The Kind of Evil
Chapter 313 - 313: Mana.

‎Rasmus opened his eyes and saw nothing but water splashing around him. He had been under the waterfall for the past two days. He had been enduring the fierce waterfall nonstop that he could no longer feel anything on his head and upper body.

‎People were still around Spring Lake, enjoying the scenery with their families and friends. They didn't know that there was someone under the waterfall because of the barrier that Aris made.

‎"Hey... isn't that the same guy we saw a few days ago?" A man asked as he pointed at Rasmus swimming to the side of the lake.

‎"That white hair guy? He's been staying under the waterfall this whole time?" The friend raised his brows in disbelief. "That guy is crazy..." he muttered.

‎"You don't know who that man is?" A man approached the two friends who were talking about Rasmus. "He's Rasmus Blackheart. The man who defeated the demon army in South Neva," he revealed as he crossed his arms and watched Rasmus rest on the side of the lake.

‎It didn't take long until people began to shift their focus to Rasmus. They observed his toned, lean, and muscular body, which looked different from that of the average man. They were used to seeing bulky and muscular men, like knights who had trained their bodies. They had never seen a lean, toned, and muscular body before, and it looked more intimidating than the bulky ones.

‎Rasmus looked at his upper body in the water's reflection. His dense and tight muscles were clearly visible even though he wasn't under any shade. He realized the result of enduring the waterfall for almost a week would make his body drastically change. His bloodline as Orthias also made his muscles grow lean and dense rather than swollen.

‎Rasmus noticed the gazes that were pointed at him, especially the women who had a different type of gaze. He then decided to get out of the lake and show off his toned abs and rib muscles. He wasn't bothered by the gazes, and he even stared them back, observing them and trying to find someone who had malicious intent. However, he was distracted by something that he had never seen before.

‎"Hmm?" Rasmus furrowed his brows and saw a glimpse of faint blue mist that just flew around the crowd.

‎Rasmus saw that faint blue mist moving around the crowd again. He tried to focus on that mist, and the more he looked at it, the more of them appeared around the crowd. He was confused and curious about that mist, especially when the mist seemed to be moving so fluidly like water.

‎When Rasmus was observing the mist, suddenly the mist thickened and began to move toward him. He became wary of it, so he slowly took a few steps back as he kept observing the mist. However, his back hit something, and the mist suddenly went past him, giving a familiar yet unfamiliar scent.

‎Rasmus turned around and saw Aris standing behind him, staring at him with a stoic expression. His gaze was so focused on the liquid mist that lingered around Aris, and how the mist acted like invisible armor to her body.

‎"You can finally see it?" Aris asked, tilting her head.

‎"Finally?" Rasmus narrowed his eyes, staring at Aris. "Is this Mana?" He asked as he looked at more liquid mist orbiting around her.

‎Aris looked around her, where the Mana orbited around her. She slowly lifted her left hand and flicked her index finger, making the Mana gather around her left hand. She then showed how the Mana turned orange with a mirage until it suddenly became fire.

‎"This is how you invoked fire from Mana, you did it like this," Aris said as she dispersed the fire, turning it back into Mana.

‎Rasmus was fascinated by how Mana turned into a mirage and then became fire. Since he had never seen the color of the elements in his previous life, it took his breath away. It was no wonder that Lenin was interested in him since she was a Great Sage who could feel, smell, and see Mana.

‎"When I saw it for the first time, I realized you were indeed an Orthias, just like me. Your understanding of the world is on par, or even better than me. I suppose your intelligence came from your late mother," Aris said as she watched Mana linger around her body like snakes showing affection.

‎Rasmus couldn't tell Aris that his knowledge was from Earth. However, it was fortunate that Aris believed that his knowledge came from his lineage as Orthias. He could use that to erase suspicions from those who questioned his intelligence and knowledge about the world.

‎

‎"Now, why don't you give it a try?" Aris asked. "Since you can see Mana now, it means you have also regained your ability to use it again," she pointed out as she sent the Mana to Rasmus's body.

‎Rasmus watched the Mana linger around his naked torso. It felt more vivid compared to before when he couldn't see Mana. He could feel the comforting coldness of the Mana, and how it felt like both air and gel at the same time.

‎"Not here, too many eyes..." Rasmus said as he walked past Aris and went into the woods.

‎Aris gave a cold gaze at the crowd, and the Mana turned translucent. The Mana lingered around the crowd and how the Mana sipped into their bodies and affected them deeply. The crowd felt fear and decided to look away with trembling hands. She then followed Rasmus into the woods.

