Ning tried to think of something since Hyesi refused to throw his necklace into the fire.
"Okay, how about this then. Search for a giant stone somewhere, and bring it back to the fire." Ning decided to use an alternative method. Hyesi complied and ran off along the beach to start finding giant rocks.
"Does this work, bright Inikaka?" he asked holding a stone about double the size of his palms. Ning looked at the childish palms holding the average-looking stones.
"Try and see if there are bigger ones. The bigger the better." Now that he was forced to search for new rock, he decided to use one that had the most surface area, so that it could gather the most heat.
Hyesi searched around for a few more minutes before he found a rock that satisfied Ning. "What should I do now, bright Inikaka?"
"Bring it back to the site where the fire is," Ning said. Hyesi practically ran off and reached the fire within a minute. "We are here, Inikaka. What should I do now?"
Ning thought for a moment and said, "Let me bless that rock and give it my powers. Touch that rock with your necklace."
Hyesi complied and brought the stone to his chest, slowly touching it to his necklace.
'Give me full authority to use the body switch whenever I want to, system,' Ning ordered and waited for the system's affirmation.
<You have always had this ability>
'What? Why did you make me ask every time then?' Ning got unusually annoyed.
<The system never said you had to ask>
<You did that yourself>
'Whatever. How do I use it then? Is it like the Candle Fire?' he asked.
<Yes>
'Alright then. Think of yourself as jumping into that stone.' He started to visualize it and within a split second, he felt his consciousness shifting.
'I did it!' he shouted internally. He wanted to make an external shout as well but decided against it.
"Alright, lower this rock into that pit of fire now." He waited for Hyesi to respond after commanding him.
Hyesi did as asked and placed the rock into the fire.
'Ah… YES. Finally. Finally, I can get energy whenever I want. Hey system, show me the energy values per second.'
<Confirmed>
<You have gained 150 energy>
<You have gained 150 energy>
<You have gained 150 energy>
<You have gained 150 energy>
'Stop,' Ning said as the energy intake continued to flow in.
'System, what is going on? Why am I taking in so less energy?' he asked.
<The rock is only surrounded in a small area with actual flames>
<Most of the flames are just going away with the heated wind.>
'What? That's bullsh*t. How long will it take me then?' he started to count the numbers in his head.
At 150 energy every second, he would get 9000 energy every minute. Which wasn't very bad. If he could keep it up, he could gain 560,000 energy in an hour.
'Well, that's not really bad I guess. "Hyesi, look after the flame and add more of those dried leaves when it's starting to burn away, okay?"
Hyesi got alert as soon as he heard it. "I understand, O bright Inikaka." He immediately got to work. Every time the fire would get low, he would add more dried leaves and coconut shells from the pile.
Ning, however, didn't see any of it. 'System, wake me up when the fire stops burning here, okay?'
<confirmed>
Ning went unconscious. When he got back to consciousness, he didn't know how long of a time had passed.
'The system didn't play a trick on me and kept me sleeping for months on end again, did it?' he thought. 'Nah, no way.'
'Status'
[Status
Name: Ning Ruogong
Energy: 3,000,000
Skills: Simultaneous Thinking, Basic Map, Beginner's Klavis Language, Candle Fire
]
'Huh? That's more energy than what I would've imagined, but somehow, I'm still disappointed,' Ning said as he looked at the status.
'At this rate, it will take me … uhh… 6 days to get the 22 million energy.' Ning sighed at the thought of having to do this every day for 6 more days.
'System, how long was I out this time?' he asked.
<You were unconscious for 3 hours and 34 minutes>
'That's … a surprisingly normal amount you've said for the first time, system. But, wait a second. How did I get 2.5 million energy in 3 and a half hours? Shouldn't it have been 5 hours?' he asked.
<You gained 2.5 million energy in 2 hours and 12 minutes>
'Huh? It didn't even require that long? What is going on?' Ning asked as he was greatly confused.
<You've discovered daily caps>
<You can earn maximum energy of 2.5 million every 24 hours>
<You will have to wait 24 hours after reaching your cap to gain more energy>
'What? Why didn't you tell me this before?' asked Ning, rightfully frustrated.
<You have never received this much energy in a single day>
'Has it always been here then?' he asked.
<Yes>
<It was kept unknown until the first day you gathered over 2.5 million in 24 hours>
<You can increase the cap through the shop>
'Well, Sh*t. Guess I have nothing to do for another day then.' He looked around and saw Hyesi just standing there looking at the now extinguished fire.
"Kid, put your necklace on top of this rock." He needed to go back into the necklace. Hyesi did as asked and took off his necklace and put it on top of the very hot rock. Apparently, he didn't care much for the heat.
Ning switched bodies on his own, without any help from the system. He was getting used to it.
"Alright, you did well for today. You will have to do this for a week and I can make you strong after that." Ning felt bad having to make the kid wait for another week before helping him.
"Go do whatever you have to for now."