From Player To Npc

Volig and Shingi rested at the shop instead of going home as there was more space for Volig to sleep. They were used to not sleep on actual beds, so they hadn't any problems.

Shingi, this time, didn't enable his TRANCE ROOM by just sat and fed his Mana Tree with any mana that had high compatibility he could find. He found that some of the mana of Volig that was still remaining in the environment was very compatible. Still, he wasn't going to dry Volig of his mana as his mana regeneration was slower than his, and the potions did not affect him. The mana wasn't coming from an actual Mana Tree, and the brew was giving a boost to the Mana Tree to increase its mana production for some time.

But since that mana was already used and was waiting to vanish, it would be a waste if he didn't use it.

He decided to use it all at the tree roots on the side that his Earth-Element mana seemed to be produced and stored. It seemed like it was a good decision as there was an unexpected gift after using all of the mana of Volig he could find in the environment.

His Tree had a Mana Fruit.

He had been trying to feed his Mana Seeds to grow them into Mana Fruits, but after a point, they seemed not to accept any more mana no matter how hard he tried.

'Could it be that only high compatible mana can turn Mana Seeds to Mana Fruit?' [Shingi]

Shingi has heard of some mana being more compatible than others depending on your element but didn't think that they would be possible the reason to create a Mana Fruit, but he thought only of a way to make things faster.

But the more he thought of it; it made even more sense to him. So he started testing what effects had different mana with the percent compatibilities he had.

It seemed anything over fifty percent was helpful, while anything under fifty did not affect and could most likely cause damage. Any between fifty to seventy appeared to need a significant amount to do some change, while seventy to ninety were somewhat better.

Volig's mana had ninety-four compatibility and seemed to had the best influence with not too much amount needed.

Most of the mana around him that he could use was between fifty and sixty percent and had a minimal amount of more than that, but they seemed to be results of their crafting work, just like Volig's.

Using all the mana with over fifty percent strengthened his Mana Tree and was feeling two of his Mana Seeds had grown a little but didn't turn into Mana Fruits.

His mana pool didn't increase in size, but it seemed to grow at the speed of refilling itself, which was quite helpful also.

He kept working on it all night, and in the morning, after having some breakfast with Volig, he headed outside. Volig decided to go to the Mayor's office to discuss their plans to make their shop open for Blessed Ones since it would impact the town's traffic and economy.

He headed through the secret way outside the town and at the Hollow Tree. He reached it soon enough without anyone noticing him.

He saw Aella being in front of the Tree, sitting with Egroeg on her lap, same as the last time they met here.

When she noticed him, she smiled, and Shingi saw some relief in her eyes.

"I left you for a few days, and you hurt yourself that badly. Why am I not surprised? So what happened?"[Aella]

Shingi was surprised cause he expected her to know, but it made sense as even if she could watch him from almost everywhere, she probably didn't.

"Who is Mikhail?" [Shingi]

Shingi decided to go straight at the point, and he noticed a look of surprise from her in the name's mention as she stopped petting Egroeg.

"Where did you hear that name?"[Aella]

Shingi went through their whole meeting with Mikhail and kept paying attention to her reactions. The more he talked, he could tell the more he described him, the more excited she was becoming, although she seemed not to like the description of an Old Man.

When he finished his story and mentioned that he was sending his regards to her, one tear left her right eye.

This was rare cause Aella was an emotional individual but mostly to show her anger to the ones who pissed her off or being happy and playful and rarely of being sad.

He waited for her to say anything, but she kept staying silent, like thinking of what she just heard. A couple of minutes passed in silence as she seemed ready to speak.

"I am not sure if it is the same person as his description you gave me isn't the same as my mother gave me, but there is a chance of him to be my father. That was the name she knew him of, and I haven't heard of anyone to have used it in my search." [Aella]

Shingi had considered this to be the case but had to make sure. A man that had a daughter with a Goddess wasn't a simple man, and having that much power made sense—but being alive after that long and even being that powerful and looking like a human, made things even more troublesome.

It could be a disguise, of course, as if he could live that long he should have abilities like that, and Shingi already knew he had something to disguise his presence, no to be detected by Skills.

He also understood why he visited him. He probably noticed him messing with the unique mana under the Tree and came to check it out.

