A shiver ran down Liam's spine. Could something like that be happening?
He immediately closed his eyes and tried sensing if mana was present in the air around him.
He reduced his heart rate, cleared his mind, and focused only on one thing, the essence of the swirling mana.
He stood on the spot with his eyes closed like a statue and soon, in the blink of an eye almost an entire hour passed by.
However, no matter how much he tried, he was still unable to sense anything out of ordinary. Only the summer's warmth assaulted his body and made him want to turn on the air conditioner.
After a while, Liam stopped this exercise which was obviously not going anywhere. It was a bit disappointing but since he did not expect much from the beginning he did not care.
A part of him was also relieved because if mana was indeed present all around him right now, that would mean he had even less time to prepare.
"What am I thinking? It is impossible for mana to be present so early." He shook his head and let out a sigh. "I should go log in and stop wasting time. It's already been a while."
He then silently walked over to his room to log back into the game capsule, but a faint look of doubt still lingered on his face. He was not completely convinced.
He lifted up the game capsule absent-mindedly and stepped inside to lie down, flat on his back.
Soon the world around him darkened and he was once more in the familiar environment with the familiar face peeking at him anxiously.
Kyuuuu!
In a flash, the white fox jumped atop him, settling on his shoulders and she licked his face a few times.
"Alright. Alright. That's enough." Liam smiled. This was the lengthiest break he had taken in a while and it felt good.
He inhaled a big gulp of air, this one very obviously filled to the brim with wisps of nether and the small doubts he had also faded away.
This was what a lungful of air filled with nether or mana felt like, not that dry air he was breathing back in the outside world.
Now he was more sure about his conclusion. Mana was definitely not yet present on earth.
Of course, there was always the possibility that it was his body that couldn't sense it just yet, but Liam did not plan on going down that rabbit hole.
He had already lived through everything once. He knew what was going to happen and what the future was going to be like at least for a while.
So there was no point in wasting time on less probably theories.
Sure, it would be another loophole that he could make use of in case it turned out that way, but he did not want to make any plans based on it.
His aim and his goal right now couldn't be clearer. He was at Level 50 and he needed to establish his mana core.
After one's physical body, one's mana core had the most importance.
This was what differentiated an above average player from an average player. This is also what differentiated a top player from an above average player.
This would be his second base, his second foundation based on which everything else would be determined.
And just like the physical body, the mana core could also be established in different ways. The method in itself did not matter as much but the final product definitely did.
And depending on the rank of this final mana core, a player's power would instantly shoot up.
Liam was not an optimist. He knew too much about this world and had experience way too many things in his life to behave like one.
Practically speaking, this was the height of power he intended to reach before the final veil unfolds and the harsh reality becomes visible for everyone to see.
Time was slowly running out. They were already in the nether realm expansion and that meant that soon the war would be over and then chaos would descend upon earth.
There was nothing that was going to stop it or delay it. So he had at the maximum one more month to get everything in order.
And in this month, he wanted to establish the best mana core he possibly could.
Once he had everything organized, it would then be a cakewalk to carry the core team and bring everyone's level to 50 and help everyone establish their mana core as well.
This would definitely solidify their strength both inside the game world and real world. A player with a mana core was heads and shoulders above a player without a mana core.
Their power levels were not even in the same vicinity. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that a player with a mana core could easily take out dozens of players without mana cores.
If he managed to bring each of his sister's, Derek's, Mia's, Alex's, and Shen Yue's level to 50 and helped them establish the core most suited for them…
Their beginning in the new world was going to be unstoppable!
Just thinking about it made Liam's blood boil. There was a lot of work left to be done!
"Right, I should first message them. It's been a while. They are probably waiting for me."
He quickly opened the messages and contacted everyone in the nether realm starting from his sister.
His plan at the moment was to scour for herbs in the nether realm, so it was best to do that as a group.
Especially if they came across elites, with a group he could at least think of tackling the thing instead of fleeing away every time.
He also did not forget to mark the spots on the map where he had seen the faceless giant and the ice frog.
Their level was too much for them even as a group but he could always return back to them when time permitted and if the nether portals were still open.
Liam swiftly sent out a few messages and since they had all started together, everyone's location was relatively close to each other.
In fact, he was the furthest from the group so he arranged a meeting close to the group.
"Luna, let's go. Show me how fast you can be." Liam grinned and hopped onto the white fox, now several sizes bigger.
Kyuuuuu!
The fox as well naughtily grinned and bobbed her head as if she was accepting the challenge and the next instant, she began sprinting mid-air, zooming forward like an arrow.
