Lazy Salvation

“Huuuuhh… haaahh… huuuh… haaah…”

One long inhale. Hold. Three small exhales… hold…

A baby of no more than fourteen months of age was breathing unusually. To those who did not know better, it would merely be a bizarre sight, but for those who understood the intricacies of mana and breathing techniques, they would be utterly flabbergasted.

Each breath carried a big mouthful of mana, and it circulated inside the baby’s fragile mana circuits in a helix shape before settling into the core of his heart.

It was a breathing technique unlike any other in the current era, because it was developed by none other than Ashen himself over long years of tireless trial and error, back when his circuits were half-crippled and every dot of mana was precious.

A hundred years of torture under a boulder. Half a millennium of refinement as a vampire, and countless times when he was on the verge of death just to complete it.

Trinity Harmony could be said to be the culmination of no small portion of his suffering, so it was only natural that it would be unique.

But this uniqueness was working against Ashen now.

Manipulating mana had mostly been a simple flex of his will for him, but that was largely due to Mana Authority, which later evolved into Mana Imperium.

But even without those tools, Ashen’s focus and will were fragile due to his being a newborn.

That was why it took him two months just to start with the first core of the trinity: his heart.

The lower core was responsible for storage and stabilization, while the upper core mainly handled control, calculation, and distribution.

As for the heart, it, like every other human, was used for refining the mana and making it his own.

Starting with the upper core would have made his control over mana much easier and helped him with the subsequent steps of the technique, but it was out of the question now.

He could still vividly remember how he almost rendered himself brain-dead while screwing with his brain when he attempted it back then.

If not for Seraphine, he would have probably failed or died trying.

So his only choice was to start little by little with the small amount of control he could muster, refining his heart core.

‘No… this is too strange, no matter how I think about it…’

At last, he felt his body trembling from the irregular way he had forced it to breathe and stopped, but his expression wasn’t good.

‘No matter how much I’m lacking in intent, and even factoring in the absence of Mana Imperium, this is too much…’

He could still recall when he had just learned about mana during the tutorial phase, when he had first reached Seravelle.

‘Back then, I did not have any innate skills or traits to help me with controlling mana, and I was an utter novice, but it never felt this difficult.’

Despite the absence of his innate skills, Ashen was still more sensitive to mana than any normal human.

Innate powers were not only tied to the body, but also the soul; perhaps that was why, even after losing Mana Imperium, he still retained an unusual sensitivity toward mana.

Those senses were telling him, with certainty, that it was not supposed to be this hard.

The mana in the surroundings felt too indifferent… almost hostile in nature.

If he were to compare it to back in modern Seravelle, it would be the difference between being treated as a welcomed guest and a noisy neighbor, if that made any sense.

‘Haah… this is slowing things down, but if I count the fact that I’m training from this young an age, it would probably count as a net gain.’

He figured that all he had to do was get used to this new disposition of mana and work it out slowly.

“Boo… boo…!”

His train of thought was cut off, and a small body was thrown in his direction.

Ashen hastily pulled his little arms forward to catch it, but the weight sent him tumbling back onto the soft bed, alongside the mischievous culprit.

“You little troublemaker…”

Unlawfully taken from NovelPhoenix, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

“Hee… hee…”

He looked at his twin sister with fond exasperation and decided to take a break to indulge her.

It seemed that she wouldn’t allow him to train either way, so he might as well play with her.

◉◉◉

Regardless of Ashen’s initial tension at the thought that they could be attacked at any moment, life continued in a peaceful manner.

With that, he slowly relaxed.

Ashen figured it wouldn’t hurt to take his father’s advice. As he had said, living in constant fear wouldn’t accomplish anything besides sapping his energy and drowning him in misery.

And it was even truer for him, a toddler who had no business having such worries in the first place.

So he continued doing what he could within his means and let nature take its course.

His regular mental training wasn’t skipped a single day, and neither was his mana breathing technique. By the time he was two years old, Ashen was pretty satisfied with the improvements he had achieved.

For one, he felt his brain growing more and more capable, as his thoughts flowed more freely and his concentration persisted for longer.

His memory was what had improved the most abnormally. Now, if he closed his eyes and pictured the events of the day, he would be able to construct them like a film.

Of course, this did not come solely from the mental exercises, but also from the more abundant mana he carried, thanks to his tireless breathing efforts.

Just circulating inside his body was already plenty beneficial, but he also wove the mana gently with his intent to regularly improve his young body.

He had to be extra precise with his intent; nurture and nothing else. He did not want to guess what unexpected variables would arise if he haphazardly tried to temper it as he had back in the Pit.

