Han Sen sat in the back of the cave, breathing heavily. He looked at the Nirvana Egg in his lap. The golden light was fading. It felt cold to the touch.
"Don't die on me," Han Sen whispered.
He used his [Eye of Truth] to inspect the egg.
[Item: Nirvana Egg (Weakened)]
[Requirement: Needs 10,000 Mana units to stabilize.]
[Current Status: 50/10,000]
Han Sen checked his own stats. His Mana pool was only 10. Even if he gave the egg every drop of his energy, it wouldn't be enough. He needed a way to generate massive amounts of Mana without leveling up.
He looked through his basic skill list. He found [Basic Meditation]. This was a skill most children learned to help them focus. It usually recovered 1 Mana point per hour.
Han Sen focused on the skill and poured a million points into it.
[Ding! Basic Meditation has evolved into: World-Devouring Breath (Lv. Max).]
[Description: The user no longer needs to sit still. Every breath pulls Mana from the atmosphere at an impossible rate.]
Suddenly, a vortex formed around Han Sen. The air in the cave began to hum. In the world of Aetheria, Mana was like oxygen. Normal people could only take small sips of it. Han Sen was now gulping it down like a starving giant.
[Mana: 10/10... 100/10... 1,000/10...]
His Mana pool stayed at 10, but the energy flowing through him was so thick it turned into a blue mist. He placed his hands on the egg. The blue mist poured into the shell.
The egg began to glow with a fierce, blinding light. The cracks on the shell started to mend. It was working.
While he was focused on the egg, his [Eye of Truth] sent a warning to his brain. He saw several heat signatures approaching the cave entrance.
"Found you, little rat!" a voice echoed through the cave.
Three men walked in. They wore the golden robes of the Heavenly Beast Sect. The leader was a tall man with a scar across his nose. He held a compass that was spinning wildly.
[Name: Disciple Wu]
[Level: 25]
[Status: Greedy]
"A Level 1 trash?" Wu laughed, looking at Han Sen. "The Elder said a ghost stole the egg. I didn't think it would be a beggar hiding in a hole."
The two men behind him laughed as well. They pulled out their spears. To them, Han Sen was already a dead man.
"Give us the egg, kid," Wu said, stepping forward. "If you do, I'll kill you quickly. If you don't, I'll let my Blood-Hound chew on your legs for an hour."
Han Sen didn't move. He kept one hand on the egg, continuing the Mana transfer. He looked up at Wu with calm, cold eyes.
"You should leave," Han Sen said. "The air in here is dangerous for people like you."
Wu scoffed. "Dangerous? You're a Level 1 with 10 Health Points. My spit could kill you."
Wu lunged forward with his spear. The tip was coated in poison. He was fast for a Level 25, but to Han Sen, he was moving through mud.
Han Sen didn't even use his sword. He used [God-Speed Flicker] to move an inch to the left. The spear missed his chest by a hair.
Then, Han Sen flicked his finger against the side of the spear. He didn't just use strength. He used a maxed-out skill called [Point Impact].
CRACK!
The high-quality steel spear shattered into a thousand pieces. The force traveled up the wood and snapped Wu's wrist like a dry twig.
"My hand! My hand!" Wu screamed, falling to his knees.
The other two disciples froze. They couldn't believe what they were seeing. A Level 1 had just destroyed a Level 25's weapon with a finger.
"I told you," Han Sen said, his voice low. "It's dangerous here."
He turned his gaze to the other two. He didn't want to waste time. He had an egg to hatch.
He released a tiny bit of the pressure from his [World-Devouring Breath]. The Mana in the cave became so heavy it felt like lead. The two disciples fell to the ground, gasping for air. Their lungs couldn't handle the pure density of the energy Han Sen was pulling in.
"Go back to your Elder," Han Sen commanded. "Tell him the egg is gone. If I see your sect again, I won't just break your toys."
The disciples grabbed their wounded leader and scrambled out of the cave as fast as they could. They didn't look back.
Han Sen turned his attention back to the egg. It was finally full. The shell began to rattle. A small crack appeared at the very top.
A tiny, flaming beak poked through the hole.