They asked Tutor why they had negative system points. The answer was that it would cost one growth system point to find out.

  Instead they dug through old messages till they found when it happened. It was the same day that Kennon encountered the realm wall. The same day the primary system tried to delete the growth system from them.

  It wasn’t hard to figure out what that meant. Although the implications were a mystery.

  A mystery for another day. They had done a lot. And they planned on hunting in the morning. They needed a good night's sleep.

  After gearing up in the morning they decided to check the other side of the river.

  Kennon cast an empowered freeze targeting a path across the river. Unfortunately despite being a small river it was too large for him. Bev also thought it would simply flow over any frozen dam he made but she let him try anyway.

  While fording the river Kennon noticed that his mana sight was far sharper. He knew they doubled the effectiveness. But he had no idea what that meant till he saw it. He could see affinities.

  He could sense the water mana in the river. Earth mana in the dirt. Air mana in the atmosphere. He finally understood what the ever present currents in the air mana were.

  They were traces of force mana. Spontaneously appearing, manifesting their power and dissipating. He always suspected it had something to do with the unnatural breeze of the realm. It even blew inside their sealed cabin, although far weaker. But to finally see it in action was a treat.

  There were other things as well. Traces of life mana. Floating like smoke in the breeze. And he could see dozens of subtypes. Logically he knew one of them had to be plant mana. But it was too faint over the river to tell for certain.

  It would require practice that was certain. But he finally understood how mana trackers worked.

  After crossing the river he channeled a fireball into his dagger in preparation. It was at the limit of what the dagger could hold so he couldn’t empower it. Even inscribed it took time to cast. Too much he thought to cast in the heat of battle. And without more practice in counter forces he wouldn’t feel safe targeting anywhere near himself. Or Bev.

  No, wind blade would still be best for pitched combat. Since even a weak one did damage.

  Not long after crossing the river he caught the stench of the swamp. He frowned. It would be the best place to level. But it wasn’t pleasant.

  Bev smiled and said, "follow the nose?”

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Kennon just sighed and followed her towards the stench.

  A kilometer later they reached the edge of the swamp. The golden leaves of the forest seemed to almost wilt in the decay. The ground was covered in mud and unmentionable rot. He hated it. But he did spot something that would make it worthwhile.

  Rot snake - scavenger - T1

  Laying in wait under a thin layer of mud Kennon saw the mana signatures of dozens of life forms. Being able to see affinities was amazing! If he hadn’t seen them things could have gotten bad. But now…

  They were mostly clumped up close to each other. His pyromaniac instincts scream that a single fire ball was all it would take.

  All it took was a look at Bev and she understood. While Kennon aimed his fire ball she cast movement aura, and leveled her halberd towards the snakes.

  While there was a chance Kennnon would get them all, neither of them were going to take chances.

  Thinking of the spell stored in his dagger Kennon aimed, and focused on counter forces. They weren’t strictly needed at this range. But he wanted to be able to cast this point blank some day. So better to practice early.

  He loosed the spell and a crater formed in an instant. Kennon noticed that there was a counter force redirecting the energy back down. But it was rather weak.

  The fire ball was not. Kennon saw a dozen life mana signatures wink out. And several others thrown away from the blast sight.

  The moment the fire began to fade Bev ran in, moving at incredible speed. Each slash of her halberd marked another dead snake. Kennon decided to let her have her fun and only cast gust to slow the approach of the further snakes so she wouldn’t be overwhelmed.

  In less than a minute it was over.

  Bev, now covered in mud, sat on the ground uncaring of the filth. She was breathing hard, but her smile was infectious.

  “I don’t think the snakes are good for much. I don’t see a reason to harvest them. But that was fun.”

  It was fun. A lot of it. Even if he only got to cast one fire ball. On the other hand..

  “The snakes have decent venom. Not that deadly, but it i heard it helps things decompose. Apparently farmers love it for composting.”

  Bev looked at the smelly, but undeniably healthy plant life.

  “I suppose they are.”

  Kennon grabbed his knife and got to work. He could properly extract the venom later. But for now he simply cut off the heads and stashed them in his pack.

  “Oh no!” Kennon shouted.

  Bev nearly stumbled over herself to rush to his side before she caught his meaning.

  “Fire ball ruins so much! I can’t use it when I want to salvage!”

  Bev burst into uncontrollable laughter.

  “Well, lighting bolt should do better, I need it now.”

  Bev started laughing harder! Her head hurt she was laughing so hard.

  Kennon chuckled and finished up the job. No levels, and the only salvage was a cheap alchemy ingredient.

  Hopefully their next encounter would be more fruitful.

  Thank you for sharing my journey. To help me walk it I have a set up. It is 20 chapters ahead and releases at the same time as the Royal Road chapters.

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