The Reverse Mana System

Lucas stood there, trying to say something but repeatedly failing because he couldn't even sort out what to say.

Seeing his actions, Alex had a feeling that something wasn't right. He waited patiently for Lucas to collect his thoughts, but it took much longer than Alex had expected.

Finally, Lucas sorted out his thoughts and began speaking.

" Alex, we are all being abandoned." Lucas said, trying to suppress the rage and pain in his heart

" Calm down and tell me what happened." Alex said. He could at least do this much to console someone who had provided him food and shelter for two days without any hope for returns.

" After the welcoming ceremony of the Apostles, they were taken to the chief's house for resting. I and Miss Sheri followed them..We were stopped by some villagers to help them with something and it delayed us a bit."

" By the time we got there, everything was quiet on the outside, but when we entered the house, we heard the village chief and Master Chester arguing with each other."

Alex knew that this Master Chester was most likely Sheri's elder brother.

" Master Chester said something about Lord God leaving this territory with the Apostles." Lucas said after a long break.

Alex knew that it would've been a major blow to Lucas whose parents had died in the servitude of the God. The people of this village were very devoted to their God to the extent that they treated this God as their own parent.

Lucas was orphaned at a young age and seeing his parents being treated as heroes for the act of dying for the God, he had developed deep respect for this God whom he hadn't even met before, and being abandoned by the God wasn't something that he could get over with easily.

Alex didn't say much to this after all he was more clear about the situation of the world than these villagers.

Alex advised Lucas to quickly sort out his feelings and left the house to give Lucas some alone-time.

Alex strolled in the village while looking at those happy faces of the villagers who were completely oblivious to the fact that they had been abandoned by their spiritual support. He felt a bit of pity for them, but he continued moving out towards the forest.

Alex arrived near the perimeter of the village and cast an area scan. He could still not find any traces of those mana beasts, but he was still feeling that something was amiss. And this feeling had only gotten stronger as time passed.

Alex returned back to the village after casually strolling for some time.

"Oi Alex, come here and join us." Marcel, a member of the hunting party said.

Alex politely declined his offer and returned back to Lucas's house.

He opened the system interface and resumed where he had left.

Alex scrolled through the entire list of weapons available in the weapons store, but found nothing that could interest him.

Finally he gave up and decided to make a different weapon which could accommodate his needs.

Alex asked the system if there was any type of sword that could be both flexible and longer at the same time, but the reply he got was that this kind of sword would immediately be broken to pieces in actual combat.

Although he didn't get a satisfactory response, Alex suddenly got an idea that he could try out.

Although the mana consumption of such a weapon would be quite high, but it would be just the thing he was looking for.

Alex immediately told the system about what he was planning and a new notification appeared in front of him.

[Do you want to spend 15000 exp in order to develop the blueprints of the customized weapon?]

[Yes/No]

Alex was a bit surprised by the need of exp, but didn't this mean that his idea was achievable!

Alex pressed Yes and immediately a long list of materials appeared before him.

There was also another system notification.

[The formation of the weapon requires the host to learn inscriptions. Do you want to buy the Basic Inscription Book?]

[Cost : 25 skill points]

[Yes/No.]

" So, this system really wants me to learn inscriptions." Alex said in amazement.

He pressed yes and immediately a book appeared in his hand.

Alex wasn't expecting this as he thought that just like skills and spells, the knowledge about inscriptions would immediately come to his brain, but he was wrong.

This time, he had to learn inscriptions diligently if he wanted to create the weapon.

"Well, not everything has shortcuts." Alex consoled himself and began reading the book.

It was written in ancient language and Alex wasn't very fluent in it, but he could still read it clearly with some effort, but before that he had to test something.

Alex pointed at the book and thought of keeping it in the system storage.

Immediately, the book disappeared and the icon of the book appeared in his system storage.

'So, only selective items can be taken in and out of the system storage.' Alex thought.

He decided to take out the book and give it a thorough reading, but at this moment, someone knocked at Lucas's door and a voice was heard.

" Lucas, the Apostles have asked all the people to gather at the square. You should come soon and also remember to bring back the outsider along with you."

