A few minutes later, he jumped onto another rock, his form trembling.
He was sweating - or at least, the sli equivalent of it.
What was going on?
No matter how much he ate, he kept growing smaller. The rate of consumption was outpacing his intake.
After finishing the last rock in reach, he paused.
He had eaten just about everything he could in this small corner of the cave. Every plant. Every loose stone. Every bit of organic matter within his established periter.
If he wanted more, he would need to move beyond the safe zone.
He had always felt that uncomfortable dust-like sensation intensify whenever he ventured past this area. That was why he had chosen to stay here in the first place. The strange particles were thinner here, more tolerable.
But if he left, there was no telling what he might encounter out there.
After so thought, he made his decision.
Fine.
It wasn’t like he had much of a choice anyway.
He moved past the boundary he had set for himself, consuming anything that ca his way. Moss. Rocks. Dead roots. Whatever his body touched, he absorbed.
But his mass just kept decreasing.
No matter how much he ate, it wasn’t enough.
As he traveled further and further from the safe area, the strange dust-like substance around him grew more and more defined. The particles were denser here. Heavier. They pressed against his mbrane with an almost physical weight.
He didn’t have a good feeling about this place.
He needed to get back.
Maybe he should shut down the experint first.
At that mont, he received a ssage from Threads B and C.
[ Thread C ] Command executed successfully. Duration: 3600s Exit code: 0
[ Thread B ] Command executed successfully. Duration: 100h Exit code: 0
He looked at the ssages.
Finally.
But reading their response tis, he grew confused.
Was this real?
Thread C had completed in just 3600 seconds - one hour.
Thread B had taken 100 hours.
If they had both been counting real-ti seconds, that would an thread B’s Thought Acceleration operated at roughly 100 tis normal speed.
The human brain was already remarkably advanced. Making it a hundred tis faster was just...
He didn’t have ti to dwell on the implications.
He quickly released the firewall between himself and the two threads, allowing them to finally synchronize.
At that mont, a flood of information poured into him.
It was as if he had been the one doing everything the threads had done. Their entire thought processes downloaded directly into his consciousness. Every second of Thread B’s hundred-hour experience. Every mont of Thread C’s patient counting.
All of it rged seamlessly with his own mories.
And more importantly - he inherited their adaptations.
Thought Acceleration was now natural to him.
Parallel Processing felt like second nature.
And the best part?
He didn’t feel any discomfort at all.
His experint had been a success.
He had successfully adapted to both skills without subjecting himself to the unbearable sensations directly. The threads had suffered through it for him, and now he reaped the benefits.
He would have to thank them. Or himself. However that worked.
But at that mont, he felt sothing.
That sensation again.
The dust-like particles around him - they were intensifying. Growing denser. Pressing harder against his mbrane.
And with Thought Acceleration now fully integrated, his senses had beco extrely sharp. Every particle registered with crystal clarity, which only made the whole experience worse.
This wasn’t good.
He needed to leave this place.
But when he tried to move, he realized he couldn’t.
The sensation was too intense. Too heavy. The pressure was bearing down on him from all sides, compressing his form, making him feel as though his sli body was about to pop at any second.
He concentrated, summoning all his energy and processing power to find a way out of this predicant.
He noticed that so of the dust was entering his body. Particles were slipping through his mbrane, mingling with his mass.
If he could figure out what this substance was, maybe he could find a solution.
He activated Analysis.
Thanks to his enhanced processing - multiple threads all running at 100 tis speed - the analysis completed almost instantly.
[ Analysis Complete ]
Subject: Unknown Particles
Identification: Mana
Classification: Energy
Details: A fundantal form of energy that perates the environnt. Can be absorbed, manipulated, and converted into various phenona. Concentration varies by location. High-density areas may cause strain on unprepared entities.
Mana?
He had heard of sothing like that before. Wasn’t that what was used to cast magic in fantasy stories?
He concentrated on the sensation surrounding him, considering this new information.
Now that he thought about it, he had been able to sense this substance for a while now. It had been faint at first - just a vague awareness of sothing brushing against him. But the sensation had grown stronger as he moved deeper into the cave, likely because this area was richer in mana.
But more importantly...
Being able to sense mana outside his body.
Wasn’t that similar to the senses he’d had when he was still human?
Sight. Hearing. Touch. Those were all just ways of perceiving the external world.
And this - this awareness of mana - was the sa thing.
It was a sense.
And if it was a sense...
He focused all his concentration on the mana surrounding him. Instead of passively feeling it press against him, he actively reached out. He extended his awareness, pushing it beyond the boundaries of his own body.
He pushed.
And pushed.
Until...
[ Congratulations ]
Basic Skill Acquired: Mana Sense
You have learned to perceive the flow of mana in your surroundings.
At that mont, the world shifted for the little sli.
For the first ti in days, he was no longer surrounded by darkness.
The oppressive void that had been his entire existence lifted. In its place, a tapestry of energy unfolded before him. Currents of mana flowed through the air like rivers of light. The walls of the cave pulsed with faint luminescence.
Every rock, every crevice, every surface was outlined in gentle, shimring hues.
It wasn’t sight - at least not in the way he rembered it.
But it was perception.
For the first ti since he had arrived in this world, he could see.
A whole new world stretched out before him.
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