("Technically, it shouldn"t be that hard to train Regen of any sort… you just have to find the certain points on your body that draw ambient mana into your soul. It"s different for every living being… but for you; it"d be through your mouth, nostrils, and oddly enough your horns.") Han gives his two points; it almost feels as if a probe of ancient mana goes through my body and makes my nose and mouth feel cold. Then Mala breaks in once more;["Though correct; there are ancient ways to open up other points on the body… like on the soles of one"s feet, to help you intake the pure mana of the earth upon which we walk."] Mala definitely sounds like the romance type of woman; a soft chuckle coming from her as I think that.
"So what"s the main difference of training a trait or skill; as opposed to using an evolution point?" This was a question that just came to my mind;
("It has to do with efficiency and the actual use of the trait or skill. When you train it yourself, it"s a bit easier to use, and you can control the actual growth parameters. Using a point will give the level to you; but not the knowledge.") With his voice so matter of fact, I feel that Hannash was trying to tell me not to go that route. Course, that also left another question…
"What about those traits or abilities I devour from others?" My mind thinks of Consumption… the ability that allows me to feed Baalish who has a chance to gift me an ability from the devoured living being. The notions of this, would have one becoming a ravenous beast that eats everything; even becoming a cannibal…
He begins coughing, as if the act of talking causes him great pain… thinking about his appearance and all of this;
"Would me devouring more beings, give you sustenance and give you more strength?"
…
…
It was time for the third feeding in this life; newborns required a feeding of milk every two hours after all, or we"d get dehydrated. As always, I wouldn"t eat until my brothers get their fill first… always causing my mother to cry at this. Lord she was a pure soul and it hurt quite deep… since I retained my previous life"s memories, and even from beyond; I realized my soul is indeed not pure. My father would use his keeper"s eye on us after every feeding, to ensure that we didn"t have any abnormalities; I"ve been a.s.sured his eye can"t see through all secrets as mine can.
After some time, around our sixth feeding for the day; mother probably used to being a light sleeper from her life as an adventurer as she gets up like clockwork, Grandfather comes in. He is followed by a gaggle of women, all dressed comfortable in pants and shirts of some form; and they crowd around Indra. These must be her adventuring friends, congratulating her on the three of us, and coming by to coo at the newborns. They especially thought Nihlis was cute with his little cheeks, and Yehai with his blue scales.
"I was told your oldest had awakened early… but to think he has horns and chitin plating… that"s a wrath demon for you." The red head, Ivette, plays with my feet as she looks at Zekiel; "You better watch him properly, might be a troublemaker like his father someday." The girls giggle at this, another playing with my horns, causing me to coo cause… what can I say, it feels good.
"And he has Cieri"s Blessing… never being able to sleep, not a moments rest from him." One with blue hair, Kathrine, says. Sighing she holds and rocks Nihlis in her arms, the little one sleeping soundly.
"He"s a good boy though; doesn"t cry for anything, just lets us know with a loud "WAH". Even letting his brothers eat their fill before he takes his turn." Indra gives a small cry, holding Yehai up to her teet and letting him feed from her, "Zekiel says that he also has two other traits too; he"s got a good start. Two from his father, one from me." She pouts as she looks at her husband.
"Don"t look at me, just means I can teach him the ways of a Scholar as well as letting him learn how to be a fighter. With his black horns, and black chitin… he could very well be a type of Wrath that is a Berserker." Zekiel plays with notions in his mind over the many possibilities that could bring. Though none were my business as I just lie there and followed the mental instructions from Mala and Han.
In order to increase regen from the paltry [Int+Wis]/10… 2.2 Mana per MINUTE, one had to open their natural mana drawing channels first. For me, that meant popping open the ones in my mouth, nostrils, and my horns. The reason why my horns felt good to people"s touches, was because they would feel the mana in a person and try to draw it in. It was a simple enough process, just circulate my mana into these locations; find the place where I can feel ambient mana come in… then force the b.i.t.c.h open. Easy in theory, difficult in practice… especially my horns, which these women kept playing with.
Didn"t help that the mage kept looking at me oddly every time I would try to circulate my mana, as if she had mana eyes or something that could see it whenever I did anything. Her deep blues would just stare at me with intensity whenever I tried to consciously do it… making my progress very slow…
"Indra, dear…" the mage, Dande, pipped up; "I feel he"d make an excellent mage later on. I keep seeing odd movements in his circuits… as if he"s manipulating his mana by himself." She smiles as if not believing it, "It could just be him playing, but it looks deliberate and going towards the drawing points."
