7 Chapter 7: Magic Prodigy

Returning to reality, I went to John's room, expecting him to be there, but he wasn't.

"Could he be awake already", I thought.

I proceeded downstairs, assuming that John was waiting for me in the living room. Turn out, I was half right and wrong. The boy was in the living room, but not awake. He's sleeping on the couch.

At first, his action strikes me as odd. In our few days of living together, he told me many times, he can't sleep without a blanket. For him to sleep on the couch with nothing covering him.

His slumber isn't intentional. If I were to guess, sleeping was never on his mind in the first place.

John is anxious, his anxiety must have influence him to stay on watched duty. The fright, that in the deep of night, the criminals would come and kill us. Yet as the night thickens and no killers in sight, his guard slowly falls. Eventually his mind become relaxed, enough to fall asleep.

Assuming my formulate story is true, the boy must have gotten no rest yesterday. I quietly walk toward the kitchen, trying my best to not disturb his rest.

To reward the boy's action, I'll be cooking him a good meal. Curing a worried mind isn't just about bringing good news, but also showing the uneasy person that everything is normal. If I were to act confident, slowly John would have the same feeling. Sometimes emotions can be contagious.

By the time I finish cooking up a delicious breakfast, John awakens.

"What's for breakfast? Smell delicious." John asked.

I bring the food over, placing it on the table, "Some good old bacon and eggs with sausages." I replied.

John grabbed his plate, "Nice. Thank you for the meal." He spoke.

"No problem. Now dig in, we have big plans today." I told him.

While John is eating his breakfast, I could tell he's anxious. The sign for that is his appetite. When the mind is anxious, the body responds. Fascinating, the human is.

As a responsible caretaker I asked him, "Are you anxious?"

John tried to refuse "No, I am not. I just woke up so I don't feel like eating."

"Really? You're going to make that excuse. While I might not be as intelligent as you, I remember everything. Who was it yesterday eating a whole steak in the morning?" I stated my case.

John recognizing that's he caught, confess "Okay you're right. I am anxious. Who wouldn't be? I fear the danger coming toward us."

"Understandable, I had the same thought until this morning. You see my young friend I've got good news." I reassured, before teasing him, "But not now, later. Don't want to spoil the surprise."

My words of confidence might have ignited a fire inside the boy, since he started gobbling up his food like a hungry wolf. It seems a kid, is always a kid, doesn't matter how smart they are. Just a little bait and already he's excited. Okay that came out wrong, ignore that.

After our breakfast I inform him about the training plan I have in mind. "We're going to leave New York and head to a forest outside here. Preferably somewhere quite isolated, a forest uncharted by the masses. Since we're not going to return, we'll probably be staying the night in the forest. So, after you're done eating, we'll head to a camping shop. Do you agree?"

"Yeah, that's fine by me. But I do have a question. Have you ever been camping before?" John asked.

I answered truthfully, "No."

"Why do you suggest camping when you've never done it before." John question. A really great one at that.

"I don't know myself. At first, I thought it was easy, you know. Set up a tent, live in the tent and cook food from the fire. But hearing your question, it made me think otherwise." I spoke.

"No, you're right about the two things you've listed. There are a few other things you've miss, but I can cover that. I used to be a boy scout." John clarified.

"I'll have to rely on you then. Cause I am clueless on the equipment we'll need to buy." I said, before we head to my car. Driving our way toward the nearest camping shop.

In the camping shop John was like a grand wizard, the boy knows about almost everything I asked about. He didn't go camping, he is camping. Joke aside his knowledge once again makes my life much easier than it is.

The expense was quite hefty but it's all worth it. The equipment won't just last for a week, but for life.

After buying the equipment we headed to a supermarket, to buy food. Most the food we bought were long lasting ones, nothing luxurious, just simple durable goods.

Midway during the purchase John and I have a long discussion and we decided to abandon the Butcher Shop. Since in any moment it would be discovered.

A criminal organization informant shouldn't be underestimate. Especially when you don't have any plot armor protecting you from being found. Also, it's not hard for them to find our identity, because anyone in the organization that have a brain would easily find us suspicious. Since we're the only ones found walking near their secret warehouse.

Even if we humor the idea that this criminal organization is filled with dumbass. Stupid people still have the brain capacity to utilize every single resource into finding the unknown variable that could ruin their operation forever. After all no matter how powerful your organization is, one mishap and the shark around you will begin to feast on your flesh until your last breath.

The drive toward our destination is going to be quite long. We estimated that around 9 hours of driving would be needed to cover that distance. Reasons for the forest to be so far is because we not only want the location to be isolated but also far enough from our original location; delaying their search and trailing.

On the unlikely scenario that they have already know our identity, and have send a bunch of killers after us. We would still have around a day worth of time to practice and strategize a way to be victorious.

One day would be enough time for the both of us to be familiarize with strategy. Since John intelligent would give him the ability to adapt to the strategy quick, and my role is simple. All I need to do is prevent people from hurting John. Not much complexity in that task. As long as I am careful not to stray too far from John, he'll be safe.

Even though I trust John intellect there's still a few worries on my part, because his role is majorly difficult. He needs to be good at positioning himself, because not only do he need to attack without harming me, but also make it hard for the enemy to get to him. These two skills might sound easy, but putting it to the test is massively difficult.

To effectively put these two skills into good use. One normally requires lots of experience. Although I don't have a real-life example. I do have a gaming one. A gamer doesn't simply gain the ability to position themselves by sheer brain power alone. Intelligence does quicken the process but to actually be fluent with positioning, it requires tons and tons of repetition. Something we don't have.

However, there's a short cut to the process. An impossible method, but still should be considered. Multitasking ability would help with positioning, because positioning is just moving to a desirable location. To move in such a way, one must be at least be one step ahead of their opponent, while also being aware of their surroundings.