Lucas got up in a dispirited manner and called on Alex and both of them went to the village square.

It was the first time that Alex was seeing many of the villagers including the village chief.

He was a tall man with sturdy features and muscular build. He looked nothing like the petite Sheri who was standing behind him on the stage with her brother.

Alex could also see six people wearing priest clothes standing on the stage and everyone was looking at them respectfully.

Alex used appraisal on them and found out that two of them were lower tier 6 while the remaining were upper tier 5.

One of them stepped forward and began his speech.

"Worshipers of God, today we are here at the will of our lord and come bearing his words and orders. As you all know, this great forest that is the territory of the great lord is located near the frontlines of the Godly and the Demonic territories, and so is highly susceptible to war. The evil demonic armies are showing suspicious movements along the borders and the lord has been assigned to the frontier. So, he will be leaving this territory for an indefinite period of time. It may even take him decades, so keeping in mind the safety of all his followers, he has decided to relocate all his faithful believers to the safer inner territories of the godly dominion.

And we, his loyal servants have been assigned the job of assisting and escorting you people out to those territories. Do not worry, the kind and noble lord has already prepared all facilities to accommodate you in his friend's territory. So, with the help of your village chief, we the servants of the almighty one will take all of you to your new homes tomorrow morning. Get all your things ready to move and leave behind anything that you do not need. All hail the almighty lord!...."

There were two things that Alex noticed in this speech. First that these Apostles were b*llsh*tting about the imminent war, because the last war between gods and demons took place nearly two decades ago, and both sides suffered heavy casualties, which couldn't be recovered in a few decades, so this war was most likely a little scuffle and the God had nothing to do with it. And secondly, that this forest was at the borders of the godly domain and the demonic hinterlands.

Alex looked around at the expressions of the people around him. Most of the younger people were happy and cheerful, while the older people were dispirited and doubtful. These people who had lived and survived in the era of the war had a clearer idea on what was going on compared to the younger people.

Alex looked at Lucas who was still making a long face. Clearly, Lucas had understood what was happening, and then there was Sheri who was trying her best not to break into tears. These two were the only ones who had a clear grasp of the situation because they had overheard the conversation between the village chief and Chester.

Alex subconsciously looked at Chester. The latter had a satisfied smile on his face and was whispering something in one of the tier 6 Apostle's ears.

'That smells like a conspiracy.' Alex mumbled to himself when suddenly someone arrived behind him.

Alex was very sensitive to these changes around himself and immediately got away using speed enhancement.

"Woah! don't be afraid young man. I just wanted to talk to you about something." One of the tier five Apostles said to Alex. This apostle was a middle aged man who bore a kind and gentle expression and also, there was a hint of regret in his eyes, the kind of regret that came when caught lying.

Alex was immediately put on guard. If this person tried to forcefully convert him to one of their spiritual underlings, he was prepared to fight with his life on the line. But his next words surprised Alex.

" You realized it, didn't you?" The man asked with his head lowered.

"It was too obvious from a third person perspective." Alex replied.

The man looked around, most of the people were talking amongst themselves, only a few of them were curiously looking at Alex and him.

Alex had also noticed this and could feel that this person was here just to talk, so he went to a place from where others could see them but not listen to their conversation.

" Don't be so guarded. Our lord has never coveted worshipers and I can swear on my life that we have never forcefully converted anyone. Besides, you already have an imprint."

"Imprint?" Alex asked in a confused tone.

" The one on your forehead. I have been dealing with imprints all my life, so I can tell that you have one, but I doubt that many people in this world can see it. Also, this one doesn't look like an imprint given to worshipers. It feels like a complicated version of those imprints given to descendants of gods."

Alex touched his forehead. Was this imprint the gift that Verenia was talking about?

That didn't seem too likely.

"But I am here to ask about that ring of mana you created earlier. How'd you do it?"

"I was just trying to absorb as much mana as possible from the air and tried to keep it stored in my body. But unfortunately, it failed."

Alex said as he walked away.

Behind him, the Apostle gave a smile and went back to his companions. He repeated what Alex had told him to his superior who was talking to Chester.