Instantly pain wracks my body, I try to force the mana back out but I am unable to, I can't even channel the overload to Ruby. I drop out of meditation and curl up in the fetal position as wave after wave of pain roars through me.

I can feel Ruby's hands on my back as she tries to figure out what is wrong with me. I am sure she is saying something but I can't hear anything over the pounding in my head.

*DING*

Congratulations! Skill Pain Resist has progressed to level 6!

Pain Resist

Level 6

You feel 60% less pain.

Physical damage reduced by 6%.

I think without that skill this would actually kill me, right now death would be a relief. I can't tell if it takes minutes or hours, it feels like forever before the pain finally starts to fade.

As my senses return the first thing I feel is that Ruby has wrapped herself around me as much as she can. Now I am glad I didn't die, being held by her feels wonderful.

Ruby says "Master? Can you hear me? Master!"

"Ugh! Yes, I can now."

Ruby says "What happened? Are you alright?"

"I accidentally grabbed some of the demon's mana, it didn't agree with me."

Ruby says "You really had me worried! For a minute your eyes were glowing red!"

"What? They were?"

I check myself out real quick, but relax when I find no damage and no permanent changes. There is no trace of the demon's mana inside me that I can find.

"Well, I'm fine now. I even feel fairly good now that the pain is gone."

Ruby says "Well, as long as you are okay, just don't do that again."

"Trust me, I don't plan to!"

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

I stand up and stretch, I do my best to work out the kinks from being in the fetal position for so long. Then I sit back down and prepare to enter meditation.

Ruby says "What? You are going to continue? Shouldn't you rest first?"

"No, I'm fine. I want to get this done."

Not wanting to hear anymore cautions or that I'm being stupid I enter my meditation before Ruby can say anything. I float in the inner world waiting till I see the channel to Ruby go live so I can start working, but instead she appears floating next to me in the inner world. I had forgotten she can do that when she is in the amulet.

Ruby says "You are an idiot! You are rushing into a fight against a creature you know nothing about."

"I know a lot about demons in theory, and if there was a way to learn more before fighting it I would take the time. But there isn't, we know as much as we can know already, we will only learn more by fighting it."

Ruby says "Yes, but why rush? Rest up first. You just went through a lot of pain."

"Yes, the demon's mana hurt, but it was just pain. It didn't do anything to me and I feel fine, resting won't make any difference."

Ruby says "Why do I feel like your pain means more to me than it does to you?"

"I've told you how I died in my last life right? Pain is basically an old friend of mine. I'm used to it at this point."

Ruby says "That makes me very sad. So your pain really doesn't matter to you?"

"No, not really, I mean while it is happening yes it hurts, but once it is gone I quickly forget about it. In my world we had a saying 'Anything that doesn't kill you, just makes you stronger.' And it is true, pain can teach you things."

Ruby says "Like what?"

"Like don't do that again stupid, it hurts."

Ruby laughs and says "So, you admit you are stupid?"

"I have my moments."

Ruby says "These moments seem to happen fairly frequently."

"Yeah, yeah. Can we get back to work now?"

Ruby says "I guess so, since you won't listen to me and rest anyway."

Before I can respond she disappears, and shortly I sense the connection open between us meaning she is holding my hand and ready to accept mana. I turn my attention to the block of ice, but before I can grab a chunk I see a problem. The two manas are now swirling more furiously and are much more intermixed.

I doubt I can grab a chunk without getting some of the demon's mana. Oh well, like I told Ruby it is just pain, so I grab a chunk of mana and pull it into myself. The demon's mana causes me some pain but not enough to break my concentration so I go back to working on my core.

Core Upgrade Progress: 17%

Each time I grab a chunk of mana the demon's mana hurts me less, that is worrying me just a little. I can't really stop now though, if I leave it like this the demon will escape sometime soon.

If it isn't killed it will cause all sorts of chaos if anything I know about demons is true. Since I am the one weakening its prison, anything it does would be my fault, I have to kill it. So I keep grabbing and absorbing chunks of the mixed mana.

Core Upgrade Progress: 20% MP +100

I'm happy to see the progress on my core, so I reach for another chunk, and that's when it all goes horribly wrong. Even in my meditation I hear the ice shatter and a thunderous roar, but that isn't what worries me the most.

All the remaining mana in the ice is rushing into me like water from a dam that just broke. It is way too much mana for me to handle and I know for a fact if I don't do something right now it is going to kill me.