Chapter 160: A New Method of Resilience Training

After finding a sturdy tree, they securely tied one end of the rope around its trunk.

Magna pulled on the rope a few times, making sure it was strong enough, then threw the other end down toward the cave entrance.

"Want to go first?"

Matrim first looked at him, then down at the cliff before shaking his head. "You better go first. I’m too heavy, so let’s first test if it’s safe enough to carry you."

The rope was an Artifact, so it would surely be strong enough to carry his weight, but the same couldn’t be said for the tree they had tied it to or the rocks he would use for support while climbing down.

Agreeing with him, Magna grabbed the rope with both hands and began lowering himself down.

The rocky slope was steep, with loose stones breaking away under his feet whenever he put his weight on them.

Thankfully, most of them were still solid enough to hold for a moment before crumbling, giving him just enough time to find another foothold.

He carefully moved from one stable spot to another, sliding down along the rope and occasionally pushing himself away from the slope to land on a lower patch of rock.

Without too much trouble or wasting much time, he finally reached the wide opening and pushed his body inside, entering the cave with ease.

He stuck his head out and called upward, "You can come. Just be careful where you step. The rocks aren’t very sturdy."

Hearing him, Matrim swallowed nervously and gripped the rope tightly with both hands.

He wasn’t afraid of heights, but his body was so heavy that he was always extremely careful around high places.

If he fell, he was sure he wouldn’t only die. His corpse would probably turn into meat paste at the foot of the mountain, leaving no proper grave behind.

After taking a few breaths to calm his racing heart, he finally lowered himself down.

He made sure not to go as fast as Magna, who had simply jumped down a few times until he reached his destination. Instead, Matrim went step by step, carefully choosing where to place his feet each time.

Everything was going well, and he gradually regained his courage until the next rock he stepped on suddenly cracked and broke apart.

His footing disappeared, and his body swung into the open air. He immediately gripped the rope with all his strength, relying only on his grip strength and the muscles in his arms to hold his almost half-ton body.

"I’m a bird. I can fly," he muttered, trying to calm his suddenly racing heart while he searched for somewhere to place his feet.

"Are you alright?" Magna asked, looking up with concern.

If the boy suddenly started falling, there was no way even he could hold him. Matrim’s body was practically no different from a giant rock.

Matrim finally found a small ledge and placed his foot on it. "Yeah. Just be careful of falling rocks."

Even in that state, he was mindful enough to think about Magna’s safety and warn him.

"Yeah, just think about yourself. Take it easy. We have time," Magna replied before turning his attention back to the cave while waiting.

The cave stretched quite far into the mountain, its depths so dark he couldn’t tell how far it went.

But the golden glimmer covering everything was enough to make him happy and certain that he had found the right place.

’Looks like the mana density increases the deeper the cave goes.’

He could tell just by looking at the golden glow. The farther into the cave it went, the brighter and purer the golden color became.

It was also shocking how much mana there was. If he had to compare it to something, the cave had an even higher mana concentration than the Golden Sunberry farm he had seen before, at least as far as he could see.

He could only guess how much mana was stored deeper inside.

It was just too bad there was no way he could consume this mana.

He tried to breathe in the mana-rich air, but the only thing he felt was his mind growing cloudy. He wasn’t able to absorb it into his own mana reserve.

He realized that the pure mana in the air and the mana found in food were different, almost like one was processed food while the other was in its pure form. He could only consume the processed kind.

While he was thinking, Matrim finally arrived, carefully sliding down the rope until he reached him.

Magna looked at his slightly pale and sweat-covered face. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I’m used to it." He smiled and started looking inside the cave too.

He couldn’t see the mana, but he could slightly feel his head starting to spin and his eyes growing heavy.

Not knowing if it was because of the fear he had just experienced, he asked to make sure. "Do you feel slightly dizzy too?"

"Yeah," Magna answered, starting to walk deeper into the cave. "Looks like the mana density increases as we go deeper. Just find a proper place and try to get used to it."

Finding the right spot, where the mana density was high enough to force their bodies to adapt but not enough to make them lose consciousness, was all they needed.

It was also quite warm inside the cave, and the deeper they went, the hotter it became. This meant they were truly moving toward the center of the volcano.

It was still nowhere near hot enough to be unbearable, so Magna kept going, looking for the perfect spot to push his limits.

After walking exactly 11 steps, he found that exact spot.

’I think this is as far as I can go.’

His head was spinning so badly that he even felt his gag reflex kicking in.

His thoughts were becoming blurry, and he felt almost drunk.

Matrim was farther behind him, having only managed to take 7 steps. "If I take one more step, I’m sure I’ll collapse," he said from behind, his voice sounding tired and strained.

"Okay, let’s stay here for a while and see if we can get used to it."

They sat on the ground cross-legged and started to wait.

All they had to do now was get their bodies used to the high mana density and see if their resilience could increase this way.

And as if to give him some heads-up, Gaia’s mechanical voice rang out in his head the next second.

[Your Stamina increased by 1.]