But the question was why he had hidden it there?

"I know what you think, and yes, he is probably the one behind the Seal of my gift. He doesn't want to be found out for some reason, so he seems to keep everything under his control so that they aren't. In my research didn't find anything close to what we have here, but a few telling that it was possible in theory." [Aella]

This didn't surprise Shingi as someone that powerful was sensitive for the people knowing their research and would do anything to keep them a secret.

"I think we won't be able to do anything do it. It seems only himself would be able to disable it or know ho to." [Aella]

Generally, at his point, the System would show him notification of the Quest be considered as failed, but it didn't.

That was cause he had a plan in his mind.

He told Aella to stand aside as he moved right in front of the Tree and stood there with his eyes closed.

He brought in his mind the memories of Mikhail and how he moved his body the moment he was casting his spells. He also used his Blessing of Beliss's active effect, which surprisingly increased his INT, not to 25 but 26.

After half an hour of just staying there, he started changing his stand, and one could see an Illusion of an Old Man moving at the same way next to Shingi.

The Old Man was none other than Mikhail, and Shingi moved the Illusion to surround him and the two of them to be merged.

He started moving his hands and replicate the closed fist with only the index, and middle finger pointed towards the target.

He kept repeating it and getting closer to it but still being quite far from the original. This didn't bother Shingi and continued with each move increasing his focus even more.

Time passed slowly, as seconds felt like hours and minutes like days, but Shingi wasn't showing signs of stop trying.

There were only five minutes left as his Blessing's effect as at this point; he enabled two things.

He used his ACCELERATION skill and Breaking-Limit state.

It seemed like speed was a critical factor in his casting, and he didn't just do it for others not to copy his spells.

With those skills, his speed became significantly faster, but it still lacked a bit.

He kept trying and pushing his limits repeatedly as, once again, as the first time he used this state in combat, cracks started appearing at his body, but he still seemed to lack in speed.

Then some yellow light and what seemed of lighting started surrounding his body as his speed was earning a further boost all of a sudden.

This was a Buff Spell, and more specifically, a unique Buff Spell that only one person could cast, Aella.

This meant to increase the speed of someone while also toughening his body to handle the new speed. Aella understood what Shingi was trying, and she wanted to help after seeing the risks he was taking.

With that, Shingi kept moving faster and faster while having his MANA SENSE to notice and change to the Seal.

As they were at the last minute of his Blessing's effect, he noticed the Seal ball to show signs of reacting as it moved slightly left and right.

Shingi, with his spirit raised even more after seeing that continued his movement. Making them even faster to the point even his buffed body was getting cracked.

At a point, the Illusion of Mikhail that was surrounding Shingi started changing color. Usually, all his Illusion had either yellow-greenish kind of color cause of his mana, but now they were adjusting to the actual colors of the one they were replicating.

When it got to the point that the Illusion was life-like and couldn't even see Shingi inside it, he finished once more his movement, and a crack sound was heard. But it wasn't one heard by one's ears but in their mind right away like someone sent it telepathically.

At the same point, a pillar of red light raised and covered the Tree, then a Blue one, then a White one, and final a Green one. One appeared after the other, with a delay of almost a second each. When they stopped forming, they started blending, making a rainbow-like pillar of light.

At that moment, Shingi and his Illusion raised their left arm, and the lights started gathering in a sphere over his open arm.

At the same time, he finished forming the mana sphere, the effect of his Blessing was over, and he was barely capable of keeping the sphere's shape. But as Aella saw that, she took over and controlled the sphere herself, which was easier for her since it was now free of the Seal.

The Illusion of Mikhail lost its color and got dispelled by Shingi, who seemed like a wreck and was ready to pass out at any moment.

But then yellow energy surrounded him as his stamina was getting restored, and any damage he had done to himself was getting fixed at an incredible rate.

He turned towards the one who was using the spells to heal him and wasn't anyone else but Nalrin, who was still in his dog form.

He may be a doctor with no patients, but this didn't mean that he wasn't capable of healing, as he was an expert in this kind of magic.

With that, his Quest should be completed, so he was waiting for its reward as it was the first time one of Aella's Quest was a successful one like that.