The Reverse Mana System

On the way back to Lucas's house, Alex couldn't help but think about the strange behavior of the mana beasts that he had seen today. He was instantly reminded of the time he had parted ways with Verenia.

" You should leave this village as soon as possible. " These words were spoken by Verenia before she left.

" Does her warning have something to do with what's going on?" Alex thought to himself, but now getting out of this village was more difficult than ever. There was a mana beast wave that was about to strike in a few days and the mana beasts of the region nearby had all gathered around.

The only safe place was inside this barrier erected by their God. If he went outside this barrier, the chances of encountering higher tier mana beasts would be exponentially higher than regular times, not to mention that these mana beasts were somehow showing signs of planned movement, and to top it all up, even if he decided to leave, he wouldn't be able to scout the correct path by following the traits of mana beasts and harmless animals like the last time he had done.

For now, the only way to escape this predicament that seemed feasible was to tag along with those apostles of God and find a way out of this forest from them, but that option also came with it's own risks. He stood the risk of being forcefully converted to a believer of their God and thus losing any chance to ever grow beyond tier 8..

After what Alex had been through, strength was the thing that he desired the most, even more than his revenge against Louis.

"Things have begun to become more complicated. Siggghhhh!" Alex sighed as he finally reached the house of Lucas. He knocked on the door and like usual, it was immediately opened.

Lucas looked at Alex who seemed a bit tired and invited him in. After just a small chat,Alex retired to the hard bed of Lucas's house.

They had already had their dinner before Alex went out. Alex fell asleep as soon as he lay down on the bed.

The next morning, Alex woke up earlier than usual. He looked outside, it was still dark outside. He was feeling a bit stuffy inside the small room, so he decided to take a walk outside.

He also wanted to scout the perimeter of the village to check the condition of the mana beasts around the area.

Alex reached the end of the village from where he had entered and began scouting.

He cast an area scan, but couldn't find any mana beasts in the vicinity. This was a bit suspicious, so he decided to search a bit deeper into the forest.

Alex was confused. He couldn't find any traces of mana beasts in the area around the village.

'Has the beast wave already started and the beasts went in some other direction?' Alex thought to himself.

This strange behavior of the beasts truly confused Alex and he decided to return back to the village.

He was on his way back when he suddenly bumped into Sheri. It was still too early in the morning and Alex couldn't see anyone else around.

"Whaaat. What.. sob ...what are you doing here..sob?" Sheri asked Alex.

Alex could see tears flowing from her eyes and she was breathing unsteady. He could easily tell that she had been crying for a while.

"Who beat you up this time? I must say that they must have beaten you quite badly for you to be crying for so long." Alex asked. He knew that this would be the most effective way to calm down his little brother from past life.

" I am ....sob...not crying. No one can beat me...sob sob." Sheri replied, while trying to wipe away her tears.

"Yes yes, you are not crying. I was wrong, who in this world is strong enough to make you cry??"

Alex said in a kind tone as he prepared to take his leave.

He could see Sheri calm down and she began wiping away her tears.

' So, the method to calm kids down really works on her.' Alex thought to himself as he began walking away.

But as soon as he took his second step, he was pulled back by Sheri. Alex was getting a sense of déjà vu as he was being dragged by her towards her practice ground.

"Sighh!" Alex let out a long sigh as he looked at Sheri who was standing in front of him with a resolute expression and a wooden cane in her hand.

They spared again, but this time Alex held back a bit. Sheri had improved quite a bit, especially the techniques that he had taught her.

Her talent was truly making him envious, but he could also tell that she was very dedicated to it.

'She has most likely spent hours practicing what I taught her yesterday. ' Alex thought and couldn't help being impressed by her dedication.

After their spar was over, Alex taught her some more moves. He went to one side and watched her practice.

Alex closed his eyes and entered mental simulation practice of his spell. He did it daily and the results were also quite good. His fire stream mastery was near 90 percent and he could cast it instantly without the help of the system. He could also control the fireball formed to change its direction after casting to some extent.

" Alex, wake up!" Sheri's voice snapped him out of his mental simulations.

It was already bright and they had been practicing for two hours now.

"The Apostles will be arriving soon, so we should get going." Sheri said.

" Have you met them before?" Alex asked Sheri.

" One of them had come to our village when I was 10 years old and brought a lot of gifts from God. He also took my brother with him for training him." Sheri said, her tone getting sad.

" You know, my brother had changed a lot when he came back last year. He became very rude and often quarreled with father because he wants ..to take one of the gifts given by God from my father and give it to the Apostles so that he could be accepted as their apprentice. B- But my father refused....sob...and both of them began figh...fighting over it since that day....sob." After finishing her words, Sheri burst into tears once again. Alex stood there silently watching her cry.

