I Picked Up the Fallen Earth

Chapter 16 Awakening Mana

Perhaps due to PTSD from the mutant, every single action of his caused my body to sharply react. As a result, he was able to directly feel the unique frequencies it emitted.

It is presumed that a roar was released from mana. If the mutant possessed mana, it made sense why it looked in Jeron’s direction.

According to Count Hanes’s manual on inner methods, ordinary people experience a cataclysm the moment they acquire mana. Not only does one’s five senses develop, but a sixth sense opens up.

The sixth sense is a sense that cannot be scientifically defined. It’s an almost precognitive ability to feel someone’s gaze or to recognize a threat.

If the mutant had accumulated mana in its body and opened up its sixth sense to respond to Jeron’s gaze, then? The sharp sensation I felt earlier could be assumed to be mana. Jeron decided to sit in meditation and re-experience that sensation.

“It’s not easy.”

Finding some special sense in the nothingness of the atmosphere is no small feat. For over two hours, he continued in a state of deep contemplation.

Eventually, Jeron noticed that the golden key was weakly absorbing something. Something sharp was being absorbed by the golden key. Jeron finally realized. That sharp sensation was mana.

Upon sensing the faint mana mixed in the air, he began to understand its characteristics.

[To describe the author’s sensation, mana is both warm and cold, and it tingles while also being squishy.]

The writer of the manual had accurately described the sensation of mana.

He realized what it meant to feel both warmth and cold at the same time, and the tingling was precisely that sharp sensation, while being squishy could be accurately described as feeling mushy and refreshing.

These were the characteristics of the four elements: Fire, Water, Lightning, and Wind. It felt like a second nervous system had awakened – a sense of wonder.

Mana was spread everywhere and circulated within Jeron’s body. The golden key was connected to Jeron’s mana. Defined by the power of the Guardian Dragon, the golden key was a kind of magical tool.

It automatically charged and activated because Jeron couldn’t sense the mana. Jeron realized the golden key could potentially become a secondary mana core depending on its use.

This was an incredible discovery. Once able to feel mana, he also realized what it meant for it to be moved by mental force.

The mana around him moved according to Jeron’s will, being absorbed into his body and then released in a cycle. As a result, a small amount of mana accumulated inside Jeron, gathering together to form a mana core.

Jeron emerged from his deep meditative state after a few hours.

“I’ve found the answer.”

He had felt mana and understood how it moved. However, the mana of Karen Continent was too sparse to proceed any further.

It was now clear why Count Hanes stopped training after reaching the first circle. And why magic had come to decline in the continent.

If the mana of Karen Continent was sparse, what about Earth? It seemed like mana was of a fixed absolute quantity.

Unlike Karen Continent, where mana had been consumed over a very long time, Earth might have never experienced depletion of mana.

This led to the speculation that the concentration of mana could be very dense, as felt through the powerful mana vibrations of the mutant’s roar.

“To think I’d receive help from a mutant.”

Even thinking about it felt preposterous. Jeron drastically revised his plans for Earth. At least 30% of his time on Earth would be invested in training.

Next time he went to Earth, he planned to find a safe place to train for at least an hour. The rest of the two hours would be devoted to farming, but if Jeron’s assumption was correct, he could quickly increase his stay.

“A lucky day, indeed.”

There were days like this in life. Jeron expressed his gratitude to the owner of the camcorder who led him to this realization and proceeded to review the recordings again.

[…8 years and 2 months post-apocalypse. The mutants are becoming stronger, and I recently discovered they practice cannibalism, much like many predators have their own territories, and they fight and consume other mutants that enter. They tear apart their kin with formidable power, their mouths widening to about 30cm, swallowing them in one gulp.]

As the blue energy seeped into the body of the red mutant, it was a shockingly vivid scene. The mutant’s mana had become even stronger than before. Jeron’s heart raced as he watched.

He couldn’t help but wonder about the fortitude of the woman filming this spectacle only a few dozen meters away. Perhaps, living in solitude had driven her to the brink of madness.

As time passed, the woman’s appearance became increasingly haggard. It seemed as though her affliction deepened, and she occasionally expressed irritation throughout the filming.

This led Jeron to a realization, “Exposed to extreme loneliness, humans gradually descend into madness.”

Humans weren’t meant to live in isolation. Trapped in this suffocating neighborhood, the loneliness she must have felt was unimaginable.

The mere fact of being alone was a terrible ordeal, let alone facing mutants constantly threatening her life. The human psyche would begin to crumble under such conditions, just like the woman on the screen.

[“Heh, look at those fools. Oh, what a waste. We could have killed them with the special net we made this time. Next time, I’ll have to try a more brutal method. Despite appearances, those monsters are incredibly stupid. Our only reliability is our superior intelligence.”]

As more time passed, the woman’s face resembled that of a heroin wreck. The extreme loneliness coupled with the threat of mutants led her to perceive predators as prey.

Her gaze no longer normal, her hunting methods became bolder, and eventually, she didn’t hesitate to use herself as bait.

[“Hehehe, today I plan to lure that thing into my backyard. It’s going to be fun.”]

[“Screeech!”]

[“Ahahaha! What a dumb fool! Die, you bastard! Just die!”]

Bang! Rat-a-tat-tat!

Crunch!

[“Aaaaah! Ahaha! You goddamn bastard!”]

