Reincarnation Of A Swordsman: The Omni Mage

Chapter 151: Cultivating Beside an Origin Source (3)

"It's not every day we celebrate victory," Henrick chuckled. "But listen, prepare something special for Kyle and his team. They've earned it."

"Of course. I'll make my best stew. You should bring it to them yourself."

"Of course... I will," Henrick said, planting a kiss on her cheek before heading out.

He approached the cottage they had assigned to Kyle's team. It was a simple but sturdy structure, chosen for its proximity to the village center. Knocking firmly on the wooden door, Henrick called out, "Good morning, heroes! Are you awake?"

Silence greeted him.

Frowning, he knocked again. "Kyle? Anyone in there?"

When there was still no response, Henrick hesitated. "Perhaps they're out training," he muttered, but unease was already creeping into his voice making him to try entering.

Pushing the door open, he stepped inside. The cottage was empty and the beds were untouched.

Henrick's heart began to race as he searched the rooms, his voice growing louder with each call. "Kyle! Zara! Celine! Where are you?"

The absence of any response sent a chill down his spine. Wiping the sweat from his brow, Henrick tried to steady his nerves. "Don't panic, old man," he muttered to himself. "They're probably nearby."

But as his search extended to the outskirts of the village and yielded no results, Henrick's worst fears began to take shape.

He returned to the village square with a pale face, gathering all the villagers to meet there. They looked up at him in concern, wanting to know the reason for their gathering.

"Chief? What's wrong?" asked one of the men.

"They're… Our heroes... They're not in the cottage," Henrick stammered. "I've looked everywhere, but Kyle and his team are missing."

Gasps and murmurs rippled through the crowd.

"Missing? How can they be missing?" cried a woman, clutching her child.

"They wouldn't just leave us, would they?"

Henrick raised his hands for calm, though his own heart was pounding. "Listen to me! We don't know where they've gone, but we mustn't jump to conclusions. They might've gone to scout the area or prepare for the tide."

"But what if something happened to them?" someone asked anxiously.

"We'll find them. Spread out in groups and search the village and the surrounding woods. If you see anything unusual, report back immediately," Henrick ordered, trying to sound as calm as possible.

The villagers nodded and their fear gave way for determination.

"I'll check the eastern fields!" shouted one man.

"I'll look by the river!" said another.

The villagers dispersed, calling out Kyle and his teammates' names as they searched. For over an hour, they scoured every corner of the village and its surroundings.

While Henrick stood in the village square with his wife, their hands locked together for comfort as they waited for any news. Finally, the searchers began to return but Henrick could make out their grim expressions.

"There's no sign of them, Chief," one of the villagers said.

"Not even tracks," added another.

Henrick swallowed hard and his stomach began twisting in nervousness. He had dreaded this moment and now it had happened.

"What do we do now, Chief?" asked a young woman in panic. "The beast tide could come any moment!"

Henrick took a deep breath, forcing himself to remain calm. "We have to be prepared. Even without Kyle and his team, we must protect Ninian. Gather every able-bodied man and woman. Start reinforcing the traps at the eastern edge. We'll face the beasts ourselves if we have to."

The villagers exchanged worried glances but nodded.

"We'll do it, Chief," said an elderly man, gripping his walking stick tightly.

"We'll protect our home," echoed another.

As the villagers set to work, Henrick couldn't shake the gnawing fear that gripped his heart. 'Where are you, Kyle?' he thought desperately.

***

The hours passed slowly with each one filled with tense anticipation. All the villagers that were ready to fight stood before the rough defenses they had scrambled up together.

They all stared into the forest, waiting for the dreaded moment when the beasts would arrived. They remained there until noon came and went... without any sign of the beast tide.

By the time the clock struck one, the villagers began to feel a glimmer of hope.

"Could it be?" murmured a young man as he checked the traps. "No beasts?"

"Maybe Kyle and his team dealt with them before they reached us," suggested another.

"It's possible," Henrick said, though he didn't fully believe his own self.

After waiting for a longer while and nothing happened. They couldn't help but begin to celebrate, having trust that somehow, somewhere their heroes were saving them.

"We're saved!" someone shouted.

"Thank the heavens for Kyle and his team!"

The crowd cheered and their spirits were lifted as they prayed silently for their missing heroes, hoping they were safe wherever they were.

***

Kyle stared at the rich, concentrated mana that left the pool. The fact that he could see it with his naked eyes showed how potent it was, and that was what he needed at that moment.

"To form a mana core, one needs to compress their core into its smallest possible state, making sure it remains stable in that state. After that it is required that the incomplete mana core within you is binded to an external mana source, usually a mana core, to further stabilize it and complete the core."

Kyle murmured to himself like he was speaking to someone, repeating the processes in his mind to remember him of the task ahead.

'I had already completed the first stage, it wasn't easy to do so but I managed to compress the chaotic mana core into a spherical orb,' Kyle thought, beginning to focus his attention on the swirling orb of chaotic mana within him.

'Now, all that's left to be done is to bind the mana core with external mana. I had originally planned on using a mana core when I had chance, but from the mana concentration, it'll work just fine.'

Kyle began cultivating once again. Usually, when he cultivated the mana simply went into his body, not choosing any route in particular. But this time, he wasn't just cultivating.

Kyle tried his best to direct the mana flow into chaos core, structuring it with each breath he took. His chaos core continued to glow fiercely as it absorbed the mana Kyle sent in, it served as a glue that fixed the cracks on the orb, molding it into perfection.

Kyle continued with the process for several minutes until the core formed. Elemental energies threatened to burst out from his body at that moment, but he suppressed it so as to avoid exposing his powers in an unfortunate turn of events.

[Congratulations! You've formed your Chaos mana core!]

Kyle didn't need the system to inform him, he knew it. He knew that he had did it. Kyle decided to focus within him and sense his newly formed core.

It hovered over its mana pool, just beside the lightning core. Although it was more stable than before, flickers of chaotic mana could be seen raging around the core, trying to show its erratic nature.

'Now that I've formed my core, I can learn the skills too,' Kyle thought to himself as he focused his attention to observe the spell book that resided within his inventory. He really felt tempted to take it out, at least get a look on what kind of spells it offered.

'Get yourself together. Don't act stupid,' Kyle told himself. Assuming someone woke up when he brought out the spell book, that would lead to many complications and might even expose his bigger secrets.

'I'll learn it when there's time,' Kyle thought to himself. 'Hopefully, we return to the academy as soon as possible.'

With the rewards he had gotten from this mission, he was satisfied with his adventure and hoped to return to the academy so as to enjoy his spoils.

'Status!'

———————

Beginner Lightning Mage: Lv 8

EXP: 10/27000

Beginner Chaos Mage: Lv 1*

EXP: 0/1000*

HP: 200

...

———————

Except for the new tabs that displayed his progress with the new element, there were no new additions to Kyle's system panel.

Kyle had wondered the level his Chaos element would begin from and he wasn't too surprised that he had to level it up from the beginning.

'On the bright side, according to Riya, one was able to cultivate the two cores at once if they had dual-affinity,' Kyle thought, grateful for the fact that didn't need to focus on one for him to cultivate.

He could do so simultaneously and that would greatly increase his speed.

'Let's see how far I can go with this opportunity.'