“Again,” Lissandra says simply.
As before, I collect mana and concentrate, sending another burst through my arm. Taking more damage in the process, shredding the limb. This time, I feel my mind waver. Having to concentrate and expel so much mana is difficult.
Usually, when I do these kinds of things, I keep my body strengthened, lately even with black mana. My eyes help as well. Often, I don’t even need to think about the backlash, letting my passive take care of any injuries I might sustain.
With a weakened body, the inscriptions making it even more difficult, it’s on another level.
“Little pup, want me to tell you what you did wrong?”
I'm already collecting mana for another burst and nod.
“You were and are too impatient. One of the worst things that happened to you was getting access to that black mana of yours. The problem isn’t your ability to use it, the problem is that you cheated. You exploited the healing aura of that place and discovered all the things it could do.”
Another burst of mana I send through damages my hand even further, but I watch as the tears heal under the influence of my passive.
[Mana Manipulation - lvl 47 > Mana Manipulation - lvl 48]
“That was stupid of you, very much so. Instead of honing your basics, you went ahead with your foolish plan to exploit your black mana. You even made sacrifices to do so, and I can see how much work you’ve put into it along with all the ways you’ve modified your growth to facilitate its use.”
The fourth burst takes a bit of mana from my Mana Reservoir. The grove of trees that once stood in front of me is now non-existent, reduced to a clearing devoid of any greenery, and huge chunks of the ground turned to dust.
“If you continue down that path, you will reach the rank of Champion, little pup. Just the sheer power of that mana will grant you this. You will even gain a degree of mastery over it, and there won’t be a single mana user who doesn’t fear you.”
I pause to give my body an opportunity to heal, especially my throbbing skull, which feels as if someone had decided to drill into it with a red-hot metal rod.
“But?” I ask.
“But that’s all you would ever be, little pup. Compared to the other Champions, you would never rise beyond the middle of the pack. Extremely dangerous to some but weak against others. Perhaps some of the weaker Absolutes, those barely deserving the title, those dependent on mana, might even think to avoid fighting you, but that will leave you an easy target for the others. Why have you stopped? Again.”
With a groan, I reach for more mana drawing it from my Reservoir. This time I even manage to damage bits of my body other than my arm as I move it. I put my mind into it, I grasp that mana, I mold it, I control it. I’m currently channeling more mana than is available to most of Hell difficulty.
It roars through my arm, tearing through my circuits, before exploding in a burst of oscillating mana, damaging the area even further.
I feel tired. It reminds me of a gym workout, like maxing out several times in a row, injuring myself in the process.
“You said your goal was to become an Absolute, with an eye towards pushing beyond even that. The probability of that is not something I will address again. But to even have a chance, you have to become a powerful Champion. The kind even Absolutes will think twice about messing with. Challenging you needs to be costly enough that the best case scenario is just not worth it.”
She doesn’t order it, but I collect my mana again. It’s so difficult; I don’t remember the last time I had so much trouble managing it. The inscriptions she made are straight-up evil, requiring an insane amount of control and concentration to work around.
It’s fun.
“Honestly, watching you fumble is annoying, so I will do everything in my power to beat these bad habits out of you,” she says.
“Lovely.” I reach to grab more of my mana.
“Stop,” she orders.
Something in me wants to do it anyway, but knowing her likely reaction, I just sigh and stop.
“Heal yourself. Your output and control are decent enough that you wouldn’t be considered a mana cripple, but your body is a disgrace. I understand your decision. I can’t say it isn’t stupid, but I understand.”
“It’s worked for me so far.”
“As you said, so far. But having to constantly strengthen your body and divert your focus to hold it together robs you of resources you could be using to improve your skills. In the end that makes your investment into mana useless. Honestly…”
Here we go again.
“...the court ladies had pets that were smarter than you.”
“Of course they were.”
“Tomorrow, I’ll be giving you something else. Something one of Keiron's disciples came up with. She called it a Restrictive Training Emblem. Out of all our Champions, she had one of the most powerful bodies and one of the highest mana stats. It’s a shame she was such a musclehead.”
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This sounds interesting. Training is fun, but eventually the time for variety training ends. Lissandra then activates the inscriptions she made before, and I fall to the ground on my belly, unable to move at all, forced to rely on boosting myself with kinetic energy.
Myrra stays nearby, working on her training while Lissandra goes wherever she goes when she leaves.
Unable to move, I can only act with all the patience and grace I can muster while enduring Myrra's teasing.
As she pinches my butt and tickles me under the nose with her tail, I promise revenge in my mind.
She then, for the remaining five hours, uses my back as a pillow under her while she gets her training in.
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The five hours of leveling ensue, and this time I'm also forced to deal with monsters. Lissandra tells me to use mana and mana projectiles, and up to 20% of my total mana for the next five hours.
