Chapter 3: The Rock Pool
In the open space, a tree had fallen, cut at the trunk about 2 feet above the ground. Spring stared blankly at the fallen tree as a euphoric look emerged on his small face. Yet when he lifted his head, he saw that August's figure was already slowly walking out of the forest.
"Heh heh, tomorrow I will show father, I am sure that he will be pleasantly surprised." Spring grinned. He was so ecstatic that he immediately tried to replicate this achievement. He shot out a blade of wind. A tree was felled. He shot out another. Another tree lay. Again. Again. Repeatedly.
This is called 'Getting carried away.' Getting carried away is bad for health. Waves of pain emitted from his arm, surprising nobody whatsoever. He hastily lifted his sleeve only to find that his entire arm was covered in blood-red marks, so much so that there were even places where the skin had peeled back as blood continuously oozed out. This is probably a bad sign. I think. Maybe.
"Hss..."
Overdrawn mana. His mana circuits had been overworked, so much so that some of them had popped, leaving his arm covered with blood. As if in a trance, Spring wandered off deeper into the forest.
Overexertion of mana had caused a large physical fatigue on him, thus leading to confusion and shock due to pain. Of course, overusing mana has a mental impact as well. He walked, as though controlled, compelled, constrained. Alliteration is awesome. Probably.
Approximately 10 minutes later, a steep cliff appeared before him. He hesitated for a moment, unsure of his surroundings. His mana had partially recovered, to the extent where regular mental procedures wouldn't be a hindrance. He cautiously looked around, before following a path of jutting rocks down the cliff, uncertain how he had gotten here, to begin with. How does one reach the top of a cliff without realizing it? Even the narrator has no clue. Luckily, he had not jumped off, or else I'd be fired. Jumping off cliffs is bad for health.
Spring was quite unfamiliar with this part of the forest. However, as he carefully descended, there were no accidents. After a while, a cave that was hidden from sight by a few huge rocks appeared before him.
Yeah. Go in. Cave nobody knows about. Just waltz on in. You're supposed to be smart...
Slowly entering the cave, a cool and refreshing feeling blew away the stench and sweat on Spring's body. Compared to the blistering hot weather outside, the cave was like a different world and a great place to take shelter from the heat. Curiosity got hold of him as he ventured deeper within.
The inside of the cave was not extremely spacious. Other than a 6-10 meter wide rock pool at the center of the cave, there was nothing else special in this cave.
Walking towards to the rock pool, one would see that it was filled with crystal clear water, and atop the water, a slightly cold breeze floated back and forth.
Warily checking the water for threats, Spring got an irresistible urge to enter.
Arriving beside the rock pool, Spring quickly took off his clothes, and straightaway jumped into the water. The slightly cold air caused his body to shiver for a little but he quickly adapted to the cold.
This is what I mean. Look at him recklessly entering a mysterious body of water without an inkling of caution. This is the kind of guy who walks off cliffs while I'm not looking.
After Spring soaked in the water here, he unknowingly felt his mind become particularly sharp and he was able to enter into a state of deep concentration. It felt odd, strange, yet pleasant. Unsure, he asked, "Is it just me?"
As he laid in the rock pool, Spring cupped some water in his hands and watched it slowly flow off.
Spring leaned against the edge of the rock pool, as he relaxed, his head facing upwards with his eyes shut. His thoughts ran wild for a while before unexpectedly, he gradually fell into a deep sleep.
Yeah. Fall asleep in a pool of cold water. Absolutely nothing bad will ever happen. Have you heard of chronic obstructive lung disease? Have you?
This period of training was too extreme for him and now that he had finally found some time to relax, his pent-up exhaustion started to spread out from his bones.
As Spring soundly slept, the cave once again became peaceful as the pool water gently heaved about.
"Plop..."
Amidst the silence, a disturbance suddenly started in the clear water. A dark red drop of blood rolled down from Spring's injured arm and quietly fell into the pool.
As this drop of blood fell, the originally peaceful water abruptly started boiling. One by one, bubbles with faint traces of blood-like color emerged to rise up from the surface of the water before bursting around Spring's resting body. Traces of faintly red colored liquid scattered in the air and as if they had a mind of their own, moved to twine around Spring's body before finally quickly entering through his pores.
Just as this faintly red colored liquid seeped into Spring's body, it gave rise to a sensation as if the mana circuit in his body were violently compressed. Like a tide, a torrent of sweat gushed forth, converging together and then streaming into the water.
This sensation was akin to ferociously squeezing out all of the water from a wet sponge.
Spring suddenly awoke and shouted, "Hot!"
It appears he does not enjoy being squeezed like a wet sponge.
"Splash!"
As he shrieked, Spring swiftly ducked his head and immersed his whole body in the pool. After a while, he finally broke the surface to catch his breath. A look of bewilderment was plastered on his face as shortly before he awoke, he felt as though he was being baked in a furnace, and the burning sensation he experienced was what caused him to involuntarily scream out.
"Why would it be so hot in here?" Spring pondered as he stood in the pool for a while in order to cool himself off before he finally decided to climb out.
I wonder why. I really do.
Standing beside the rock pool while thinking for a while, Spring wordlessly shook his head. Just as he grabbed up his clothes and started to put them on, his gaze suddenly paused at his arm.
"Huh?"
Spring stared at his arm in wide disbelief. He clearly remembered that this arm was previously scarred with bloody wounds after his mistake, yet now all of his wounds seemed to have miraculously disappeared.
Perplexed, Spring gently stroke his once wound ridden arm, suddenly, his body stiffened. An incredulous look swiftly surfaced on his face as he discovered that the skin on his arm had substantially hardened.
"How... is this possible?!"
