Shin: “Master, I know you think you won’t abuse the technique, but many said the same in the past, and ended up addicted to using the ‘Soul mana hook’ because of how easy is to harvest mana using it!”

Merlin: “You seem to misunderstand something. My current mana pool is a fifth of the mana pool a low rank magus would have. In case of an emergency I would be unable to use a life-saving magic, and for what I understand the natural mana and the mana harvested by your technique are to be used separately, which means I can accumulate mana with your technique for emergencies, and use my natural mana for training.”

Shin: “Yes, although it can be used in the same way, soul mana is different from natural mana. Natural mana is the mana accumulated in your body through meditation, while soul mana, is the mana produced by a soul while leaving a recently killed body. I understand your aim, but even so…”

Merlin: “Besides, it’s not like I plan on killing humans to harvest their mana. Well, if they try to kill me or harm someone I care about, sure, I wouldn’t hesitate, but my aim is to harvest the mana from the monsters I will hunt during the missions for the Adventurers Guild.”

Shin was flabbergasted by Merlin’s words. The “Soul mana hook” technique, was a forbidden technique developed by the ancestors from his shinobi clan, in order to replenish their mana during a battle. The technique had been devised to harvest the soul mana produced by the enemies they were slaying, and it was especially efficient in a battle of 1 against many, but he had never heard of anyone using it while slaying monsters!

Shin: “Fr-from monsters?”

Merlin: “The name of the technique is ‘Soul mana hook’, so I thought that as long as the being slayed has a soul, it should work. And since the monsters have souls too, they should produce soul mana when being slayed, shouldn’t they?”

Shin: “I-I guess… To my knowledge, no one has ever tried to do what you just suggested, master. It makes sense, though!”

Merlin: “I have an Idea. Since you are so worried about me becoming a bloodthirsty killer if you teach me the technique, why don’t you go to the nearest forest and use it while slaying some monsters? If it doesn’t work, I’ll give up on the technique and I will try to find some other way, but if it does work, you will teach me the technique. How about that? Would that put you more at ease?”

Shin: “Yes, master. It would. Ok, let’s do it that way. Then, master, I’m off!”

Merlin: “Go ahead!”

************************************************************************

In a forest close to Ragnarök, 2 hours later.

Shin’s POV:

Ok, that makes 30 crabrats. The “Soul mana hook” also works in monsters, just as my master, Merlin, had hypothesized. I still can’t believe our clan overlooked for generations something so simple that a 7-year-old has discovered it just by hearing the description of the technique! Were the ancestors of our shinobi clan really that dumb? No, that would be disrespecting them… This technique was a forbidden technique, meant to be used in battle and only as a last resort. It probably isn’t that they weren’t smart enough discover this side of the technique, but that they didn’t have the chance to discover it.

In addition, they probably thought it could only be used in people, so they didn’t dare to use the technique on monsters. It really works on them, but the efficiency isn’t very high. After killing 30 crabrats, I only managed to accumulate enough soul mana to cast a low-ranked spell.

Nevertheless, this efficiency should be enough for my master’s purposes, after all, he has 2 whole years to accumulate soul mana from the monsters he will slay during the missions from the Adventurers Guild. I guess it’s safe to teach him this technique.

Ok, time to go back!

**********************************************************

While he was waiting for Shin’s return, Merlin was pondering what his next steps should be.

For the moment, he decided not to appear in public, because the only people who knew his actual age was 7 years old despite his current appearance, were the members of his family and the members of the “Council of ten”.

If he were to appear in public, information about his current appearance would circulate around, and would add difficulty to his life as an adventurer.

Merlin decided to play the “reclusive young master”, and make it look like he had developed an extreme case of agoraphobia after the attempt on his life, and he wouldn’t abandon his room no matter what.

The service that had been hired after Jasmine’s death, had been forbidden from approaching his room ever since he had fallen in a coma, so they wouldn’t notice no one was in the room even if he left for months.

He had already decided to join the Adventurers Guild, but doing so in Ragnarök, meant to take the risk of being recognized, and his effort on making a clear distinction between the agoraphobic 7-year-old, and the 13-year-old young adventurer, would go to waste.

To avoid that risk, he chose to go Daferma, a city that was 2 days away, on horse, from Ragnarök. That city would have an additional benefit for a rookie adventurer like Merlin: a rank D Labyrinth.

Having monsters ranging from rank F to rank D in the same location would save Merlin a lot of time he would have otherwise spent going from place to place and trying to locate stronger monsters.

*However, it seems I won’t be able to go away for the time being… I just woke up from a year long coma, if I were to leave now, I don’t think my family would take it well. Furthermore, I have yet to build the front I’m going to put of being an agoraphobic 7-year-old, and that takes time…* thought Merlin.

He also had to get used to the way his new body interacted with mana, because that too had changed in the time he had been trapped inside Lokiseth’s pseudo-realm. Merlin was tired from waiting for Shin’s return and started to meditate using “Lotus Crescendus”.

*What is this?* wondered Merlin. *Wasn’t I supposed to have great difficulty feeling mana after using Lokiseth’s power?*

[*Try using you head, idiot!*] Lokiseth’s voice sounded in his head, startling him.

*Master, how come you are speaking in my head?*, asked Merlin.

[*Telepathy. As for your previous question, you should indeed have great difficulty feeling mana after having used my power. Nevertheless, your enhanced spiritual awareness makes up for it, enhancing your ability to sense it!*] answered Lokiseth.

