Cultivating Talents [LitRPG Mana-cultivation]

Standing over Otter and Nonami, wind blowing over the grassy hills, Hector was at a loss for words. Mirae stood at Hector's side, her fists clenched tight as her purple eyes watered. Around the group, her puppets stood in a loose circular formation, standing sentry.

Jodie's head dropped, her eyes falling closed, her thoughts unclear. Meanwhile, Lincoln just stood there, wind blowing through his hair, as if unsure of what to do. Though, then again, so was Hector.

"Otter, wake up," Nonami said. He shook his friend's body. There was no response, just stillness. The wound on Otter's leg wept, leaves still clinging to the sticky mess, but his face no longer held any pain, just a calm, ice-like stillness.

"Otter, wake up, you idiot, wake up!" Nonami yelled, slamming a fist down onto the grass. "You promised you'd be there, you promised you'd stay by my side, Otter. Don't you dare leave, don't you dare!"

Hector's hand twitched at his side. Could he even do anything? What would he even say? He knew this pain. He knew this grief. Losing someone was never easy and would never be.

"Nonami," he sighed, but as he went to continue, the words died on his tongue.

Was this somehow his fault? Hector's brow furrowed. Had he focused too much on killing the Shadow Wyrm?

"Come on, Otter, wake up," Nonami said, shaking him again. "Please. Please."

Nonami's head fell onto Otter's shoulder; his body shook, and soft sobs began coming from him. Muffled. Weak. Desperate.

Was this Hector's fault?

If I'd only brought them back to the Sanctuary, perhaps…

No, Otter would have bled out before then. Even if they had, how would that have saved him? In the end, all it would be is another place to die.

I didn't make them take this quest; I had no responsibility to save them. But still. No, my father would have wanted me to do all I could. He would have wanted me to take on a responsibility I could bear. Would he have been right?

Hector's gaze drifted from the two boys, and he turned his head. The Shade Forest loomed in the distance, the thick fog continuing to roll from it before being sucked back in. At the end of the day, no matter his feelings, it didn't change the fact: no one forced those two to go in; no one made them choose a quest that would kill them. It was a simple mistake.

Cloak gently flapping in the wind, Hector turned back to them, and for several moments, he and his friends stood there as Nonami sobbed over Otter's body. The grass at his side seemed a little less vibrant now as it hugged his corpse.

After a while, when the sun hung low, the sky having turned to a deep orange, Nonami's tears stopped. He got to his feet, and his puffy eyes wandered over Otter's body. He couldn't have finished grieving, could he?

"He deserves a burial," Nonami said. His lips quivered as his gaze turned to Hector. "I'm not leaving him out here to be eaten by those creatures." Sniffing, Nonami's gaze moved to the Shade Forest.

Hector nodded as a pang of sadness filled his chest. He hadn't gotten to bury his father; he didn't even know where the body was. Would he ever even find it?

"Lincoln." Hector turned to his brown-haired friend.

Adjusting his mask, Lincoln nodded at him. "I'll get to it." A deep brown haze began buzzing between his fingers as he moved to the side.

"I'll help too," Mirae said, nodding to one of her puppets.

A moment later, one of the luminescent figures broke off from the circle and walked over to Lincoln. The two of them then dropped to their knees and began working on the hole.

The [Surface Scraper] Talent showed its worth in an instant. Even with just his cupped hands, he moved dirt as if he were using an actual shovel, but with slightly more ease. A hole roughly four feet deep was dug in a matter of a few minutes.

Hector's brow creased slightly. If an animal were determined enough, it could probably dig up Otter's body, but Hector wasn't exactly in the mood to share that thought with Nonami. Besides, it was unlikely that a monster from the Shade Forest would even come this far out.

Though monsters from the forest weren't the only creatures in this region.

Minutes later, as the sky continued to darken, they all stood in front of a freshly dug grave. Nonami stood at the grave's head, his head down, tears streaming down his cheeks and dropping onto the waiting grass below.

"Otter, you were a friend and a companion, there with me at the start of my troubles. And sadly, I won't be able to see you for some time, but I promise you I will make sure that I change everything. I will make the world a better place and bring your smile, your joy, to all I can. Rest well, friend."

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He dropped to a knee and placed two fingers against his lips before pressing them against the soil. He then got back up and turned to face the setting sun. "I don't know what to do now," he said, glancing back at Hector.

Holding his gaze for a moment, Hector sighed. Mirae took his wrist and gave it a light squeeze. She said nothing, but it was clear what she meant. They could do only what they could. As Mirae released him, Hector cleared his throat. "We should head back to the Sanctuary first. You can figure out what you want to do there. It's getting late, and I doubt standing here will make what you have to do clear."

Hector stepped around the grave and moved to stand next to Nonami at the grave's head. A breeze rolled through the distant hills as he and Nonami stood for a moment. With some trepidation, Hector's hand twitched. Should he comfort him?

No, there's not really much I can say. I don't know him; we've barely known each other for two seconds.

Hector simply turned to Nonami and gave him a firm nod. He then glanced back at Jodie. Cupped at the girl's side was a shadow mana core about the size of a small ball. Before she and Lincoln had come down here, Hector had asked the two to grab it.

