Gasp!!
“Haaa… Haaa… Haaa…” Mika woke up abruptly, taking in deep, heavy breaths.
“Ha… Haha… HAHAHAHA! I did it! I lived! Hahaha!” To say she was happy would be an understatement. She had brushed past death on more than one occasion and suffered unimaginable pain, all for a chance at gaining a rare affinity.
She clenched her fists, feeling the blood run through her body, and released a massive grin.
Then, she noticed that her body seemed bigger and stronger than before, causing her smile to grow. She would need to be an idiot not to understand what this meant.
“Hahaha! This opportunity not only allowed me to gain a new affinity, I even broke through in my Body Cultivation much faster than expected!”
Although she still couldn’t see anything due to the darkness, she knew that her body had grown.
After a few moments, when Mika finally calmed down, she noticed that the Spatial Mana around her wasn’t doing any damage to her body.
It still pierced her skin like a bunch of ultra-thin needles, but it didn’t cause any damage.
‘Is this because of my newly acquired Space Affinity?’ Mika mused and nodded as she couldn’t find a better explanation.
‘I guess I should check my Status before doing anything else.’
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Status Window]
[Name: Mika Zoller]
[Titles: Body Of Mana(EX)]
[Species: Human]
[Class: Null(Swordsman)]
{Cultivation Techniques}
[Mana Gathering: ]
[Body: Absolute Sword Body Technique]
{Attributes}
[Body Cultivation: Middle-Stage Absolute Sword Body]
[Mana Gathering Cultivation: 1st Stage Black Core]
[Affinities: [Fire(EX)] [Darkness(EX)] [Space(A)]
{Skills}
[Mind Space Lv. 3]
[Meditation Lv. 1]
{Spells}
[Fireball (F)(Beginner)]
[Blink (F++)(Incomplete)]
{Unique Spells}
[Mana Control (F--)(Adept)]
{Techniques}
[Volcanic Burst (F++)(Beginner)]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
“An [A] Rank affinity, huh… Oh, I guess [Blink] was the Spell that saved me at the last second,” Mika muttered and checked out the description of the Spell.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Blink: Within your sense’s range, merge your Spatial Mana with the surrounding space and shift to your chosen location. You can travel up to 1 meter. Caution: Be careful not to meld into a wall or the ground and die!]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mika’s eyes widened at this nonsensical Spell, and she felt a chill run down her spine at the System’s warning.
“Damn! What an overpowered ability! And it’s only at Incomplete Proficiency as well! I can’t even imagine how strong it’ll be once I bring it to Consummate! I’ll have to test it out when I get out of this abyss.”
Mika didn’t look down on that one meter as, in a fight, one meter is surprisingly far. If she could teleport one meter, she could win most of her battles in a single blow!
[Not Teleport, Host. It’s Blink.]
Mika’s eyebrows twitched, ‘Same thing!’
[No, it’s not.]
After that, the System went quiet, and Mika stroked her chin as she went deep into thought.
‘Then, does that mean there’s a Teleport Spell? But how does it differ from [Blink]?’
She thought for a moment but soon shook her head. While she guessed that if she were to become strong enough, she could learn to teleport, she was thinking too far ahead.
‘What am I doing thinking about other Spells? I haven’t even gotten used to my new affinity!’
That said, Mika sent her consciousness inside her body and checked out her Mana Core to see what had changed, but she was left a little disappointed as almost nothing was different.
The only difference was that now her Mana Core had specks of Spatial Mana in it, along with Fire and Darkness Mana. However, she wasn’t expecting something significant to happen, so she quickly got over it.
However, it’s not like she gained nothing other than a Space Affinity.
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“I think I know how to proceed with my Mana Cultivation!” Mika declared with a grin so large that her dimples showed.
Mika’s number one priority when cultivating is her foundation. She won’t make it very far if she has a shaky foundation. On the contrary, if her foundation is as sturdy as a mountain, the heights she can reach will be beyond her wildest imagination.
So, what constitutes a foundation?
Mika has pondered on this question for countless hours and finally came to a conclusion today while falling into a bottomless pit.
“One’s foundation is a combination of their Affinity, Mana Core and Pathways, Mana Control, and Cultivation Technique.”
Without a sufficiently high-ranked Affinity and well-made Mana Circuit, one‘s will never be able to unleash their full potential.
However, having a high proficiency in Mana Control can help bridge the talent gap.
Meanwhile, a Cultivation Technique brings out one’s maximum potential, tying it all together.
That’s the theory Mika came up with, but it wasn’t perfect. She still needed a deeper understanding of Mana, cultivation techniques, and Mana Control to flesh her theory out.
Why was the rank of one’s affinity so important?
Why is one’s Mana Circuit so important?
Why is Mana Control so important?
Why does she need a cultivation technique?
What must she do to increase the depth of her foundation if she has already maxed out everything?
These seemingly simple and common questions plagued Mika’s mind.
At first glance, they all seem like separate entities: Affinity equals talent, Mana Circuit equals strength, Mana Control is only useful for Spells, and a Cultivation Technique is only needed to help gather mana.
“Well, that’s not exactly wrong. But are things really so simple?”
Mika didn’t think so, and that thought sublimated after she ate the [Mind Enhancing Mango].
One’s affinity, Mana Circuit, and Mana Control should all be interconnected via a Personalized Cultivation Technique. Since everybody comprehends and views the world differently, their Cultivation Technique should be a reflection of their understanding.
