“Um, can you try to circulate your mana? Only once.” Tommy wanted to see if there were any changes with Harem God.  

He could understand that Jiushi’s and Ace’s mana would be easily absorbed since their powers were of one mold. But he definitely didn’t possess an artifact or the favor of Athanasia! There had to be some resistance. 

They were outside far away from their organization and all outsiders were banned from entering the forest until the investigation was concluded. There wasn’t a better opportunity.  

Harem God was slightly confused by what was happening. Tommy tried to test him several times, but he still wasn’t told what his abilities were. Any person would become impatient, especially when the examiner seemed troubled by the task. Still, he sat down with his legs crossed and started to meditate.  

One minute. 

Harem God opened his eyes again after a minute and looked at Tommy like a newborn fawn. All he saw was a firm line of pinched lips. 

“Did feel that something was different from when you circulated your mana a few days ago?” Tommy carefully asked. 

Harem God shook his head. 

“Really not?” Harem God’s confused expression told him that he really didn’t feel anything amiss. Rather, he got bored already and sunk into his own world of thoughts. 

It wasn’t that there was a problem with his mana flow itself, but the amount of spiritual energy was considerably lower compared to two days ago. His mana level dropped from abnormally high to barely average. Such a rapid fall usually occurred only after the spiritual core was damaged. But that couldn’t explain Harem God’s case. Tommy had already checked him up before they started the aptitude test, nothing was wrong. Everything regarding the spiritual core was an exceptionally sensitive issue for ability users, yet, the person in question didn't even understand the graveness of the problem. 

Every ability user had a spiritual core which enabled them to store spiritual energy in their body, but not every core was of the same quality. An underdeveloped core, for example, couldn’t even perform a quarter of a mediocre core; be it the amount of mana it can contain, or the control of mana. A lot of spiritual energy was usually a sign of a trained core, but magic and spiritual energy originally didn’t exist on Earth.  

An average human had no core, that, or it had strongly withered away. Hence, they had to undergo an awakening to stimulate the dormant power. Either with the help of a seeded awakened or through the blessing of the goddess Athanasia. Outliners like Harem God or Jiushi, who awakened without the help of outsiders, but through a traumatic experience or stress were called Rare-Awakened.  

Without receiving intermediate guidance, it was nigh impossible to safely achieve the bizarre high mana level Harem God possessed. Strictly speaking, he could easily compete with full-fledged mages in terms of mana, which was an aberration itself. Even more so for a close-quarter combatant who relied mainly on physical prowess.  

According to the information Ace and Jiushi had given him, however, there was nobody who could have taught him before they had appeared. That Harem God had no awareness of his abilities, let alone spells and sigils, only reaffirmed this fact. 

Except...! 

It was Sin. 

The mystery around him was just as baffling as Memory of Athanasia. He could talk, but only those he had selected could understand him. From what they know, Sin was with Harem God for a very long time and was like his family to him. They were bickering and the chicken would often lead him on the nose.  

For outsiders, it seemed like he was making up a conversation with an animal. Harem God himself had stamped it off as his own hallucinations in the past, but Tommy and Jiushi clearly heard his voice and proved to him that this wasn’t the case. The only one left out was Ace. How Sin selected people and what other abilities he hid was still unclear though. 

However, they now could say with certainty that Harem God’s muteness was indeed caused by magic someone had cast on him, and that being was Sin.  

Originally, they wanted to interrogate the rooster, but he refused to come out of the subspace. Judging from the way he was referring to Harem God though he regarded him as his protege and wouldn't harm him. Thus, the matter was put on hold for the time being. Instead, they dragged Harem God out into the wilderness to test his magic control.  

But they were back to the beginning.  

Tommy scanned him several times, but he couldn’t find any critical issues. Harem God’s spiritual presence was generally not discernible, unless he was attacking or letting the other party scan him. Therefore, the drop of his mana was only detected now. 

His spiritual core that was overflowing with mana was now only filled to a quarter. If he were to compare it to when he first met him, then the large bucket that was spilling over and hard to hold, was now filled with a quantity that was easy to handle. 

For someone, like Harem God, who had no proper education in mana control, this kind of restriction was a great way to regulate his mana flow. It was, however, just a matter of time until this fluctuation would disappear and his mana level would jump back to being dangerous to him and anyone beside him. 

Hence, Tommy had no other choice than to teach him the basics of mana manipulation.  

tiaf

Guess who finally changed the title on the cover that is soon to be changed anyway

Now a bit plugging:
Falling: How to Survive as a Cannon Fodder by morinorin A QT that has regular updates written by a veteran fujoshi.
Life is a Game [BL] by Owl A litrpg about healing and a lot of puppy moments!

Psssssst, next chapter is coming with an illustration! If I can finish it until next week.