In a forest not far outside the city, Ryan parked his car next to the road. Next to him stood a forest of Eucalyptus trees.
"So you found some Clearleaf in there?" he asked Iris
[Yes, it's not far in.]
Ryan only nodded and started his trek into the forest.
[You know you don't have to actually speak aloud for me to hear you right?]
"What?" The way she said this slightly disturbed him. "Please tell me you can't read my mind."
Soft laughter chimed in Ryan's mind. [Why? Do you have something to hide from me?]
"Of course I do!" Ryan couldn't keep himself from exclaiming. "My thoughts are my own!"
Iris' laughter continued to ring through Ryan's mind. [Don't worry… I can… only… hear thoughts… directed at me.] Iris said in between fits of laughter.
A relieved sigh escaped Ryan's lips.
"So you can actually hear this?" He thought.
[Yes I can.]
"Well that's convenient."
[Of course it is… I put a lot of thought into this system, you know.] Ryan could practically hear the pout.
He couldn't help but smile at the antics of this goddess.
A silence fell between them as Ryan walked through the forest. The mid-morning sun filtered through the canopy of leaves above like liquid gold.
His shoes crunched on the undergrowth as he made his way toward the center of the forest.
[You're here] Iris' voice finally came to him after nearly half an hour of walking.
Ryan's breath was ragged, lungs on fire.
"I really was in terrible shape," Ryan thought, frustrated at how he had never cared about his fitness.
[Yes you were.]
"Unfortunately I don't have time to do anything about that now," Ryan sighed, as he looked around in the underbrush for the plants he was looking for.
[You don't actually need to do anything about it at all.]
"What do you mean?" Ryan asked with raised brows.
[If you use the Clearleaf correctly, it will clear up all of the impurities in your body.]
"I know that, but it won't do anything about my terrible fitness levels." Ryan said as he finally found the plant he was looking for.
It was a small plant with dark green leaves, and a blood red flower. It would have looked like any normal plant, except there was a faint glow to its red petals, and a mist-like vapor coming from its leaves.
[You probably don't know this because the last time you only felt the effects of the plant after becoming stronger.]
Ryan plucked the plant as close as possible to the ground, ensuring the roots stayed behind, this would allow it to grow again.
[If you use the Clearleaf at your current level, it will clear out all of the impurities in your body, which in turn would allow you to continuously absorb mana.]
Ryan raised his brows in confusion. "Doesn't my body have a maximum capacity for mana?"
[It does at the moment. But there is a method to cycle mana through your body, and then release it again. It works similar to breathing actually.]
"And how will this help me?" Ryan asked as he looked around to see if there were any more Clearleaf plants.
[By circulating mana through your body you can significantly increase all of your stats in the beginning.]
After searching around a bit Ryan found two more plants, he plucked one of them just like he did the first. But the second he gently dug up from the ground making sure not to damage the roots.
[I say in the beginning because even though this method will continue to improve your body, the scale of the effects will taper off the stronger you become.]
As Ryan listened to Iris' explanation he set his backpack on the ground and pulled out a plastic cup he had hastily grabbed before leaving the apartment.
"Wouldn't doing this also continue increasing my maximum mana capacity?" He asked as he planted the Clearleaf in the plastic cup, making sure to use the soil where it stood.
[Yes it would, especially at your current level.]
"Would you be able to teach me this method, or would that break another one of the rules?" Ryan asked, as he got up and started to walk back to his car.
[It won't break any rules, as long as I don't reveal anything that doesn't belong in this realm you will be fine.]
"That's good to know."
A silence fell again for the rest of the walk back to his car. Ryan was in deep thought about what his next steps should be. First he had to stop at the appliance store to buy the radio, then he had to figure out a way to make sure that it won't be fried along with all the other electronics when the first mana wave hits.
"You said you have space time abilities right?" He asked as he neared his car.
[Yes I do, why?]
"Is there any chance you could use that to protect a radio from the mana wave?"
[I should be able to do that, I can also link the two devices together.]
Ryan stopped dead in his tracks. "Does that mean that they would basically have their own uninterrupted private channel?"
[Yes, but their range would also be linked to your mana capacity, meaning that for now their range would also be approximately a hundred miles.]
Ryan almost jumped for joy after hearing this, one of his fears was a way to ensure the signal between the two handheld radios wouldn't be interrupted.
"Have I ever told you that you are amazing!" With a burning excitement Ryan got into his car and drove back to the city.
[Hmph… of course I am.]
Ryan burst into laughter.
The laughter never reached his eyes though.
Tomorrow the world would burn, but this time he would be ready for it.