Boundless Cultivation-Chapter 32 - First Advanced Challenge

Alaric was almost too late to prevent a nasty fight from erupting between George and Therin. Fortunately, he didn’t have to rescue his friend. When George was about to strike Therin, Rowan swiftly seized him by the back and stopped him.

“Leave it, George. You know he’s messing with you. He’s not worth it.” Rowan tried to calm him down. George was fuming, his brows furrowed, his fists clenched tight. Therin simply smirked while his group of friends snickered from behind him.

“What…cannot take a step without your friends granting you their permission?” Therin taunted him. “No wonder they keep you on their leash…once a dog, always a dog.”

They erupted in laughter.

Even Gareth: who always tried to evade a fight: gripped the pommel of his sword, ready to unleash a strike at any moment.

The situation is getting out of hand. Alaric still didn’t understand why Therin suddenly targeted George and his group and escalated the situation. He wanted them to avoid a fight but he was not going to stand back and observe.

He patted George on the back and flashed him a reassuring smile. “Do you always listen to the dogs barking in the street?” He shook his head, “Come, we have better things to do.” George simmered down slightly. Rowan and Alaric managed to bring him to his senses.

“What did you call me, scum?” Therin hissed between his teeth. “Just because you are the lord’s son doesn’t mean you are entitled at the same level as us.” He eased his stance and leaned back slightly before glancing at his friends, who were all nodding at his proclamation. “We are all nobles while you are merely a bastard.” They burst into loud laughter.

Alaric and his group turned around ready to leave them alone.

“Yeah, run away,” a kid with snot in his nose shouted. “Like the little chickens you all are.” He began mimicking chicken sounds, flapping his elbows up and down.

Alaric couldn’t comprehend how the kid didn’t realize he was only embarrassing himself by trying to insult their group. He mentally chuckled.

However, it seemed George had reached his limit. He whirled around swiftly, preparing to engage.

Therin was ready for this moment as he unleashed a mana-boosting skill. However, before they could clash, a flicker of shadow intervened between them and smacked both of them on the head.

“What do you think you kids are doing, huh?” said Sir Baldwin du Rocher, Commander of the Knights of House Vermond. The commanding presence of the knight instantly dissolved any hostility between the groups.

In fact, Alaric observed Therin was the most intimidated. He was the squire of Sir Baldwin, after all.

Therin bowed deeply in a hurry and stammered, “Sir, we…they…”

The knight commander simply raised a hand to silence him. “Don’t think I’ve not been observing you kids causing a ruckus all this while,” he thundered. “Any fight outside of an accepted sparring session or an official duel under the supervision of your master is strictly prohibited.”

He looked each of us in the eye, ensuring he conveyed his point.

The knight commander continued. “The next time I catch you kids stirring trouble on my grounds, I will scrub the stable floor with your face. It will not be fun” He chuckled, “For you kids.”

All the kids agreed with nods. He pivoted to Therin and jabbed a finger at him. “And you, boy,” His expression turned grim, “You have some explaining to do later.” He disappeared into thin air.

However, Alaric could detect that he had employed some type of stealth skill or ability.

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“Serves you right,” Gareth muttered triumphantly, trying to keep his voice low. However, it was still loud enough for the other group to overhear.

When the snot-faced boy attempted to retort, Therin silenced him, a vein bulging on his face. He pivoted and marched away, as did the other members of their group, one by one.

“What happened?” asked Gareth. “Why did he suddenly attempt to assault you?”

Alaric and Rowan didn’t say anything but they were equally curious to learn what caused the conflict. George raked his hand through his hair to calm himself down. As they approached the lounge area, he sank into a seat, and a grin spread across his face.

“He didn’t want me to spread how his ass was handed to him by some girl in an alchemist’s guild in the city.” He snickered.

“Wait..what? Now I really want to know.” Rowan said. “Explain in detail.”

Apparently, George visited an alchemist’s guild in the city: The Argent Flask: to complete an errand for his father. And there, he encountered Therin and his friends harassing a girl their age.

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He didn’t know exactly what they were discussing, but it seemed likely that Therin was pursuing the girl. The girl was probably an apprentice or a worker.

When Therin didn’t back down despite the girl firmly rejecting his advances, she slapped Therin across the face, leaving a nasty red handprint on his cheek.

When George witnessed the scene, he couldn’t resist laughing out loud. Unfortunately, Therin noticed him at that moment. Fortunately, George swiftly entered the alchemist’s guild and managed to avoid their group.

Today, Therin threatened George to not spread anything that would tarnish his noble reputation.

When George refused and even mocked him slightly, he grew furious and began insulting his lineage and friends. That ultimately ignited the argument.

So, he sought revenge for his own humiliation? Alaric chuckled inwardly.

“Haha, serves him right,” commented Gareth. “I want to see the beauty who slapped Therin.”

“Come on, don’t stir up any more trouble,” said Rowan.

“No problem.” George draped an arm over Gareth’s shoulder. “I will take you there.”

All of them laughed. Hmm, now that I think of it, I’ve never explored the city. He exhaled a breath and smiled. Seems like a good idea.

