Capítulo 3: III - Cave, Consequence and Awakening

A few hundred meters north of camp, I arrived at an area with numerous rock formations that seemed to form a long wall about 3 meters high, stretching for at least 200 meters. While scanning the surroundings, I finally spotted my next meal - a rabbit!

It was a peculiar rabbit; aside from its size, which rivaled that of a medium-sized dog, it had horns.

Aiming at the rabbit, I locked onto my target and loosed the arrow:

Swish!

The arrow found its mark between the rabbit's ear and eye, instantly ending its life.

I proceeded to drain its blood and secure it in my bag.

As I prepared to head back to camp, a roar echoed in the distance, seemingly emanating from an enclosed space nearby.

Though I knew it was a risky decision, my curiosity got the better of me, compelling me to investigate the source of the roar.

Following the wall of boulders, I eventually reached the entrance of a cave.

The darkness enveloping the cave's interior gave me pause. Venturing further without proper equipment seemed unwise. If I were to explore the cave, I'd need a torch and a few other supplies to ensure my safety in case things didn't go according to plan.

Returning to camp, I mulled over how to approach exploring the cave.

I couldn't shake the feeling of being drawn to it. Was it merely curiosity driving me?

Regardless, that could wait.

Although the rabbit meat I grilled satiated my hunger, it left something to be desired.

Salt would greatly enhance its flavor, but first, I needed to prepare another item. Fortunately, the necessary materials were readily available nearby.

Collecting clay along the river, I crafted clay pots and positioned them near my firepit to dry. I fired them up and once the fire died down, my clay pots were complete and ready for use!

The sun has already set; let's wrap things up here and get some rest. Tomorrow, the goddess Neso should appear again, and hopefully, I can ask her some questions.

Morning arrived, and I ventured into the forest to check the traps I had set. I had placed several Spanish Windlass traps with meat as bait. While some of the traps remained inactive, fortunately, one of them had successfully ensnared another horned rabbit.

As I returned to camp, the Goddess Neso appeared with a stern look on her face. Before I could say anything, she spoke:

"You, you have no idea what you've brought upon this world."

Surprised, I replied:

"Umm, clay pots?"

"No, you idiot of a human. You've set off a chain of events that could result in millions of deaths!"

What? I was completely baffled by her words.

"Goddess, I wish I had even an inkling of what you're saying. How could I have triggered something when all I did was survive in this remote place?"

"That sphere of mana that you released, it landed between the borders of the Empire and the Republic! Fortunately, there were no casualties, but both parties are now accusing each other and refusing to back down. I'm afraid war is inevitable."

I was shocked.

I'm horrified at the thought of recklessly releasing that thing into the world. Being a soldier in my world, death is not uncommon, but here we're talking about innocent lives being sucked into the vortex of death and destruction that war brings.

The goddess sighed and calmly said:

"You need to control your mana. You have the gift for it; learn it."

"I understand."

At that point, I didn't know what to say. Although I agreed to learn to control my mana, this was something that did not exist in my world.

"Is there anything we can do about the two nations?" I asked.

"I'm sorry, even though we are powerful beings, we are not omnipotent. We cannot directly interfere with this world. All we can do is bestow blessings and show divine revelations."

"As you may have noticed, I can only stay here for a short amount of time every seven days. This is one of the limitations placed on us."

"Also, we can only give blessings every 100 years. If we do so more frequently, we will lose our authority and be banished to live among the mortals of this world."

I thought to myself: "There are beings higher than the gods? Otherwise, who would impose all these restrictions to keep them in check."

"I'm running out of time; remember to control your mana. Feel it within you, feel it in your surroundings. Mana is everywhere."

With those words, the goddess vanished.

I've been too careless. I need to learn how to control my mana and avoid something like that from happening again in the future.

Ah! I forgot to ask her again! I guess I'll have to wait for her to come back.

I sat quietly from where I was standing earlier and closed my eyes. The goddess said that I needed to feel the mana in my body and surroundings and that I received a gift for it.

As if something within me woke up, I slowly opened my eyes and finally understood mana.

I created another ball of energy and dispersed it. So this is my gift.

I tried to focus it on my hand, and it's now enveloped in a golden aura as if there was steam coming out, but instead of steam, mana.

I stood up and faced a tree, attempting to punch it. Before my fist even reached it, the tree started to splinter away as soon as it made contact with my mana. And when I eventually hit it, it exploded, and once again, I found myself being thrown into the air, landing a good few meters from where I was.

This is gonna take some time.

Another week passed. I was finally able to obtain salt by boiling seawater using the clay pots I made and reducing them to produce these white crystals. Although it tasted a bit different from how I remember it to be, it's satisfactory.

Ahh, salt. Finally, everything tastes better!

I've made a few batches, and it should be enough to last for a while.

I've also reached a clearer picture of utilizing mana. I discovered that I could use mana to stabilize myself whenever I strike using it and that I could imbue it not only into my body but also into other things as well. For instance, I can imbue mana into my knife to make it sharper. I tried cutting a tree with it, and it went through like a hot knife through butter. I can also imbue mana into arrows, which makes them, for lack of a better term, more powerful—significantly so.

I need to test this power further and I think I know where to go.

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