Chapter 39: Return of Master Frank
When Frank returned to the base, the entire camp stirred with disbelief and relief. He had been missing for two weeks, and many had already assumed him dead. Some even held a small mourning vigil.
So when he emerged from the edge of the southern ridge—alive, breathing, and brimming with mana—they didn't just welcome him back. They celebrated.
Even more surprising was the fact that he had broken through.
Master Frank.
That's what they started calling him the moment they felt the liquid resonance of his mana core.
The camp leader, a seasoned Master himself, pulled Frank aside to hear the full story.
"I was caught in a cravix," Frank said simply. "A split in the land that didn't follow any natural pattern. I fell in. Injured my legs. Couldn't walk."
He recounted how the walls of the cravix were rich in mana crystals, some fused into the stone itself. The ambient mana was so dense, it pressed against his skin like fog. "The energy healed me," he said. "Gave me the push I needed to advance."
He also spoke of the Void Beast. It was a rank 4
A creature unlike any other—able to shift through space folds, and stalk without being seen. It had chased him relentlessly, somehow tracking his brief escape through a spatial crack. Frank had to constantly block space itself around him, preventing tears from opening and exposing him again. "If it wasn't for the ambient mana, I'd have been shredded," he admitted.
Eventually, the beast gave up. Either it lost interest—or it knew Frank had already crossed into a new tier of power.
The camp leader's face darkened at the mention of a Void Beast. "If that thing is still alive… it could kill any of us. We'd never see it coming."
Frank nodded. "It didn't seem like it wanted to play anymore. But I don't think it's gone. Just… waiting."
Then he opened his pack.
Inside were mana crystals, faintly glowing, stacked with careful precision with a ton of mana infused leaves . He set them down at the resource table.
"This should fill my quota for the next five months," he said.
The supply master blinked. "You sure you don't need these for your training?"
Frank shook his head. "I just broke through. I'll spend the next few months settling my core."
That was the truth he told.
But not the full truth.
What no one else knew was that Frank had already stabilized his core during the time spent in the garden. The weeds he had eaten there, the mana-rich air, and the strange energy flowing through the land had accelerated his growth.
He had already condensed five of mana drops. Once he reached a thousand, he would ascend into the Grandmaster Realm.
It would take time, yes. But now, he had a plan.
He would keep visiting the garden.
He couldn't yet touch the sacred herbs guarded by restrictions—but the weeds were more than enough. And he had a strange feeling that the garden itself was… welcoming him. After his gardening work.
Grateful, even.
Perhaps, one day, he would find a plant without restriction.