Alaric and his friends were currently fighting three massive crystalback crocodiles within Lake Gloom. The massive creature posed a significant challenge, but it was the blood leeches that irritated his friends.
At first, he wasn’t sure how they would manage to communicate underwater. Fortunately, it appeared that forming a team with the assistance of the system enabled party members to communicate mentally as well.
“Alaric, you said nothing about these damn leeches in here,” cried Gareth.
Alaric chuckled. Apparently, none of his friends had discovered Lake Gloom in the Azure Caverns before. So they had no idea about the type of creatures they would encounter in it. He deliberately omitted information about the leeches since he wanted to annoy them.
Fortunately, all of his friends possessed healing skills, and the leeches amounted to nothing more than a nuisance.
Alaric had learned to coat his entire body with a thin layer of mana, which prevented them from clinging to his body. Rowan and George managed to execute something similar. Only Gareth was struggling.
“It’s more fun this way,” replied Alaric with a grin. Gareth was the only one who didn’t find it amusing as everybody else laughed.
However, all of them had to focus on dodging the crystal-back crocodiles that darted toward them. The crocodiles were much faster than them and immensely strong too. Fortunately, they had uncovered a weakness.
Although its back was armored with a dense collection of azure crystals, its underside had a soft belly that was easy to damage.
Alaric evaded one of them as it neared him and punched hard with his spiked mana gauntlet, tearing through its innards and staining the water red. Rowan wielded his crystallized sword to replicate the feat and eliminated another crystalback crocodile.
Both of them approached George and Gareth who were struggling against the third one. As George spotted them, he acted vulnerable. The massive creature swam to eat him whole but slammed into a shimmering mana barrier and became disoriented.
Using that moment of disorientation as an opening, Rowan severed its tail while Alaric impaled its belly.
All of them swam toward the surface of the lake to refill their lungs with air. However, their moment of respite didn’t last long.
“Watch out,” yelled Alaric. All of them scattered and avoided the grasp of the tentacles that the squid-like creature launched at them.
“That’s a crystal-tip squid,” shouted Rowan. “I know it's a weakness. We have to find its body and destroy its core.”
Gulping a large mouthful of air, Alaric and his friends dove into the lake once again, maneuvering to evade the numerous massive tentacles and find the location of its body. Alaric utilized his mana sense to pinpoint its body and surged toward it.
He deflected the few tentacles that attempted to snare him. As he closed in, a black-shadowy shape emerged, revealing itself to be the massive, elongated body of the squid. Alaric grinned. Found you!
However, as he attempted to approach, the squid groaned and released an ink-like substance that obscured his vision.
With his visibility gone, Alaric ramped up his danger sense and sharpened his focus, striving to pinpoint the creature by its mana signature alone.
Unfortunately, there were too many tentacles thrashing nearby, making it impossible to distinguish them from its main body. There is no other way. I’ll be out of breath soon. For the first time, Alaric cycled a drop of his third-eye chakra and focused it in the center of his forehead.
His sense of perception expanded and intensified. Time appeared to slow to a crawl, and he found it much easier to detect the shifts in his environment, process the information, and analyze all the details. Suddenly, he attained an insight for a new skill.
Congratulations! You have learned the skill [Zen Flow] (Uncommon).
The blackness of his surroundings faded to gray, revealing faint outlines and shapes, barely perceptible in high contrast. He immediately located the body of the crystal-tip squid and advanced toward it.
The crystal-tip squid deployed its numerous tentacles to obstruct him, but it was futile. With his new focus skill active, Alaric deftly evaded the tentacles, slipping past them with minimal effort.
He noticed smaller tentacles lined with sharp crystal tips guarding its body. Alaric smirked. He directed a significant portion of his mana to elongate the spiked gauntlet on his right arm as far as possible.
Now, it resembled a small lance.
Wielding his new mana gauntlet lance, he severed a few of the crystal-tip tentacles. Rowan closed in from the opposite direction and mirrored his actions. Together, they skewered the beast from opposing angles. George and Gareth joined in and began harassing it.
Rowan carved a massive gash at the base of its crystal-tip tentacles, exposing a tiny azure crystal that served as its energy core.
“Alaric, now,” Rowan shouted.
Alaric seized the opportunity created by his friends. He pierced the pulsing energy core of the beast with his mana gauntlet lance, shattering it into fragments. The crystal-tip squid convulsed violently before becoming still.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
“Quick, follow me,” Alaric signaled for them to trail him toward the underwater tunnel that led to the second exit. They were almost out of breath.
Catching their breath in the cave that connected to the hidden zone, they swam upward and reached the first exit on the far side of the lake.
Alaric wasn’t sure about what they’d encounter there since he hadn’t explored this part of Lake Gloom previously. The exit was a narrow tunnel with shallow water that barely reached their knees.
As they ventured deeper, he observed a dense cluster of azure crystals forming on all sides, even underwater.
At the tunnel’s end, he discovered a massive entity — its body covered by a fusion of azure crystals and corals.
Elite Event Triggered - Defeat the Azure Shellbeast. Reward - Azure Pearls.
Alaric beamed. He wasn’t sure how they would allocate the resources they’d uncover during the dive. Initially, Alaric was confident that this exit wouldn’t harbor any monsters, only a treasure chest or something similar containing a single Azure Pearl.
However, now that the stage had been redesigned and the rewards adjusted by the system, everyone would be able to gain something worthwhile from the dive.
