14 Worries... (1/2)

Ozul made a deep cut at the center of the Bears chest.

It was difficult to locate but, the sight that greeted him was of a glass ball only around the size of a nail!

From outside, you could only see a crystal ball, but this little ball contains refined Mana.

Now he just has to test his intuition. Ozul picked up the Magical Core and cleaned it up before putting it in his mouth.

Generally, Humans cannot eat the Magical Cores because such a sudden supply of refined Mana can cause their bodies to explode! They usually create drugs out of these Magical Cores, which they use to restore their lost Mana.

But Ozul is neither normal nor a Human.

Ozul gulped down the Magical Core as it began to release the refined Mana inside his body. Ozul was expecting some kind of backlash, but to his surprise, the refined Mana was just absorbed in his body.

Just as he thought the process was done, A massive burst of glistening Mana was released from his body into the atmosphere!

This Mana was the impurity still contained in the so-called 'refined' Mana.

'Not so refined, I see.'- Ozul thought as he began to check what changes the small amount of absorbed energy brought him.

To his surprise, it took effect on both his physical and magical capabilities! It might not be huge, but Ozul could feel that he was a tiny bit stronger than before. But the second change was what delighted him—His Ball of Purity got denser!

Just a tad bit more, and he might even be able to pierce the thick hide of Rank-3 Beasts with only needles! Other than the increase in density, he could not feel any other changes.

But he was satisfied nonetheless; He now has a way to increase his strength!

Maybe the higher rank Magical Core would bring even more gains!

Ozul planned to head out home after just testing his hunch, but the excitement felt from getting stronger is now swaying his opinion.

'Sigh... Grandma Carol will be worrying for me if I do not return early.'- Ozul just shook the thoughts of continuing to get powerful, and headed back to the direction from where he came. It was better not to let her old heart have any stress.

When Ozul came out of the Forest, it was past noon. It took him another half an hour to reach his home.

Coming in front of his house, He could see Grandma Carol slowly pacing left and right, worry written on her face. Ozul felt warm inside him, seeing that there was someone who genuinely cared about him.

Ozuls lips curled upwards for some seconds before returning to the ever-cold expression. These years, he would occasionally let out a small smile, but even Grandma Carol had only seen him once with that smile.

Of course, that was the first time that Ozul received a head pat!

Anyways, Ozul entered the gate, notifying Grandma Coral as she looked at him, and all her worries disappear. She smiled warmly at him and came to hug him.

Ozul let her do that as he could guess that she was quite worried.

”You did not have any injuries, right? You sure your not hurt anywhere? Come on, tell your grandma!”- Grandma Coral started bombarding him with questions.

”I'm fine, as you can see.”- Ozul simply replied to her as he just wanted to head in his room and enjoy the absence of sunlight for a bit.

Taking the cue, Grandma Carol reluctantly released him and also went inside. She would ask him questions later; She knew that he needed rest right now.

Ozul just slumped down on the bed and slept peacefully.

. . .

When he woke up again, he felt refreshed. The Sun had already set.

Getting out of his room, he went to the living room. He saw that Grandma Coral was still awake and just sewing a white shirt for him.

In the middle of the night, in front of the fireplace, an old lady was sewing a white shirt for her grandson—It couldn't get any more peaceful.

Ozul went forward and sat near the couch facing the window.

Grandma Carol gave him a warm smile and asked,

”So, you want to tell me about it?”- Grandma Coral wanted to know why he would put himself in danger.

”To get my 'parts' back, I have to get stronger. Killing the Magical Beasts is the only way.” - Ozul explained his goal and the reason to venture into the Forest. It was a good thing that the 'Impure Mana' was just ejected out of his body; he would have been disgusted if such filth was inside him.