Barrier Picnic

“I’ve got one thing that’ll help you out.” Jasmine let out a soft giggle that was accentuated by her subtle grin. “You’re more nimble than I thought, so you should try to integrate more evasion into your fighting style. It’ll help save you mana since Steel Skin has a high cost compared to your small mana pool.”

A quick glance showed his mana reserve was nearly bone dry; he had a minuscule 3 MP leftover. “I’ll keep that in mind next time. What’s the plan now?” he inquired, curious about other ways to further improve himself.

“That’s simple, more training. There are a few small groups of goblins wandering around a camp toward the north. You’re going to slaughter them all.” With a flick of her wrist, a test tube with a blue glow appeared in her hand. “This is a mana potion.” She paused for a moment, it seemed like she was pondering something. When she came to a conclusion, she returned the potion to her void. “Before giving it to you, I want to try teaching you another technique that will help in the long run. This should be easy to grasp since you’ve got the gist of basic mana manipulation.” Jasmine grabbed his hand and placed it on his chest over his heart.

John got a bit defensive due to her repeatedly molesting him. His face reddened as he imagined what she might do. “Please, no more groping.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t defile your innocence further.” Rolling her eyes, she snickered, putting a bit of pressure on her hand. “Calm your mind and focus on your heartbeat. Take your mana and gently feed it into your heart; it will flow through your bloodstream.”

It felt a little odd at first, but he quickly got used to it. A sudden realization came to him, causing him to lose focus. “Where does my mana come from? Until now I assumed it was in my body.”

“It’s a bit annoying hearing comments like that after seeing you pull off things that took me years to learn so effortlessly. Wish we had an Abyss for Dummies book,” she quipped. Her charming smile gave him a warm feeling. “Mana comes from within your soul; manipulating it allows you to exert a bit of your will on reality in the form of spells. If you attempt to pull out more mana than you have available, you may end up harming your soul. This can lead to serious repercussions depending on how severe and how frequently you do it. I suggest avoiding that at all costs; damage to your soul is much more tedious to recover than any physical wounds,” she said more seriously to add some emphasis.

“I didn’t even realize I could pull more mana than I had available. I’ll be careful to prevent that from happening,” he said, grateful that he didn’t have to learn this the hard way.

“Glad you understand. Now, focus and relax, let your mind drift, I’ll make sure you’re safe.” She gave him a reassuring pat on his shoulder.

He had a sense of relaxation as mana spread throughout his body, until a new skill alert pulled his attention from this calm feeling.

New Skill unlocked Meditation Lvl 1
HP/MP regen rate increased by 100% while active.
Activation requires The Gamer to have a clear mind and be stationary.

”That’s convenient. I wonder if it would stack with my food buff. Jasmine, do you have anything I could eat? My breakfast gave me a buff that doubled my recovery rate.”

“Sure, give me a sec.” With a twist of her wrist, a mid-sized cooler appeared on the ground between them.

“Your inventory must be massive. Where do you keep all these things?” he exclaimed, shocked at the fact she had an entire cooler on her.

Digging through the cooler, she started pulling out a few items for their lunch. “This isn’t from my personal void. Dad’s first rule for my siblings and me is having supplies for as many situations as possible. He spent a fortune getting us spatial items that will increase our survival. When some of us tried refusing, he emphasized the importance of being prepared for as many situations as possible. I only need to make sure to keep it stocked to maximize its use.” She tossed a foil wrapped sandwich and a bottle of water to him. “Do you have any issues with a ham sandwich? My fire proficiency is crap, so I tend to only keep cold food on me.”

He looked around for a comfortable spot to sit before plopping down with his back to a tree surrounded by mostly dry ground and began unwrapping the sandwich. “This looks good, thanks,” John expressed appreciatively, before taking a bite of the sandwich. “Sounds like your father really dotes on you and your siblings.”

The reporter's face softened as she started talking about her father. “Yea, he spoils us quite a bit. Me and my adopted siblings really lucked out when he picked us up. I watched my parents die in front of my eyes, I barely escaped with my life, I didn’t even have a chance to help my brother.” Jasmine said, and while she wasn’t crying, her eyes were a bit moist. Using her sleeve to clear her eyes, she continued, “If it weren’t for him, I would have lived a lonely and dangerous life. I’d probably be selling myself for money or a lackey in some brute’s gang, putting my life at risk on the line for somebody else's whims,” she explained, opening a container with tuna salad. “Now, I get to make my own decisions. Like most of us, I decided to join the Beacon to pay him back, even though he insisted it was unnecessary. We all knew he was happy about our decision. He’s just an old man who chased his passion for so long and now he wants to settle down and do something he knows how to pass the time.”

“Your father sounds like a great man. If you don’t mind me asking, what’d he do before coming to Springfield?” The Gamer asked, before taking another bite of the sandwich. “This really is a tasty sandwich.”

“Thanks, glad you like it. The ham is honey glazed orc meat.” At the mention of orc meat, John stopped chewing, giving her a queer look. “I know it sounds unappetizing, but it’s actually quite the delicacy. The meat goes through a thorough cleansing process,” she responded proudly, before moving on to answer his other question. “As for my father, he worked for the news department in the Abyss Auction. They are one of the largest guilds and control a massive portion of world trade. At first, he was an ordinary reporter, until he got injured. After his injury, he began training his skills to increase his chances of survival. Turned out he had a natural gift for combat, but his passion was watching events unfold and spreading this to those interested, so he returned to his passion. With his newfound skills, he was able to enter more dangerous situations. Quite a few times he ended up resolving a lot of the very problems he was sent to investigate. Eleven years ago, he retired due to a serious injury, then he moved to Springfield and opened the Beacon.” She beamed talking about her father’s accomplishments.

“He sounds pretty cool. Thanks for the food,” he said finishing up his lunch when an alert popped up.

Well Fed Buff
HP/MP regen increased by 100%
Duration: Two hours.

“Perfect, time to test my theory.” Closing his eyes, he allowed himself to relax against the tree as the Meditation skill activated. He was glad to see it did indeed stack with his food buff.

A little over twenty minutes later, his MP were full while his HP only went up one point, bringing him to a total of thirty-one. ‘I’m as ready as can be, unless I want to wait here all day to fill my health. I wish there was something I could do about my abysmal HP recovery, but I’ll leave that for the future.’ He stretched a bit before he approached Jasmine, who was lounging while enjoying another cigarette. “I’m ready to fight, where's the next batch of goblins at?”

Thus began his slaughter of the goblins littered around the swamp. Each encounter, he slowly became a bit more efficient at handling the bumbling enemies. His tactics focused on disabling his enemies first. Mana Bolt was the main contributor, thanks to the creature's bodies being frail. He would aim a bolt toward their hips, usually causing them to have difficulty standing.

John also adopted a dual-wielding style using one of the knives the goblins dropped in his off-hand. He discovered that his Arcane strengthening skill had no duration and would only be dispelled when the weapon was returned to his inventory or when the charges ran out. This new discovery allowed him to maximize mana efficiency and save time. Steel skin was only used once since the first fight, when he slipped up and allowed three goblins to surround him. This meant he didn’t need to spend so much time recovering his mana between fights.