Farmer or Cultivator? Why not both?-Chapter 37: Energies in matter

[You have harnessed mana absorption]

[You have earned a skill]

[Mana Sense: Allows the user to detect mana signatures of living organisms within range. Provides an estimate of mana capacity and current mana reserves. The skill also detects moral resonance based on the target’s actions, displaying a positive, neutral, or negative aura. Stronger individuals and those who conceal their mana are harder to read. Accuracy improves with skill level.]

[You have earned a skill]

[Mana perception: Allows the user to perceive mana in the environment and within living beings. Reveals mana density, movement, disturbances, and areas of high concentration. With this skill, shifts in position of mana containing objects or beings can be predicted.]

"Oh, Mana perception and Mana Sense. Sounds very nice, although I wish for something more on the offensive. Would moves I learn from cultivation be counted as skills?" He wondered.

’Probably not.’ he thought, since the projection ability he had since learnt did not register as a skill by his system.

Trees he noticed were filled with mana, and were incredibly dense in the amount. He recalled Mahābodhivān’s statement about trees being a husky trapping wondrous amount of mana, and a Chapter that he had not read about Mahābodhivān deciphering the ways to quickly tap and absorb the energies within trees.

Ren’s sight transformed from a mere one to one capable of seeing the energy that stirred the soul.

’Can I switch this off?’ Although mana sense was incredibly useful, relying on the ability would only overwhelm and tire him, the omnipresent colors, heightened senses. He needed it curbed until he truly needed it.

His eyes maintained their mana sense sight for minutes, and over this period, he ventured into the woods, wanting to utilize the skill as much as possible. All the life forms so far had their colors uniform and bright, that was until he spotted a bird of prey, a mighty falcon on a tree that was occupied with rending apart the flesh of its prey.

The energy coalescing about it was a bright green—the color of nature, but within that pool of life energy, there was a dark splotch of red. A thing that corrupted the rest, that contaminated.

"Very interesting." Mana sense could highlight moral resonance, but animals did not bear morals and were bound by their instincts, they seemed like the last bunch to be judged by the skill, but that mild stain told something; the bird may not be evil, it may be amoral but clearly it had been responsible for the deaths of many.

Ren moved on from it, and with over fifteen minutes of mana sense, Ren was beginning to get worried that he would not be able to switch off the skill. There was no way he preferred this over his normal sight, it was incredibly useful, certainly but it was just much too alien, and the faces of things tended to be nothing but a blur. He still loved to see the faces of things.

As if the system could read his mind at the moment, the mana sense suddenly went off. His eyes that had been a bright blue over the mana concentration on them dimmed to their normal brown.

"Oh, by the gods." He was incredibly relieved that the skill effect was not permanent. He did not know what he would do if it was so.

"I must master these abilities."

Now these Mana Sense and mana perception were both abilities that were a staple to cultivators, one achieved the abilities upon fulling immersing oneself into the energies of the world. Mastery over Convergence was needed to reach this position in power, and it often took years for one to be truly attuned to nature so as to develop those two skills, but to Ren, it came as naturally as a bird of the sky learning how to fly, the system catapulted his prowess.

The sun was setting now, and soon enough, it would be nighttime, he needed to head back home. Tomorrow was another day to train rigorously like no day would come after.

Hours passed, and the bright rays of sunlight got to his face, waking him up, if it was left to Ren, with how Tunish was laid back and how there was little to no competition for his agriculture business, he would sleep till late noon, but the brightness of the surrounding was too much to be ignored for that long, and not too mention the great heat that came with it. There were so many cons to living on a planet with two suns.

He arose from his bed, Neg standing up at the sound of clothes rumpling. The loyal dog craved for its master’s touch as dogs often do, and Ren indulged it with a pat before moving out of his bedroom.

He scratched his eyes, and it occurred to him immediately that Mana sense was on, and he felt quite tired. He felt like chains bound him as he walked. He walked to the kitchen where he spotted the bluey jars of milk sitting on the cabinet. Nine hours was enough time, it would have developed a tangy taste indicating it had spoilt, or was near spoiling but Ren was confident in the preservation ability of the water of elaxis.

He cautiously had a taste, and he was not hit by the pungent taste he feared, but the perfect blend of sweetness and deliciousness. It tasted just as fresh as he had tasted yesterday.

Mana sense suddenly came off on its own once again, much to Ren’s relief.

He moved out to feed the cows and pigs, the cows had hay, and the pigs cabbages.

His crops were overdue for harvest, but he was much too comfortable and occupied at the moment, and not to mention that the water of Elaxis would preserve them until they got uprooted. It was best he harvested when he felt that he was ready.

The cows were two shy of a dozen, with a bull making the total cattle amount eleven, the pigs on the other hand were five, and amongst them were two mature males. These did not include the young ones that both animals had with them.

The cows had been consistently producing milk, justifying Ren’s efforts on them, but the pigs have only been eating, eating and eating. The water of elaxis had made the manure from their feces long obsolete. And thus, he got an idea, "I am going to sell one of the male pigs." he said.

He walked into his small grape vineyard, and busied himself picking the grapes that he would soon have to send to Erigald’s winehouse for processing.

Totally absorbed by this activity, Ren did not notice when a creature teleported right behind him, hands crossed and eyes red.

"How I wish I was physically scary, and not just possessing great power." The thing said, and Ren was startled, jumping forward, flinging the bucket, and spilling perfectly good grapes on the ground.

He knew that voice.

"Enoa?" He uttered, afraid and shocked.