It would be hypocritical of him to say words to console her that her family can overcome this or something, because he himself was a victim of the family's feud and greed for power. He didn't know what to say himself.

After crying for sometime, Sheri calmed down.

"I thought that you were going to spend the entire day crying." Alex teased her. Sheri's face reddened a bit as she turned her face away.

By the time Alex and Sheri returned, most of the villagers had gathered at the entrance of the village. Alex went back to Lucas's house to freshen up and bathe. He ate breakfast and returned to his room.

"Aren't you going to see the Apostles? There will also be a festival in the village. Don't you want to try it?" Lucas asked, knocking on his door.

"I think I'll pass. I am just an outsider for one and I have some personal reason not to see them." Alex replied from behind the closed door. He still remembered Verenia's warning of not joining the believers of any God because that would limit his progress. For someone like Alex who had finally realized that one's strength was the only true form of protection to them, limiting their power was most unacceptable, so he had decided to stay away from them.

Besides, he had his own plans and today was essentially a free day for him.

Alex started by opening his system interface.

[Name : Alex Vermillion ]

[Race : Human]

[Level : 25]

[Stats]

[Strength : 201]

[Agility : 206]

[Endurance : 193]

[Intelligence : 164]

[Perception : 120]

[Charisma : 215(165)]

[HP : 1410]

[MP : 2280]

[+150 free attribute points, +27 skill points

+106000 exp]

Alex opened his system storage and pressed on a scroll.

[Basic mana training method has been activated.]

A system notification appeared in front of his eyes.

Alex cleared his mind and focused on his mana core. As mentioned in the method, he immediately pulled all the mana from his mana circuit into his core and began absorbing mana from air. Then he stimulated all this extra mana to cycle in his mana circuit. When this mana reached his mana core, Alex could feel a sharp pain both in his core and his body, but Alex endured the pain and continued.

[Total mana capacity has been permanently increased by 1.]

The mechanical voice of the system sounded in his mind.

Alex continued this cycle for around a hundred times before the pain became so intense that he could no longer concentrate. He exhaled a breath of mana and a wave of mana that had surrounded him for some unknown time collapsed. This created a small mana fluctuation that shook the windows of the room.

Alex could immediately feel several strong presences locking on him for some time before disappearing.

Alex could tell that all of them were tier 5 and two tier 6. These were the Apostles who had arrived for some unknown time in the village.

Alex was a bit startled when he looked outside the window. It was already past noon and was daytime. He had been practicing for more than six hours.

After this, a sharp pain came from his mana core, followed by equally sharp pain from all parts of his body. Alex fell on the ground in agony. The pain continued for tens of minutes before it began to subside.

Alex got up from the floor he had fallen on when hit by the pain. He could see the entire floor drenched in his sweat. His back was still drenched in cold sweat and every inch of his body was fatigued.

Alex fell down on the bed.

[Basic mana training method.]

[20% complete. ]

[+100 permanent increase in MP.]

[Total MP :2380]

Alex looked at the system notification for some time.

System, add 50 free attribute points to intelligence, 20 free points to strength and agility each.

Alex could feel a warm sensation on his body and mana core.

Alex opened the system interface once again.

[Name : Alex Vermillion]

[Race : Human]

[Level : 25]

[Stats ]

[Strength : 221]

[Agility : 226]

[Endurance : 193]

[Intelligence : 214]

[Perception : 120]

[Charisma : 215(165)]

[HP : 1410]

[MP : 2880]

[+60 free attribute points, +27 skill points

+106000 exp]

His MP had increased by 600 points.

"Hundred points from 20% completion of basic mana training method and 500 from increasing intelligence by 50." Alex said to himself.

Next, he opened the customized weapon option of the weapons store.A system notification appeared in front of Alex.

Please mention the specifics and qualities of the weapon you want to craft.

" I want a weapon with longer range than a sword, higher flexibility than a spear and which doesn't weigh much." Alex whispered.

Almost immediately, an image appeared on the system screen.

A whip appeared before Alex, who was a bit conflicted.

He hadn't thought about a whip. It suited all the requirements he had, but he didn't want a whip.

It felt kind of ... ugly and uncool.

Alex gave it a long and hard stare.

It wasn't that he was completely opposed to the idea of using it, but he had a feeling that he couldn't explain in words. It was like he was

subconsciously opposed to the idea of using it.

When Alex was still conflicted about if he should give it a try or not, Lucas barged in the room.

Alex immediately shifted his attention to Lucas and could see a myriad of expressions.

There was doubt, confusion, anger, sadness and others clearly plastered on his face.

Lucas opened his mouth to speak but couldn't find any words to say, so he opened and closed his mouth a few times without making a sound.

Somehow, Alex had a bad feeling about what he wanted to say.