Chương 23: Trial and Error

"Is that bird bigger?" One of the soldiers nearby asked.

"It is." Another responds"How's he making it bigger?"

"I'd bet he's pumped mana into the food or directly into the bird. Probably the food."

"What's the point though."

"Beats me man, maybe he just likes the bird. Seems like a waste of time." Blick could hear but didn't mind the questions. This bird spent more and more time resting on his shoulder so he kept feeding it meats and berries full of mana to spur its growth. If these birds could be trained then he would make the attempt and see if he could teach it some skill. It did take a lot more mana to see the flash of a mana core creation. It probably has to do with a creatures size.

It wouldn't make sense doe a snail to have the same size core as a person. More mana would be needed to create a larger core. The bird certainly created one about a week ago. Other than its size he couldn't really figure out what was changing. Did animals have meridians as well? It would only make sense if they did. Thinking on the shape of the body maybe from the core up to each wing? The legs are too small for a channel right?

While pondering anatomy of the mana paths he questioned the method of opening meridians. It was ridiculously slow. No noticeable change for almost a month of pain. His instructions claimed they hit a max width after nearly 7-10 years of work for most focused people. But was that simply bc of how slowly most people pushed them. And was that limit restricted by the size of the creature like the core seemed to be? Pushing and pulling was a slow process and limited how much could be done in a day.

The mana pushed out was pulled back in immediately or it would disperse. Keeping it inside the body seems the only way to contain it. What if. What if I pushed with one meridian while I pulled with the other… I'd been imagining the process like breathing mana from my hands and feet. But I wonder if I can have it travel a complete circular path. A project for sitting down. I definitely can't do that while we walk. Back to the bird situation…

I wonder if I can show the bird how to circulate and then it could spur its own growth. Artemis had implied the birds could be trained as pets. Reaching a palm up to the bird he placed it gently on one wing and slowly established a rhythm of push and pull. The bird didn't react right away but after a few minutes it rustled in apparent discomfort. When Blick stopped to check there didn't seem to be anything new happening so he just tried again. About an hour later he gave up. The bird had pecked him three times.

Apparently it was causing the thing a bit of pain. Not sure if that was a positive or not Blick decided to let the idea drop for a while. Maybe later if he found a smarter critter, maybe a fox or dog type animal. Those had a reputation for being trainable. This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. Later in the evening the camp settled into the nightly routine of set up and meal prep. Blick just simply sat where he was.

His curiosity about a better pattern eating at him the whole time. With the simple idea of a circle he tried pushing out with one palm and pulling in with the other. It was so weird because all his practice was a different rhythm. It worked but he kept getting out of sync and pausing one side to finish the other sides action. Ultimately it wasn't much different. What if I placed the meridians closer? Placing his palms together and focusing on pushing from one directly into the pull from the other.

With a hiss from between his grit teeth he yanked his hands apart. While he was swinging his hands up and down in pain, he paused. It hurts that much more… does that mean it's that much more effective in forcing the channels? Focusing again he tried the same method with a little less effort. Finding a bearable pace he kept the flow between palms going for a minute or two. This was clearly more effective if he had the time to sit down for hours. There is no way to accomplish this while walking.

He realized he had been ignoring his ankle meridians this whole time.

"The fuck is that guy doing now?" Artemis watched from a freshly pitched tent as the creature named Blick sat with his hands touching and his bare feet also touching. Bottom of one to the bottom of the other. Even from this distance he could see the pain on Blicks face. The thing was a genius. It was always learning something and picked up mana use too fast. Artemis had even reported to the captain that he thought the creature had been playing dumb and already knew how to use mana before coming to their city.

But if this was a skill it already knew then why would it wait till now to start using it. And he had watched as it tried a few different positions. With one raised eyebrow the middle aged warrior realized that the furry short man was trying something new. And by the life of him, he had never seen anyone sit like that. Artemis shut the tent flap and sat. Thinking for a second he decided to remove his boots. That piece out of the way he assumed the same position Blick was using.

Pushing mans out of all his meridian in the normal way just caused his hands and feet to burn a normal amount. Nothing unusual. Why the touching then? Seeing the end result and working logic backwards. Painful. Is he? No. With a realization Artemis gave it an attempt.

"Who raised the alarm?" Captain Fitz was angry. A false alarm really rankled his nerves.

"Sir the shout came from Artemis. He was alone in a tent and someone looked in when they heard him. He was unconscious and alone so the soldier assumed foul play."

"Where was Blick?"

"Nearby but he was seated pretty far off, somebody would have seen it if he was involved."

"Status on Artemis?" The captain asked with clear annoyance.

"Still unconscious. The healer said there isn't anything wrong with him. It's like he was knocked out without actually getting popped in the head."

"Could he have tried to condense a layer? It seems way too soon." Fitz asked with his hand on his chin thinking.

"His last advance put him at 4 drops sir. The medic highly doubted that would even be close to enough. Even if he could with that little liquid, it wouldn't be painful." After a while of thinking and coming to no real answers the scout captain asked, "Nothing new from the scout patrols?"

"No sir."

"Fucking hell, ok let's get back to normal routes. Inform me when he wakes up. I need to know if he was attacked."