Chapter 161: Depleting Resources

It felt like three hours. Ned thought. The pain, limbs being pulled apart, the twisted senses Ned had a hard time to follow. It was as if the plain existed in a completely different world, at a different time. It was… nauseating.

Like a kraken emerging from the depths of the ocean, Ned's stomach growled. He could feel it, the depletion of energy, his arms feeling lifeless, his craving for more food, his mind swaying back and forth. Ned couldn't take the feeling of being weak both internal and external.

Without having to think of etiquette, Ned chomped the remaining meat. Fork flicked together with a knife, he held the meat with both hands. Yet, his mind wondered, what in the actual fuck was that? He thought.

A knock then came in through. "Master, Ned?" The voice behind the hollow door said. The voice went through without hesitation, as if instructed to call Ned a master.

Master what? Ned thought. He reached for the cloth under the cart and wiped the oil sticking to hands, and his mouth. "Come in," he said after clearing his throat.

The bronze knob rolled open, followed by a servant wedging in through. The same servant that entered before. Black apron, hair clipped to the side, and dignified air. She then bowed, curtsying to Ned with a smile. Hanging between her forearms, across her breasts, were clothes that of a hunter. She then gave the clothing to Ned, saying it was bought by their lady herself.

The servant moved beside Ned, stretching to place the clothing enough for him to reach. It was a black tunic, buttons starting from the neck down to chest—it was made to wear while opening the chest. The pants were black, leather, and fitted. The smell was new, rubber, and leather combined. Ned eyed the two clothing, he nodded. I needed to thank Sasani for this. He thought. He then gave a slight bow to the servant.

Seeing that Ned was done with the food, the servant pulled the cart. She then spun around, the extra length of the apron fluttered like a ribbon behind her back. Before she exit, she turned to speak to Ned: "Boots are outside," she said smiling. "No boots are allowed to enter any resting room. It is beside the door."

Ned nodded, forming a line on his lips. He then stood, feeling his muscles. The right hand felt heavy but much better than before. He could at least move it now, muscles were strained but tolerable.

After taking the time to change, he folded the old cloth and lay it back on the bed. He then sat, straightened his posture, and focused. His mind went to concentrate on the ring, rubbing it with his fingers. He dove into the ring. Outside, his lips arched, forming a small dent into his cheeks. I could give this to her, Ned thought. Brushing the food that gave him the memory of his past. The ice cream floated inside the dimension. But, Ned wasn't there for the food. Although frozen, like it has been served a second ago, Ned let it float passing him. Then his mind jolted farther in the distance. The ring was from Kamma and was modified by Calahir. Giving it a feeling a limitless capacity. Now, Ned wondered what would happen if someone forced it to remove from his finger. Ned couldn't think of any repercussions. In the first place, why would he let someone take out the ring, the only possession he has that let him remember about Kamma.

Ned's mind wandered the ring's dimension, then stopped when the Mana stones floated neatly across him. It was compiled in a circle, each stone rotates as if they have a life of their own. With Ned's focus, he ordered the stone to stay still. 28, 900 Mana Stones: a thousand was given to Lady Darcey, and a hundred was used by Ned for experimental purposes. But these stones weren't enough to atone for his sins. Ned thought, pushing his brows in the middle.

In terms of pureness, his was purer by a small amount than the Lesser Mana Stones. Although, Medium, the pure mana Ned could absorb wasn't enough to tick his Mana by a single point.

Ned's body constantly absorbs mana in the surrounding, it wasn't evident since his body acted as a filter; his body only absorbs pure mana. Through eating, and sleeping were one of the ways to hasten his mana recovery. But his body was a fourteen-year-old youth and sleeping wasn't a big part of his daily chores, neither food. He can't constantly sleep and eat whenever he needed to recover mana. And thus, mana stones were the fastest way to recover mana.

Refocusing his mind, Ned opened his hand. Slowly, like the sun rising, mana stone appeared atop of his palm. Ned then clenched the stone. Like breathing in, he sucked dry the stone. Blue light faintly lit and dimmed until nothing was left inside the stone. It felt light, the edges were smooth and sleek. Ned sighed, he felt like wasting resources. He absorbed the mana inside the stone, yet, it didn't do anything. Not even a warm ran through his veins.

It was late noon that Ned finished absorbing the mana. This time, he used five hundred of the stone, making him felt pungent. With only pure mana absorbed while discarding the rest. Ned's mana rose to seventy. Each stone doesn't have an exact amount of mana enclosed. Sometimes, Ned could feel a quick warm sensation from a single stone or nothing at all. Judging from its edges, the mana stone was made to look sleek. Now, Ned wondered if there was an abundant amount of mana in the kingdom and where he could find them.

Ned blew an air, standing. Black tunic tucked inside the black leather pants. The pants came along with a black belt. Ned hooked the belt, and remembered something; his pouch—gone. His bag, stolen. Ned sighed.