Cultivating Talents [LitRPG Mana-cultivation]

Hector turned. Nonami's face hung low, his eyes dark as he looked at the floor. The boy hadn't spoken all that much during their journey. Maybe one-word answers if someone asked anything. Which made sense; he'd just lost a friend. He wouldn't be in the mood to speak. Not everyone could be like Hector—who had a system that manipulated his emotions.

"He's someone we met during our quest," Hector said. "He suffered a loss." Hector then turned back to Marcus and raised a finger. "One moment."

Stepping away, Hector moved over to Nonami, their shadows intermingling as they flickered in the braziers' light. "Nonami, we're at the Sanctuary now. Do you know what you're going to do? We'd offer you a place with us..." For the third time today, Hector found his hand twitching. What was Nonami thinking? Was Hector even saying the right thing? "But it's up to you."

Nonami raised his head, his brown eyes meeting Hector's, and a tight smile came to his dried and cracked lips. "Thank you," he croaked, hands clenching at his sides. Nonami shook his head. "I don't think I'll accept your offer, though. A while back, I latched onto a group, and it didn't work out well last time. I'm going to make something of my own," he said. "As your friend just alluded to, this place is going to change Middlec. I will not miss this opportunity. The grief is raw now. It hurts. But I'll make sure Otter's death wasn't in vain."

With that, Nonami turned away from Hector and plodded off, his sandaled feet tapping against the pristine tile. A moment later, several groaning, wood-like cracks split the air in front of him, and a wooden door coalesced from the mist before him. Not even looking back, he grabbed the handle, stepped through it, and disappeared.

"What an ungrateful guy," Lincoln muttered at Hector's side.

Hector's head snapped to Lincoln, and he leered at him. "He just lost someone, Lincoln. Have some decency. By the Great Lake, man."

Scoffing, Hector turned back to Marcus, and Jodie let out a jeering chuckle.

"Well, you were saying, Marcus?" Hector crossed his arms.

Marcus coughed into a fist and continued. "As I was saying, cultivation techniques. They have them in spades. They also have special armour, talismans, and even pills. I'm not gonna lie to you, Hector. The things we can buy here are incredible. You just have to have the points to do it."

"Then we're gonna have to earn points," Hector said, nodding, his eyes drifting around the hall. "That was reckless of us just now, that entire quest, going out without weapons." At the far end of the hall, by one of the many large columns, a group of Flamelight nobles returned from the outside, many of them cheering.

"Perhaps," Jodie said, before letting out a sigh, raising her hand and brushing off her shoulder. "Though not all of us went out without weapons."

Hector scoffed. He indeed had the [Mana Forge] Talent, making him much more adept at fighting. But it had been an oversight to let his friends go without proper gear to defend themselves. They weren't fighting Hairless Rats and Earthen Moles anymore, though, granted, it would have been good to have weapons when fighting them, too.

"Alright, we'll do this," Hector said. "Tonight we rest. Tomorrow we meet again, and we will discuss and purchase the things we need. Then we can look for another quest, something below C-rank, as that was intense. We got lucky and had some time to prepare, but I don't want to think what a B-rank or even A-rank quest would be like." Hector shook his head. "Everyone buy a door and get some rest."

"Oh, one more thing, Hector," Marcus said. "I think we should purchase a Group Hall. It comes with several amenities, and—"

"Marcus," Hector said, raising a finger, interrupting him, "we'll talk about it tomorrow."

Hector hadn't seen Marcus this excited in a while. His friend was practically beaming with ideas; he was sure the little businessman had an entire scheme concocted, but it could wait. They were tired; they were dirty, and they needed rest.

—- —- —- —-

"How's it going?" Hector asked Marcus, who was kneeling on the dirt. He had his hands deep under a bush, picking at something. Jodie stood off to the side, leaning against a tree, her gaze shifting through the forested area.

"I think I've almost found it," Marcus muttered as he continued moving aside various stems and picking at leaves. "The quest said that I would find the dream stem under an Okenberry bush. Apparently, this herb only likes to grow within environments created by the bush."

Hector nodded and turned. The sun hung high overhead, and here at the treeline, he barely had cover from it. He squinted. It had been three days since they'd entered the Trial Realm. They had taken on small quests, a few D and C-ranks. He had even taken on a couple of F-ranks. They gathered one or two points from those, not much. Aside from that, they spent their time cultivating.

It's a good pace so far, but I feel like we're still a step behind those larger groups, especially the Great Families.

He turned back to Marcus, then his eyes flickered to Lincoln. The brown-haired boy sat with his back against a tree, pulling at random plants. It would be Marcus's luck if Lincoln somehow stumbled onto the herb he was looking for, while Marcus himself was deep under a bush. Hector shook his head.

A moment later, a scream split the air. Hector frowned and turned, looking to a small ridge that was just outside the forest treeline.

"Who could that be?" he muttered. The Amber Forest wasn't too far from Sanctuary, and it was rare to find any ranked creatures in this area. There were tales of Ranked Beasts further out, further than even the Shade Forest.

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Apparently, according to Jodie, she'd once overheard a group speaking of running into a Rank Three Beast. Hector could sympathise with that. The Earthen Mole leader they'd fought was almost closing in on that realm. They had been lucky when they had injured it with the explosives.

Stepping up onto the ridge, Hector's lips pursed against his mask. Below, three people ran, and one of them was very familiar.

Adrian, now slimmer than he had been in the past, ran with all the might he could muster. Behind him were six insect-like creatures. Large scythe-like front limbs arched in the air as they chased on four thick legs. They appeared similar to the ones that had been outside Sanctuary on the day of their arrival, minus the wings.

