All that lava the monster had drawn into its body had been on purpose. The transformation mentioned by Primordial Gauge had begun even before Ray had realized. Roiling magma burned in the monster and emerged through the large horns on its shoulder to form gigantic infernal wings. At the same time, they were pouring into invisible casts to create legs.

The Viledrake was turning from a mere serpent into an actual dragon. Its howl was ripping the air, which miraged around the monster as it bent under the heat. Everything shook, dozens upon dozens of lava gouts rising like little geysers around their lord.

It would have been awestriking. Was awestriking. Ray just had no time to enjoy it.

Not when he had fired another little laser blast with a draconic maw grafted to his hand. Not when he had used Spectral Step to teleport to right in front of the monster as it transformed.

“Now!” he shouted.

His Tower Node of the Fleshcrafter heard him. Ray was burning up, barely protecting himself with his Spiritguard orbs revolving to keep away the lava bursting all around him. But he had to focus. He needed to channel the Tower Node’s power and end it.

Within the glassy prism of the Tower Node, the flesh pulsed and writhed. Manipulate flesh, either yours or others. That was what he could do with the Tower Node.

That was exactly what Ray proceeded to do.

As the monster regained its original form, summoning enough power around it to drown Ray with the immensity of just its presence, the Tower Node acted.

The Viledrake’s howl changed from one of enraged triumph to pure agony. All the wounds Ray had left ripped further. Streams of burning flesh tore out through the wide cuts. All the corrupted bodily matter writhed under the influence of the Fleshcrafter’s power. Ray’s ears went completely deaf as the monster’s shriek reached a fevered pitch as two of its legs collapsed.

That’s when Ray’s True Mana disappeared.

This was what he got for not fully testing out his abilities before using them in life-or-death situations. He hadn’t realized just how costly the Tower Node’s ability would be, or even the fact that it consumed his True Mana. After all, he had used the Marauder and Mentor Tower Nodes without needing any True Mana at all. This was bullshit. Fucking Scamcrafter.

Since Ray wasn’t able to complete the fatal job, the Viledrake survived. Its lava wings blast out a heatwave as it was about to take off. Ray cursed again, even though he didn’t hear it so much as felt the vibrations course through him.

That’s when it hit him.

Just as the monster started ascending, Ray used the last bit of his Recovery to fix up his ruined ears. Sound returned in a glorious rush of audible power.

But so did about a third of his Recovery and, more importantly, a good chunk of his True Mana. All stored away thanks to Soullife Cloak, but now returning because he had run out of both his expendable stats.

The Tower Node had disappeared as soon as he had lost his True Mana, but now it reappeared, like it had sensed that he had regained enough to use it. No. Not the first one.

This was his newer Fleshcrafter Tower Node.

Ray grinned. Then exercised the power of the Tower Node once more.

The Viledrake never managed to leave the ground. Ray never got to see its majestic, lava-formed wings in action. With the power of the Fleshcrafter Tower Node, he reached into the wound he had left near the monster’s shoulder, then ripped.

As his True Mana rapidly depleted once more, the entire side of the Viledrake seemed to come off. Its howl of agony was bad enough to make his ears cringe again.

But the monster crashed back down, the whole island shaking at the impact. Lava ran off its side and pooled around it like blood. Its left wing, separated from its body thanks to Ray’s use of the Tower Node, now fizzled and began drying to hard rock.

The Viledrake tried rising. Lacking a couple of legs and a wing, and a shit ton of blood, wasn’t stopping it.

“Not on my watch,” Ray said.

He crushed another True Mana shard, then approached. Shakily, the Viledrake rose by a foot, about to fire off another Magma Storm or some other ability that would no doubt have been a pain in Ray’s ass. But he acted first.

Three things crushed the Viledrake. An Imitator construct turning into the giant arm once again to punch the living daylights out of the beast, two Soulstrike True Mana arms with draconic maws at their ends, firing off a compressed laser breath, and a Spiritsorb to make sure he got a Soul Aspect as it died. Alright, maybe that was four things, technically.

Despite the monster’s heat suppressing Ray’s spells, he definitely got in some good damage this time. Enough to finally kill the Viledrake.

