Chapter 35: Honest Mistake
The mana, although invisible and difficult to be sensed, is still a type of a physical energy.
Just like fluids travel from higher pressure to lower pressure, mana moves in a similar way.
It was one of the best ways to regain mana when the mana within the body was critically low, though it needed absolute concentration and cannot be used midst combat.
All the mana in Fredrinn’s surroundings was getting pulled right into his body, getting used instantly to heal his fried circuits as the process continued.
A low gust of wind accompanied the phenomena, ruffling Andrea’s hair and clothes as her eyes opened for the first time.
She felt that Fredrinn was motionless, sitting cross legged with eyes closed and his breath was even.
Even the tent in his pants was lowered significantly since all his focus was only on absorbing the natural mana.
And because Andrea wasn’t an awakener, she couldn’t tell exactly what was going on.
But the same couldn’t be said for Jenny, Aadav and Max, the only three awakeners that were still awake. Jacob had dozed off already.
They weren’t as knowledgeable about the mana, but they knew that it was a type of energy that allowed them to activate their skills and made them physically stronger.
So feeling so much of it moving all in Fredrinn’s direction, they were stunned.
Max and Aadav both looked at Jenny, who glanced back at them with unsurety.
They thought she knew the most about Fredrinn amongst them, but even she couldn’t comprehend what was going on!
Was this the doing of a skill? Is this what’s known as cultivation from those comic books?
All they could do was speculate.
Fredrinn was unknown to all their thoughts, and to him, this was nothing new.
In fact, he was feeling irritated.
The density and purity of the Earth’s mana was even worse than he had expected! He was absorbing the surrounding mana for nearly a minute straight, and yet it had barely healed his mana circuits.
In a closed room, mana wasn’t infinite. The quantity that he was pulling right now obviously couldn’t be maintained.
Once he had exhausted the mana in the room, he could only rely on the smaller density that was slowly getting filled in from outside.
However, just as he was concentrating on increasing his mana sensing range, he felt a humanoid figure walking towards him.
He had a good guess as to who it could be, so Fredrinn sighed before opening his eyes, blinking in surprise when he saw that Andrea’s eyes were open and she was staring up at him.
"Did I disturb you?" He smiled lightly as he asked her.
’Yes, you bastard. You kissed me and then left me hanging!’ Andrea wanted to reply, but of course, she didn’t want him to know that she was actually awake when he had kissed her.
So she simply shook her head gently.
"No. I just felt a cold gust of wind. What were you doing?" She asked curiously.
But not even waiting for a reply, she glanced forward and noticed that Jenny was walking towards them with a couple of bottles in her hands.
She had a wide smile on her face, but looking closely, Andrea noticed a complicated expression that she was trying to hide.
"I was meditating." Fredrinn replied casually, not feeling like explaining about mana to a non-awakener.
If she becomes his voluntary thrall and maybe awakens, he would be more willing to explain the magical stuff that he knew about.
Until then, he glanced at Jenny.
"Hello, guys. I didn’t think both of you would be awake right now." Jenny spoke with a sunny expression on her face, not minding the unkind look that Andrea was giving her.
"Yeah, I smelled Jasmine approaching." Andrea nodded casually, intentionally taking the wrong name just like how Jenny called her Rhea.
"Oh, did you? I am flattered that you recognized my perfume. Jasmine scent is quite nice, isn’t it?" Jenny replied with a smile, effortlessly sitting down on the tiled floor as she glanced at Fredrinn.
As if the last question was meant for him.
"It’s a nice fragrance." Fredrinn chuckled a little and nodded.
Andrea hadn’t expected her tease to backfire on herself. She simply wanted to take the wrong name, but it led to Fredrinn complimenting her?!
She puffed her cheeks and glared at the hateful blondie.
Just to show her grievances a little, she snuggled more comfortably in Fredrinn’s lap. "I hope your boss doesn’t feel too jealous of me laying down on his lap. Does this trigger his ptsd as well?"
Jenny shook her head, "Of course not, Andrea. Though the kiss 5 minutes ago surely did."
Andrea blushed at Jenny’s words.
She was supposed to pretend that she knew nothing about it.
"What kiss? There was no kiss. He was meditating and I was sleeping."
Fredrinn nodded casually at Andrea’s words, coughing inwardly to hide his embarrassment.
Poor Andrea believed in him so much that she directly refused the possibility of it happening.
It made him feel good.
Jenny didn’t continue the pointless conversation either. She had a different motive for coming here, and the little kiss meant nothing to her.
Though, she did look up in Fredrinn’s eyes and gave him a suggestive smile, making him cough inwardly once again. Outside, his face still maintained the easy-going calm smile.
"What’s up then? What are you doing here?" He asked to change the topic as he glanced at the bottles in her hand.
Jenny noticed his look as well. She casually flicked her thumb and fizzed open two bottles of beer, quickly moving it above Andrea’s body as the drinks fizzed and rose in the bottle.
Like an agile cat, Andrea’s instincts reacted and she rolled out of Fredrinn’s lap before the beer’s fizz fell on her body and made her clothes sticky and smelly.
Once she dodged the ’accident’, she glared at Jenny who only smiled apologetically.
"Oh I am really sorry, Andrea. I didn’t think that the beer would fizz so much. An honest mistake, really."