Hunter Academy: Revenge of the Weakest novel Chapter 565

Chapter 565 126.2 - Evergreen

Mana.

When we think about what mana is, most people tend to imagine it as just another resource—something to be harnessed, controlled, and expanded. But in truth, mana is much more than that. It's not just the lifeblood of magic, but the essence of the world itself. It flows through everything—living beings, the land, the air. Every part of the environment is a reflection of the mana coursing through it, and how that mana interacts with the world tells you more than just its surface appearance.

Mana isn't simply raw energy; it's a language. One that, if you understand it, reveals far more than what the naked eye can perceive. When mana is abundant, the land flourishes, teeming with life. When it's disrupted or drained, everything suffers—the soil dries, plants wither, and even the air grows heavy with stagnation.

It's everywhere, integrated into every aspect of existence. In the way crops grow, how the wind shifts, and even how people interact with their surroundings. By reading the mana in an environment, you can infer the health of the land and the stability of the climate or even detect hidden threats before they become visible.

And with the right eyes, like mine, that's exactly what I can do. My vision doesn't just let me see farther—it lets me read the currents of mana, like tracing the flow of a river.

I've done it more times than I can count. In battle, it's second nature to scan for disruptions in mana flow, giving me an edge. In unfamiliar environments, I use it to understand the balance of the land.

And now.

Mana is, in many ways, like electromagnetic waves. It has properties—frequency, intensity, and flow—that can be read, analyzed, and understood by those attuned to it. And just like waves, mana interacts with everything in its path, influencing the environment, living beings, and even objects. By analyzing those properties, you can learn not just about the surface level of things but the deeper truths that lie beneath.

That's what I've been doing all this time, unconsciously. Reading the shifts in mana around me, letting it inform my understanding of the world. Whether in battle or in unfamiliar environments, it's become second nature to perceive mana and break it down in my mind. A constant stream of information flowing through my senses.

'This place is different.'

In front of me, the special properties of mana were different.

The mana here wasn't following the same rules. It felt heavier, denser. From my eyes, I could see it—an intricate weave of energy swirling beneath the surface, not chaotic, but tightly controlled in its own way.

As I focused, I began dismantling the mana in my head, breaking it down piece by piece. The flow, the intensity—it was far richer than anything I had encountered thus far on this journey. The patterns it formed were unfamiliar, almost foreign. It wasn't just that there was more mana here; it was the way it behaved, the way it interacted with the environment.

'This is…' I let the thought hang as I visualized it. In my mind's eye, the mana took shape, forming an intricate network of currents and streams, each one more vibrant than the last. It was like a living organism, pulsing and breathing with its own rhythm.

And then I saw it. A barrier.

It wasn't visible to the naked eye, but my senses picked it up clearly. The mana shifted abruptly as if I had just crossed an invisible threshold. 'A sphere,' I thought, watching as the energy curved around the land in a protective dome, enveloping the entire region in its embrace.

It wasn't just a barrier in the traditional sense, though. It wasn't designed to keep things out—it was more like a self-contained ecosystem, preserving the natural balance within. The mana inside the barrier was of a different quality entirely, almost as if it had been purified, refined by some 'ancient' process.

Indeed, it felt ancient.

Most of the time, mana felt like a living thing, still actively integrating itself into the environment, shaping and influencing the world ever since the day of Nexus Convergence 500 years ago. That event changed everything, flooding the world with mana and starting a process that is still ongoing to this day.

But here, the mana felt… complete.

'Contrary to how it is with the rest of the world where mana continues to integrate itself with the environment, this place… it's as if mana has already become one with the land,' I thought, my mind working to break down the significance of what I was sensing.

Mana, in most places, still carried the raw, untamed energy of its arrival. It was vibrant but incomplete, as if it was still learning to settle into its new home, altering ecosystems and human structures alike. But here, the mana wasn't raw—it was refined, natural in a way that felt… ancient. It had already reached full integration, as if it had been part of this place for far longer than the 500 years the rest of the world had experienced.

This couldn't be a coincidence. The difference wasn't just in the mana—it was in how the environment interacted with it. The land wasn't merely affected by mana; it was shaped by it, as though the two were symbiotic. And then it struck me.

Senior Maya.

Her talents, her abilities—they were too extraordinary to be mere coincidence. I had always sensed there was something more to her, something beyond the training and experience we all had at the academy. But now, seeing this place, I had no doubt. This level of mana refinement wasn't normal, not in the slightest.