Chapter 36 - Questions Without Answers

Lenton Filibree

What… What the hell am I looking at right now?

Lenton sat atop a tall tree far too skinny to hold a normal person and yet the tree held sturdy and strong as he supported it with the barest trickle of his mana body’s aura.

He watched Jiran from a hundred kilometers away as if the distance were just a few meters. A sigh escaped his lips as Jiran slowly advanced through the plains that he had specifically warned him were dangerous.

https://imgur.com/mPfAM6v

What kind of fool walks straight through the area they are warned is the most dangerous? Is he mocking me by staying in danger knowing I'll swoop in and save him?

Time crawled forward as he observed Jiran approaching yet another beast two tiers above himself. Lenton’s eyes examined every fluctuation of mana around them both as easily as if he were reading words on a scroll.

Mana bends to his will like nothing I've ever seen before.

Every child develops an innate connection to one element, sometimes two. An inner ferocity can blossom into a deeper understanding of fire. A girl scorned can become as hard as ice, a tearful boy may develop an affinity for water. A child struck by lightning, the list goes on and on.

So how is he using so many different elements at such a high level? He’s even bending light! That’s simply impossible with only access to molding and shaping, yet he’s doing it right now as I watch.

To top it off, his castings are ten times stronger than they should be and likely twenty times more efficient.

Lenton scratched the persistent itch on the back of his head in an attempt to appease his frustrations.

He took a deep calming breath and stretched, causing a series of cracking pops to snake up his spine before resuming his ruminations.

How does a simpleton with no common sense keep stumbling upon one impossible discovery after another? The kid can’t understand a simple warning to stay out of the plains for Silent Father’s sake!

Samris told me he gave the boy some basic survival lessons. How does that include walking through the dangerous territory instead of around it? Not a single child in the entire empire would be so foolish!

Now I’m stuck here watching you night and day without sleep. Did you think about that while you were breaking every rule of the tiers? No, of course you didn’t.

Lenton waited, poised to jump in at a moment's notice as the child killed the beast that should have torn his head from his shoulders before he could even react. Only when the beast’s frozen body grew lifeless, did he relax with yet another deep sigh.

At least he’s not another mindless drone like the academy churns out annually while clapping themselves on the back. He instantly understood that their books are irrelevant garbage.

I must continue to guide him toward thinking for himself, or how will he ever help solve problems we have no answers for?

Giving him the cube was the correct choice. Teaching while stimulating curiosity and problem-solving without relying on the guidance of others. A perfect solution… for now.

Even with his propensity for mana, it should take him several seasons to solve which will buy me time to create a more thorough training regiment.

For a single moment, Lenton considered giving in to his temptation and teleporting Jiran to their camp and demanding answers to the questions that were incessantly irritating his brain.

That simply won’t do. In this case above all others, interference would be the gravest of transgressions.

On the other hand, he’s going to get himself killed sooner than later and I need a blasted nap!

As Jiran recovered from his most recent fight, Lenton felt Samris and Niya moving inside the range of his aura.

Again with the sparring? Don’t they ever get tired of playing with their silly toys? That girl has a higher molding skill than almost everyone in the empire and she’s wasting her time swinging around a stick. What a damnable travesty!

That girl is the key. Jiran will continue to teach her, giving me all the answers I seek while proving his methods can be taught. If everything he’s doing is merely a side effect of his Uniqueness and is ultimately unteachable, then he will become nothing more than another footnote in history.

Lenton felt his irritation bubbling again as his thoughts were pulled back to Jiran against his will.

The things he’s already taught her will tear the church apart.

Scholars have been arguing about the true nature of the mindlink since long before the empire was formed. Now I’m sitting on the answer, the undeniable truth.

Who would have guessed emotions are liquid, not much different from blood. Skills and techniques use artificial emotions to bridge the gap between thought and mana. So simple, elegant, and absolutely impossible for a bumpkin to figure out on his own!