“Yeah, I never really set foot outside the estate, let alone explore the city.”

“No way, are you serious?” exclaimed Gareth. Alaric simply scratched his cheek with his finger. What could he say? He was busy doing other things.

“Well, to be fair, he doesn’t have the opportunity to run any errands,” said Rowan. “And his father is the lord himself. He doesn’t have time to go on a trip with him.”

Both George and Gareth regarded him kindly. Why are they suddenly getting all sentimental?

“That’s it, we are going to explore the city in the evening,” declared George. He nudged Alaric, “I have so many amazing things to show you.”

“And meet that girl at The Argent Flask as well,” added Gareth. All of them laughed.

With their evening plans confirmed, each of them commenced their own training. Alaric dove into his tutorial rift. It was finally time to conquer all the challenges of the Mana Grove.

***

Alaric returned to the Mana Grove within the system-managed zone.

He had already traversed much of the fog-filled forest over the past few days. Every new area he ventured into posed a fresh challenge that he could tackle to refine his mana skills.

As he neared a section that connected to a cavern, a new challenge popped up in his view.

Advanced Challenge 1 - Identify and memorize the mana signatures of at least 5 different types of creatures in the cavern.

So, this time I don’t have to chase things around but locate them?

Alaric strode into the cavern which felt empty to his senses at first. It was large enough to feature multiple pathways leading to various sections within.

Alaric merely shrugged and advanced toward the first path he spotted. The crunch of rock and sand under his feet echoed in the enclosed chamber. His mana sense skill was running passively, and he detected a cluster of creatures emitting mana pulses deeper into the path.

However, Alaric didn’t rush to engage them. He already identified these creatures: Mana Wisps.

A novice cultivator who had just started using mana sense couldn’t effectively distinguish the mana signatures of various creatures. For that, one needed the experience of perceiving the mana of a wide range of beings.

Every type of creature discharged mana uniquely: varying in intensity, interval, or speed. Identifying an individual by their mana signature alone was exponentially harder and almost impossible without specialized skills or abilities.

For Alaric, this test was not that difficult. One of his favorite practices in his previous life had been identifying the energy signatures of different individuals, which often provided valuable insights about them.

As he moved closer, he confirmed these were indeed mana wisps. He noticed another opening to the side of the path and veered into it to delve deeper into the cavern.

The entire passage was eerily silent, save for the faint whoosh of mana wisps. It was dark, and his vision struggled to penetrate the gloom.

Distinguishing the mana of another creature amid this crowd would be tough without careful attention.

However, Alaric didn’t have to wait long. He rushed forward to grab a tiny creature upon detecting a different mana signature. Unclasping his hand revealed a tiny forest sprite.

It was a tiny creature resembling a fusion of human and plant traits, with four large insect wings adorning its back. As soon as Alaric released his palm to inspect it, the forest sprite buzzed away faster than a wasp.

Alaric chuckled. Perhaps I shouldn’t have grasped it so tightly. Could have harmed it.

Another distinct mana signature pulled his attention to the side wall. Alaric leaned in closer and spotted a glowing, brown beetle. That’s three creatures.

After a while, the path opened up into the forest grounds once again. He heard the splash of a waterfall nearby and decided to check to investigate.

The waterfall wasn’t particularly large but sufficient to create a misty spray as it cascaded over the hard ground from a height. He detected mana emanating from a far corner of the river and spotted numerous forest sprites flitting about.

However, amidst them, he discerned a unique mana signature. He approached the spot, dipped his hands into the shallow river, and pulled out a large, red fish.

Looks like a carp.

He released the fish and stood up. One more. Alaric scoured the area for over an hour, striving to detect a unique mana signature to no avail.

Wherever he perceived mana, he encountered the same type of creature. He was growing a little frustrated when suddenly an idea struck him.

Of course! It is so simple. Alaric settled onto the ground and closed his eyes.

He concentrated inward, attuning himself to his own mana signature. It was effortless even without a mana core. All he needed was to emit a bit of mana from his body after absorbing it for a while.

As soon as he pinpointed his mana signature, a familiar notification chimed in his mind.

Congratulations! You have completed the challenge.

Ding! Your skill [Mana Sense] has leveled up. [Mana Sense lvl 7 -> Mana Sense lvl 8]

The skill advancements had slowed significantly. Yet, Alaric was not upset.

He devoted another hour to repeating the same test several more times and successfully identified various mana signatures. The system, conveniently, introduced new creatures into the forest.

The variety of creatures had been deliberately limited during the initial test. He believed the true objective was to teach young cultivators to recognize their own mana signature. Once that was achieved, the system ceased restricting the diversity of creatures.

Ding! Your skill [Mana Sense] has leveled up. [Mana Sense lvl 8 -> Mana Sense lvl 9]

Ding! Your skill [Mana Sense] has leveled up. [Mana Sense lvl 9 -> Mana Sense lvl 10]

I will level up all the skills to the max by evening. Alaric rested for a bit before advancing to the next stage.