"Oh Dande, that"s probably you seeing things." Ivette says, brushing it off; "Besides, from the stats Zekiel says he has, he wouldn"t be bad at being a Rogue." The girl gives off a smiling… dangerous vibe… "I could always teach him, when the time comes." She giggles, which causes Indra to smile as she hands off Yehai, then takes me in her arms… holding me before…
"He"s mine, no touching!" Indra states matter of factly, with a cute pout; "You girls cannot take my babies from me!" Emotional mother, is emotional. I smile as she rubs her face against mine, giving her a small laugh cause it"s warm. This causes the other girls to laugh, commenting how she hasn"t changed at all.
…
…
The girls head out after a few hours of talking to their friend; giggling that they"d be back to kidnap us to become their pupils… Indra giving them a look with a stuck out tongue. At least with them gone, I should be able to get some work done on opening my drawing points… I"d sigh if my baby self could do that. Mother would lay down and get some sleep; while father would sit to the side and continue to read. This has become a system for us; as I would usually give them a warning when time was nearly up for feeding; or if any of us needed changing.
For the time being; I"d continue to try and move the mana to the locations that Mala has told me, having some difficulties here and there as I had to take detours. From my understanding, in cultivator novels, the area where my mana dwelt was the… Dantian. In this culture, it was known as the Inner Forge, where one would hammer away at their own body to temper and sharpen it; where the forge"s fire was kept, and made use of. I couldn"t just go up to get to the points; cause a natural flow was needed for the circuits to keep from getting damaged.
The main problem, was that I couldn"t get the mana to stay together long enough to get to these points to force them open; and if it wasn"t for Grave"s Patience, I would have gotten annoyed long ago. The d.a.m.n trait keeps my emotions in check, keeping me calm under all duress. What was even worse was the fact that anything I tried to make this easier would almost nearly get Mala to stop me… as it would cause damage to my actual core or something… f.u.c.k me.
Taking in a deep breath; I would try again and feel the warmth of the energy within me; letting it swirl around in my forge for a while… there"s got to be a secret to this that I am not getting. Or… and hear me out demons of my inner thoughts; perhaps there is a different technique to use? Sighing softly I let my mana get back to the forge and just stand there, taking a break as it is feeding time once again. Mother has gotten used to getting up on time for this; very doting this one is.
"Okay my little Zeri; Mama is going to lay down while you feed." Indra picked up her little child, giving his horns a gentle caress; smiling down at the amber eyes that just seem to stare all over the place. Her soft smile brought a warm feeling to the infant, in only a way a mother could; laying on her side and making sure her child began to suckle before closing her eyes. She was used to night watches out on the field; her [Night Watch] Skill allowed her to use her mana to make up for sleep. However, she still needed to rest here and there, and her luck was good that her babies were not the type to cry all the time.
My eyes looked up at my mother"s face; her eyes closed and a peaceful look on her face as she slowly stroked my small back; letting me feed to my content. Just being near her relaxed me to the point I could feel all the tense emotions that weighed heavily on me go away.
"My baby boy; such a good boy. I always hoped to be a mother someday, and your father gifted me three." Tears started to come from Indra"s eyes as she spoke; "I was told when I was young; that it would be a miracle for me to bear children. Something about my body just didn"t work correctly, but I was blessed to have you three." She holds me close, and cries softly. Seriously, this woman here is breaking my heart, I don"t know how I"ll deal with an emotional mother… finishing my feeding as she sits up and clears her eyes. Putting me down; she then gets up and goes to give her love to dad… as I lay there and sigh inwardly.
"Lord… these people…" I think to myself, getting back to manipulating my Mana to try and get this working… but something occurs to me as I let the energy just swirl in my Forge. If my first natural drawing points were my mouth and horns; wouldn"t that mean my lungs were the actual location? Thinking like this; I just begin to circulate the mana around my lungs so as to see if there"s any change. At the same time, I let the mana circulate around the bade of my horns, and all throughout the blood vessels in them.
After a bit of time of letting my Mana do the work…
["Do de doo doo de doo! Congrats; you have opened your natural mana drawing points. By doing this you have learned the first rank of Mana Regeneration. Because of this; Mana Regenerates at a rate of your intelligence plus wisdom, divided by eight. So you now get, three mana per minute. As you open more areas to draw in mana, the level will rise; the division will go down, and the time will decrease."] Mala gives me the information, right as I begin feeling the power coming in with every breath; and just ambiently with my horns…
Well… now what?
End of Chapter 11