Valerian sat at the back of the pond and asked, "Your Excellency, how do I even extract a drop of water from this pond? It is not budging."

He had been trying for half an hour, but none of the methods worked. His hand wouldn’t get wet even if he soaked it in the water. Neither did it move with mana. Valerian had no other option but to ask.

Boo-too nodded and said, "It is the life force of a Mother. You do not take such things. You ask for them. Close your eyes and convey your intentions to the pond. It will answer."

Valerian closed his eyes and joined his hands in prayer. He prayed for the pond to grant him a drop of water. He sat in such a position for a few minutes before the pond rippled. Wisps of mist over the pond swirled and condensed into a drop of water. Valerian sensed the process and opened his eyes to find the drop slowly moving toward him.

He closed his eyes and thanked the goddess before accepting the drop. He felt a rush in his blood as soon as the drop levitated closer to him. He opened his mouth, and with some force, he swallowed the drop. The moment the liquid fell on his tongue, it vanished, but the sensation that ran amok through his body made him shiver.

His blood was coursing twice as fast, his mana was channeling twice as fast, and similarly, his battle aura was raging to go berserk. Valerian had no idea what was happening or how to control all this when Boo-too’s voice sounded in his ears.

"Calm your thoughts, do not waver. Focus on your battle aura. Refine it."

Valerian was confused, and the lady continued, "Gather your mana and Battle aura in two vortexes and grind them against each other."

The ethereal voice had a particular charm that made Valerian’s thoughts clear out. The young man began to focus. He gathered all the mana and battle aura in his body inside the abdominal cavity. This was a hollow space in his body. He could contain the energies here.

Following Boo-too’s instructions, he began to form the vortex. The process was painful because, after years of constant connection, the body had gotten used to mana, and snapping the threads made his body feel weak. The young man did not mind because as soon as he sensed weakness, he also sensed strong energy coursing through his body, helping him recover from the fatigue.

His body healed, and he began to refine Battle’s aura. What Boo-too did not tell him was that the mana and battle aura would grind each other, and this would refine them further and further. Valerian had the neutral mana in his body. The seven elemental runes were the deciding factor of the mana attribute.

Since he had all seven runes etched in his memory, his mana was purer than the rest as he ground the two energies against each other. He experienced something that scared the hell out of him.

The two energies were vanishing. They were canceling each other out. Valerian did not know how to feel or deal with this situation and began to panic. Boo-too sensed it but did not say anything. After all, if she spoon-fed him, when would he learn things independently? Soon, the energies were exhausted.

Valerian opened his eyes and wanted to cry when Boo-too sighed and said, "Look inside yourself."

The young man did not know what was left for him to see, but he followed her instructions anyway. He sensed his body and found that he was not empty. There was a wisp of mana and a wisp of battle aura left inside his abdominal cavity.

However, something was different about these two wisps. He did not know why but the energy radiating from them seemed ten times stronger than earlier. Boo-too said, "Those two wisps are what is left after refining the mana and battle aura inside your entire body."

Valerian opened his eyes wide, and the lady said, "That wisp of mana is enough to destroy a building with one attack."

This statement shocked the young man. He did not expect something like this. Boo-too said, "As you refine more of such energies, your body will attract only such pure energy. The laws of mana and Battle aura work like this. The purer the seed, the purer energies they attract. Some records even say they can clean the impurities independently."

The young man did not say much. Rather, he had nothing to say about it.

...

Valerian learned things from Boo-too and found that the life force made him stronger and cleaner. His body was exuding black gas with every breath he took. These were all the mortal impurities he had accumulated.

Boo-too also told him that humans do not have a magic core, but their bodies gradually resist mana conduction and become weaker with age.

Valerian was immersed in all the details of the knowledge he gathered from the lady. When the lecture finished, and all his doubts cleared, he returned to refining his energies. The speed was faster after the first cycle. He was gradually getting stronger.

Thinking about this, he decided to try something. He connected one part of his body with mana threads while maintaining the mana vortex in the abdominal cavity. The energy channeling in his body was nothing he had ever sensed before. He had long lost track of time. He did not know how long he had been sitting in this spot.

Suddenly, Boo-too said, "Stop."

Her voice rang in his mind, and Valerian woke up. Boo-too said, "You should go to the Valley of Death and return here later."

Valerian asked, "Did something happen outside?"

Boo-too shook her head and said, "No, but it does not hurt to be prepared in advance."

Valerian nodded and stood up on his feet. He stretched his body, and a crackling sound emitted from the joints. The young man found that his skin was covered with black residue. He looked at himself, and Boo-too said, "Do not hurry to wash up. Death aura is a sort of impurity, and before this layer of dirt dries up completely and sheds away, you will have some additional protection."

The young man nodded, and Boo-too gestured for him to follow her. She said, "The water from that pond can be helpful, but if taken in too big of a capacity, it can make a person explode into blood mist."

Valerian understood why she was saying it. Earlier, he had asked the pond for two drops of blood. When the bloomkin wanted to smack him awake, he stored another drop in a small jade bottle.

Boo-too said, "You can drink that drop of water when you have no protection to resist, and it will give you ten seconds of keeping the death energy away from you."

Valerian nodded, and the lady took out a small box from the void. She gestured, and the box floated over to levitate in front of Valerian. The young man asked, "Your Excellency, what is this?"

Boo-too said, "This is a brooch that your mother wore on her chest. This brooch signifies the identity of a human envoy. A chosen person selected by the magic to help them connect better with the humans."

Valerian was surprised, and knowing the importance of this brooch, he hesitantly accepted it. Inside the box, he found a silver brooch. The thing was a silver sphere, and Valerian was lost in the delicate design. It was engraved with many magical beasts, and they all seemed to be moving on this brooch.

He said, "This brooch is more than just an accessory."

Boo-too nodded and said, "You have a good sense of things, Young Valerian. The brooch stores life energy and can cast a barrier around the wearer when in mortal danger. Your father also had a similar brooch, but he lost handed to your mother, who was always fighting at the front lines."

Valerian nodded and pinned the brooch on his chest as he followed Boo-too. He asked, "The life force I absorbed just now, it sure has some strong energy inside it. It channels very thoroughly, I feel like I am at least ten times stronger than before. Would this sudden change hinder me in the valley of death?"

Boo-too shook her head and said, "Inside that valley, you must focus on keeping your wit and maintaining the decay magic. I do not know what it is like inside the ravine. However, I do know that the death energy attacks your mind before it ever leaves a mark on your body."

Valerian nodded and said, "I do not know if I am nervous from the fearful recitations or excited to dive into the water and explore the unknown." 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

Boo-too sighed and said, "I can not tell you that. However, please be safe, and if you feel like you cannot find the stone, do not push too hard. Come out earlier. We will find another way to deal with Tyrant."

Valerian nodded and said, "I have thought, if the death energy affects me, I will come out and enter the ravine once I have recovered again."

Boo-too sighed and agreed to the young man as she led him to the mouth of the ravine.