The trembling had finally, blessedly stopped. The lower levels of the Mythhold seemed to be far more intact than what Leif had travelled through to get this far down. After a few minutes of rest Marcus stood up with a groan.

“I’ll be fine. Can’t use any active skills for a little bit so lets avoid combat if we can.”

Leif and Sieg nodded, the trio moved deeper into the mythhold. To Leif, the sheer scale of this underground structure was staggering, but the other two didn’t seem overly surprised.

“Whatever was going on on the surface seems to have calmed down.” Sieg noted. “I don’t know if I want to find out what the source of that dark blue beam was. Also, for some reason this part of the Mythhold still has mana running through many of its constructs.”

Marcus nodded. “Yeah, there’s quite a bit more ambient mana down here too. It’s almost as if-” The mage skipped a step and almost fell. “Big source of mana to the left.” He turned to his fellow human. “I think it might be a geode. And if it's been down here it wouldn’t have been touched since Pherin was razed, a good eight years or so?”

“I’ll be damned.” Sieg sighed. “Finally some good luck.”

Leif had questions but they could wait. The trio jogged up to an intersection and turned to see a perfectly round room with a dazzling formation of purple gemstones sprouting from the floor. Wires and strange mechanisms were attached to the base of the structure but Leif didn’t understand their purpose.

“It's mostly low grade shards.” Marcus said, practically buzzing with excitement. “But I can see a few dozen medium grades mixed in with the low. Sieg… Sieg, we're rich! We’re the richest second years of all time!”

“Richest if you don’t count the imperial nobles and anyone who was sponsored.”

“They cheated and don’t count.” The man said, laughing with arms outstretched. “Shit, we don’t have a way to carry all this. You have the only spatial storage and it's not exactly large!”

“We can ditch the tent and use the sack for storage.” Sieg suggested. “Maybe get other members of the expedition down here once they arrive. We’ll have finder's privilege.” The axe wielder summoned his weapon and carefully leaned it against the entrance wall.

Marcus zoomed forward like an excited puppy. He conjured a hand of purple energy, winced, then sent it swooping upwards to start plucking mana shards from the top of the geode. Leif studied the strange object.

It seemed to sprout from the ground at odd angles. Almost like branches reaching out of the ground… or like a hand. He thought.

Sieg turned to Leif. “You can keep what you help carry. I don’t know how valuable this stuff is for monsters but this may as well be a dragon's hoard for us.

“What… is… it?”

“A mana geode.” Sieg explained. “If left alone it naturally produces shards, the longer, the higher the grade. We, and by we I mean humans with evolved crafter classes can use them for all sorts of things. The simplest use is a catalyst for skill fusion, and that's what most people use low grade shards for.” The man continued. Leif perked up at the mention of skill fusion.

Just how much can I increase the fusion percentage by?

“Here.” Sieg said as he cleanly snapped off a low hanging shard and handed it to Leif. It was flat, rounded and about the size and shape of an arrow head. It pulsed softly with a bluish purple light.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

“They can be crafted into promotion items, a few dozen low grades make a seal. It took me a good six months to save up and afford a seal for my [Scholar] class. Medium grade shards like the ones Marcus is nabbing can be used to make emblems, or even crests. Top graduates of the Academy get an emblem at the end of their final year. I need one to promote my level twenty [Frost Slayer] class.”

Leif looked down at the mana shard in his hand.

Would you like to consume this mana catalyst to increase current skill fusion progress?

Fusion of skills [Gilded Body] and [Iron Fists] 2/100%

Y/N?

Leif glanced at Sieg, the taller man shrugged and nodded at the shard. Leif accepted the prompt and the shard dissolved into a shimmering liquid before slipping into his arm. The sensation was strange, like cool water trickling into his chest. There was no pain, just a slight feeling of refreshment.

Fusion of skills [Gilded Body] and [Iron Fists] 2/100%

“Did… Nothing…” He hissed with more than a little annoyance.

The northerner laughed. “Give it a few minutes. Now help me pilfer as many of these as possible." Leif sighed and started to help, he was still curious about the uses of mana shards. He gestured for Sieg to continue his explanation.

“Right, depending on the grade they have some uses in alchemy, that's the creation of elixirs, pills and potions. They can also be used in the enchantment process, magical items, city walls or even powering basic household appliances if you’re rich. Most adventures and explorers make do with the shards they harvest from monsters, and it takes quite a few low grade shards to add up to anything of value.” He said.

Leif paused. “Mon…sters?”

“Huh? Yeah… You don’t know? Monsters grow mana shards inside their bodies after the first milestone. Uh, not that we were planning to kill and harvest you!” He said hastily.

Fusion of skills [Gilded Body] and [Iron Fists] 14/100%

“Ask… why… you… think… that?”

“Think what?” Sieg asked as he snapped another mana shard off the geode’s exterior.

“Hey Sieg! Is your bracelet empty? Put these inside.” Marcus called as he jogged up.

“What… level… am… I?” Leif inquired, tilting his head.

“Well,” Marcus said, as the larger mana shards he was carrying began to vanish one by one. “You have an aura skill so at least level thirty. Maybe low forties if I had to be specific.

“No.”

“No?” Marcus and Sieg said at the same time. “You don’t have an aura skill?” The mage asked.

“I… do… but… am… level… twenty… five.” He said, beginning to feel the strain from the overuse of [Gilded Body].

Both men shared a look. Marcus raised an eyebrow and Sieg frowned. “How is that possible?” The man said under his breath. “That's a hard rule isn’t it? Could the academy be wrong?”

“Yeah I don’t know. It’s like, the first thing they teach newbies: If it has a controlled aura it's too strong.” Marcus said as if quoting someone.

“You’re level twenty five?” Sieg asked for clarification.

Leif nodded. “Yes…”

“Fuck. What level did you get an aura?”

He had to think about that for a few minutes. [Aura of Nobility] was the first skill in his [Noble] class. So he would have had to have gotten it at [Noble] level two…

Should I tell them? He pondered. That I used to be like them. How would they react? For some reason the idea made Leif nervous, but it was something he had been putting off ever since he met the two men.

Leif wanted to be as he was, even through all the confusion and chaos it had been a driving force, like a ship's sails caught in the wind. Only, now that port was in sight, he realised he didn’t know how to dock.

Should fear and uncertainty keep him from trying?

No, no it should not.

So he firmed his resolve, and told them.

“Two…” Leif said. Both Marcus and Sieg fell silent.