The latter part is easy to master for someone that can multitask because they can divide their attention into their environment. However, predicting an opponent is something that can only be mastered through experience. Brain power could shorten the duration of learning, but it will still require tons of experience.

Positioning aside there's also attacking. Luckily that's not a problem, because his accuracy is going to be fully accurate due to Wulfrum Prosthesis. Then again, it has yet to be confirm. I don't know if the item would work exactly like in game. I could only hope that the system wouldn't fuck with me.

Another problem I just realize is that the Item is called Wulfrum Prosthesis. That means, John might need to lose one of his arms to wear it. Realizing this fact, I quickly want to test out the weapon.

I grab the Wulfrum Prosthesis from my (Inventory) tossing it to John, "Test out this weapon." I instructed him.

John look at the Wulfrum Prosthesis with curiosity and excitement. From the boy expression, I know for sure even if I didn't tell him to test the weapon, he would have done it himself.

Being the smart boy he is, John immediately realizes that the weapon is a Prosthesis, so he tried various ways to equip it. However, everything ended up in failures. Seeing John failing in activating the weapon made me lose hope in using the weapon in the upcoming battle.

When I was about to give up, an idea surface in my head. Wulfrum weapons are technologically advanced weaponry created by Dreadon himself, the greatest inventor of all the realms. His products even the worst are masterpiece. So, it's not farfetched to say that Wulfrum Prosthesis must have an advance activation method.

"Try using commands or something, like (Equip)" I suggested.

Following my advice, John whispered "(Equip)"

"Nothing happens–" John muttered with disappointment in his face, before it shifts into shock, because the Wulfrum Prosthesis begins to morph into a liquid form, hovering in front of John.

After forming into a sphere, the liquify Wulfrum Prosthesis flies toward John's right arm, sticking onto it. Next it begins to encased his arm completely. Then the most satisfying and beautiful sequence happen. Like Iron Man Nano Armor suit up, the liquid turns solid creating this robotic sound. After a while all the liquid was gone and what's left is the Wulfrum Prosthesis.

While I was excited that John have activated the weapon, I couldn't help but asked in concerned "Is your arm still there?"

John nodded, "Yeah, it's still there."

I sigh in relief hearing that his right arm isn't not gone; the last thing I want to happen is crippling a kid for life.

"How do you feel, wearing it?" I asked, intrigued by the real life Wulfrum Prosthesis.

"Amazing!!! I feel something awaken inside of me; something dormant. Never have I ever felt so complete, so alive. Every fiber of my being is rejuvenating by whatever power is coursing through my vein. I feel bloated, as if there's a boundless amount of energy stored in my body. Yet strangely I don't feel discomfort, no, I feel even better, stronger even. My body is changing, evolving to be better suited to store the energy. It's incredible!!!" John was hysterical as he spoke with an enlightened tone, sounding close to a cult fanatic.

Hearing the description of the situation he's in, I couldn't help but think that the Wulfrum Prosthesis might have awaken the mana inside his body. Though there's some part that doesn't make sense.

As the Terraria Hero I have mana too, but I never felt 'bloated'. Is this sensation cause because John vassal isn't strong enough to hold 20 unit of mana, or is because the boy was born with more than 20 unit of mana.

This theory isn't far fetched since there's already proof from the robber that the standard unit of Terraria isn't standard of reality. Maybe it's the same for mana. Some people might have an abnormal amount of them.

I really want to know, so I tried something I should have done since I was transfer here, "System, scan John stats for me."

[Scanning Initiated]

[Scanning Complete]

[Stats Created]

[John]

Health: 78/78

Mana: 200/200

What the fuck! How is that possible? How could he have maximum mana from the beginning. With that amount of mana would Mana Crystal even give him additional mana? Let's try.

I toss the boy the two Mana Crystal crafted alongside the Wulfrum Prosthesis. "Use these, it will give you more mana." I told.

Upon John's touched, the Mana Crystal vanish instantly, absorb by him. How I know? It's simple. The maximum mana became 240/240 simultaneous to the vanishment of the Mana Crystal.

Additionally, I can see the boy eyes sparkling concurrent to him touching the Mana Crystal. "I feel even more full! What was that? Can I have more of it?" John requested, addicted to the sensation of growth.

"It's a Mana Crystal, a magical item made from Fallen Stars, it increases the mana capacity of a person. I don't have any more of it, but tomorrow I can get you one more." I tell the boy.

"Thank you!" John said, before asking a surprising question "How much of these things can I absorb before I can't anymore? I hope there's no limit, but there's no way such an amazing item can be use without a limit." John stated, pretty spot on with his observation.

"You're right, there's a limit to how much Mana Crystal you can use. 10 is the limits so 8 more and no improvement will come upon absorbing the Mana Crystal." I explained.

"Why is that?" He inquired further.

"I don't know, to be honest. If I were to guess, the Mana Crystal works like medicine. At some point, it would lose its effectiveness. Another reason could be that the human body couldn't handle more than 10 Mana Crystal. Maybe because of impurities or just mortal limitation." I give my thoughts.

John nodded probably thinking the same, or even more. Since who knows what he's capable off?

During our talk and testing, we finally arrive at the forest we're meant to be. Got to say, it's isolated all right. There's not a single car to be found. So quiet and silent, that it kind of scares me.

However, I push through my fear and start unpacking our camping equipment and started heading into the woods, after parking the car somewhere no one would notice.

Traversing the rough terrain of the forest is easier a second time. I wasn't as exhausted. Much more relaxed, even though I am carrying around 30 kg worth of stuff on my back.

Though the strange thing is that the weight isn't that heavy. I guess Health also has given partial enhancement in strength, that's good.