Nico turned around and inspected the farm. Many of the manaherbs and even the regular herbs glowed while emitting and absorbing the floating particles. He wanted to move closer toward the herbs, but he felt an invisible force pulling him back. He turned around to face his real body, and pulled away. No matter what he did, he was always within a meter radius of his body.

Nico opened his eyes, releasing himself from the trance, and walked closer to the manaherbs. He reentered the meditative state, and swam around a manaherb. There were ancient lines and symbols inscribed onto each part of the herb. Nico moved to a different plant of the same species. It had similar symbols, but more of it, likely indicating its age.

After examining the different herbs in the garden, Nico immediately went inside the house and wrote down his observations about the symbols.

The symbols were unusual in that they didn't have a specific scale. No matter how much Nico had attempted to measure the symbols, he wasn't sure if they were tiny like mustard seeds or large like coconuts. All he knew was that he could read the symbols clearly when they were nearby, and blurry when they were far. The symbols also didn't have a dimension. No matter what direction he read the symbols from, they appeared in the same shape.

The next morning, Nico attempted to examine the manaherbs with Minko's vision. Although Minko was swimming about, Nico wasn't able to enter a trance. Nico wondered if it was a fluke.

After the sunset, Nico tested it out again. This time, he was able to inspect the herbs as Minko. Minko was true to its name, being more active during the nighttime.

Nico used Minko's vision to record the effects of the lifeless water on the manaherbs. All the herbs had more symbols than the day before, as well as the manafish core and the lifeless water infused core.

Since he was only able to enter a trance at night, he never got the opportunity to analyze the lifeless water, which was only available after dawn. He could make some assumptions from the diluted version, but it may not be the same.

Everytime he initiated manalink, the process of extracting mana from his body with Minko, it used up 1 MP. Once his MP was depleted, he was unable to create any more talismans.

He still wasn't sure what FP was.

After two weeks, Nico completed the manafish task and he was rewarded with a Plus-One Pill recipe.

Tasks Progress Reward *new* Kill 5 Manabeasts 0/5 Roulette Coupon Plant and harvest 25 Bushel of Manaherb 7/25 Roulette Coupon Tame 1 Manabeast 0/1 System Reward

Like the balm, he wasn't able to meet the basic requirement of the Pill.

Killing Manabeasts? Nico wondered if the system had taken his stats into consideration when assigning the task. After eating the manacore, his stats had increased, althought he could feel the effect of the manafish cores waning.

Status Manaroot 17 Mananode 19 Manaspirit Midnight Koi 17 Strength 19 FP 4/4 Defense 14 Speed 15 Magic 17 MP 32/34 Resistance 19 Casting 12

If he wanted to complete the manabeast task, he needed to explore the Lindan Peak again without Pesticide. Before that could even happen, he needed someone to train him, someone like Rooster. From what he had heard from Chambers, Rooster was at least in the 2nd level of Condensation stage.

"Haha! You want this old man to teach you how to fight?" asked Rooster. "What are you training for anyway?"

"Juo said it's the strong can rule the world?" Nico responded with a question sarcastically.

"That pipsqueak is right, but you're planning to rule the world?" Rooster burst out laughing.

Nico just wanted to protect himself.

"All right, I'm not going to make it difficult for you," said Rooster. "Juo belong to the clan, so he's required to train if he wants to compete for his grandfather's inheritance. It's not required for most people, but it's good to learn and protect yourself. The world outside this village isn't pleasant, and I can tell you're the type that will enter that world eventually."

"Thanks Rooster!"

"Why ya calling me Rooster! You should be calling me master from now on."

Nico wasn't willing to call him master, and Rooster didn't truly care.

Before the training began, Rooster wanted to test Nico level before he could decide on a specific lesson. They walked into the largest building in the village, the Shrine of Darbi, and paid to use the Halostone. The Halostone was a piece of stone that rested in a dark room by the center of the shrine.

Once inside, he placed his hand on the stone. After a moment, the stone revealed the number 14. Based on what he had learned from Lorne and Rooster, it was considered a condensation stage. It was odd considering he had no spirit root. The number was also half of Minko, and was likely related to Minko's level.

Rooster thought Nico's body was a bit odd. Nico looked small, but he had immense strength.

"What have you been eating kid!?" Rooster cried.

"A lot of manafish cores," Nico answered honestly.

"You have some luck," remarked Rooster.

If a mortal ate 50 manacores, they might not see as much benefit as Nico was getting. In fact, Rooster wasn't sure if it was impossible for Nico to be level 14 and told Nico the matter hidden.

"Before I start, I'll tell you about the basic branches of combat."

Nico nodded.

"Combat is divided into six main classes," Rooster explained. "Scout, tanker, archer, warrior, magician and healer. I'm not a magician or healer, so I can't explain much about them other than one is focused on attacking magic and the other is focused on healing.

A scout is considered the information specialist and rely mainly on speed. You will often see the scout or magician in the role of the leader in a party.

A tanker is in charge of defending the healer and magician. Strong spells require long casting time and concentration. Many magicians and healers will pair up with tankers to travel with them.

Archer specializes in long range attack.

