Infinite Mana In The Oasis

Eren was tired after working out so much.

Even with the mana-infused drinks that he had drunk earlier, his body was telling him to get to bed as soon as possible. He could feel that not only his muscles, but his mana points and mana pathways were also on fire.

He had taken a gyro cab to get home. The guy retired to his bedroom after having his dinner.

Aunt Rumi had made a simple risotto for dinner. Rankers liked to indulge in mortal food often.

Reece looked at him with keen interest. But she didn't say anything to him after seeing that he was exhausted and in immediate need of rest. That and the fact that the guy seemed lost in his world.

She also found it puzzling that Eren's demeanor had suddenly changed so drastically. After he was gone from his table, Reece looked at her mom before asking her to confirm.

"Mom… did you see the change in Eren's behavior? He sometimes gives me weird vibes. As if the person I'm talking to is not Eren. At least not completely.

What… what do you think?"

Reece asked while playing with the last lump of risotto with her spoon. Rumi looked at her daughter and narrowed her eyes before chuckling.

"Hehe. Young love. So passionate and equally immature."

Reece pouted at her mother's words when she heard that. But this time, she didn't say anything to contradict her mother's statements. Rumi chuckled before commenting.

"It's fine, Reece. Men stay clueless when they don't have a purpose in life. When they don't have anything to be passionate about. But once they find it, their personalities change drastically.

It's their strongest asset and most fatal flaw.

Of course, I'm generalizing here. But I can see that Eren has found his passion– the most primal of passions of them all.

The pursuit of power that doesn't need any other reason to exist.

Power to control his destiny. Power to make his own decisions in this world that runs on the principle of "might makes right". And I can understand where this pursuit comes from."

Rumi sighed while looking blankly at the empty void in front of her. She seemed to be lost in some memories. Then she looked at her daughter and pursed her lips before saying out loud.

"I'll not say that you should stay away from Eren, dear. But think hard about investing your emotions in him. When a man like him finds his passion, all the other things will always end up being his secondary priority.

It's not easy to be with a man who is looking at the horizon miles away from him, wanting to chase his ever-distanced dream. It's not easy to chase after such a man who keeps up with him when his talent blooms and his diligent work starts paying off.

And when the payoff arrives, it will drive him even madder to pursue his eternal goals. It's like a tiger tasting its first human blood. It would only get worse with time."

Rumi talked while finishing her dinner. She looked at her daughter once again only to find out that the girl still hadn't taken her last bite. The Arch ranker smiled mirthlessly as she observed that her daughter had expressions of confusion written all over her face.

"Hehe. don't mind me, dear. I was just rambling. Forget my advice if you think it's too confusing.

Do what your heart wants you to do. A ranker needs to have all kinds of experiences in their ranking journey after all. So it's fine. Whatever decision you and Vik take, I am sure it will be the right one for both of you.

I'll not always be around to watch over you. I have my own goals. My own passions. But I'd be there for you when you need me and call for me."

Rumi said after walking toward her daughter with her plate in her hand. She ruffled Reece's hair with her other hand as she walked past her.

"Also, you better finish your dinner, young lady. You'd have it from me if you waste your food."

Rumi added without looking back. That finally snapped Reece out of her chain of thoughts. She finished her plate and gave a small cute burp. The girl knew her mother could be scary with things like this.

***

Eren locked the door behind him as soon as he got into his bedroom. He knew Reece couldn't sneak on him this time. Aunt Rumi was going to be here in the house for a few days before her next expedition. But he locked it in just in case she decides to be bold.

Eren had remembered bits and pieces of memories that were related to Eren's side project. It seemed that these memories were most affected by the transmigration.

It was thanks to the spectral system that was only available to Eren at his workspace that he had found some clues related to this project. And those clues had helped him remember what the previous Eren was doing just before the tragedy struck him.

The guy was tinkering with the thing called Oshos in his free time.

He had asked Captain Miranda about it. Because he wanted to get access to study material and information that was only available to her. So she kind of knew that he was gaining access to Bourgys' Oasis.

Eren stated that he only wanted to learn about the Oasis and Bourgy culture from their Oasis because it was safe. But only he knew what he was up to.

Eren had devised a plan to digest the experiences and memories of Oshos. To reduce his learning time, he wanted to absorb the knowledge that was already inside Oasis, walking on its two legs.

The Bourgys' Oasis was like a backyard for him to carry out these illegal experiments. After studying a lot and reading through the restricted information about Oasis and rankers, Eren had come up with an injectable script for Oasis. This script could be used to convert the constructs into absorbable packets of information.

Vik had come to realize firsthand that Eren wasn't a talented ranker. But he was a genius when it came to thinking of a divergent path like this. He had decided that he would overcome his obstacles to power in his own way.

The previous Eren wanted to devour the digital constructs of various personalities to gain their experiences before making them his own. And he had zeroed in on one particular target that was available in Bourgys' Oasis.

An unheard name.

The digital construct of someone named Bruce Lee.

A construct that could be found in Bourgys' Oasis-- hidden in plain sight along with other digital constructs that belonged to the bygone era.