The Reverse Mana System

The apostle took the seat and looked at Blacaw, before his eyes landed on Alex.

This boy didn't seem any different from others, except for his good looks and a strange feeling that couldn't be described emanating from him, but his junior had told him that this boy may be someone with a deep background, so Harmon was a bit conflicted about how he should treat Alex.

In the end, he just nodded at Alex and decided not to interact with Alex unless the other party initiated.

Alex could also read through his act and decided to continue acting like he didn't care, but there was someone in the room who was not having it.

"Oye, outsider. Just what do you think you are doing? You are being disrespectful to Lord Apostle. " Chester said, looking at Alex with a scornful expression.

" Alright then, I shall wait outside, Chief Blacaw and Lord Harmon." Alex said as he got up..

Something about his tone and disposition gave off a feeling of authoritative dominance which surprised the other three, but Alex didn't wait for them to react and left.

Once outside, Alex heaved a sigh. Being a prince, he had learned acting authoritatively and it worked wonders at creating a strong image in front of people, but he wasn't too used to it.

He stood near the door from where he could clearly listen to their conversation and could also see Blacaw and Chester.

" Congratulations! Chief Blacaw. I have decided to take in your son as my apprentice and also, I can take in your daughter as well, that is if you want me to." Harmon said.

Listening to his calculative tone, Alex could tell that he had seen Sheri's talent.

Sheri was the youngest one in her family, her brother was older than her and had already been training under Harmon for years and had reached mid tier four. His talent was a bit above average, on the other hand Sheri was much younger and didn't have any formal training but she had already reached Tier 4. Her talent was much better than her brother to say the least.

Alex could see a frown appear on Chester's face when the Apostle revealed his plan to take in Sheri as well. Seeing Chester clenching his fists, Alex was reminded of what Blacaw had just told him about Sheri being in Chester's way to seek power. It was true after all.

Blacaw was a bit shocked at this revelation but he immediately regained his composure and said, " Sheri is very fortunate that you are willing to take her in as a disciple Lord Harmon, but I must decline on her behalf. My little girl is too naive and ignorant of the world. I can't let her be exposed to this thirst of power. All I want is for her to grow up in a peaceful environment that is free from any disputes and power struggles. "

" And she has already decided that she won't go to the city with you people and I can't make her change her decision. I hope you understand. "

" It's such a waste for a talent of her caliber to go to waste like this, but I won't go against her father's decision. " Saying this, Harmon got up and left the room followed by Chester, who had a smile on his face.

Alex finally understood why Blacaw had been so insistent, going as far as to give him the treasure just to take Sheri under his care. And also that Harmon didn't know the true extent of Sheri's talent. Had he known about it, Alex thought that someone as ambitious as Harmon would've waged wars to get Sheri.

"You saw his expressions, right?"

Blacaw asked Alex while staring at the back of Chester.

" Yes. I will tell you my decision after giving it some thought. " Alex said and began walking away.

Blacaw sighed while looking at Alex and went back inside.

Alex returned back to Lucas's house and lay down to rest.

It was already evening and he could still feel the pain and fatigue all over his body from the mana training. For some reason, he couldn't sleep at all.

' I'll be leaving this village tomorrow morning, so I'd have liked a solo dungeon run, but the village is covered in the senses of the Apostles and also there is the matter Blacaw asked me. To be honest, I have no use of World energy directly, but the system absorbing it is a completely different thing.'

Last time when the world energy requirements of the system were met, he got the store, mental simulation practice and mission board features which helped him grow a lot. And also there was a mention of system level on the interface, this meant that the system could be upgraded to higher levels as well, which would mean more amazing features.

He looked at the 0 skill points and sighed.

He had spent 25 skill points to get the Basic Inscriptions book and the remaining 2 skill points to get level 2 basic spear mastery for Sheri.

Alex remained lying in the bed with his eyes closed for an unknown period of time. He wasn't sleeping, rather he was running mental simulations of his spells.

Raaaawwwrrrrrr!

The roar of some unknown mana beast suddenly shook the entire village and a pressurizing presence descended on the entire village.

Alex suddenly got up from his bed and dashed out.

How could he have forgotten about the beast wave? Alex immediately moved towards the direction where the sound was coming.

The Apostles, Blacaw, Sheri and the members of the hunting party had already gathered there and the remaining villagers were also on their ways.

There were four tier five mana beasts, Hammer Bears, which were trying their best to break into the barrier, but got repelled continuously.

Despite their failed attempts, those bears didn't give up and continued.

