Chapter 158: The Mystery Revealed

"What are you thinking so deeply about?" Back at the hut, Matrim asked while cutting vegetables into the pot to prepare dinner.

Magna had been standing by the window for a while, looking outside as if he were deep in thought.

He was actually watching the fire quite a while now, trying to find the hidden mechanism behind the fire, but unfortunately, nothing about it made sense according to his understanding so far.

If it were Earth, he would think the fire was releasing some kind of gas at night that entered the body through breathing or some other way, or perhaps reduced the oxygen level in the environment and caused them to faint unexpectedly. But clearly, that kind of logic wouldn’t work here, so he started thinking about the magical side of it.

Turning to the tall boy, he asked, "You said earlier that you found the fire strange. What was the reason?"

Even without golden eyes, Matrim was observant enough to find it suspicious, so he had to have some ideas. Hearing his thoughts from a different perspective might help him understand it.

"You also think the fire is the reason we suddenly fell asleep?" He didn’t look surprised by the question but started explaining what he had been thinking.

"First of all, the fact that it was extinguished when we woke up this morning and Master relit it in the morning is quite strange. I mean, fires are usually lit at night. Why would he need to light it again early in the morning?"

That was already the part everyone found strange. Noticing it didn’t require a genius.

"Also, the rocks he is using to start the fire are quite familiar. If I’m not mistaken, they are called Cinderite.

It’s not a very valuable resource, but it is usually difficult to find and can only be found in specific volcanic areas. The ash forming that campfire is made from the same material. If the mountain we are on isn’t a volcanic mountain, then that means they were specifically brought here from somewhere else."

So far, the information was quite interesting as Magna waited for him to continue.

"As far as I know, the material itself doesn’t have any effect that would cause sleep or unconsciousness, only if..."

He suddenly stopped, as if something had just clicked in his mind.

Suddenly, he dropped the vegetable and knife in his hands and ran outside.

Magna watched him from the doorway as he looked at the fire for a while before starting to move his hands closer to it.

At first, it looked like he was warming his hands by the fire, but his hands gradually moved closer and closer to the flames.

Eventually, he even put his hands completely into the fire, making Magna frown.

But soon, when he pulled his hands back, Magna saw that they weren’t burned at all. They were only slightly red from the heat, which left him confused.

Matrim ran back into the hut with an excited expression and a huge smile on his face. He shut the door behind him and started speaking in a whisper.

"I understand now. The place we are at the top of right now has to be a volcano."

Though the discovery was quite interesting, Magna raised an eyebrow and asked what it had to do with his hands not being burned.

"So?"

Matrim remembered that Magna had literally grown up in a cave as he started explaining.

"As I said, Cinderite stones can only be found in certain volcanic areas. They aren’t usually very popular resources because when you take them away from their original location, they completely lose their flammable properties and become ordinary stones.

So the only reason these 2 stones can produce sparks when struck together is that they weren’t brought here from somewhere else. They originally belong here."

Magna still couldn’t quite connect the dots and kept looking at his face until Matrim sighed and finally got to the main point.

"The volcanic mountains where Cinderite can be found can sometimes be natural mana reserves. It’s usually a 1 in 100 chance, but according to the test I just did, this mountain is definitely one of them."

He raised his hands to show him.

"Look. They aren’t burned, just red from the heat. It means the flames have actually lost most of their usual properties because they have mixed with this mana source.

This usually happens when the mana concentration is very high. It either changes the properties of objects and causes them to lose or change their original characteristics, or it turns living creatures into deviants."

Magna finally understood what he was explaining and felt quite surprised.

He had indeed learned before that when a normal living creature was exposed to mana for a long time, it could turn into a creature known as a deviant.

Mother Goblin was actually one of them. Thanks to Morrigan’s belongings, especially her books, she had probably been exposed to lingering, refined mana for a long time, which had caused her to become a deviant.

It was actually the first time Magna had learned that mana could also affect lifeless objects, so it was quite useful information.

But there were still some details that didn’t quite fit.

"So what do you think is the exact reason we fell asleep at midnight?"

Even now, there was no golden light in the campfire, as the mana concentration probably only became denser at night and turned completely golden. So there had to be a reason for this specific time.

Matrim thought about it for a while. He wasn’t very sure either, but he had a theory at least.

"There should probably be air tunnels that formed inside the mountain over time. If the cold at night causes the mana to somehow rise from where it is concentrated, it might spread throughout the entire area and leak outside. When the mana concentration becomes too high, it can usually cause some side effects even in Witches. Losing consciousness is one of them."

That was actually something Magna knew very well, as he could be considered a Witch himself because of his mana reserve.

When his mana reserve became too full and exceeded its limit, he had also experienced stomach pain, as if he had eaten too much, along with quite a bit of mental fog. That fit this theory quite well.

Now that they had actually figured out the reason, there was only one question left, and this time Matrim had no answer.

"Due to this place being quite small, the mana leak probably covers the entire area, so there isn’t really anywhere we can escape to in order to avoid it." Matrim said while trying to think of a way for them to stay awake during the night.

"Also, I don’t think we can pass this trial by running away. Master probably wants us to endure the concentrated mana without losing consciousness. It’s probably part of this training."

He was also sure that if someone wanted to become a strong Shadow, they had to have high resistance to pure mana.

At least enough to avoid suddenly losing consciousness and falling into a life-threatening situation.ℯℯ𝑙.