244 Stalker
After Adam finished helping Aunt Lina, he headed to the boutique – not for work, but to finally immerse himself in meditation. This time, he prepared much more responsibly than one might think. Closing the door securely, he sat on the bed in a lotus position and closed his eyes, trying to focus his mind.
He spent only two seconds on this, then plunged into a state similar to a trance. His eyes occasionally flickered with golden light, and a vortex formed around him.
His cultivation technique was vastly different from others, evident from the moment he started practicing it. During this time, he found that the speed was much lower, but the significant fact was that he was much stronger than usual. For comparison, another magivolve at the Mortality Realm: Body Strengthening (1) level would be several times weaker than Adam.
It was a crazy advantage that gave him even more motivation. And so, an hour or more passed in meditation. In the end, Adam opened his eyes and took a deep breath, causing a decrease in the concentration of magical energy in the room. However, after five seconds, the magical energy returned to its usual state.
"What a pity..." sighed Adam with clear disappointment in his voice.
He felt like he was on the verge of leveling up, but there was a strange sensation as if he had hit a wall – no matter how hard Adam tried to push himself to the next level, it felt like he couldn't go any further. This slightly disappointed him, although it wasn't entirely unexpected.
Leveling up is extremely difficult, and one can't rely solely on luck. Mastery improvement is also essential. In other words, until Adam achieves good control of magical energy, a new level won't be attainable.
"I can work on it right now. I need to achieve good control of my new magical energy, but I don't quite understand how to do it..." thought Adam, frowning.
One might think that his previous experience would help in this world, but unfortunately, it's not the case. Techniques for controlling magical energy in that world differ significantly, starting from the physique of beings in this world. The magical energy source is present in both worlds, but there's still a difference.
In the Lower Realm, it's located in the abdominal region, while in the Higher Realm, it's near the heart, having special significance. Essentially, it's your second heart that nourishes your body, and if it's damaged, you die – a situation similar to a heart stoppage. Moreover, magical channels also differed in their structure.
"Maybe that's why people from the Lower Realm can't enter the Higher Realm?" pondered Adam.
His thoughts were correct, but only halfway. The difference between individuals from the Lower Realm and the Higher Realm lies not only in the long life of the latter but also in their much stronger souls!
What is a soul? Essentially, it's a place where information about a person is stored, like a database on a websites. And compared to a database, it also helps the body function. Without a soul, it's just an empty shell without consciousness and even the ability to move.
The soul also greatly influences the level you will reach in the future – the stronger it is, the easier magical energy can react with the body. Moreover, most souls can undergo reincarnation, making resurrection possible. But this is already an area inaccessible to ordinary people.
***
In the village of Bean, surprisingly, some stores sold techniques for magivolves. Often, it was sword techniques or even better, techniques for controlling magical energy. But there was a problem, and that was their high price, some of which easily exceeded a million. So Adam was desperate.
Behind the counter, Adam took out a small stove, usually used to heat hot water for tea. Without raising his eyes, he asked, "Tea? Coffee?"
"Uh... n-no, I don't need anything, thank you," the girl replied, first raising her voice in surprise, then switching to a mosquito-like tone, as if embarrassed.
"As you wish. Wait a bit while I make myself some coffee. I think your story will entertain me," Adam replied indifferently, with a tone devoid of any emotions.
...
In the end, silence fell. Adam was busy brewing coffee and simultaneously keeping an eye on the pursuer who was trying to break the lock. Judging by the fact that he was still fumbling in one place, he wasn't succeeding.
After two minutes, the air was filled with the aroma of coffee, while Adam took out a chocolate bar and handed it to the girl, who was initially confused and didn't understand what he wanted, but then took the chocolate, thanking him.
"You're welcome. You can eat for now to relieve stress," Adam said, stirring his coffee in his cup. Without looking up, he asked, "So, who do you wish to be? I took a risk letting you into the store, so allow me to satisfy my curiosity about your identity."
The girl, nervously nibbling on the chocolate bar – or rather, chewing on it, diverted her attention from her meal. Swallowing, she fell silent for a moment. Her face occasionally changed, as if she was going through inner turmoil.
But eventually, gathering courage, she sighed and began to speak.
"My name is Julia... actually, I'm the chief's daughter from the village," she said with a sigh, feeling uncomfortable. She lowered her head, seemingly avoiding eye contact with Adam, and continued, "I... um... decided to leave home for a while without telling anyone, but because of that, I got lost, and an unknown person started chasing me. I apologize for the inconvenience."
The girl closed her eyes, looking as if she might start crying at any moment. She was even more afraid that the man in front of her would throw her out onto the street, unwilling to get involved in such troubles.
Meanwhile, Adam kept an ear on the movements of the pursuer, who had failed to break the lock. He suddenly smirked and said, without taking his eyes off his coffee cup, "You might want to finish that chocolate; it's starting to melt." "Oh? Oh, i-indeed!!"
The girl panicked when she saw that the warmth from her hands transferred to the chocolate, causing it to melt. She started to panic and began devouring it with both cheeks, looking adorable. Meanwhile, Adam seemed bored.
"The aura of this monkey doesn't even match the first level, although it's close to it. I assume he's nothing more than a novice. So why did he decide to pursue the chief's daughter?" he thought, then shook his head. "A silly question I asked, of course..."
With a sidelong glance, he looked at the girl, Julia. Undoubtedly, she was a beauty – as mentioned before, her hair reaching her shoulders was remarkable, and her blue eyes were outstanding, like the sky. Under her left eye, there was a freckle resembling a crescent moon, and her bust was of D-cup size.
Looking like a twenty-year-old, she was very attractive, and Adam was sure that her beauty was what attracted the man.