Though it was a sign of their triumph, it certainly didn't feel like that. Hector wasn't sure what they could do with the core either, but it was better to have the thing than not. Beast cores had many uses after all.

"Alright then," Hector said, his gaze shifting to the sky. Darkness began settling in as the stars started twinkling. Was any of that even real? Or were they under a different sky?

Hector pushed those thoughts to the back of his mind. He could think about that later. "We have no camping gear, so we're going to have to march through the night. Jodie, you'll be leading the way," Hector said.

She nodded.

As for why it was her, she still had the ability to see clearly in the dark. Whereas they, even in an open field and with Mirae's puppets lighting up the surroundings, would still struggle to keep their wits about them. Being in Gravity-Forging Three enhanced Hector's eyesight, sure. But if there was someone who could see better than him, it was wiser to let them do so.

With that, they set off in a single file formation: Jodie at the front, a few paces ahead, with a puppet just behind her, then Mirae, then Hector, and then Nonami, with Lincoln pulling up the rear and two puppets behind him.

They trudged late into the evening, moving across the rolling hills, running into a sparse collection of beasts here and there. Any beasts they encountered, two of Mirae's puppets would break off and take them out with efficiency. No ranked beast popped up, so the small fry were not a threat.

In the end, they made it back to the Sanctuary deep into the night. When they got there, several large braziers that Hector hadn't noticed earlier hung from the immense columns holding up the roof of the building. The braziers were as wide as he was tall, and the fires within were at least twice his height. They were huge things, perfect for keeping the place lit, even in this deep night.

Some people lingered around the hall, most of them coming back themselves; others, clearly not wanting to use their meagre points on rooms, slept on the pristine tile of the Sanctuary floor, weapons clutched in their grips.

"So how do we find everyone?" Jodie asked, turning to Hector and tilting her head a little.

He shrugged. "I think we probably should have considered that before we left." His gaze then moved to the beast core resting at Jodie's side, her grip tight on its crystal-like surface. "Do you think that's how we turn in a quest? That would make sense; we've got to prove that we killed it somehow, right?"

"Are you kidding me?" Lincoln said. He stood at Hector's side and gestured. Annoyed. "I thought that we'd just, you know, kill it and then there'd be a nice uptick on this." He raised his bracelet and pointed at the marble in the centre, still reading 10 points. "I thought it would be automatic, you know. Magic was used to create this place; surely it'd have some magical convenience."

He let out a breath, his hands sagging to his sides. Muttering to himself, he looked off to the side, watching the others around the room.

Hector quirked a brow. Was this guy really upset that something was not working how he expected it to? It's not like this place owed him anything. Lincoln truly picked the strangest battles.

Raising a hand, Hector scratched his head and turned to Jodie. "So should we return the thing before—"

"Hector?" A voice interrupted him.

Striding towards him, shoes clicking against the tile, was Marcus. He waved a hand high in the air as an eager smile rested on his lips. Mirae chirped a little as she saw him, her shoulders relaxing. It was as if seeing him proved that they'd finally made it back.

Resting a hand on his sister's shoulder, Hector gave it a light, reassuring squeeze. Mirae stepped a little closer and rested her head on his shoulder.

"Fancy seeing you here," Marcus said, coming to a stop with a little skip. Hector blinked. The boy had good news, either that or he'd gone loopy here.

Marcus's mask, thankfully, was still on, though he'd rid himself of his blazer and was wearing simple garb which Hector was pretty sure he hadn't been wearing before they'd come in. He'd spent his points on clothing?

"Marcus, boy, you're a sight for sore eyes," Hector said. He nodded at him and took in his clothing once more. Grey shirt and simple grey pants. Not really Marcus's style. Others around the hall wore the same getup, though. However, those who slept on the tile didn't. They just had on what looked to be the clothes they arrived in.

"I wasn't sure how we'd find you," Marcus said, scratching his head. He chuckled and waved at Jodie. "So we set up shifts and rotated out until you guys got back. It was Delworth's idea, and thankfully, it worked."

"Yeah, that was a smart call," Hector said, rolling his shoulders. He leaned to the side. Farther behind Marcus, a few nobles lingered by the doors to the various quest halls, a few of them going in. But the rest of his group were nowhere to be seen. "So when's everyone else arriving?" Hector asked.

"I'm not sure," Marcus replied, glancing over his shoulder. "If I had to guess, it should be a few minutes from now. I am due to change shifts with Mrs Strongmail soon."

Marcus brought a finger to his mask and tapped the front of it. "But never mind that. I have excellent news, Hector. I've… Well, we've managed to get a good list of the things that we can purchase. And it's a wide selection."

"We have weapons, as you can see." Marcus gestured to the few smatterings of people who clutched swords or hammers on the temple tile as they slept. "People have already bought some fairly low-quality ones, though it's all you can buy with ten points. But that's only the beginning. Obviously, you have your supplies, as mentioned by the old man. But, Hector, there are cultivation techniques here, things that even some noble families don't have access to. We can purchase them here with points. The lowest one I saw only cost two hundred. Do you know what this means? There are hundreds, if not thousands, of people in this trial realm. If they all get their hands on cultivation techniques…"

Marcus's voice drifted off as he spotted Nonami towards the back of the group. "Who's that, by the way?"