"Is something wrong?" Jodie stepped up to the left of Hector. A second later, she scoffed behind her mask. "If it isn't Adrian, fancy seeing him here. Seems luck didn't shine only on us with getting into this Trial Realm."

"It was hardly luck," Hector said, with some annoyance. "We fought for this."

"Yeah," Jodie muttered. "So, you gonna help him?" She turned her head towards him, her gaze lingering on him.

Hector narrowed his eyes at Adrian's sprinting figure and adjusted his mask. He could go down there. He could fight off those bugs. They didn't seem to be ranked. If those bugs were ranked, they would have torn Adrian apart by now.

But then why was he running? Adrian was Gravity Forging-One, maybe two. Surely he could fight them off himself.

"You don't want to?" Jodie asked. "Would you actually be alright with letting him die?" She tucked her ponytail behind her and into her cloak's hood. She then continued watching Adrian.

Hector frowned. Would he be okay with letting Adrian die? He'd been arguing with the boy practically since they were mere children, but lately, it felt as if they were worlds apart.

He was actively fighting for his life while Adrian was still messing around with various gangs and being drawn into a life that it didn't look as if he wanted.

"I think you should," Jodie said, resting a hand on his shoulder. Hector turned to her, and their eyes met. "I believe it's the right thing to do, and I believe if Mirae were here, she'd tell you to do the same thing."

Hector nodded. His sister was still at the Sanctuary, going over her point budget and considering her next options with Pippa and Harry. The three of them had formed a small group of sorts, aiming to complete smaller quests.

"You're right," he said. "She would. My father, too."

Hector turned back. Below, Adrian continued running. The two running along with him were falling behind. They would die too if Hector did nothing.

"You know, for once, I actually agree with her," Lincoln said, stepping up on the other side of Hector. He dusted off his hands, took a step closer to the edge of the ridge, and shook his head. Turning back to Hector, he gestured to Adrian below. "I hate him as much as you do, trust me. But the guy is a fellow slum dweller, and compared to the nobles, I'd much rather save him than, well, you know, them."

"That's one way to put it," Hector said, his eyes lingering on Lincoln. Hector crossed his arms in front of him and shook his head. "And the risk? What if those things are more dangerous than we actually realise? Adrian should be Gravity-Forging one or two, yet even he's running."

"That is true," Jodie replied. She cracked her knuckles and shifted from one foot to the other. "But he also doesn't have any Talents."

Hector turned his gaze, moving to Marcus. The boy had leaned forward, digging deeper under the bush, his legs kicking out behind him. "And what about Marcus? What if something attacks while we're away?"

"I can stay with him," Lincoln said, with a slight resignation in his voice. "I don't mind babysitting now and then. Just make sure you get a good look at Adrian's face when you save him. Just imagining him begging makes me—"

Hector frowned. He tilted his head to the side, narrowing his eyes at Lincoln. Beg? Hector had no intention of humiliating the boy. "He won't know it's us, though," Hector said. Lincoln was probably a bit too excited. They'd had a conflict with Adrian for years, after all.

Lincoln shrugged, his brown hair tousling in the wind. "And what does it matter? As long as you get that look on his face, we'll have it for a lifetime. Besides, just him knowing that someone saved him—that's gonna boil his guts."

Hector chuckled and nodded. "I get your point. We'll save him. You with me, Jodie?"

She nodded. "Always."

The two then set off, racing down the hill to the open grounds below, leaving Lincoln and Marcus behind at the treeline. They moved so fast that the world blurred by. Hector had fully settled into his Gravity Forging-Three cultivation, and with the mana density of the trial realm, it wouldn't be long before he reached Gravity Forging-Four.

In seconds, they were running towards the three people. The two individuals at Adrian's side started shouting and waving their hands. Adrian, for his part, maintained his pace, completely focused on getting away.

Hector didn't slow. The cries of the two in front fell as they seemed to realise that Hector and Jodie weren't planning on running away. Instead, the two ran even harder, perhaps hoping that they were, in fact, here to save them.

Hector sliced past them, Jodie a step behind, and leapt into the air. His fist crackled with static as a knife manifested in his grip. He struck forward, and the blade bit into the creature's skull with a crunching squelch, followed by a sharp hissing.

Landing on the ground, Hector then rolled and got to his feet. A scythe sliced through the air inches from Hector's face. Jerking, he pulled back, ducking left as a second bug leapt towards him, its scythes outstretched.

He pulled on his static field, and a wave of electricity surged through the air. The bugs faltered. That second was enough. He darted forward, plunging the blade into the head of the first bug before hammering it in with his palm. The knife's tip burst through the creature's skull, and the insect dropped to the ground, the blade dissipating even as Hector moved on to the next creature.

Jodie ran in from his blind spot, twisted, and slammed her heel into the chest of the insect he'd been going for. It staggered, but the blow didn't stop it. Its scythed claws slashed towards her. She ducked left and kicked off the grass, shooting forward, slamming her elbow into the creature's front.

With a crack, its exoskeleton fractured, and it let out a sharp hiss. Hector was there a moment later, leaping off the ground and landing a double kick into its head, cracking its flesh and knocking the creature's skull to the side.

A soft gurgle came from its chest. Blood trickled down from its neck to its abdomen. An instant later, it slumped to the grass.

Hector and Jodie backed up, sizing up the remaining creatures. Two dead, four left. Static crackled along Hector's palm, and he gripped the mana-forged knife tight. He held out a second one, summoned for Jodie.

"Let's make this quick," he said. "They're not ranked, so it should be fine."

Jodie let out a low chuckle and shook her head. "How about this? Whoever defeats the most wins. It'd be boring otherwise."