[Enemy Defeated—Viledrake]

Tier 13 Monster: Viledrake [Level 38] x1

Essence: +4,940

Knowledge: +3

True Mana Restored: +380

Essence to Level 33: 60,440/76,600

Knowledge to next Threshold: 1,321/1,500

[Lifeblood Graveyard Activated]

Spiritsorb has absorbed the soul of a defeated Viledrake. Please select which Aspect of the targeted soul to retain.

Soul Aspects

* Imbued Scales [Tier 10]: Wreathe yourself in scales that can channel your chosen variant of Mana, enhancing itself with the Mana’s tangible properties.

* Viledrake Maw [Tier 12]: Draconic maw of a Viledrake that can spew concentrated beams of Molten Mana and summon lava gouts around the body.

* Vile Breath [Tier 10]: Emit a breath of pure Molten Mana that can last for up to 5 minutes and 50 seconds at a stretch.

* Magma Tail [Tier 12]: Draconic tail of a Viledrake that can unleash a storm of Molten Mana with a single swipe.

* Eruption Wings [Tier 11]: Condense Molten Mana to form wings constructed from pure lava, leaving a burning trail in the wake of your flight.

* Molten Rampage [Tier 11]: Pour out reserved Molten Mana to heighten all damage dealt, entering into a state of enraged, vaporizing aggression. At Tier 11, this skill boosts all damage dealt by 22%.

* Molten Burst [Tier 9]: Condense Molten Mana to any point on your body before unleashing it in a devastating detonation. At Tier 9, this skills erupts in an area 18 meters.

* Magma Storm [Tier 10]: Unleash a storm of devastating blood of the earth. At Tier 10, this skill creates 10 magma clouds that can be configured to either rain lava or detonate in an explosion that covers an area of 20 meters in radius.

Ray sat down. The Viledrake was definitely dead. Where the monster’s had been filled and lit up with magma before, it was now dark. All that lava was hardening and breaking, turning into crumbly rock in a matter of minutes.

He still hadn’t reached level 32 yet, and he wasn’t going to with the end of the dungeon, but that was alright. The Soul Aspect options intrigued him a great deal.

Essentially, he was going to get access to Molten Mana with almost all those options. Just as he had gotten access to Mimic Mana with the Imitator Soul Aspects. Though, it was intriguing he hadn’t received Vile Form as an option. Maybe that ability needed an innate physiological feature he lacked as just a human.

Onto his actual options. Ray wasn’t that interested in maws or wings, considering he already had powerful ones. Same went for scales and breath. That narrowed his choices significantly.

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Molten Burst and Magma Storm appeared to be very similar abilities, with the only difference being their range.

Molten Rampage was very intriguing. Boosting his damage by a percentage amount dictate by the Soul Aspect’s Tier was incredible. Since Lifeblood Graveyard was at Tier 12 now, Ray would be gaining a 24% buff. That was huge.

Two questions made him hesitate, though. First, was that ability going to offer him Molten Mana directly? As in, could he tangibly summon lava with it? The description wasn’t clear on that front. Next, was it really going to boost all damage, or just damage restricted to Molten Mana, or some other specific restriction that wasn’t outlined?

Besides those questions themselves, Ray was also super intrigued by the idea of possessing a tail.

Practically speaking, it wasn’t going to add a ton of utility to his toolset. But it would add some nice variety. Plus, there was just something awesomely cool about a giant dragon tail that could swipe and unleash bursts of lava at his opponents.

That, combined with the uncertainty about the boosts from Molten Rampage, made Ray go with the Magma Tail.

With all that done, he got to his feet. The island was still rising, even after passing the openings on the wall that was spewing lava. About a minute later, it reached the peak.

[Dungeon Cleared—Shattered Cliff]

Rewards

* 20 True Mana shards

* 1 True Mana Tier Point

* Adamantine Mana Vestments

* 5 Molten Mana Shards

* 1 Skill Tier Point

* +2,600 Essence

* Reputation: +25 Tenacious

Essence to Level 33: 63,040/76,600

The rewards were pretty interesting. A Tier point for one of his skills, which would most likely go to Goliath Eater, so he could use it even more often. Unless…

There was a different skill he could use it on. He held that thought for now.

