Farmer or Cultivator? Why not both?-Chapter 36: A solution to milk problems
[Water Fountain of Elaxis]:
[A relic of the ancient god Elaxis, this fountain releases the Water of Elaxis, a magical stream that fertilizes 200 × 200 meters of land, restoring soil, boosting crop yield, and enhancing resilience. The water adapts to the terrain, reviving arid, poisoned, or exhausted ground without causing imbalance]
The water fountain of Elaxis, his most useful relic.
"I could be staring right at the answer to my problems." He mumbled, at which Neg barked.
He went into his home,into the kitchen, where he took two large bottles containing milk. They were filled to the brim so he had to drink some portions so that he could fill the bottle with water. A circle of milk was about his lips as he walked to this mysteriously magical fountain.
Water streamed from the openings of various mini statues adorning the fountain. There was a cupid who held a bowl downwards, and from it water streamed. A large fish with its mouth agape, letting out water. Where the water came from was a total mystery, just exactly what magic was about.
He carefully placed one of the bottles underneath a stream, and filled up the bottle, he did the same for the second. He closed both bottles, shook them gently, and went in and placed them on his dining table. The milk from the cows were always pure white, and the water that came forth from the fountain was colorless, so Ren did not expect adding the water would have the milk change its color. It was subtle, a mild blue hue that circulated across the bottle.
"Huh!" He had to admit it. Strange as it was, this new color was quite attractive, and he decided that he needed to have a drink. He took a gulp.
"Oh, by the gods. What is this?!" He questioned, still holding up the bottle. The taste was heavenly, just as the water fountain was. Water from the fountain was always more refreshing, and even cooler than that from the well, but Ren had not noticed any taste from it, this was an interesting improvement.
He downed the entire bottle, and gave Neg the other, of which the dog enthusiastically drank. There were still three other bottles he could experiment with. He did what he had done with the two previous bottles, drinking about one fifth of each bottle’s content, and filling them up with water.
"I should use this water to cook my meals, perhaps it would make them even sweeter."
Fresh milk could last for about a day, two at the very most before it is unsafe for consumption. If the milk remained unspoiled by evening tomorrow, then the water has worked, it would be even better if it could store it for days.
He left the milk in his kitchen while he resumed to training. The Tome of Mahābodhivān being his guide into this unknown world. Large as the book was, Ren never found it difficult to read it while he was on his bed on the verge of going asleep. Most days, he read the tome under candle light just right before going asleep.
He began surging the energy through his veins, focusing on his breathing, inhaling and exhaling deeply, thinking of the words of Mahābodhivān.
’Energy comes from the power of one’s breath.’ A text from the tome. The saying was so commonly used amongst cultivators, as it tells the importance of taking deep and steady breaths.
Projection and reinforcement, these two abilities were at the heart of a cultivator’s prowess. Unlike mages, cultivators could not conjure up an ice avalanche, or summon a demon from hell, but they could do something really close. There were attacks to learn, projected energies of different properties. A cultivator may not be able to blast a wave of pointy icicles, but he could alter his mana enough that it takes a dangerously low temperature, and that blast could freeze a person.
But before one could reach such a stage as a cultivator, they needed to harness nature’s mana. Mana absorption was a foundational skill needed to be harnessed for one to be truly referred to as a cultivator. Although upon learning the destructive protection of mana, and mastering mana reinforcement, one was only truly a cultivator when they could absorb the mana in the atmosphere around them, as Mahābodhivān put it in his tome, "Making the world’s energy one’s own." The excess energy flowing across the planet to be siphoned as fuel for growth. ’Convergence’ he called it.
Ren had tried, and had had successful trials with the ability, except that progress had been unstable. Only on certain occasions did nature’s energy heed his call.
"Today has been really good, I have a good feeling about this."
He executed the stances to ground himself, warming up his mana vessels.
’One must be as calm as the river, and graceful as the swan. Nature does not heed to just any call.’ He recalled the words of the great master.
He took a deep inhale, arching his arms about him, raising them and then placing them down by his flank with graceful rhythm. Another deep breath accompanied with graceful rhythm, and another and another, until he felt the sweet cool of mana entering his nostrils, sinking into the pores of skin, and evidently coalescing about him. He felt greatly invigorated.
His eyes had been closed all this while, and he opened it to see the world in a new light. The ambience which had always been great had changed, more accurately to say, his perception had improved, and greatly so. He could see mana represented in different colors and various temperatures across the living organisms near him. He turned to his back where Molly, and the rest of the farm animals stayed. Their internal energies were warm, and they had a fiery hue, though the energies within them varied. The pigs for some reason had brighter and more energy within them. The young ones, the pigs and calves had much smaller internal mana compared to the adults which was clear and reasonable enough.
"They have so much mana. How is it that can not use it?"
Ren’s thoughts suddenly got interrupted by system messages invading his mind.
’It has been a while.’
[You have harnessed mana absorption]
[You have earned a skill]
