Beads of sweat covered Helial's forehead, his face contorted by a grimace of pain.