Lastly, warrior is in charge of attacking. Within each class, there are sub-classes based on weapons, roles and styles."

"Why is there a need to divide the classes?" asked Nico. "Isn't it just easier to have multiple roles and attack the enemy?"

"It's possible, but assigning a class makes it easier to strategize and give orders. In a real battlefield or during a manabeasts attack, everything will be chaotic and people are placed under a lot of mental stress. If people are trained to focus on one particular role, they are more likely to perform that role and succeed. However, nothing restricts a healer from attacking or a warrior from healing. Performing outside the role in a battlefield may cause confusion, and I have seen it happen during desperate times."

"So there aren't hybrids?"

"There are advanced classes that are hybrids, but they are rare and very powerful people. Warrior is the most common and balanced class. Tank is almost entirely strength and weight training. Scout is mainly dodging and aerobic training. Archer is entirely archery training. I am assuming you want to train as a warrior?"

Nico nodded.

"Which weapon would you like to use?" asied Rooster.

So far, Nico liked using the spear. It had a better reach than a sword and easier to handle. However, it wasn't easy to carry a spear around. If he wanted to move about quickly, a sword was a better option.

"Can I learn one technique from different weapons?" Nico had little experience with weapons, so he didn't know if he had a preference.

"Greedy bastard. I can teach you the basics for different weapons, but in the future, I suggest sticking to one and mastering it," replied Rooster. "A specialist will usually always beat a good well rounded weapon fighter. Each weapon has its advantages and disadvantages. Also, a single weapon will have many varying styles, stances, counters, attacks and defense. In most situations, a spear is better. However, many weapons become secondary against cultivators."

That was certainly true, thought Nico. No matter how talented a fighter was, if an opponent had a bazooka, it wouldn't really matter.

Nico began his training with Rooster.

"So, what's the situation with the northern border?" Shirley asked the traveling merchant.

In the winter time, there wasn't much to be done. Many villagers gathered together in bars like the Cerbu restaurant inn to drink and talk.

"Not particularly good," replied the traveling merchant Wundron. "Everyone is tensed in the capital and I heard General Erju is being assigned there."

"That's unfortunate," said Shirley with a worried expression. General Erju was known as the God of Havoc. "We haven't had a war in 9 years. A couple of families still haven't recovered from the last one. Did you hear anything about a potential draft?"

"So far, not yet," replied Wundron. "All we know is that the Teragin Empire have stationed more than 80,000 soldiers by the northeastern border. They say it's precaution against potential manabeasts attack from Kimson Mountain, but you never know. Their new emperor Korbosho is said to be quite a ruthless person."

"Ha, what are you worried about!?" asked Pauley from across the room. "Not only do we have General Erju, we also have the Warlord Defender General Tairun. The northern border is pretty much secured. We should be more worried about the increased taxes."

"Ya always worrying about money," said Rooster drinking at the bar.

"What do you think of the situation?" asked Chambers sitting next to Rooster.

"You know what the Emperor is like."

"Emperor Limain is a cautious person, and won't go to war unless it is clear that the Teragin Empire is planning something," said Chambers. "Pauley is right about the northern border, it is extremely well protected. If Teragin wants to make a move, they should be attacking from the northwest."

"That is what concerns me," said Rooster. "Imagine, if the Teragin Empire is moving their army because of the manabeasts, what sort of attacks are they so worried about that they need to mobilize 80,000 soldiers?"

"You don't really think they are telling the truth about the manabeasts attacks?" Shirley pondered. "That hasn't happened in over 40 years."

Everyone in the restaurant remained silent. At their age, they could still remember what had happened 41 years ago.

"Ah, so, I haven't seen Nico in awhile, what has that kid been doing?" asked Chamber breaking off the eerie silence.

Rooster broke off in laughter.

"The rotten brat went off to Lindan Peak for training apparently," replied Rooster.

Chamber slammed his drink in response. "You can't be kidding!? You're sending a kid off to the wilderness alone? But you never send any your soldiers off to the wilderness alone."

"Haha! It isn't like it's his first time out there."

Rooster grabbed Chamber by the neck and pulled him closer.

"Okay Chamber, be ready to be amazed!" Said Rooster burping out his beer.

Chamber pushed Rooster's face away. The stench was making him vomit.

"You know, the first time I started training the kid, I thought it would be somewhat cute," said Rooster. "He's not too much younger than the kids they normally bring in to boot camp, you know, the 13-years old boys.

We started training with a short staff. His initial stance was defensive, but it wasn't too bad. However, after a simple slash from me, his staff flew out. He didn't have a firm grip, and still green when it comes to combat, so I taught him the different guard stances.

Afterward, he was able to maintain his weapon and put up a good defense. His attack was still on the weak side. We did a lot of striking, thrusting and cutting drills. He was strong already, so it was easy for him to achieve basic attacks once I show him the form. His movement was lacking quite a bit, so I taught him several footwork and steps. Before I know, the kid had already bested me."

"The kid beat you with a staff?" asked Chamber.

"Not just the staff," said Rooster. "He might falter the first few times, but once he gets the hang of a certain weapon, he wouldn't lose a fight."

While they were in the midst of conversation, Nico was in the middle of a Mexican standoff against a giant manasnake.