That’s where Mana Control and Affinity come into play, as the latter is how you view the world, and the former is how well you can control that outlook. Meanwhile, a Mana Circuit is just there to provide power to everything else.
However, isn’t the point of cultivating to obtain more power?
Now that Mika understood what and why she only needed to figure out the how, and she could complete her Mana Cultivation Technique!
Though Mika believed she had already deduced that as well!
Staring at the Elemental Mana Specks in the shell of her Mana Core, Mika muttered, “The foundation of my Cultivation Technique starts there. I need to transform those specks into a pseudo-Mana Core that will either dwell inside my main Mana Core or encapsulate it.”
There was no doubt in her mind that that was her path forward. It was an incredibly tall task, but Mika was confident that this was the only way to create a perfect foundation for her future.
She also understood that there was only so much she could do in the Black Core Realm, and she shouldn’t try and do too much. Cultivation was a journey, not a race, and Mika intended to thoroughly excavate each Realm before moving forward.
“Still, with so much Darkness Mana around me, wouldn’t it be a waste not to test out my theory?” Mika’s body trembled in excitement, and she immediately activated her [Mind Space] to test her theory.
While she couldn’t simulate everything in her [Mind Space], it was close enough to reality that she could at least grasp the basics.
So, she sat down crosslegged and began going through a process of trial and error.
After an unknown amount of time, Mika’s eyes opened, and a smile so bright that it could almost pierce the darkness appeared on her face.
“...It works,” She said softly, trying to contain her emotions.
Sometime later, she closed her eyes again without losing her smile and muttered, “Let’s see if it works in reality.”
She reached out and grasped every bit of Darkness Mana in her surroundings and sucked it into her Mana Core, merging it with the specks already there!
Her eyes became the shape of crescent moons, and her smile grew, but she didn’t stop absorbing Darkness Mana.
More and more entered her core, and soon, a faint outline of a second black sphere shone inside the shell of her Mana Core!
“It works!” Mika’s eyes brightened, “Hahaha! This hole is really a gold mine!”
She didn’t stop absorbing Darkness Mana until she felt full.
However, when Mika opened her eyes, she nearly jumped in surprise!
“I can see again?! Did I absorb that much?!”
That’s right! She could see her surroundings! Although it was still dark, it wasn’t pitch black like it was before!
“Sigh… To think I would absorb so much for such a small improvement!”
While she did manage to complete the formation of a pseudo-elemental core inside the shell of her primary Mana Core, and it was denser than what someone with an average affinity could create, she had to use a literal fuck load of Darkness to achieve that. The amount of mana she absorbed was probably enough to increase her Realm by several stages!
“...I guess it makes sense. My affinity’s rank is at the peak, and my Mana Control isn’t that high, so a lot of what I absorbed went to waste, but isn’t this a bit too much? How would I be able to cultivate in the future if I don’t have an entire city’s worth of Elemental Mana?”
She thought bitterly but just shook her head.
“There’s no use thinking about this now. I managed to complete one pseudo-elemental core. If I want to speed up the process, I either need to find a place with abundant Spatial and Fire Mana or bring my Mana Control proficiency to Consummate.”
Neither was easy, but the latter option was at least under her control.
“I’ll focus on my Mana Control from now on,” Mika clenched her fists and declared.
Then she stood up and approached the wall.
“Let’s leave this place!”
She jabbed her fingers at the wall-
*Crack!*
-and embedded them about a centimeter deep in the smooth stone.
She did the same with her other hand, then kicked two small indentions in the wall for her feet to propel off.
Already feeling a slight tingle in her fingers already, Mika’s face contorted.
“...It’s going to be a long journey.”
She traded 6 Initial-Stage Mana Stones that she had gotten as a reward from her last mission and bought another batch of Nutrition and Healing Serums.
***
After what seemed like weeks of non-stop climbing, Mika finally rose out of the abyss! Her body was soaked in sweat, her kimono caked in blood, and her fingers were thick and purple.
“I’m… out…!” She fell on her back, collapsing on the ground. While she was given a break from climbing a few hours ago due to the wooden planks, her nerves weren’t calm as she felt uncomfortable resting on them.
She had just come out of the abyss and didn’t particularly feel like going back down.
Now that she was on land and in a relatively safe spot, she passed out on the ground.
Mika wasn’t worried about beasts approaching her, as they seemed to understand the dangers of the abyss.
Half a day later, she woke up feeling refreshed.
“I’ve gained a lot on this unplanned excursion to the jungle. As much as I hate to admit it, I don’t think I’d be able to come so far if I was stuck back home with Cain and Elizabeth always watching me like a hawk.”
“However, all good things must come to an end. Now that I’ve gotten what I needed here, it’s time to find the Barlton Kingdom and search for a way back home!”
Mika got up, gave the jungle a slight bow, and headed Southeast, which was the direction the Barlton Kingdom should be located, according to Chief Joralf.
While she had made significant progress here and could probably make even more if she stayed, Mika had no interest in doing such a thing. With her current strength, there were very few beasts who could actually put up a fight against her.
If she wanted to keep progressing at her current rate, she needed to go somewhere with an abundance of opponents of similar strength. Mika also wanted to fight against other humans and determine her strength compared to them. The sword was designed to fight and kill other humans, after all.
She had many more reasons to leave the jungle, but ultimately, she just wanted to start a new chapter in her life.
So, with firm and steady steps, Mika headed for the Barlton Kingdom!