Ray’s had cut short his considerations as he stared at the new garment slowly materializing. It was quite different from his Shaper Raiment.

Where the raiment had been fancy half-uniform, half-robe, this was entirely robe. But instead of being made of cloth or even silk or something along those lines, it appeared to be constructed from hexagonal links of some kind of shimmering material. Ray would have almost called it chain mail, but for the links were neither rings nor silver. They were white.

He focused on Primordial Gauge to grant him more information about his potential new gear.

[Primordial Gauge]

Primordial Gauge indicates there is an item nearby interacting with Mana.

Adamantine Mana Vestments [Tier 10]

Garment fashioned for ascetics who sought to control any and all forms of Mana they came across. The links that weave the raiment together can be imbued with Mana, granting the caster a specific bonus, depending on the Mana that has been imbued. Caster can apportion different variants of Mana to different portions of the raiment. Reduces the damage taken from Mana-based abilities by 60%.

Sleeves Mana: [None]

Leggings Mana: [None]

Torso Mana: [None]

Ray looked consideringly at his new reward. Loathe as he was to get rid of the Shaper Raiment and how much it helped boost his speed, he knew he couldn’t keep it around forever. It was already torn and rent in several places before he had entered the dungeon, and now, much of it had been reduced to burnt tatters.

He was pretty sure the next big battle would turn him basically naked. Funny how he had bemoaned the inability to call upon his little Feathered Imps but was now facing the possibility of being vulnerably naked again, just as he had in that tutorial zone.

Ray pulled off the Shaper Raiment. What was left of it, at least. “You’ve served me well, old friend.” It was hard being solemn while talking to a piece of clothing. “But it is time we parted. You need rest. A good retirement. Heaven.”

He considered it for a second, imagining it was speaking back.

“Don’t worry about me,” he said with a smile. “I’ll be fine. I’ve got something new to protect me.”

With that, he unceremoniously dropped the Shaper Raiment and began pulling on the Adamantine Mana Vestments. Ray had very little idea of what exactly Adamantine was supposed to be, but he had figured it was going to be heavy and metallic.

Not so. Not on his new gear. While the Vestments weren’t soft or light, exactly, he wouldn’t have called it uncomfortably heavy either.

It took him about a minute or so to put it on. The fit was snug almost like it was made for him. System shenanigans, no doubt. Ray hadn’t yet come across any loot that he would have been physically unable to use, one way or another.

Now to fill up those slots he had seen with Mana.

The description hadn’t stated anything about the Mana running out. Ray had some trouble believing that any Mana he put into the Vestments would last indefinitely. But then again, this was a Tier 10 garment. It had better need a long time to use up the Mana he fed it.

Question was, what Mana was he going to insert into its weaves?

The first answer was easy. Since Ray really didn’t want to miss the bonus to his movement speed from the Shaper Raiment, he picked Flight Mana.

He still had that crystal he had received a long while back. Now was the time to make use of it. So far, he had held himself back from using it because he felt like he could use it as a last-gasp trump card in dire straits. Just channel it into the Tower Node of the Songstress and call in a gigantic Everair monster to fight on his behalf. How cool would that have been?

There was no point in holding it in reserve any longer, though. Not when he could create another himself.

Ray had earned that Empty Mana crystal not long ago. He pulled it out now. Next came his two Tower Nodes, Ingestor and Abstractor. He had gone for using Abstract Conversion at first, but that wasn’t going to work.

The skill made the Mana morph into a physical affect. It didn’t allow him granular control over the converted Mana. That was fine. He had the Tower Nodes to rely on.

It was strange using both Tower Nodes at the same time. There was a pressure in his head, a weight pressing in on his mind, like he had a big headache building up. A migraine to end all migraines. Thankfully, the feeling didn’t actually materialize. Ray could focus.

The Ingestor Node had already begun drawing in Molten Mana from his surroundings. The quickest of glances with Primordial Gauge had revealed just how much of it was in the area. Everything was awash in brilliant, orange-gold energy. Molten Mana.

