Atlas sat cross-legged on the floor as he steadied his breathing. Since he had already briefly experienced meditation, he was quick to begin absorbing the fire mana particles in the air. The more fire mana he inhaled, the redder his skin became.
The feeling was pure bliss. He didn't even realize that, in the trance-like state, his regeneration ability took effect and began removing the soreness from his body.
After 30 minutes of meditation, Atlas felt a pulse escape from his mana core, sending tingles through his body and filling his bloodstream. That pulse alone acted like a sonar, giving him a 3D image of his body, mana pathways, blood vessels, veins, organs, and every other thing associated with his body in his mind.
Atlas gasped in shock, seeing the exact image of himself snapping him out of his meditation trance.
What was that?! How did I...
Atlas looked at his hands as the reddish color in his skin receded at a slow pace.
[Mana Imprint, a natural phenomenon in absorbing mana. As you experienced just now, it creates a body scan in your mind to simulate your body's condition as well as strengthen your body. Individuals in this world call this a Mana cycle. A mana cycle occurs during a 1% increase in an individual's mana core.]
'Just now...I saw something. The pulse showed me something about my eyes.'
After Atlas got the imprint of himself in his mind, he saw that there was an energy constantly being used in his eyes. It didn't seem like mana. It seemed different, felt different, like a natural energy from his body.
Unlike mana, it flowed through his blood and coalesced together in dark red and yellow colors. Atlas felt a connection with it, so he closed his eyes and tried to focus on it.
This energy seemed to swirl in his eyes passively, but he felt that he could stop it and reactivate it like flipping on and off a faucet.
Could I possibly...
Atlas stopped the energy from swirling, and it felt weird as soon as he did. It was similar to being able to hear one moment and immediately going deaf.
Getting out of his meditation position, Atlas ran to the bathroom that had a mirror and stared at himself.
"Haha... no way." Atlas looked in the mirror with mixed emotions: shock, happiness, fascination, and sadness. He stared at himself for the first time with his Earth-like eyes, not rotating like a globe.
He looked down at the sink, placing his hands on it and gripping it tight, putting some of his weight on it.
"All this time, I just had to shut it off but didn't know how." Atlas looked back up at himself and willed the energy to go back to swirling as if turning on the faucet again. He watched as his pupils began to swirl again. As soon as he did, he quickly stopped it and watched as his eyes stopped at the exact moment.
When he stopped the swirling energy, Atlas closed his eyes and discovered something else.
"Void vision doesn't work." He voiced aloud.
Atlas saw pure darkness. Sure, void vision would turn off when he fell asleep, but it was strange that, in the first half of his life, he had to learn to sleep while still being able to see. It wasn't easy, but he learned.
"This is going to take some getting used to." Atlas sighed.
Since he was already in the bathroom after discovering he could switch his compulsion ability on and off, he took the chance to quickly shower.
Once he was done, he walked back out to put on the clothes he had removed before his workout and continued to meditate for another 2 hours and 15 minutes.
Show Status
—---------------------------------------------------------
[INFO] [ATTRIBUTES] [SKILLS] [CURRENCY]
—---------------------------------------------------------
NAME: Atlas Blaze
AGE: 13
RACE: ???
BLOODLINE 1: 🔒
BLOODLINE 2: 🔒
STAGE: Mortal
REALM NAME: Awakened (Condensed x3)
REALM RANK: ⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜4/9
PROGRESS: ⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️▪️⬜⬜⬜ 55.5% -> 61%
Atlas saw an increase in his progress after the meditation session and nodded his head in approval of the change.
Show Attributes
Atlas called out in his head to see the changes to his stats caused by the meditation session. It was about a two-hour and 45-minute session, so he knew there would be an increase in his focus and willpower stats.
—---------------------------------------------------------
[INFO] [ATTRIBUTES] [SKILLS] [CURREN
—---------------------------------------------------------
♥️ HEALTH: 🟥🟥🟥🟥🟥◾(65/65)
🔷 MANA: 🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦(90/90) -> (100/100)
🔶 STAMINA: 🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧 (180/180)
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
{ MENTAL ATTRIBUTES } 🔷 ➖
🔷 INTELLIGENCE: 25 ➕
🔷WISDOM: 25 ➕
🔷WILL POWER: 18 -> 23➕
🔷FOCUS: 22 -> 27➕
PERCEPTION: 15➕
CHARISMA: 12 ➕
> M.A POINTS: 2
{ PHYSICAL ATTRIBUTES } 🔶 ➖
♥️🔶VITALITY: 40 ➕
🔶FORTITUDE: 21➕
♥️🔶ENDURANCE: 25 ➕
🔶STRENGTH: 25➕
🔶DEXTERITY: 23 ➕
🔶AGILITY: 23 ➕
🔶SPEED: 23 ➕
> P.A POINTS: 3
Atlas decided to add the remaining attribute points of his mental and physical attributes to certain stats. He felt tempted due to still seeing the plus signs by the stats.
—---------------------------------------------------------
[INFO] [ATTRIBUTES] [SKILLS] [CURREN
—---------------------------------------------------------
♥️ HEALTH: 🟥🟥🟥🟥🟥◾(65/65)
🔷 MANA: 🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦 (100/100)
🔶 STAMINA: 🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧 (183/183)
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
{ MENTAL ATTRIBUTES } 🔷 ➖
🔷 INTELLIGENCE: 25
🔷WISDOM: 25
🔷WILL POWER: 23
🔷FOCUS: 27
PERCEPTION: 15 -> 17
CHARISMA: 12
> M.A POINTS: 2 -> 0
{ PHYSICAL ATTRIBUTES } 🔶 ➖
♥️🔶VITALITY: 40
🔶FORTITUDE: 21
♥️🔶ENDURANCE: 25
🔶STRENGTH: 25
🔶DEXTERITY: 23 -> 24
🔶AGILITY: 23 -> 24
🔶SPEED: 23 -> 24
> P.A POINTS: 3 -> 0
Each time a stat increased, Atlas felt a refreshing feeling in his body and mind. For example, Atlas felt less distracted with the increase of Focus and more confident and less emotional when Willpower increased.
