CHAPTER 39: MANA ISN’T OXYGEN

"My God! I-Is that not a sandworm?" Lucy—the girl with the Iron Clawed Crab and Sam’s younger sister, took a step back, afraid the beast, still twitching with residual electricity, might suddenly leap and smash her into paste.

"That’s a high-tier beast!" Someone else exclaimed.

The commotion outside made Edwin, who was making a call inside the coach bus, glance out the window. His eyes narrowed when he saw Godfrey and the corpse of the sandworm.

A beast he knew very well none of his students, except perhaps Isolde, could kill. Dale had a chance because of the electric power his summon possessed, but aside from him, no one else had such firepower.

Due to the difficulty of killing a sandworm, the points gained from it were equivalent to that of a top-level high-tier.

"He’s back," Edwin said.

"Already?" Sebastian’s disappointed tone rang through the phone. "It’s only been three days. This is usually the period most of them take just to adapt, the kill count normally starts to rise toward the end of the first week." He sighed.

"It’s different for Godfrey, I’m afraid." Edwin shook his head and looked at the tablet showcasing the students’ kills, which Julia was holding out for him.

"Different? How so?"

"Fifty low-tier raptors, twenty elite-tier raptors, and one high-tier sandworm, which, due to how hard it is to kill, is ranked as a top-level high-tier. A total of one hundred points in three days," Edwin replied.

On the other end of the line, Sebastian’s eyes slowly widened. He entwined his fingers, his elbows pressed against the desk. "So in a period where he’s supposed to be adjusting to being displaced in the harshest terrain, he killed a sandworm and racked up a hundred points. I see."

"Oh, I almost forgot. They also talk," Julia added, which made Edwin’s expression sink with a grave premonition.

"What also talk?" he asked quickly, his voice overlapping with the headmaster’s, who was still on the phone.

"His summons. The one with the giant bow spoke to me, rather angrily. And I think the one with the sword and shield might also be able to speak. Godfrey didn’t even react, so they must have spoken before."

Edwin felt a chill run down his spine while Sebastian hummed.

"Might they be telling him to conquer the world?"

Edwin’s wild claim made Sebastian harrumph coldly. "Not everyone is Cain. There are rare summons that feed on more than mana, such as Roland Daniel’s summon. Cain’s summon, on the other hand, yearned for fear and that’s exactly what its weak-minded summoner, twisted by his own creature, brought. Godfrey is different. This is a confident boy who, even without a summon, thought he could survive in this world. He has a strong mind and he has us to guide him."

While this conversation with the school staff continued, Godfrey went to the canteen beneath a wide canopy. He grabbed a bottle of water, emptied it in one go, and splashed the rest across his face.

He simply ignored the whispers and stares. Sat, ate, and left. Watching him make his way toward the stone formation that curved like a bridge, Julia pursed her lips.

"He doesn’t look happy to be back." She turned to Edwin, who dropped the phone and leaned back in his chair, gazing out the window where he could see Godfrey.

"He could just go back," Julia said. It wasn’t as if he had failed a test, though it would take a while to return to wherever had taken him three days to journey.

"He can’t. There isn’t an ounce of mana in that boy. He’s reached his limit." Edwin shut his eyes. "There has to be a consequence to awakening so late. Isolde began to learn meditation at eighteen months and became a pro at four. At that stage, she could meditate for several hours. Then there’s Snow, who awakened at nine years. Dale at eleven. Cecil at ten. Even the slowest of them had at least a year’s head start and all Godfrey has is barely two months."

Breathing out slowly, he opened his eyes. "By the way, what did the knight say?"

***

Several hours later, Edwin moved through the camp. Most students who had chosen to stay were already in their tents; some were still awake, some asleep, but at least they were under watch.

At the Polaris side, things were different. They had a high-tech fence with mercenaries standing guard. Their tents weren’t the small kind used here, they resembled houses, each one for a single student. Clearly, those students weren’t here for hardship, but for sightseeing.

Edwin didn’t feel much resentment toward them. Most of those children knew their lives would go wherever their parents directed, so why brace danger when there was no need? Their arrogance wasn’t born from personal strength, but from wealth.

The few Polaris students still out there clearly intended to become Combatants for a guild. Shrugging the thought away, Edwin turned and headed toward the rock formation.

He sighed when he found Godfrey still seated cross-legged on the bridge-like stone, basking under the dull moonlight with a troubled expression. Clearly, meditation wasn’t going well for him.

"Your back is hunched. Straighten it. Push your chest out."

A faint smile appeared on Edwin’s face as he watched Godfrey adopt his correction.

"You don’t inhale mana, it’s not oxygen. It’s in the air, abundant like oxygen, but you can’t breathe it in. Stop imagining it that way and you’ll do fine."

He slid his hands into his pockets, glancing around while Godfrey, who had always believed he could breathe mana in, suddenly began to notice it gathering in his muscles, pooling there like sugar stored as fat and some of it transferring into his soul space.

"Have you noticed you’re more attentive to your surroundings?" Edwin asked.

"Yes," Godfrey replied.

Edwin nodded. "Meditation isn’t about looking inward. It’s about listening, feeling so the hidden part of you can work."

Turning, he began to make his way back to the tents when Godfrey’s grateful voice rang softly.

"Thank you."

Exhaling heavily, Edwin looked up at the sky. "When you awakened, what did you see in your soul space? Two knights?"

"No. Just a palace."

Godfrey’s reply made Edwin’s eyes widen to the core.

A palace?! Something inanimate?!

Then... did that palace house the knights? Maybe the headmaster was right, whatever they were seeing might not be the full picture.

There could be more.

...

A/N: I hope you enjoy this novel. Support by adding to your library and giving a power stone or two. Thank you.

I will also appreciate a review to keep me motivated.