Chapter 62: Pranic Mark (1/2)
Mei said in a reassuring tone, ”I will tell you once you are ready for it. Because right now you wouldn't understand it, and you won't be able to do it without sufficient resources as well, which we definitely won't get in a small place like this village.”
”Oh, is that why most of the aspiring Defiers in our place go far away for training? And also participating in the trials by risking their lives?”
Mei nodded, ”That's true. Because of how the world is being haunted by Dreadlings, the resources available to us are very scarce, because of which the good ones are quite expensive and hard to get. Once you get to bigger places, you will see how big the world is and at the same time learn how deadly it is as well.”
”I guess Sister Mei must have really traveled around the world, huh?” Arion casually asked.
Mei smiled as she looked away momentarily, ”Yes...I guess you can say that.”
”You still didn't ask how people fight Dreadlings with such a small amount of prana in their hearts,” Mei mentioned, hinting at the previous discussion they had.
”Ah, yes. How do they?” Arion curiously asked as he had the same question in the back of his mind.
”Once you are in the Prana Releasing Stage, you could be called a Defier since you at least learn to utilize prana by the end of that stage. But still, the prana in your heart won't be nearly enough for battles against any opponents stronger than you. So the solution is to have more prana,” Mei answered.
”And how do we get that?”
”You need to create a Pranic Mark,” Mei said with a subtle smile.
”Pranic Mark…” Arion mumbled as he remembered seeing these two words in his status screen. But he had no pranic mark based on his inner perception, which was nothing surprising after getting a vague idea about it now.
”But what is this mark actually?” Arion eagerly asked. He felt like the more he was learning about prana and Defity, the more interesting it seemed.
”It is called a mark since we are practically carving a special 'mark' on our heart. Pranic Mark is a very profound concept and is something that could be used for a lot of other things other than just increasing your pranic force, which is more like artificially increasing your pranic force,” Mei explained.
”Artificially? You mean it has some drawbacks or something?” Arion asked with knitted brows.
Mei shook her head slightly, ”No, there actually aren't any drawbacks other than the excruciating pain you would have to undergo each time you carve a pranic mark on your heart to increase your pranic force. The reason for this pain is because you are forcefully connecting your prana with a foreign pranic item that acts as a container to store prana.”
”Item? Container? What do you mean?”
Mei answered, ”In this world, there are some items that are either naturally formed or man-made ones that have the ability to store more and rejuvenate prana faster than what your body can. So since Defiers inherently had only a minute amount of prana in their heart, our ancestors found a way to 'merge' these items with our pranic heart by forming a connection of sorts.”
Things began to click in Arion's mind as he asked, ”And what are these items specifically?”
”They could be any man-made item or naturally formed ones. Since these days we are also able to make one of our own, they could come in various shapes and functionalities. But the most common ones we Defiers use are weapons.”
”Can you show me yours?” Arion eagerly asked.
Mei smiled as she got up and placed her hand near her chest.
Within just a moment, a faint white light momentarily flashed out from her chest as a beautiful green bow manifested in her hand magically.
Arion's eyes widened as he didn't expect the weapon to truly come out from inside someone's body. After all, how could something that big be stored inside her heart?
However, the bow's design and elegance distracted him as he could even feel a mystic aura from it.
This beautiful-looking bow seemed to have been flawlessly constructed from some silver wood. Its string seemed to be made from good quality silk, and its limbs were decorated with blade-like attachments and end in slight curves ornamented with obsidian-like tips.
The handle seemed to be wrapped in soft silk and decorated with mysterious symbolic writing.
In all, the bow looked like it came right out of a magical world indeed, and even a blind man could tell that it was no ordinary bow by just being near it. It felt as if the bow had a presence, radiating some kind of aura.
Arion was feeling more relaxed and refreshed, as if the bow was directing fresh air towards him.
”It's so exquisite...but where are the arrows?” He asked with sparkling eyes. He felt like he wanted a bow as beautiful as that.
After using a bow before and after he was captured by the Dreadlings, he felt like he could develop a knack for it. He loved how the bow and arrow offered one the ability to fight long range at a safer distance and also target precise areas of the enemy.