Thanking Lokiseth for his explanation once more, Merlin went back to meditate. He stopped meditating after what he had felt had been a few minutes, but it was already dawn and Shin was patiently waiting in a corner of the room, which made him realize, it had been a few hours and not minutes that he had been meditating.

Merlin was impatient to know how effective had been his meditation regarding his mana pool, but he felt bad for Shin, and chose to wait. It was obvious to Merlin that the big smile in Shin’s face indicated he had brought good news back.

Shin: “Master, your hypothesis was right, the technique really does work on monsters! I honestly don’t know how my ancestors missed something like this!”

*Looks like master’s information was good.* thought Merlin.

[*Of course my information was good! Who do you take me for?*] retorted Lokiseth.

*Sorry master, I didn’t mean to say that you are unreliable. Now, could you please stop talking in my head unasked? It fucking hurts!* thought Merlin, while cursing whomever created the spell for telepathic communication.

Shin: “Master, are you ok? You don’t look good!”

Merlin: “I’m fine, Shin. I just have a little headache.”

Shin: “Should I wait till tomorrow to teach you the technique, then?”

Merlin: “Thank you, Shin, but as I said, it’s just a simple headache. Please do teach me the technique now.”

Shin: “As you wish, master.”

Merlin learned the technique in a couple of minutes, but he couldn’t put it to use. He was going to create a persona whose main trait was being agoraphobic, so he couldn’t wander around and let people see him.

Earlier, he had wanted to practice Shin’s technique right away, however, it wasn’t wise to do so at the moment. Merlin decided to slip away during the night, disguised, and go to the forest to slay some monsters and train the “Soul mana hook”.

He told Shin to meet him outside the north gate of Ragnarök in the darkness of midnight. It would be new moon that night, and that would make it easier for them to go around unseen. Shin left Merlin’s room and Merlin checked out his status window.

*Ding*

Status WindowNameMerlin PendragonAge7Race**** HumanLevel65GenderMaleHealth2800/2800Health Regen.0.009 / SecMana171 | 0Mana Regen.0.017 / SecMagic

“Imagination Creation Magic (lv. 2)”,

"Status Window Spell (lv. 2)",

"Analytic Observation Spell (lv. 9)"

“Elemental magic (lv. 2)”

Attribute affinityFire (extraordinary), Water (extraordinary), Wind (extraordinary), Earth (extraordinary), Space-time (extraordinary), Light (extraordinary), Darkness (extraordinary), Non-attribute (extraordinary)Skills

“Otherworldly Martial Art: Aikido (lv. 7)”

“Otherworldly Martial Art: Karate (lv. 6)”

“Otherworldly Martial Art: Taekwondo (lv. 7)”

“Lotus Crescendus” (lv. 6)

“Ki Strengthening Technique (lv. 7)”

“Marked mate tracking (lv. 10)”

“Intermediate compounding Av. In (lv. 10)”

“Pendragon Clan Traditional Martial Arts (lv. 10)”

“Soul mana hook (lv. 1)”

He was a little disappointed, despite his mana pool having increased by a little, the increase rate was too slow. At that pace, it would take him 100 years to fully recover his former mana pool.

The good news were that if he maintained the same increase rate, his mana pool would be the same size of that of an ordinary magus by the time he entered the Hexenwunder Royal Academy. However, an ordinary mana pool would only allow Merlin to use middle-ranked spells, and very few low-cost high-ranked spells.

Fortunately for him, according to Lokiseth’s information, the “Soul mana hook”technique Shin had taught him shouldn’t have an upper limit on how much soul mana he could stock. If Merlin managed to accumulate enough soul mana, he would be able to cast high-ranked spells with ease in an emergency, ignoring the limitations of his own mana pool.

*I really have to thank Shin for having taught me the technique, it really is a cheat-like ability for a battle-magus if mastered!* thought Merlin.

Of course, having learned the technique didn’t mean Merlin would slack off on his training or meditation, he was well aware that becoming dependent on that technique would become his downfall.

There were 3 reasons why using that technique was risky: it could give birth to a bloodthirsty killer, the soul mana couldn’t be recuperated after being used, and if all the soul mana was used up in the middle of a battle, the magus’ fighting power would drop a level, endangering him and his companions, if he had any.

******************************************

Emelyn’s POV:

I can’t calm myself down… My youngest son, Merlin, has finally woken up from the coma! I feel like I am in a dream. We thought he had been poisoned, and he would never recover. Well, he actually had told me in the letter that it was just a severe case of mana exhaustion, and that he would be fine, but I didn’t trust him. I thought he was just trying to comfort me, and it turned out he was telling the truth…

He didn’t come down to have breakfast this morning, so I went upstairs and he was in his room, sitting cross-legged and meditating. I tried to go back out of the room without bothering him, but just as I was about to close the door, he called out to me.

Merlin: “Mother, come in, please.”

Emelyn: “Sorry, Merlin. I didn’t want to distract you, but you didn’t come down to have breakfast, and I was worried.”

Merlin: “I didn’t want to worry you mother, sorry. Could you please call father and aunt Leyla, and have them come here? I need to tell you something, to the three of you. And, please, don’t let the girls in here, for the time being.”

Emelyn: “Is there a problem with your body? Are you feeling alright?”

Merlin: “I’m ok, mother. I just have to talk about something important with the three of you!”

Emelyn: “O-ok…”

I have no idea of what he wants to talk about, but it looked serious. Ok, there is no point in thinking about it, I’ll just find out after bringing Leyla and my husband. I think they are still in the house…

________________________________________________________________________________

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