Then there is the most disturbing truth in everything he taught her. The thing that will turn the empire upon itself like a slab of meat thrown into a cage full of hungry beasts.

Lenton took in the wild, country air. He flexed his aura in a calming cadence that rapidly brought his blood pressure back under control.

I can’t wait for the day I unleash him on those morons and watch him tear down every one of their so-called truths of Madra.

It’s unfortunate that so many people are going to have to die when that truth finally comes out.

Jiran

Jiran’s mind raced as he processed the implications of his growth exceeding one hundred percent.

Not just my growth, but my attributes exceeded their caps too.

STRENGTH  39.7 > 40.3

AGILITY  39.7 > 40.3

ENDURANCE  39.7 > 40.3

DURABILITY  39.7 > 40.3

WISDOM  39.7 > 40.3

INTELLIGENCE 39.7 > 40.3

If I had ascended to the second tier with only fifteen in every attribute, they would have doubled to only thirty instead of the normal forty. Which is why nobody is idiot enough to tier up before maxing their attributes.

But does the opposite hold true?

If the challenger density increases my attributes to forty-five this tier, will my new maximum in tier three double to ninety instead of the normal eighty?

What if the red density can push them even higher than forty-five? What if I can go beyond one hundred percent in tier three as well.

Just how high will they be when I reach tier four or five.

Jiran shook his head fiercely in an effort to climb back out of the mental rabbit hole.

None of that matters right now. I don’t know how high the red density can take me or if it affects the next tiers doubling. There's no point thinking about it until I know what it can do.

One thing is absolutely for sure; I’m going to find out. There isn’t a single chance in hell I’m going to leave attributes off the table when I tier up. The potential gains are impossible to ignore.

No wonder the downsides are so extreme.

Jiran could feel the stuffed, pushing and pulling feeling all through his body. He recognized it as the need to tier up but he steadfastly ignored the sensations.

Before I push the challenger density any further, I need to check in with Niya to make sure she’s okay. It would be awesome to take another crack at that cube too. I could really use the break.

105:55:23

I’ve got four and a half days. These beasts aren't going anywhere. I should be fine.

Jiran sprinted to the top of the nearest hill. His legs pumped with strength that would have been nothing but a dream just a few weeks ago. Despite his drastically increased weight, he felt light as a feather as he flew up the hill in seconds.

When he reached the top, he bent his knees and pumped his legs full of mana until they were near to bursting. With a grunt, he leaped high into the air. A minor bout of vertigo struck as he looked down at the rapidly receding ground.

Twelve meters, maybe more? That’s as tall as a four-story building!

With a touch of Forcing, Jiran spun himself in a slow circle. He spotted a trail of smoke lazily drifting through the air just a few hills away amidst a copse of trees. With an undignified grunt, he landed on his feet which sank deep into the soft ground.

I should make it there just before dark so long as these hills don’t have any beasts as dangerous as the plains.

A layer of bending light sprung up around his body before he set off toward the smoke. Jiran took his time, not rushing blindly into what could be just another lesson set up by his mentors.

When he arrived just after Second Father descended, he was relieved to see a small, comfy camp set up within the protection of the trees.

https://imgur.com/VuU0SJz

He instantly spotted Samris reclining in a comfortable chair that looked completely out of place in the middle of the woods.

Niya lay sprawled next to him on the ground, looking in even worse shape than Jiran was. A spear he was intimately familiar with was clutched in her hands. Her clothes were in tatters, the holes in the fabric revealed bruises and cuts that oozed small trails of blood.

Jiran approached them while waving happily. Samris’s grunt of amusement reminded Jiran he was wearing nothing but his underpants and three layers of dried mud.

Jiran’s smile never faded as he approached and sat down in the dirt at the other side of the fire. He nodded at Samris, feeling happy to be back among friends.

“I got the rest of my letters. It’s called Foresight,” Samris perked up instantly, sitting fully erect in his chair.