This discovery left Spring dumbstruck as he stood in a daze on the spot.
"Illusion… An illusion… It must be an illusion!"
Yes. If that's what you truly think… I'll just continue my loveless, thankless job here… No 'Thank you, narrator'? That's fine. If you thank me that's fine. If you don't thank me that's also fine.
Foolishly gazing at his arm for a moment, Spring shut his eyes and firmly inhaled in a few breaths of air. Only when his mind gradually calmed down did he once again gently stroke his arm, though still slightly trembling.
Under his touch, the outer layer of skin felt reasonably hard. Although it had yet to reach the level of hardness present while channeling mana, Spring's skin was clearly several times harder than before, despite him not channeling mana whatsoever.
"How...did this happen?"
Although he was still giddy from happiness and excitement, Spring had matured at an earlier age than most; therefore, he managed to regain his calm and wits after a while (Absolutely, what?). His tiny face tightly wrinkled up as he started to recall all the details of this affair. Yet there was nothing strange about the cave, thus, after taking a slow look around the cave, his gaze eventually came to rest upon the rock pool.
"Could there really be something strange about this rock pool?"
Thank you, captain obvious.
It could not possibly be because of the Redleaf as it was merely a grade 1 ingredient.
Spring tightly pursed his lips together, a stubborn determination on his small face. He understood that it would be of utmost importance to him to discover the mystery within.
Spring squatted beside the rock pool, his brows tightly knitted together in thought. His palm subconsciously moved to stroke his arm, and he froze. His gaze slowly moved to fix on his arm, where many traces of blood used to be.
"Blood?"
Spring's eyes brightened. He suddenly pulled out a small dagger hidden in a slit within a pile of rocks near the rock pool that he had previously left behind.
Spring gently sliced his fingertip with the dagger, causing a drop of blood to emerge He hesitated for a second before he carefully dripped it into the rock pool.
"Plop!"
The sound of blood dripping into the pool resonated clearly within the quietness of the cave. However, Spring kept his eyes keenly peeled onto the location where the drop of blood had fallen.
Just as the drop of blood touched the rock pool, a wave of ripples emerged as the reddish hue of the blood gradually dissipated. Water bubbles swiftly emerged from the serene rock pool, startling Spring. A bluish liquid was faintly discernable within each bubble.
Spring's throat clenched as he hesitantly extended his hand into the rock pool. Instantly, the water bubbles exploded and a gooey light-blue liquid stuck onto his palm. The liquid then slowly seeped in through his pores.
As the light-red liquid seeped into his body, Spring's palm suddenly experienced a burning sensation. This sensation was the same as how he felt when he was abruptly awoken. Moreover, this time he could clearly feel that as the liquid seeped into his palm, the skin on his palm was gradually becoming tougher.
"This is indeed the case!"
For a wind mage, you sure are slow…
As he noted the changes to his palm, Spring's tiny face instantly lit up. His had guessed correctly!
The water in this rock pool required blood to activate its special properties.
Spring gripped then extended his palm a few times, only to discover that the skin on this palm had indeed become much tougher than the rest of his body. His mana had also experienced a significant boost, nearing layer 4. Furthermore, this effect was achieved after only a short exposure. According to Spring's calculations, he estimated that the effect of this water was truly legendary and even exceeded the effects of those grade 3 potions, brewed from countless ingredients, sold in Turquoise Town.
"Hmm, how is it that this water can bring such a remarkable effect that even surpasses that of a grade 3 potion?"
Spring sighed deeply as he rubbed his forehead. This mysterious rock pool had overly excited his emotions and he decided to lie down beside the rock pool to take a breather. Regardless, even though he was unable to uncover the reason why this rock pool held mysterious powers, this discovery was still bound to be highly beneficial to him.
Due to his injuries, August requires several potions in order to nurse his health. However, these elixirs are expensive and owing to August's stubborn nature, he refused to accept any financial support from the Grassblade Family. As such, he would often try his luck and go hunt for ingredients by himself. Inevitably, this resulted in Spring being unable to enjoy the same privileged training conditions as his peers in the Grassblade Family.
Hence, at this juncture, the effects of the rock pool was especially important to Spring.
"The effects of this rock pool must absolutely be kept a secret!"
Spring gripped his tiny fist. He understood that he not only required the aid of this rock pool but that if news of this rock pool spread out, it will surely lead to a huge commotion. At that time, perhaps several other factions in the Turquoise Town may get involved and this may spell a small calamity onto the whole Grassblade Family.
"Possessing treasure is no sin, but it will often lead to trouble!"
Even though Spring was still young, he clearly understood this principle.
As Spring tightly pursed his lips, he formulated a plan in his heart. Just as he was about to leave, something suddenly caught his eye and he softly gasped. He immediately turned his vision onto the ceiling of the cave as he caught a glimpse of light flickering over there.
Under normal circumstances, if Spring encountered this situation, he would not give it even the slightest notice. However, now that he knew the effects of the rock pool, he became extremely attentive to the whole area surrounding the cave.
Spring kept his eyes firmly locked onto the location where he spotted the flickering lights. Under his watchful gaze, the flickering light appeared again. However, it looked as though the light was flickering slightly more hastily. Soon after, a ray of light fell down into the rock pool.
Due to the ray of light, a gentle ripple emerged on the surface of the rock pool.
Spring started at the location where the ray of light had fallen into the rock pool. As he swallowed, he remembered catching a glimpse of what seemed to be a deep-blue liquid within the light. That liquid… it was exactly what Spring saw after his blood fell into the rock pool.
"It seems that the secret is hidden above…"
Well, the drop came from the roof, so the secret will be below the ground, right?
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone