Imri sat cross-legged, staring at the human-sized eggs. Judging by the rate at which his mana dropped, they were also quite dense. While he could maintain this for hours, he suspected that wouldn’t be enough. Maintaining Meditation was also challenging, as he had to hold two instances of the Stasis spell. He preemptively took the most potent of his longer-duration mana regeneration potions. The increase was significant, though his mana was still decreasing. Of course, he could absorb mana through his Espeonite crystals, but once he gained the over-channel debuff, the rate of mana expenditure would increase dramatically.
He was distantly aware of the others approaching him, undoubtedly having sensed the Dragon's disappearance. They said something, but his mind was too preoccupied to comprehend what they were saying. Fortunately, Emelia could explain what was happening since she could understand his intentions through their Soul Bond connection.
With nothing to do for hours, if not days, he turned the focus of his Meditation inward. He conducted a thorough body scan to grasp his tier two physiology better. He had done this before but had always needed more time to do it properly. The obvious change, and least interesting in his opinion, was the improvement to his outward physique. He delved further in, feeling the inner workings of his body. Every part of his body was more efficient, including his heart and lungs, pumping more blood and oxygen. However, the most profound change of tier two was an entirely new system. Leylines snaked through his body, carrying mana at a far greater rate than before. They originated from where his inner domain existed and stretched to his extremities. He could go in even further, feeling the mana inside the leylines, far denser than anything outside his body. He could feel its warmth, like a pleasant tingling that spread throughout his new vein-like structure.
Imri began adjusting his body. He started with the easy part, controlling his breathing in and out. He took deep breaths in through his nose and out through his mouth. From there, he controlled his body at a deeper level. He manipulated the rhythm of his heart, slowing it to facilitate a trance state. He found that he had even greater control, down to a cellular level. He could eradicate bacteria or viruses, making it so we would never get sick again. He could even bio-engineer himself, changing his body's structure and function. Of course, that wouldn’t be a swift process with his current control, and it would take months to make even a minor modification.
Imri controlled the mana circulating throughout his body, gently manipulating its flow. It sped up, transversing slightly faster. Unfortunately, he quickly reached the limit of his improvements; it was a slight increase, but it pushed him ever closer to a mana-neutral state.
With nothing else to do while he endured, he began making a slight modification to himself. He willed the leylines in his body to expand, allowing a greater volume of mana to circulate. He emphasized two key areas. The first were small leylines that led from his skin to the larger branches. They facilitated passive mana absorption of ambient mana that came into contact with his skin. The second was the leylines around his lungs, taking in mana with each breath and spreading it to the rest of the body.
With Imri entirely focused on his body and his spells, he lost all frames of reference to the passing of time. Only the slow decline of his mana gave him any indication that time marched onward. Eventually, he needed to withdraw an Espeonite crystal to refill his mana. However, as soon as that was done, he resumed meditating.
He absently drank a mana potion every time the previous one had expired. He lost track of how many he had consumed, but the nausea from the potion toxicity told him it had been quite a few. Imri ignored the unpleasant feeling and continued pushing himself. Eventually, his body rejected a potion and tried to throw it up. Imri stopped his leyline improvement and controlled his stomach. He forced it to absorb the potion while dispersing as much of the impurities as he could. This allowed him to consume a couple more potions before it became too much, and he emptied the contents of his stomach. It didn’t matter; all that mattered was that he kept going, kept giving Corrolth more time to recover.
Imri continued cycling through his mana, absorbing mana whenever he neared empty. Eventually, he lost track of how often he had depleted his mana. He had managed to push his regeneration, allowing him to stave off over-channeling for far longer than he thought possible. Unfortunately, he had only just managed, and with his inability to consume more potions, he eventually received the over-channel debuff. The end was inevitable from there, as his mana regen was insufficient to cover the mana expenditure of the Stasis spells. Still, Imri held out as long as he could. He felt overheated between the mana and stamina expenditure, like an overworked computer with poor circulation. Sweat soaked his clothing and dripped off him in a steady stream.
Rapidly, Imri approached the point of no return. He needed to save enough mana to retrieve Corrolth before he passed out. Ultimately, his stamina was the weak link, and he was forced to summon the dragon right before he passed out.
When he came to, he was leaning against the scaly skin of Corrolth, who had her tail shielding him from the outside world. Emelia, who had been watching over him, began nervously checking to ensure he was alright.
“I’m fine,” Imri said dismissively.
“I thought I told you not to push so hard. That’s twice in one month that you almost died from overexertion. Enough monsters are trying to kill you; don’t add yourself to that list,” Emelia scolded him.
“Be proud of your mate. He pushed himself far more than I thought possible. It is a miraculous thing he has done,” Corrolth said as she lowered her head to be level with the two humans. Emelia flushed at being called a mate, even if she was pregnant.
‘She wouldn’t let us near you, even when we said we were trying to help. I had to explain our relationship to her, and even then, she was reluctant,’ Emelia sent through their bond.
“Did you get enough mana?” Imri asked.
“Yes, I believe so. I must conserve my mana, devoting almost all to nurturing my eggs.”
Imri nodded. He still felt weak, but he was quickly recovering. That’s when he noticed the spot where he had been during his trance. Over a dozen glass vials were strewn about, far more than Imri had thought possible.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
“How long has it been?” Imri asked.
“You were out for almost a day,” Emelia said.
“I mean, how long since I met with Corrolth?”