Gleaming golden eyes begged Jiran to continue.

A groan escaped from the collapsed Niya which Jiran assumed was a greeting.

“It’s good to see you too, Niya. I’m glad you’re still alive.”

Jiran turned back to Samris, deciding not to spill all the beans out loud as talking about things he shouldn’t was why they were out here in the first place.

“I’ll write down everything I know about it for you as soon as I get some rest. I’m exhausted.”

Samris nodded his ascent before reaching for an empty cup. He ground a pinch of herbs into the cup before a little stream of hot water sprouted from his fingertip just as the flame had when he first showed Jiran how to use shaping.

You have got to be kidding me! I’m such an idiot.

Suddenly filled with a burning passion, Jiran hopped to his feet and cast his gaze about for the perfect spot to implement his plan. At the edge of the camp was a flat spot where no trees or shrubs grew. Hoping that meant hard-packed ground, he hustled over and got to work.

A swift application of Metal Manipulation pushed into the soil, compacting it until there was a two-by-two-meter hole. A hasty dose of fire shaping filled the new hole in the ground until the walls were smooth as baked clay.

Jiran filled the hole with water before heating it to nearly a boil and climbing in. A moan of pleasure escaped him as the hot water soaked into his skin. It felt like his muscles were being pulled apart and all the stress from the last few days squeezed out of them.

He had no idea how much time passed before he heard a shuffle nearby that made him open his eyes. Niya stood at the edge of his makeshift bath with a look of longing on her face.

“Don’t even think about it, cousin. You’re all dirty and bloody, go make your own bath.”

“You were dirtier than me when you climbed in there! There’s plenty of room. Please?” She begged.

Jiran put his finger to his chin, pretending to be in deep thought for several seconds before he responded.

“Okay, Niya. You can get in the tub, but it’ll cost you a foot rub,” Jiran lifted his feet from the water and wiggled his toes with a devilish smile.

Much to his disappointment, Niya didn’t take the bait and leaped into the tub with a shout of joy. She stripped under the water, throwing her soaked clothes out of the tub and relaxing back in the dirty water with a sigh of contentment.

Jiran coughed loudly while sticking one of his feet in her face. She grabbed the offending limb and began to knead his muscles with her thumbs while sticking her tongue out at him.

“I see Samris has been helping you increase your attributes. You’re already getting stronger, good job.”

"Helping?! You can't call what he's doing, helping! Torture is more like it. Yes, that’s it exactly. He’s torturing my attributes into increasing against their will.”

Jiran chuckled at her melodramatic outburst while trying to enjoy himself despite her long nails digging into his flesh.

“What about your molding, have you been working on that too?”

“It’s so hard! When I’m sitting down focusing it’s pretty easy to control my emotions and connect with my mana. The moment Samris starts abusing me, I can’t get my mana to cooperate at all and have to fall back on the skill.”

“I’ve been dying to ask how you do it but you’ve been taking forever to get here. Where the heck have you been anyways and what happened to your clothes?”

“Beasts happened to my clothes.

“As for controlling your emotions when fighting, that takes a lot of practice. I try to always keep a connection with my mana so it becomes as normal as breathing. It’s working pretty well so far but staying in a state of constant emotional flux is super challenging.

“If I come up with something better, I’ll let you know.”

“That sounds like such a hassle,” She complained

“Sure it is, but I can shoot lightning from my fingers, Niya. What more do you need from life than that?”

“You’re so stupid,” She grumbled so quietly Jiran almost missed it.

A smile spread across his face as a sudden idea struck him.

Jacuzzi jets, that’s what's missing! But how would I make them automated?

Satisfied with his answers, Niya showed her thankfulness by switching to his other foot and no longer digging her nails into his skin. Jiran groaned in response as his thoughts turned bleary.

The combination of hot water, relaxation, being safe, and the exhaustion from days of fighting finally caught up to him.

Within moments, Jiran was asleep.