By now, most of the people in the village had gathered near the barrier.

Sensing that something wasn't right, Alex cast an area scan and immediately his expression turned unsightly.

There were hundreds of mana beasts gathered in a radius of hundred meters, while thousands may be present outside the radius of his scanned region.

Alex looked around and saw the expressions of the villagers. None of them was much worried about this situation.

Alex walked to where Lucas was standing and said," Why are all the people standing here watching the show? Shouldn't you be finding a way to escape?"

A nearby Apostle turned around and gave Alex a look as if he was looking at some idiot.

"This barrier was made by the Almighty Lord God himself. How can those puny little creatures even hope to break in? But the power of the almighty one is not something that a weakling like you would understand boy." The Apostle said in a tone full of disdain and pride.

Alex knew that it was better for him not to pay attention to the rantings of someone who was blinded by faith.

Lucas looked at Alex and explained .

"Since you are not from here, you may not know, but a beast wave strikes every few years in this forest, but they never get past the barrier, so there's nothing to be worried about."

" That's right. I have even personally witnessed a beast wave created by a tier 7 beast. It couldn't even get past the barrier, let alone these level 5 beasts. They are nothing to worry about." The Apostle from earlier chimed in.

Alex took a deep breath to calm himself down and said," Those are only four tier 5 mana beasts, and that's the most worrisome fact about this situation."

"Little kid, you are such a scaredy ca..."

"Let me finish you fool." Alex cut short the apostle.

The apostle was enraged and wanted to retort. There was no way that he would let this kid get away unscathed after calling him a fool in front of so many people.

Alex continued despite the hateful gazes of most of the villagers directed at him.

"You can definitely see those tier 5 mana beasts attacking the barrier, and you might most likely have sensed other mana beasts of different levels around, but only those Hammer Bears are attacking the barrier. Can't you tell that these mana beasts are showing signs of organized movement?"

It was like a bomb fell down from the sky. All the villagers and the Apostles who were cursing at Alex just a moment ago fell silent. There was a pin drop silence before one of the Apostles broke the silence.

" Let me try." He said and began enchanting a spell. Immediately every movement in an area of tens of kilometers was entirely under his monitoring.

" I can only see two tier six mana beasts and all the remaining ones are lower leveled, but all these mana beasts are definitely showing signs of organized movement. And I also sense a strange presence that is at the peak of tier 6 approaching us at a rapid speed." The Apostle shared his findings.

"What should we do? This is quite a strange situation. Something like this has never happened before." An Apostle said.

At this moment, Blacaw stepped forward and said.

"We should be prepared for the worst scenario. Everyone get back and gather all your belongings. We will have to bring the evacuation a bit forward. All of you, leave with the Apostles right now. "

All the villagers immediately hurried back to gather their belongings and place them in their respective carriages or horse carts.

Now, only Alex, Lucas, the Apostles and Sheri's family were left.

" We should also go and prepare." Harmon said and all the people immediately dispersed leaving only Alex and Blacaw standing there.

"Why did you stop me?" Alex asked.

"What did you think about my proposal?" Blacaw asked.

" I have prepared the best horse drawn carriage available in the village and every valuable thing I have is already loaded on it. I will give you all those things, so please take my daughter away from here."

" So you know that this barrier won't be able to hold for very long, yet you've decided to stay?"

Alex asked .

"Yes. I had promised my wife that I will guard this land to my last breath and never leave it. I can't possibly break the promise. That is the only pillar supporting my existence. "

" I see. But I'd rather that you persuade Sheri to leave this village than giving me all your wealth to take her away." Alex replied.

Both of them began moving back to the village while occasionally talking about the situation.

By the time they reached the village, nearly everyone was ready and all the villagers were gathering their belongings.

Crackkk!

A loud sound rang through the village and everyone looked up at the same time.

The barrier that had stood against beast waves for thousands of years had for the first time cracked.

Everyone began panicking and hurrying.

It was at this moment that Alex saw the creature responsible for the crack.

It was a creature with four hands and the upper body that was somewhat identical to humans, while it's lower body was that of a horse and it's legs were also quite scary.

"A demonoid-beast hybrid. " Alex muttered to himself.

This hybrid was holding a shining orb-like thing in his hand.

The orb began emitting a blackish-red light and was immediately thrown at the barrier.

Rumble...

Crackkkk!

The ground shook and the barrier immediately fell apart.

Thousands upon thousands of mana beasts changed into the village, creating a chaotic scene.