"Cool" were the words that escaped my mouth, before a sudden uproar began amongst the travellers...

"Jon, Jon, Jon, Jon, Jon, Jon, Jon..." the crowd was ecstatic. The hero had come and saved their goods from being damaged by the pesky goblins! Not that they would get hurt anywhere. The only reason the caravan decided to run was because goblins are known to be mischievous trouble makers, who ruin goods, like wheat, pottery, etc.

...

Jon's point of view...

Haha! This is the perfect time to complete another round of cultivation! I spent all my mana on those fireballs, and now I can try and absorb as much external mana as possible. What I have realised so far in my cultivation attempts, is that completely emptying my mana pool gives the best results, while directly absorbing the external mana into my mana pool and then converting it to my internal mana does the least damage. If I absorb external mana through my channels, it damages them. Furthermore, I also need to send all of my newly internalised mana to each and every channel, allowing them to become accustomed to the newly enhanced mana. When I first broke through, I could feel the mana flow becoming faster at the palm of my right hand. The breakthrough must have something to do with that. Alright, time to absorb!

...

I could feel someone picking me up and putting me into the carriage from the roof. Must be Krog, doing it out of worry. Anyway, I continued to absorb the external mana, convert it and then hold it in my mana pool. this time, the cultivation took longer than usual, but I was able to complete it within 2 hours. this must be because of the increased mana limit in my mama pool. But sadly I had no breakthrough. When I opened my eyes, I could see it was already lunch time and so I began to eat, after which I checked up on Shem and supplied her with some healing mana. And then we were back on track for the journey. In fact, because we were rushing to get away from the goblins, we saved about half a day's worth of time. This was great news, and all the merchants, travellers and adventurers were beyond joyful upon hearing the news.

This means that we only have to spend one more night in the wilderness! Great, I can finally take a long bath, and rest for some time. Since we will be arriving early, we could even go and explore the capital a little! We might even find something useful.

"Alright then, Krog, be prepared to go all out once we reach the capital. The first thing we will do is have a big feast!"

"Aaaalrighttta!!! Hahaha, I can't wait. Jon, use some of your magic to make us reach there faster! Like how mother can do!"

"Uhm, she is and archmage and I am- you know what, nevermind! You won't understand anyway. Let’s just say she is too strong compared to me."

"So you can't even use the magic you are sooooo proud of huh?"

"YOU!"

"Hahaha, I'm just kidding!"

... and so went our entire day, in chatting with each other on the most useless of topics...

In the night, before dinner...

Me and Krog were laying on the ground, staring at the night sky, a river of gems, brilliance that could never be seen back on Earth.

"Hey Jon?"

"Yes?"

"Uhm, how long will it take for Shem to wake up? I mean it’s been almost 3 weeks since the incident, and she still hasn't woken up?"

"."

"Are you even sure that she will get up? Huh! Jon! Answer Me!"

"Krog. Let me tell you a story. It is the story about a beauty, as fair as snow. It is the story about Snow White..."

...

"So, in order to what up Shem, I need to give her a kiss?" Krog questioned as his face began changing shades

"No! You Bakka!"

"Huh, what id Bakka?"

"Nothing! Listen, just like snow white, Shem is in deep sleep. What they were both waiting for is the right catalyst. In simple terms, there is something that needs to happen, and I doubt it has to do with us. Currently all we can do is wait, and hope for the catalyst to appear quickly. It is all up to fate now!" I said with a deep voice, already regretting explaining it to Krog, after seeing his expression change from one of shame to one of despair.

"So... All...I...Can...Do...Is...Wait?" He sounded as though he had lost his meaning in life, and was about to kill himself. It was as though his soul was giving up!

"Wait!" Soul! His soul. Do soul exist in this world? how are they related to ourselves. are they mana? No, it cannot be, then it wouldn’t exist as external mana! Then is it part of our physical body? That is also a no. Could it be the gaseous form above my mana pool? Maybe not. I remember seeing ghost shoes where they explain what things like poltergeists, and how they are formed. I clearly remember them saying that the soul of every being exists, but it exists in the 'astral plane', which does not exist in the real world, but can control one's body. What... 'Control'... isn't mana also controlled by something. Our will! It means that our soul is our will, and exists in the astral plane. Shouldn't the soul be called the astral body then? And this astral body controls our mana right?

"Then the area on my right palm where controlling mana is easier, could it be because I have opened some sort of connection with my astral body? This means that Shem's Astral body has been separated from her body, and that is why her mana has completely stopped, because there is nothing controlling it to move subconsciously! But wait, what happens if I force her to breakthrough? would her soul be connected to her body? Can than -"

Suddenly, as I was thinking my thoughts out loud and Krog was getting more confused, the atmosphere in the carriage changed. It looked perfectly fine from the outside, but on the inside, an eerie sensation was in the air. Krog and I both instantly tensed up and he took out his shield while I took out my Death Saber, as well as preparing a fireball spell. However, what happened next was beyond what could be explained with words...