Jonathan turned to see the others moving on down the hallway, heading towards a small door at the end. He slid the lid back on the coffin and placed it in the hole in the wall. Although he had no love for the Uthraki of this realm, he still respected the message that was contained within the ritual burying of the mimic’s body.

The Uthraki opened up the door as Jonathan approached, revealing a large cavern. In the center was a pool of lava, and an ineffable presence. It felt like there was a demigod there, but strangely muted, as if they were not entirely present. A strange form of crackling flame lounged in the pool, seemingly at peace with the world.

“It has been some time since supplicants have made their way to this pathetic fragment of my godly shell,” the flame spirit said. “Do you even know who I am?”

“An elemental?” Jonathan asked.

“Hah, if only. I am a piece of the spirit of an Elemental Archon, one of Fire. My real form is Tier 75, but this pathetic scrap of power is nothing compared to that. I have bodies in every one of the realms of Tartarus, save for those above my tier. But, now that you have found me, I must impart a boon.”

“What sort of boon?” Maranta asked.

“It will take the form of a natural treasure, but an unusually potent one. It will replace your blood with lava, while retaining the normal benefits. Doing so will grant you increased mastery over the element of fire, as well as a portion of its power. Any who wish to try may take the trial. And do not worry, this is not a trick. I am bound by the System to this task as punishment.”

As if to confirm this, a chime rang through everyone’s interfaces.

Jonathan stepped to the side. Although the offer was tempting, he would be unable to gain much from it, because of his True Affinity. Instead, this was a boon for the Uthraki. He sat down at the edge of the room, and watched as they approached the spirit. It reached out with one hand, and snapped its fingers, sending tendrils of fire into the minds of the Uthraki. They collapsed a moment later, transported to their trial.

Jonathan closed his eyes and began to cultivate his various energy reserves, eyeing the ways that they blended together. He was in the upper half of Journeyman Rank, and if he could reach Expert, he would likely gain a boon worthy of his level. The skill already granted heightened stat bonuses, so those of Expert Rank would likely give him hundreds of points.

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Unlike his original skills however, it was one that relied more on doing than contemplation to work. In linking his mana, elemental energy and stamina, he had made it so that they assumed the strengths and weaknesses of one another. In order to progress in the skill, he would need to use one for the purpose of another.

He focused on his stamina, and tried to make it take the shape of mana. His goal was to form a rudimentary flame out of stamina, instead of mana. He opened his eyes, and looked at the palm of his hand. Other than an uncomfortable heat there, nothing was happening in regards to his goal. His hand vibrated so quickly that it stirred up the air, but other than that, he couldn’t see any evidence of something happening.

He clearly lacked the technique that he was looking for. Instead of trying to make a flame, he simply attempted to channel the energy down his mana channels rather than through his body. It was hard, trying to infiltrate his channels with stamina, but due to his pathway skill, it was possible.

The reddish mist of his stamina drifted out from his core, and sank into his mana channels, coursing along them. He felt a strange sensation as he tried to send some of the stamina out of his fist in the same motion as with the rest of his mana generated skills. It paused at the layer of skin beneath his gauntlet, and refused to go any further.

With a sigh, he banished the energy. It seemed that some things, at least for now, would simply not work. He instead put his mind towards his elemental energy, seeing as he commonly mingled it with his mana in the first place. Using only elemental energy was quite routine, but channeling it through his mana veins was not.

It seemed to speed up the energy, imbuing it with more power than normal. Instead, what was really happening was a compression of the elemental energy that sent it racing forwards. He pointed his hand towards the cavern wall, and watched as a lance of elemental energy shot out, and burrowed straight through the rock. It was like watching a laser at work. Nothing was left behind save for a borehole of smooth rock. However, he did not acquire a skill for it, likely because it was already included within the purview of his Pathway skill. He felt a tug at the skill as if it was improving, but it was unfortunately not enough to give him another rank.

He continued to experiment, but ran into diminishing returns the more he tried, as he was simply running over the same insights that he had gained before.

Eventually, the Uthraki woke from their trial. Their eyes glowed with fiery light, and they had new depth to their elemental power than before. Tukar’s eyes looked like chips of lava, and the others had slightly lesser degrees of brilliance. Jonathan smiled. This was exactly the sort of bonuses that he was looking for in bringing his allies to Tartarus.