Chapter 15: Crystal 101: Delving Deeper. 

The second moon was still lurking albeit in the background unlike its predecessor who had completely gone into hiding. The king sun has ascended the throne, it bestowed its people with bright sunlight. It encompassed the world and bathed it with warmness that banished the gloomy atmosphere. It was the signal of a new day.

The start of a new era! 

They slept in comfort and were ready to tackle the day. Titus, Lee and Uncle Brown first ate breakfast. The food given was nothing fancy, it was canned food, however it was more than enough to start the day. They ate it straight out of the can, no plates whatsoever. Only a spoon and a can opener were given to use as utensils.

After relishing their meal, it was Uncle Brown who brought up the crystals' issue. After some deliberation they decided to take turns, Titus going first while Uncle Brown and Lee will be on guard. They could not afford to let anyone see the crystals, at least not yet. Not until their use is publicized. They also could not allow interruption because the crystals were still unknown objects so they would need to be cautious when using it.

Titus sat with his legs crossed even though it was not the most comfortable position. The reason was that it would be too awkward to use the crystals with legs spread and/or legs curled, so he sat like as if he was meditating and closed his eyes.

Titus broke a crystal and let the fog go inside of him. He still felt his strength increase and the pleasure along with it, but the gain was again reduced by half. Only a fourth of a human worth of strength was added. His prior theory was becoming less and less of a theory and more like a fact. The energy from the fog spread out within his body and joined the flow of the slim string of energy making it stronger and adding to its volume.

Titus didn't continue on yet and reported his findings to Uncle Brown and Lee. After hearing it, they were shocked and excited. Especially Lee who, to an extent, knew how it 'could' be used given that he was 'cultured.'

"For concreteness, let's call the slim string of energy 'mana' like what Lee said before."

And with that Titus closed his eyes again and broke another crystal. The same thing happened again, the strength added decreased and now has become negligible. The flow of energy from the crystal was still indirectly proportional to strength and increased, it then joined the 'stream' of mana. With this, the mana was like the water streaming down a canal.

Without stopping Titus used his fifth crystal and its pure energy joined into the stream of mana reinforcing it even further. Noticing no new differences, Titus stopped and reported his findings again. After that, he continued to use the crystals in his hands, until all was used up. He didn't find anything new hence he only reported generally. In total, Titus had used eight crystals including the ones he used back at the Gold Mountain Resort.

"If I were to compare my stream of mana to a sewing thread back when I first noticed it, then now I would compare it to a baby's hair. It's still thin but it is thicker than a sewing thread."

Uncle Brown contemplated but thought of nothing. Lee on the other hand was full of ideas. Lost in his excitement, he unknowingly used Titus as his lab rat. Not that Titus would mind...

They ran through a bunch of 'tests' ranging from "can you control it" to "is it really like mana and can you feel the same energy in the air" kinds of questions.

As a whole, this was what they had found. Titus could increase and/or decrease the rate of the flow of the mana. If he increased it, he felt that his body was being nourished and strengthening was very obvious. But it was exhausting and it would start to hurt after a few minutes. Five minutes to be precise, how did they know without a watch? They counted.

He could also control the direction of its flow. It was like blood and it flowed throughout his body. If a ring was too tight, the blood flow would be hindered. Similarly but indirectly, Titus could focus his mana in parts of his body like his hands and feel that if he punched a tree with the thickness the size of an arm, he would be able to shake it without hurting himself.

There was also the mana in the air or the surroundings around them. Indeed he could somewhat 'feel' the mana but that was all he could do. He couldn't absorb it nor manipulate it. If he could get  more crystals and able to get stronger, he would try again. 

Though Lee was disappointed that releasing spells like a fireball was still a stretch at least there was hope. What's even better, with this they could compete with the monsters! They were practically like soldiers with genetic enhancements.

Since Titus was done, they switched roles and Titus became Lee and Uncle Brown's lookout. Even though they already know what would happen, experiencing it themselves was much much MUCH better. Never mind the pleasure with each use of the crystal, just the feeling of 'power' when they focused and directed the mana toward their fists brought them ecstasy. Lee felt that if he encountered the hand-chop of that young masters' bodyguard again, he would be able to react faster and at least block it. He wouldn't be so helpless anymore. If they trained in fighting skills, then they wouldn't have to worry about being bullied!

The whole process took them the whole morning! The sun was already at its peak. Originally Uncle Brown was planning to go to the management right after breakfast assuming that the crystals' power would be so straightforward. Who would've thought that it would take so long and the crystals' power and mana made it more complex! Nonetheless, they could be at ease for the time being knowing they had some degree of power.

They ate the last bits of food given by the registration for lunch. They even scraped the cans clean and still they weren't full. This was probably because they increased the flow of mana to strengthen themselves. It was only for five minutes but it still resulted in the increase of cell activities. Thus, it made them needing more food. But 'meditating' like that was worth it even if they become gluttons.

In the end, all three of them went out instead of just Uncle Brown. Titus was keen on 'hearing' some sort of news about the crystals and its use around the base. Lee on the other hand was just bored and couldn't stand staying in the tent much longer.

Proofread by: @lynn