Even though he wasn't using a single mana particle to enhance his Emperor Eyes' sight, it was not difficult for Jason to see something particular in the depths of the ground.
'A mana vein?' Jason thought the moment the droplet of blood fell to the ground.
Seeing this, the Mewi were shocked and quickly asked him if everything was okay, but Jason simply nodded his head, his eyes trained on the mana vein.
With a mana vein right below the village, the villagers should have never faced a mana scarcity. Instead, there should be a mana overflow, which was however, not the case.
As such, Jason was momentarily confused, even more so because he hadn't seen the mana vein before.
In the end, it didn't take long for him to find out why he hadn't perceived the mana vein, let alone the mana overflow.
In fact, there was no overflow of mana, but that was only the case because it looked like the mana vein was either damaged by something, or blocked.
According to the condition put forth by the village chief, he wasn't allowed to absorb mana, hence Jason didn't want to use up the remaining mana that was stored within him.
At least, not right now.
Because of that, he could only roughly gauge where the damaged or blocked part of the mana vein was.
It was quite far away, and Jason could tell that he and the Mewi would be able to cultivate properly the moment the mana vein was fixed.
Even if Jason was not sure how exactly he could make that happen, it was not something that should be impossible.
He was in the Dungeon of the Primordial Descendants' trial, and not reality, after all!
With a total of seven days left before he would have to leave the village, Jason had many things to do because his primary task was to protect the village with his utmost efforts.
There were several problems the village was facing, and mana scarcity was just one of them.
Mana was the primary and only source of energy for the Mewi that kept them alive.
Thus, the damaged mana vein had become the biggest problem of all, even though there were more than enough other issues they were currently facing.
Amongst these issues were not only the dangers of wildlife as Jason had already figured out, but also that of the oceanfolk!
Jason thought that he had heard wrongly, but that was not the case. Oceanfolks were infiltrating the valley, which was something he couldn't understand at all.
They were in a valley that was surrounded by a mountain range, so Jason obviously doubted that oceanfolk could suddenly infiltrate and attack the valley.
Yet, when he heard that the river he had bathed in before had its origin in the ocean, he was even more confused.
That was because Jason had assumed that it originated from the mountains themselves.
However, now that Jason was slowly getting to know the truth, he also knew that the true dangers might come from behind the mountain range, and not from within.
Despite that, it was now even more incomprehensible for him to understand why the Mewi, which didn't require even a single drop of water to survive, wouldn't relocate their village.
This task wouldn't even be a difficult one to achieve.
Unfortunately, this was where the true issues lay and Jason was finally beginning to understand the severity of the second trial's difficulty which he had grossly underestimated!
"The village is already located at the position with the highest density of mana...at least, based on the proofs left behind by the other villages that were on the lookout for the best locations in terms of mana density, how easy it is to defend that spot, and so on."
One of the older Mewi said with a deep sigh, and when Jason heard this, he couldn't help but be confused for a moment.
'Multiple villages? I thought there was only one…' In the end, Jason didn't even realise that he hadn't clearly understood the artificial intelligence when it had announced the second trial, owing to his focus that had been elsewhere at that time.
Yet, his subconscious was reminding him what he had to pay attention to, and that everything was more complex than he thought it to be.
Not only was this village forced to face the dangers of the oceanfolk and the wildlife, but the others too.
As such, it was only when one of the worried women of the village said something that realisation struck Jason.
"The next attack of the oceanfolk should be soon. That is probably also why the tribe chief allowed you to stay. The more people protect the village, the better! I'm sorry to say this, but even with your strength it might be difficult to protect the village in the next wave…."
Saying so, the woman began to cry, and Jason couldn't help but feel as if his subconscious was slowly emerging, repeatedly hinting at him that he was missing something important.
"Our defenses were destroyed during the last wave of attacks, and the strongest of us were searching for proper materials to build a defensive wall! We have some things in the warehouse but it's not even close to enough to build the entire wall!
Unfortunately, the other villages aren't inclined to help us because they themselves are struggling with similar problems and seem to be targeted by the waves of the Oceanfolk's attacks!
Just at that moment, Jason's head began to ache as he recalled the exact words of the artificial intelligence that had clearly said "villages".
This was when it finally dawned on him.
'Wait?! The trial said that I should protect the Villages...do I have to protect them all?! Fuck, how could I interpret the entire trial so wrongly?'
Knowing that the oceanfolk would soon attack, Jason couldn't help but start sweating profusely.
Even if he was only allowed to stay for seven more days inside the village, that didn't mean he could help defend against the attack of the oceanfolk properly.
At the same time, Jason realised that he would only protect one of many villages, which was apparently not what he was supposed to do in the second trial.
He was not sure how many villages existed, but starting a search through the entire valley, right now, was not something he was ought to do.
Rather, Jason wanted to find a different way to help because it seemed that everything was multiple times more complicated than he thought before.
Despite that, he remained calm, unbothered by the fact that the villagers were not confident of surviving the next attack of the oceanfolk.
This astonished the Mewi that were further flustered to hear Jason asking a multitude of questions to them.
"How strong are the average beings of the oceanfolk? What were their numbers during the last wave of attack, and how long will it take before they launch their next attack? I just need a rough number to calculate everything.
By the way, how strong are the villagers here, and those residing in the other villages? Can you guys fight beings that have the same cultivation base, or will it deprive you of your mana?
What kinds of materials do you guys use? The trees from before or other, more unique materials?"
Somehow, Jason looked insane, yet, at the same time, the villagers couldn't help but feel like he was a samaritan too.
'Why would he ask that multitude of questions, if he didn't plan to help us defend against the wave of the oceanfolk?' That was what everyone had on their mind, and unbeknownst to them, Jason was giving them a faint trace of hope to survive the next attack and fight instead of cowering in their homes.
Even though Jason was not the strongest, or one of their people, the calmness with which he approached the issue he had just gotten to know, made them feel that he had faced a similar situation several times in the past.
At the same time, his confidence was easily perceptible through the Celestia aura that flared up, fanning their determination, as they began to answer the questions Jason asked with as much details as possible.
They were not even aware that they were not as helpless as before anymore, and instead willing to brave the dangers they had to face.
At that moment, the tribe chief, who was observing them from further away without any emotion within his eyes, mumbled,
"Looks like I approached the wrong path to convince these idiots…well, what does it matter?"
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