We meet many more monsters this time, hundreds of veilshriekers and a Veil Guardian.
Each time a veil monster dies and sends a signal towards the Veil, Lissandra stops it. When I ask her what she thinks of the Veil, she tells me it’s decent.
That instantly raises my assessment of it. Lissandra generally seems to think that most Absolutes barely deserve the title, relegating them to clueless beginners, even that small admission may as well be high praise.
I level up once in the process, and [Resonance] gains a level as well.
So far, my body’s handling it well, and the lack of sleep and intense training aren’t bothering me much. Even so, I'm sure it will get worse, much worse. My body might be strengthened, but I still require sleep, food, and water. I'm sure it’s something Lissandra means to use for the purpose of pushing my body and mind to the limit.
To a degree, I welcome it and soak up everything she teaches me like a sponge. I'm already thinking of ways to implement all of this in the future. The inscriptions she made, any bits of knowledge she shares, and her training methods.
I thought I might hate having someone teach me like this, and to be honest if it was anyone else, I would probably protest much more.
Lissandra isn’t used to people rejecting her, and she never shows hesitation. Even when things do not go her way, she has an unshakable faith that she will find a way to turn things around.
She’s quiet most of the time, focused on doing her own thing, and when she interacts with Myrra and me, it feels like we’re turtles she’s pulled from the road to keep cars from hitting them. Compared to her long life, ours is barely a blink, and I still remember the decisiveness of her actions on the 2nd Floor. Killing everyone she knew without hesitation and then turning her body into a construct, just out of pure spite for the system and her refusal to be used.
But even then, she planned ahead, in an act of revenge and self preservation.
Simply, she irritates me, but I clearly admire her and believe that she’s someone I could learn from. However, I tried to avoid it for a long time in favor of exploring on my own.
“Can I ask you a question?” I ask.
“Ask.”
Catching a breath after the fight and eating a piece of dried meat, I think of it seriously.
“Are you a member of your planet’s 1st Generation?”
“No, I was born years later, in the middle of our 1st Pairing. We were losing, and like everyone else, I’ve had to fight ever since I could hold a weapon and use mana.”
“Are there differences between the 1st Generation and their descendants?”
“Obviously. The 1st Generation goes through the tutorial. They have access to the system shop and have more control over their growth. They have tokens, they have more options to customize their growth. They’re not even comparable to those who didn't.”
Even saying that she stands here. Not a member of the 1st Generation, but she was the Absolute of her planet for millennia. Honestly, it feels like a waste. Just how powerful would she be now if she was also of that generation?
She continues, likely knowing my next question, “The 1st Generation becomes protectors and teachers. The first ones to awaken, future Champions, and among them, an Absolute as well. They gain all this power earlier than anyone else to lead their planet through the changes that come with its awakening.”
I had expected the system to censor some of these words, but this amount of knowledge seems to be allowed to me at the moment. Lissandra’s basically confirmed our suspicions on the matter.
With that, I decide to stop asking questions for now, before she gets annoyed. There is still plenty of time left, surely enough to get more information out of her.
I think she had a plan when she said she wouldn’t kill me and that requires me to become stronger, and for her to maintain a somewhat neutral relationship with me. She knows my personality and knows that if she does, I won’t be as willing to reject her as long as the request is somewhat reasonable. Why else would she be so forthcoming?
I don’t mind though; honestly, it seems like a win-win situation with little to lose for either side and plenty to gain. What interests me is what she wants from me. She’s probably getting help from at least one other Ruler, so how much can I help her?
There is also the option that she really is that bored, perhaps she actually took a bit of a liking to me and decided to teach me. As she said, she is very old and has often implied that beings like her tend to seek new experiences, and I seem to have caught her interest.
Well, I have no complaints. Cowardly Savant can screw off with Tristan; I’m getting free lessons from an Absolute.
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In the last hour of my power leveling for the day, we move much faster. Lissandra allows more mana, and we run at a speed that obscures the environment around us in a blur of motion.
Even then, she requires me to use projectiles. It’s difficult to do, I have to account for my speed as well as that of the monsters straining to match it. I fail a lot, and my projectiles are way off, but towards the end, I start to improve.
We eventually come to a mountain, and even at this distance, I can recognize the giant iron door covering the side of that mountain.
The road that leads there seems to have been damaged by shelling, riddled with craters and strewn with slag, and debris. Though it’s still wide enough to admit a number of passenger airplanes side by side.
As we begin our approach I start to realize just how huge everything actually is. The path, the door, and the mountain. Yet it all seems to have been abandoned, left unattended for years on end. Leaving what once must have been solid roads to be overgrown with all manner of greenery, from shrubs to trees.
“There’s a Champion inside. She’s hurt and very weak.” Lissandra states, refusing to elaborate as she guides us on our way.
Even though her level is currently likely even lower than mine, she proceeds without worry.