“Seriously? You were in such a flow state that you don’t know how long it's been?” Emelia asked in exasperation. At a nod from Imri, she continued, “You have been watching the eggs for five days.”
Imri was shocked. He had expected significant time to have elapsed, but nearly a week was unfathomable. Fortunately, numerous system prompts told him he had gained more than a dragon's favor.
New Tratis Gained
Mana Circulation (2F): Improves mana regeneration rate by 5%.
Potion Toxicity Resistance (1F): Increases resistance to potion toxicity by 5%.
Traits Rank Up
Shaped by Mana F to E: Your physical body is a construct of mana. Increases mana by 3.15% (+.15%). Allows your mana to be converted to HP or FP at a rate equal to mana regeneration rate.
Inner Domain F to E: 1.03 Kilometer/100 Willpower (+.03 Kilometers/100 willpower) dimensions in each direction. 3% Increase in mana efficiency for storing and removing items.
Skill Rank Up
Transcendent Meditation F to E: While in a state of meditation, you gain +1.08% resource regeneration / 10 Willpower (+.03%/10 willpower)
Spell Rank Up
Stasis F to D: 6% increase in spells mana efficiency
Quest Updated
Class Rank Up E to D: Learn new space or time spells 5/15, rank up space or time spells 10/20, visit new celestial bodies 0/3, have space or time spells of tier 3 or higher 1/5.
Base Willpower increased to 137 (+1)
Imri smiled at the gains he had made for his efforts. Emelia, who immediately knew why he was pleased, groaned in annoyance.
“I really wish the system wouldn’t encourage this behavior,” she complained, having already given up on trying to persuade him not to do this sort of thing.
“Imri, I am in your debt,” Corrolth said, using his name for the first time. She lowered her head so it touched the ground.
“Would you fight an Azala Hive Queen with us?” Imri asked hopefully.
“Unfortunately, I’m still constrained to my nest and cannot provide direct assistance. Even after that time, I am limited by the ambient mana of the planet and will need to journey to the star to recharge.”
Imri’s hopes shattered like a pane of glass. While he didn’t regret what he had done, it hadn’t provided the immediate assistance his people so badly needed. His disappointment must have been obvious because Corrolth quickly added, “However, I may be able to provide some small aid.”
Corrolth raised a taloned forelimb and scratched at her skin, dislodging several loose scales. Each individual scale was larger than a car door and probably more dense. They slammed into the ground with tremendous concussive force. Fortunately, Imri and Emelia were far enough away from the impacts that they weren’t hurt, but the force still sent them tumbling to the ground. The dragon, heedless of the fact that its dandruff had nearly killed their savior, continued scratching a few more locations.
When the barrage ended, there were around twenty scales on the nearby ground. Imri walked up and inspected one. Unfortunately, his Identify skill didn’t give any helpful information, as a tier 4 material was too much of a gap to overcome, even with his traits.
“Unfortunately, you won’t be able to do much with these, as your crafters will be too low-level to work with the material. However, each scale is a nearly priceless treasure to a high-ranking tier 3 craftsman or a low to mid-tier 4. If you could sell this on a higher tier world, each would sell for tens if not hundreds of millions of credits. The system will only give you a small fraction of that but should still give a couple of million credits per scale,” Corrolth said.
Imri stared at the pile of scales. What had once looked like a pile of car doors was now unimaginable wealth. All his grinding and hard work was insignificant compared to this.
“How about a few more scales, then? I did save your children after all,” Imri said, pushing his luck. Instead of looking at him, Corrolth stared in the distance, then shook her head.
“Imri, I would strip my hide for you. Unfortunately, I have given all I can without drawing the ire of powerful forces. Perhaps, after the auction, I can provide more than some dry skin,” Corrolth said with sincerity.
“Do you mean the system or the Collective Intelligence?” Imri asked.
“Both,” Corrolth said, practically snarling as she spoke.
“Not a fan of either of them?” Emelia asked.
“My hatred for the system is a new thing. I should not be here but for its meddling. Dragons and the Collective Intelligence have always been opposed. We are free and live our lives following whims and emotions, the total opposite of those hunks of malfunctioning machinery,” Corrolth said, literally spitting something in anger. The spittle landed and immediately erased the ground around it like a Dimensional Tear, creating a hole deeper than one made by an oil drill. Imri was definitely glad the dragon was on his side.
“I’ve seen the Collective Intelligence’s meddling, but what can the system do?” Imri asked.
“It won’t interfere directly. However, get on its bad side, and you might find that a tier five was offered an enticing reward for eliminating you. You don’t want to make the system your enemy,” Corrolth explained. Imri had to concur.
At this point, their conversation had attracted the attention of the rest of their group. Corrolth still interposed herself between Imri and the others. It would have been endearing, but he was concerned she would kill them, either accidentally or on purpose. Imri reassured the protective dragon that he was fine and wasn’t in danger of being assassinated by his friends.
While Imri wanted to sit and talk with the dragon for days, he had already been gone far longer than he had planned. The auction was only a couple of weeks away, and he needed to prepare. He walked around and placed each of the scales in his Inner Domain. Finally, before he left, he placed a Dimensional Waypoint. Corrolth had no issues with them settling the area, so long as no one ventured closer than a kilometer. Somehow, Imri didn’t think that would be a hard sell.
Imri’s over-channel debuff had subsided, so he opened a portal to the college town, and everyone stepped through.