Increasing perception allowed the range for his void vision to increase further. Atlas estimated that each point in perception granted an extra meter of perception he could view. Before, the base amount of perception was 15, allowing him to view up to 15 meters of his field of view. Now his perception increased a whole 2 meters just by adding points to that stat. It was incredible!
A similar situation also happened with his physical stats, even if they aren't increased drastically.
Besides, Atlas also understood why Cel had recommended that he meditate after a workout/training. Not only does his soreness go away, but he gets to increase stats of both mental and physical attributes. He was killing two birds with one stone!
"Now then," Atlas begins standing up from his crossed-leg position. "The sun seems to be setting. Let's go get some grub before we prep for this bounty." He walks out of the room using void vision and down the stairs to the inn's dining area.
The place seemed nearly packed at this hour, and Atlas couldn't see a table to sit at. However, luck was on his side, and he was able to spot a table in the corner of the room. The moment he sat down at the table, a waitress with a brown apron walked up to him with a tablet of sorts and a glass of water.
"Good afternoon, my name is Haven, and I will be your server today. Will you need time to look over the men-- oh my...are you blind?" The woman with green hair in a ponytail and orange eyes cheerfully said until she turned to surprise once she discovered Atlas's closed eyes.
"Not at all." Atlas began reaching out and grabbing the tablet from Haven's hand. He opened his eyes and locked them with Haven's, making sure to stop the swirling energy in his eyes. "I can see just fine. I try not to count on my eyes too much." Atlas lied as he responded to Haven's question.
Atlas tilted his head when Haven didn't seem to be moving as he stared into her eyes.
Did it not work? I didn't feel any loss of energy, nor did her eyes go dull.
Atlas thought to himself.
"Uhhh, miss?" Atlas called, waving his hand in front of Haven's face to get her attention. "You okay?"
"Oh, oh my." She blinked twice, regaining her composure from staring at Atlas's eyes. "My apologies; I just never seen eyes like yours before."
Atlas smiled. "I get that a lot."
Haven nodded and said, "Please take your time to look over the menu. When ready, you can input your order directly into the OTS here. If you need assistance, just tap this icon here." She pointed to an icon on the top left that looked like a black-and-white maid outfit before leaving Atlas alone as she continued serving other customers.
It seems to work fine.
Atlas thought to himself with a sigh as he looked over the menu. Each item seemed to contain different types of meats and animals that Atlas hadn't seen before. There was even a section that had the beast meat rank to that of an elemental beast.
Atlas was currently looking at an item that looked similar to chicken wings. Under the image were 3 dots. The first was filled, and the rest hollowed. This one showed that the rank of this was mortal winged land glider, the next rank was lesser winged land glider, and from that, an elemental winged land glider.
"Hmm," Atlas began as he stared at each rank's description of the chicken. "So the mortal-ranked meats give no benefits. The lesser ranked gives slight benefits like fire resistance, while the elemental meat gives slighter more benefits such as refining impurities within the body."
This is interesting! But I'll probably just stay in the mortal rank meat for now.
Atlas thought that because the meat of the fire elemental beast in the upper ranks had naturally spicy meat. Plus, the price of the meal increases depending on the rank of the meat. Bronze is for mortals, silver is for lesser, and gold is for elementals. He couldn't afford it at the moment, even if he wanted to.
In the end, Atlas settled for plain fried chicken wings, which came with rice, a side of cabbage marinated in something spicy, bean sprouts, and some type of greens. He made sure to request a fork and spoon instead of chopsticks.
Not a long time passed until Haven approached with his meal steaming hot. The smell alone had Atlas nearly drooling.
"Enjoy your meal! Once you've finished, there's no need to pay. It's part of the breakfast and lunch deal you requested."
"Thanks," Atlas responded and dug into his meal, taking a bite of his chicken, which had some crunch and was juicy. The spices created harmony in his mouth.
Delicious!
Atlas thought to the point that his eyes teared up. This time, he took a spoonful of rice with the spicy cabbage and a bite of the chicken, and it was absolutely heaven.
After his meal, Atlas tapped his stomach and sighed in satisfaction. He got up from his table, exited the inn to go and find items to prepare for his bounty tonight.
He had about 3.48 (3 gold and 48 silver) coins left in his account from the earlier 7.5 he earned from Alex. Windy and Grayzer each received 2 gold coins, 1 silver coin for the mana apple, and 1 silver coin for the inn.
I should look for a fire skill. But where can I purchase a skill.
Atlas pondered with his thumb and index finger holding on to his chin.
[Most skills and Martial Arts can be purchased from the library.]
Cel responded to Atlas's thoughts while pulling up the Map section of the system and putting a pin on buildings around him that were libraries. In front of him appeared an arrow guiding him to one of the libraries.
Atlas couldn't help but slap his forehead and tilt his head up towards the sky.
How could I forget the freaking map function? I wasted a silver coin! Well...not fully a waste, but still!
Atlas shook his head as he walked in the direction to the closest library that the arrow was guiding him to.