Disgustingly, the valuable mana stones were submerged in the foul, dirty water. Gaige had no qualms about wading into the water, given his earlier life in a squalid slum twenty years ago, when he was still a weak commoner boy. However, he paused, his gaze fixated on the mana stones.

"Wait, there are no mages here," he realized, his excitement fading. He furrowed his brow. "There's nothing to get excited about. They're pretty much useless here."

Mana is a form of energy found in nature and within individuals, serving as the source of all magic. Mana stones were unrefined minerals that emitted raw magic and were often used by mages to enhance their spells when their mana was insufficient or in various alchemical recipes.

However, magic was unknown on Earth; only a select few could wield it, and most of them were spirits or heavenly beings. Earth's inhabitants didn't use magic, and those with mana had enough of it naturally, rendering mana stones superfluous. This was why these valuabl