‎As Rasmus walked into the woods, the more he became sensitive in sensing Mana. His eyes began to see more of them as if the curtains had been opened up even wider. He noticed how the Mana began to react to his presence, slowly moving toward him as if they wanted to embrace him.

‎Rasmus closed his eyes as he walked, and he made himself vulnerable. The Mana began to sip through his skin, entering his body and letting the Mana make itself at home. He could feel every fiber and every cell in his body was being enhanced and strengthened.

‎

‎"You have grown taller again," Aris said as she walked behind Rasmus, watching everything that had just happened. She noticed that Rasmus's head was right under her chin, but now it was above her lips.

"Did I?" Rasmus looked at Aris from over his shoulder and realized that his eye level was at her lips. "It's hard to keep up with the growth," he said as he pulled his hair back and let the Mana within his body produce heat, vaporizing the water on his wet body.

"You might become taller than me in the future," Aris said as she walked beside Rasmus. "Looks like you have regained your ability to manipulate Mana," she said, looking at the vaporized water around Rasmus.

"It appears so, but I need to sharpen my senses and control again. It has been a while since I invoked magic," Rasmus responded as he glanced at the ring on Aris's finger. "I'll take the ring back," he said as he opened his hand to Aris's hand.

Aris looked at the ring for a moment before she pulled it off and put the ring in Rasmus's hand.

"Why? Do you want one?" Rasmus asked as he stared at Aris.

"No, I just don't want you to hold the Crystallized Dragon's Breath," Aris shook her head. "That thing is inside your ring, and I don't want you to pull it out randomly out of curiosity," she continued.

"I won't," Rasmus shook his head as he put the ring on. He watched as the spatial ring absorbed the Mana from his hand like a stream of water. He was quite surprised to see that it worked that way. "I won't touch it because I know how dangerous it is," he said as he pulled out his shirt from the spatial ring and put it on.

Aris nodded, and then she stopped walking as she looked around the trees.

"We are far enough, right? Why don't you try to test your progress?" Aris asked as she crossed her arms, staring at Rasmus.

Rasmus turned around and looked around him, realizing that they had been walking for a while. He then nodded in agreement and slowly took a deep breath as he sensed and smelled Mana around him. The more he smelled it, the less he recognized the scent, even though it was familiar to him.

When Rasmus opened his eyes, he was surprised by how abundant the Mana was around him. The forest was covered in a thin layer of mist of Mana, flowing so fluidly as if they were waiting to be used. He slowly raised his right hand to his face level, staring at the Mana in front of him.

Rasmus manipulated the Mana, turning its color to a light green, and shaped them into a ball. Since he could see the Mana, he didn't need to visualize or guess anymore. He could see that when the ball was struggling to contain the Mana, it kept absorbing.

As the ball of Mana absorbed almost every particle of the Mana in the wood, Rasmus simply flinched his eyes. The Mana ball exploded, releasing a massive shockwave, cutting down hundreds of trees in a split second. He then watched as the Mana dispersed slowly, but he chose to reuse it again, igniting them.

Aris watched as massive pillars of flame appeared all around her almost simultaneously. She then watched at how Rasmus controlled the flame pillars, forcing them to move closer until they were all combined into a giant flame tornado. The toppled trees were burned into ashes in a matter of seconds. He fed the flame tornado with both pure oxygen and hydrogen, making the flame unstable.

Rasmus pointed his right hand at the flame tornado and clenched his fist tightly. The flame tornado suddenly grew wider and exploded. The flame wave hit Aris, and she could feel the burning heat on her skin, forcing her to coat her body with Aura to protect her. If a normal human were hit by the heatwave, their skin and flesh would melt.

Rasmus noticed that Aris had layered her body with a thin translucent sliver of mist around her body.

"Sorry, I was testing something," Rasmus said.

"No," Aris shook her head. "I should have known that your ability in magic is extraordinary," she continued, realizing how terrifying Rasmus's ability in magic was, and how he barely did anything to produce such destructive power so easily.

"How is it?" Aris asked with her brows raised.

"It's convenient now, and I don't see any limitation on my end," Rasmus answered as he looked at his hands.

"That's good, but what about your body?" Aris asked as she tilted her head. "Want to spar?" She smirked.

Rasmus stared at Aris for a moment before he pulled out his sword and Aris's sword from the spatial ring. He then tossed her sword at her as he readied his stance.

"We have an open space now, why not?" Rasmus smiled.