Chapter 102 The Path Less Traveled

102 The Path Less Traveled

I remained there for quite a while, taking in the fact that I had actually succeeded in attuning mana.

Granted, it wasn't exactly the biggest of successes because the amount was incredibly small, and had no practical use in combat. However, it was still a step forward. The biggest limitation I was facing right now was the fact that I can only attune so much mana at once without destroying my body in the process.

But this was fine for now because I simply wished to find out the process that the body used to attune mana. Clearly, there was one since ambient mana would gradually be processed from the body to be usable.

If I find a way to also consciously perform such an action, then I may be able to overcome the natural mana regeneration limits. Though, that was easier said than done.

I began working at it again, extracting a small amount of mana and letting it gradually attune to become part of mine. Although it didn't sound that strenuous, it was actually quite taxing for me as I was trying my best to concentrate on the process itself, attempting to learn how to replicate it.

If I had to compare it to something, it was like trying to learn how to consciously control every beat of my heart. Although it didn't seem completely impossible, it also was a far reach.

The biggest problem I found was that the pain in my torn-up hand was disrupting my concentration, making it hard to truly focus on what was happening. It wasn't too big of a deal to suppress one's outward reactions to pain, but regardless of that, the pain is still there.

After a couple more attempts without much progress, I decided to try and extract mana into my other hand, the right one. Yet, while I only did a little bit of mana, the same amount as before, a small red bubble suddenly formed on that hand and burst as well.

I sucked in a cold breath. It didn't hurt nearly as much as the entire back of my hand exploding, but it still felt like a pinch that was magnified several times over.

...Damn. It looks like while there is skin on my body, it's too difficult to maintain mana that isn't attuned to mine. Instead, it is just forcibly repelled and destroys my skin in the process.

In other words, I could only practice this type of thing while there was an open wound on my body.

A small sigh escaped me.

Normal people would probably stop here. Well, I guess normal people probably wouldn't be doing what I am in the first place. However, I've always been a bit lacking when it came to my direct ability. However, that didn't stop me from trying to get on the main playing field and I found ways to do so. In other words, I had to find ways to circumvent that restriction of lack of talent.

Even after transmigrating, this was still true.

Of course, starting at Class A and as a noble meant I had a huge edge over the grand majority of people in the kingdom, but those weren't the people I cared about beating. I had to fight those at the top.

Even with Nathan's help, I'm not sure if we would be able to take them on, meaning I had to be as prepared as possible. I'm sure he was also doing his own preparations.

As such, I was willing to go very far for the sake of being stronger.

I fully intended on replacing as many parts of my body with iridescent stones or crystals if it came down to it. A person only needs about half of their small intestine to survive and the large intestine is also optional, meaning there was quite a bit of breathing room.

The actual process might be a bit bloody, but the results are what matters.

In all honesty, I didn't want it to come down to that since there would be quite a few health issues, not limited to sicknesses that happen just by having too many iridescent crystals within one's body.

They were pretty nasty as well, but that didn't matter too much right now.

After taking a deep breath, I began practicing slowly injecting mana into my wounded left hand and tried to catch the process of attuning.

Hours ended up passing by while I just cooped up in my room. The rate that I was extracting mana was slower than the rate the crystals refilled themselves, so there was no worry about not having enough to practice from. Occasionally, I would cast a basic fire spell and gradually let it dissipate just to let more mana enter my body.

There were a few concerns I was beginning to have, one of them being the flesh on the back of my hand continued to grow redder as I practiced, and the pain slowly started to increase. It appeared that my body was telling me that this was a bad idea, increasing its protests over time.

However, I just ignored it. Sacrifices and the like are only natural when attempting to do something like this. I'll just suffer the consequences later.

The first thing I ended up finding out after observing it many times over, was that most of the mana I was trying to attune wasn't actually being attuned, but rather just being ejected from my body.

It appeared that not having skin made that process happen without injury, as the skin was preventing that ejection. n--OvELbIn

However, there was still a tiny portion that actually was attuned. The only issue was how incredibly small the amount was made it hard to actually notice the process since most of it was actually just ejecting it away.

But the important point was that the rate of attuning went up compared to the normal process, making it noticeable.

Yet, if I was telling the truth, I got almost nothing despite investing hours into this. And to be honest, this much was expected from me. I remember quite a few times in school, there would be those poems, and in them was the metaphor of, 'The Path Less Traveled'.

Basically, it just meant not following the crowd, doing what everybody else was doing. In a more literal sense, it was usually referring to not falling into the trap of going through high school, then going to a post-secondary, then trying to find a job like everyone else.

I remember the teachers showing it off, tooting how inspiration it was, despite the fact that they hardly ever went off this path less traveled themselves. At the time, the strong sense of irony made me just think that path was a bunch of bullshit.

Yet, here I was taking that very same path. Instead of trying to replicate how everyone else was casting spells, I decided to try to find something else.

To be honest, the reason and way I started doing things differently from everyone else were a bit blurry. However, the actual process itself wasn't.

While many people will say that you should shoot for the stars and the like, doing something unique compared to the crowd, there is one thing that many usually do not mention.

The reason why this path is the less traveled one.

What it's like after making it down that path is a dreamy fantasy to many. And sometimes, that isn't wrong at all. But the problem is actually getting there in the first place is unrealistic.

To put it simply, there are many entrepreneurs, but there are countless failed ones. Somewhere there was a statistic that said about a fifth of businesses fail within two years, while about half do after five years.

The biggest reason for this kind of failure is that working towards these kinds of goals goes against how the human brain is naturally programmed.

Above all, the human brain's goal is to protect itself. However, the ways that go about it can actually work against that goal. After failing something several times without making any progress, it becomes far harder to continue at it.

This wasn't as simple as being discouraged. Instinctively, the brain will try to push one away from those kinds of things. Overcoming that instinct is far more difficult than one could imagine.

To continuously fail over and over again, yet still keep trying is not something many people can do. The definition of insanity itself is doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results.

Yet, there are people out there that do that kind of thing.

And in reality, calling them insane isn't even that wrong. There are certainly those that luck out and come to success early. But many times, that success doesn't last very long.

The difference between long-term success and short-term success comes down to whether or not the person has an incredibly strong obsession with working at it. An obsession so strong, that it can easily be classified as a mental illness.

And only with that obsession, can anything come out of it.

In summary, the path less traveled only welcomes those that are crazy. The ones that were going to gamble for a miracle to happen.

And I too was one of those crazy people. The kind of person that gambles on a miracle.

That's why I continued to extract small amounts of mana and focus on the tiny amount that was attuned through the pain, stopping for nothing.

"Um, Bryson, it's time for dinner."

Ah. Well, almost nothing I guess.

Tasty food is too important to be ignored.

Disgrace