The Azure shell-beast resembled a colossal oyster-like creature fused with azure crystals and vibrant corals. It appeared dormant, but its jagged shells emitted a faint blue glow, promising retaliation against those who dared to provoke it.
Alaric dashed forward and drove his mana gauntlet lance at its body. However, his mana gauntlet lance fractured at the tip as it clashed against the shell-beast's hardened shell, failing to pierce it. Alaric's entire arm throbbed with pain.
He retreated just as a barrage of razor-sharp mana spikes erupted from the creature's body, targeting his location.
Rowan and Gareth also failed to penetrate its defenses. The shell beast groaned and parted its mouth slightly. Suddenly, Alaric sensed a massive drain on his mana. The creature was siphoning all the mana in its vicinity.
All of them withdrew beyond the skill's effective range to avoid the mana drain. The shell-beast remained content to stay motionless, merely defending itself from attacks.
However, it proved exceedingly difficult to defeat.
Its tough shell exterior was almost impenetrable. Moreover, attacking it up close was impossible due to the crystal spike assaults and the aggravating mana-draining aura it radiated.
Alaric reformed the mana gauntlet lance and surveyed the surroundings before advancing again.
There has to be a way to take this creature down. He noticed it was anchored to the lakebed with tentacle-like roots that almost blended into the ground.
He shared the discovery with his friends, and together they devised a plan. Once the creature settled down, Alaric and Rowan approached its body, poised to strike. Gareth and George targeted the tentacle-roots, and the shell-beast let out a piercing screech, opening its mouth much wider this time.
Yes, it’s working. Alaric seized the opportunity and plunged his mana gauntlet lance into its mouth, impaling the now-exposed soft flesh.
Rowan followed suit. Its mouth was lined with jagged crystals that tore into Alaric’s mana gauntlet lance and shredded his arms up to the elbow, but he endured the pain. His arm dripped with thick, black ichor.
The creature reactivated its mana-draining aura, but neither Alaric nor Rowan retreated.
It followed up with a surge of deadly mana spikes. They had planned for this moment. George conjured a mana barrier around Rowan and Alaric, and the sharp crystals crashed against it.
Under the influence of the mana-draining aura, they were losing mana at a staggering rate. However, the creature appeared to be on the brink of death Alaric stomped his foot on the lower shell and drove his arm upwards, forcing a wider opening.
The Azure shell-beast let out an ear-splitting wail before finally succumbing. Its resistance evaporated, and its body split in two, the upper half collapsing to the other side.
Congratulations! You have completed the Elite challenge.
Five Azure Pearls nestled inside the soft flesh of the creature. All of them cheered in triumph. Alaric picked up one of the Azure Pearls and inspected it.
Azure Pearl - A highly condensed form of ambient mana that is often found inside the body of Azure Shell-beasts. It can aid and significantly accelerate the development of a user’s mana core.
All of them grinned. It seemed that the group delve was already fruitful even though they hadn’t yet explored the hidden area.
None of them knew the exact value of an Azure Pearl, but they surmised the fifth pearl could fetch a high price. They resolved to sell it and divide the earnings.
“We should absorb the mana in the pearl as much as possible before venturing deeper,” suggested Alaric. All of his friends agreed and settled down to extract the mana.
Alaric assumed his meditation pose and dove into his Cultivation sanctuary - the meditation grounds of the solar plexus island to be exact. He examined the Azure Pearl he held in his hand.
So, I can indeed bring cultivation resources inside this pocket dimension.
Alaric puzzled over how this was possible. He couldn’t transport his physical body into the cultivation sanctuary, nor could he carry in tangible objects. He had tried to transfer physical items into his cultivation sanctuary before but failed.
This time, however, he succeeded. It seems the system imposed restrictions on what types of materials could be physically brought into the pocket dimension. For what reason, he couldn’t discern yet.
Alaric probed the Azure Pearl with his senses and immediately detected an ocean of mana at his disposal. He grinned. It would probably take him a few days to absorb all the mana into his core.
But time was of the essence, and he didn’t want to wait long. He cycled a drop of purified energy from his solar plexus chakra and drastically accelerated the mana absorption process.
His willpower strained to the limits, and his body ached as he tried to absorb so much mana at once. Alaric activated [Zen Flow] to improve his focus and steady the mind. Acquiring a non-mana skill at Tier 1 wasn’t part of his plan, but he couldn’t avoid it.
At least it is an uncommon skill.
The dense, fog-like mana inside his core condensed under the pressure of the invading mana and gradually liquefied. He wasn’t sure how long he spent in this meditative trance. However, once the mana absorption concluded, he felt satisfied.
The Azure Pearl was no more. He had managed to absorb it completely in a single session. He scanned his mana core and felt a surge of satisfaction upon discovering that all of the mana within had transformed into liquid. Just like that, he had accelerated his mana core development by an entire month.
He checked his notifications.
Mana Core Stage: Liquid Core (Early) - Clear Liquid
Skills:
[Mana Solidification lvl 5 -> Mana Solidification lvl 7]
[Vital Mana Flow lvl 4 -> Vital Mana Flow lvl 6]
[Zen Flow lvl 1 -> Zen Flow lvl 4]
Abilities:
[Mana Manipulation lvl 4 -> Mana Manipulation lvl 6]
Alaric expended his experience points and checked his stats:
Stats:
Strength - 26 -> 29
Agility - 26 -> 28
Vitality - 23 -> 25
Mind - 26 -> 28
Soul - 32 -> 33