Silence fell.

It was the woman’s end. The woman filming in the bedroom was dragged into the living room, where the furious mutant brutally tore her apart.

The camcorder, now on the ground, captured the scene of the mutant tearing the woman apart. Tears streamed down the woman’s face, and with great effort, she muttered her final words,

[“Remember… me.”]

With that, she was dragged outside by her hair by the mutant. That was the last scene of the woman captured by the camcorder.

Beyond the flickering camcorder screen, a pool of blood was visible, and after a while of feasting on the woman, the mutant let out a wild scream and burst out.

Jeron closed his eyes tightly. The scenes and situations were so extreme, it made him wonder if this was what hell was like.

Despite obtaining a lot of information, Jeron felt deeply sorry for the woman who slowly descended into madness only to meet a pointless end.

If a young woman of her appearance had lived before the apocalypse, she likely led a popular life. Overwhelmed by loneliness and external threats, her nerves became so frayed that she ultimately chose to end her life through the hands of a mutant in what could only be described as assisted suicide.

Jeron felt a wave of bitterness wash over him and observed a moment of silence before closing the camcorder. After taking a deep breath, Jeron shook off the negative feelings.

Having seen so much, his emotions were deeply immersed but quickly subsided.

“Starting tomorrow, I should commence the real transformation of my domain.”

Each trip to Earth sharpened his senses to the point of torment, both physically and mentally. Yet, he diligently farmed, and now, it was time to let the fruits of his labor bloom in this world.

***

The next morning, Jeron woke up before dawn and practiced mana techniques for two hours before heading to the training ground to swing his sword.

Swish!

His body felt lighter than the previous day. Jeron, who diligently practiced swordsmanship every day, was well-aware of his condition. It wasn’t a dramatic change, but he didn’t tire as easily, and he felt a slight improvement in strength and agility.

‘Is it because of the mana?’

With a sharp swing, his sword sliced through the air, cutting a straw dummy in half in a swift diagonal stroke.

Swoosh!

Whether this was due to the influence of mana, it was still unclear. For Jeron, it was only now that he began to feel mana and slowly accumulate it within his body. More research seemed to be necessary. Yesterday was a day of great fortune in many ways.

Could such days continue in the future? Normally, swinging a sword fiercely for about an hour would tire him out, but today, he managed to swing it for about 10 minutes more.

This indicated a significant change in physical strength. His clothes were soaked with sweat. Now, Baron Farrow’ domain was also entering the heart of summer, and the mornings were far from cool.

Sweating in this weather was inevitable. When Jeron reached out his hand, Violet passed him a water container. After drinking the water refreshingly, Jeron poured water over his head and wiped off the sweat with a towel.

Violet naturally took the laundry away.

“Go and call all the retainers.”

“All of them?”

“Yes, all of them.”

Jeron went back to his room to prepare to start his routine.

***

The council chamber was rather noisy. There was a regular meeting once a quarter, but it was very unusual for all the retainers to be summoned to the council chamber suddenly.

Fitting the impoverished state of the domain, the council chamber looked dilapidated. The old marble floor was cracked and discolored, and the tables set up as a conference room were all worn out.

On one side hung a map of the domain, seemingly at least a hundred years old. When did people ever take an interest in maps?

The map itself was roughly drawn, likely useless as a military map. Upon hearing all sorts of speculation coming from the retainers, Jeron momentarily halted in his tracks.

“It seems like we’re on the verge of war. If it weren’t for such an urgent matter, there would be no reason for us all to be here.”

“Well, I’ve heard about the skirmishes with the Lapis Kingdom. But even if a war really breaks out and troops are assembled, wouldn’t it take at least a year?”

“Or, did the lord commit some blunder!?”

A voice filled with certainty. It was the voice of Lieutenant Garcia. The retainers were engrossed in Garcia’s words.

“Lately, there’s been something unusual between Violet and our lord! Based on my extensive experience with women, those two have already done it. Done it, I tell you.”

“!”

“Could it be? If Lieutenant Garcia, who has reached the master level in matters of women, says so, it seems believable…”

“I’m telling you, that’s exactly what happened! As you all know, Violet is quite the catch, isn’t she? Our lord is now 18 years old. It’s the age of waking up with a start from sleep. Unable to contain himself any longer, the lord must have secretly summoned Violet one day. So, a love child was born, awakening his dormant wildness, and therefore he summoned us…”

Unable to tolerate Garcia’s words any longer, Jeron dashed forward and launched himself into a high kick.

Whack!

“Argh!”

“Ha! You dare to make me out as some pervert who touches a maid? Ridiculous.”

“Did His Lordship just arrive?”

“And you bastards as well! How could you just listen to such nonsense?”

“Ahem.”

“Hmm.”

After a brief warm greeting (?), the atmosphere significantly cooled. Garcia’s eyes were swollen, and he was placed far away to prevent him from making unwarranted remarks.

Sighing, Jeron handed out sheets of A4 paper he had gathered while farming, one to each retainer. Surprised and puzzled, they stared intently at the A4 paper. They had never seen such white, high-quality paper.

Bang!

Jeron slammed his fist on the table and shouted with a clear voice.

“Forget the utterly impoverished days of the past! We will escape this dire poverty by implementing a three-year plan for the development of our domain!”