His current emotional tolerance wouldn’t allow him to do that anyhow. He would probably burst into tears without being able to hold them back if he were subjected to pain a little worse than a slap.

Another routine he incorporated into his life was exploration. Now that his little legs were developed enough to allow him to walk, he took it upon himself to conquer every part of this underground home.

And to his surprise, the place was much larger than he had previously thought.

It was probably as big as a village. And aside from the rooms of his older siblings and the large bedroom of his parents, there were many other interesting places.

One such place was a big open space where all kinds of weapons were hung up. Ashen dubbed it the training room.

Another one was a space with many chairs and tables. It was decorated nicely with plants and lamps; his family used it to gather from time to time, but it was mostly used by his sisters to weave fabric into clothes for the family.

There was another big room Ashen chanced upon but could not enter due to the door always being firmly shut.

From the constant rhythmic sounds of metal hitting and the waves of heat, he guessed that it was a blacksmith room.

It was mostly frequented by his brothers and father.

The most interesting room, or perhaps space would be a better term for it, was what Ashen called the farm.

It was bigger than every other room and corridor combined, and astonishingly, it was composed of fertile soil, with all manner of plants growing in it.

Ashen could not understand how plants could grow without sunlight. Maybe it was the glowing stones emitting soft light from the space’s ceiling, or it could just be that the plants themselves were special. Anything could happen with the intervention of mana, after all.

But all of this did not hold Ashen’s attention for long, because when he walked to the edge of the farm, he found it…

‘A manaweave!!’

Ashen almost went crazy upon seeing them.

It had to be said; normally, a person might pass his whole life without ever seeing one. Ashen himself had only chanced upon one when his uncle, a mighty Sin Lord, had personally hunted for it for more than a decade.

Yet here they were, growing like neglected weeds by a roadside.

‘Phew… haah… fuck… this is too much, isn’t it?’

Ashen somehow calmed his emotions and went looking for the big sister responsible for tending to the farm.

“Little Ashen, where are you pulling me? If you want to play, we can do it in the gathering spot, huh? Let’s go back?”

“No… sister, I have something to show you…”

“Really? Then, let’s go.”

“Heave-ho~”

With that, Ashen felt two soft arms slip under his armpits and lift him up.

“Alright, where to?”

Ashen did not mind being carried. He was used to it by now, since everyone liked doing it for some reason.

“Forward.”

He got comfortable in her arms and pointed in the farm’s direction like a ship’s captain.

The young woman couldn’t stop the silly grin from showing on her face as she walked where his little finger pointed.

Finally, they arrived where the manaweaves grew and stopped.

“Sister, what’s this plant? Why are we not growing it?”

Ashen couldn’t just outright say that he knew what it was and how valuable it was, so he started with a probing question.

And the answer nearly drove him insane all over again.

“Oh, that? It’s merely a fragile plant that takes too much care and time to grow, so we just leave it as it is. We can’t afford to spend too much time on it when there are better options.”

His sister looked down at the plant and shrugged nonchalantly.

‘No… how can you be this blasé? A manaweave is too much work for you? Do you hear yourself speaking?’

She looked down and saw the boy in her arms staring at her as if she had told him the most absurd story and couldn’t help bursting into laughter.

“Pfft! What’s with that face? So cute~”

With that, his cheeks got massaged like there was no tomorrow, but Ashen paid it no mind, largely because of her next words.

“If you don’t like them, I will pull them out. It’s about time the farm was cleaned properly anyway.”

‘Ah… why am I feeling so dizzy…’

Ashen suddenly felt like he had aged by ten years.

‘My dear sister… are you trying to kill me with frustration? Is this an assassination? Is that it? If so, you are really succeeding!’

In the end, he got hold of his intense emotions through sheer willpower and let out a sigh, which only made his sister’s eyes gush with indulgence at seeing him try to act like an old man.

But that did not last long. Ashen closed his eyes for a second, and when he reopened them, he put on his cutest face while trying to endure the inward cringe.

“Sister~ can you please leave them…? I want to try growing them? Pleassee?”

“Heeehehee… Yes… anything for you, my little angel…”

Ashen felt himself die a little as he watched her laugh like a perverted old man.

‘...endure it… it’s all for the manaweaves… it’s worth it…’

“Gheehehe…”

‘...is it really worth it…?’

While Ashen was questioning his own life choices, someone rushed in and spoke with a labored breath.

“Monica! Our mother just entered labor! We will be having new siblings soon!”

“Really?!”

Monica rushed back, with her little brother in tow. “Let’s go. I can’t wait for it~ I hope they are as cute as our little Ashen here~”

“Same~”