Legendary Traveler: By Earning Progress Points I will Become Supreme!

Now, some may be wondering why Aoni didn't just jump right into trying out his new Passive, the Pocket Dimension (Inventory), and the answer was relatively simple: he had the innate knowledge that, as of right now, he couldn't access it.

Just like with normal Passives, such as Swordsmanship, Aoni had all the information pertaining to it infused with his mind and body, and that was why until he could get used to manipulating his Energia, moving it in the specified patterns and directions recorded in the passive, was basically impossible.

After all, you have to crawl before walking and then running.

'Accumulate, Purify, and Manipulate; those are the three stages of the utilization of Energia.' Remembering what his dad had taught him, Aoni closed his eyes and located his EC beside his heart, which was currently the size of a two- or three-year-old child's hand thanks to his D- Rank Stat.

'The Energia within my EC needs to be kick-started, like turning on a washing machine; there are some steps that need to be done before my clothing is cleaned, IE, adding clothes, then detergent/water, then starting the machine.'

'But before any of that, I need to open the lid,' with his eyes closed and breathing regulated, Aoni inhaled the ambient Energia and, using his EC as a container filled it with as much of the resource as possible. Of course, it was already close to full since, apart from natural leakage, he had yet ever to use any Energia.

'Top me off, and begin condensing, applying mental pressure to add motion to the innate,' Alongside this thought, a faint warmth permeated through Aoni's chest as his EC flared up like a sleeping giant rising.

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After several seconds of this, the Lad believed he had come far enough, as his EC couldn't hold any more Ambient Energia, so it was time to move on to the second step, Purification.

'Alright, the clothes, water, and detergent are already present; now I need to start the spin cycle to get everything clean,' sticking to the Washing machine theory, Aoni pictured that very image while focusing on the feeling of something moving in his chest.@@novelbin@@

It was faint and comfortable, so the more Aoni immersed himself in it, the more likely he was to get lost and lose his grasp on the process; however, being aware that this was happening, the Lad persisted until he could innately tell that 10% of his Energia had been converted into Elementalized Ice, and the other 90% was Personal Non-Elementalized Energia.

Just like with fingerprints, every being's Energia is slightly different from anyone elses and technically identifiable; that's because of the Purification Phase; by drawing in Naturally occurring Energia and altering it, a being can transform it into an extension of themselves, much like blood.

Using the knowledge implanted by his Energia Manipulation Passive, Aoni was able to estimate roughly when the phase was complete and subsequently knew when it was time to move on to the final phase, Manipulation.

For this, the entire analogy changes from a washing machine to something more obscure, a barrel full of water.

As such, standing there in front of the firepit, Aoni shifted his mental image and focused on the strange new sensations brought about by having access to his Energia.

"Foooo," exhaling loudly, Aoni felt a subtle itch in the center of his chest as he thought about the mysterious resource as a liquid sloshing around inside of a barrel.

From his lessons and what he had learned from the passive Manipulation, this was the easiest method to access Energia. Imagine a half-full barrel and what happens when shaken: the water inside will move around until it reaches a breaking point and either spills over the lip of the barrel or the object tilts over and dumps its contents.

Using this analogy, Aoni only wanted the spillover effect and not to open up the spillway. Still, when he eventually succeeded, he felt an oppressive counterforce weighing down his body, akin to trying to move in quicksand.

The Lad's every movement became sluggish and near lethargic as Energia moved out of his Energia Cell and into his body, starting with his chest and then outer extremities.

Soon enough, the counterforce covered Aoni's entire body in an invisible haze.

'This is where things get challenging because…I have no idea what works for me. Do I go with shouting attack names, like some shitty anime protagonist, or should I go the route of chanting spells…hold up, do I even know anything which could be considered a spell…' opening his eyes and examining his body to try and spot any changes, Aoni blinked several times before realizing apart from what he'd seen on tv, he didn't actually know anything which could be considered a "Real Spell" or chant.

"Eh, how about we start off with something simple, like…making a spot on my palm that is cold enough not to melt snow." Struggling to move because of the counterforce weighing him down, Aoni slogged his way from the fire toward a random pile of snow.

'Ok…how should I do this,' slowly but surely, reaching his goal and pausing before the knee-high mound of snow, Aoni's face scrunched up in thought as he tried to figure out a working method for his idea.

'For starters, the Energia near my hand should be Elementalized, hold up…that's it, Imagery, imagine myself holding the snow and it not being melted by my body heat…' With that thought, a flash of his hand filled with snow that didn't melt entered Aoni's mind's eye, and just like that, he felt a shift in the counterforce as a chilling sensation flowed from his chest to his left arm and ended at his hand.

'That…was easier than I thought…' staring at his palm a few seconds and working it with a few squeezes, Aoni reached down and scooped up a bit of snow before bringing it to eye level and examining it carefully.

His observations caused the Lad to break into a wide grin because not only did he not feel the chill of the snow, but it also wasn't melting, a clear sign he was successful in his first, albeit minor, use of Energia.