And they weren’t even at the bottom of the dungeon any longer. Ray could only imagine how much more Molten Mana the Ingestor Tower Node would have been able to draw there.

The Abstractor Tower Node got to work a moment later. Ray focused its attention on the Flight Mana crystal in his hand. Thankfully, the Tower Node didn’t consume the crystal to get the imprint of Flight Mana that it needed.

Instead, what it consumed was all the Molten Mana that the Tower Node of the Ingestor was swallowing.

Ray could feel the Mana gathering and twisting. He was growing uncomfortably, unbearably hot again. The temptation to curse was strong, but only the reminder that he was doing this on purpose, that he needed to do this, kept his mouth shut.

For about thirty seconds.

“Fuck,” he muttered. “This makes Cali droughts look like a breeze.”

At least it was working. The Abstractor Tower Node had gathered enough Mana from the Ingestor Tower Node to begin conversion. Ray suddenly felt a little bit chillier, a little less warm, as the air turned breezy. He could see it now too. Strands of wispy grey and shining silver threading through the orange Molten Mana, concentrated around the Abstractor Tower Node.

Ray smiled, licked around his mouth and spat out sweat. It was surprising not to see it sizzle.

He felt his connection to both Tower Nodes extend to the Mana they had around them. Ray could use the Mana they had gathered to a certain extent.

Well, gathered wasn’t quite accurate. The Ingestor Tower Node seemed to be condensing the Molten Mana closer and closer to itself, turning the area around it from glowing orange to molten gold-white. Almost like it was turning into a star.

Meanwhile, the Abstractor Tower Node couldn’t hold on to the Mana it converted. That was why Ray was feeling the breeze. Wisps of Flight Mana kept escaping from its creator.

But he was done letting them escape. Instead, he directed the Flight Mana to come to him. Immediately, the breeze began concentrating around him, buffeting hid body and colling him down. It felt so pleasant, Ray was almost tempted to keep it going.

He couldn’t waste that much Mana for long, though. So, he focused again, this time making the Mana come to his new garb.

Ray had realized that there wasn’t really any point in using up the Empty Mana crystal. He didn’t need to use up the Flight Mana crystal to imbue Mana into the Vestments. Not when he had so much Flight Mana coming in from the Tower Node of the Abstractor. He had expected to need to use up his Mana crystal, either for the Tower Node or the garment.

It took about a minute to concentrate all the gathered Flight Mana into the hexagonal links of his new magic robes. They had begun to glow. True to Flight Mana, they shimmered a brilliant silver.

When Ray was done, he checked the Vestments’ description again, focusing only on the imbuing section.

[Primordial Gauge]

Adamantine Mana Vestments [Tier 10]

Sleeves Mana: Flight Mana [10% bonus to evasion and movement speed]

Leggings Mana: Flight Mana [10% bonus to evasion and movement speed]

Torso Mana: Flight Mana [20% bonus to evasion, movement speed, and flight]

Ray grinned. Just as he had expected. Imbuing the Vestments with Flight Mana had granted him the movement bonus that he’d had from the Shaper Raiment. In fact, if he wasn’t mistaken, this was a much better bonus than what he had enjoyed before.

It made him wonder what other combinations he could achieve using other kinds of Mana. Actually…

Ray focused on the Tower Node of the Ingestor, pulling at the Molten Mana it had gathered. It took him about another minute to condense enough Molten Mana into his new garb to change the torso’s hexagonal links from silver to glowing orange.

The colour change. That was the sign that the imbuing had been completed.

[Primordial Gauge]

Adamantine Mana Vestments [Tier 10]

Sleeves Mana: Flight Mana [10% bonus to evasion and movement speed]

Leggings Mana: Flight Mana [10% bonus to evasion and movement speed]

Torso Mana: Molten Mana [All attacks are now imbued with Molten Mana, causing an additional 10% damage and leaving burning trails of lava.]

Oh, huh. “Neat.”

Cool as it sounded for all his attacks to do more damage, he wasn’t sure he needed it, nor was he certain about the reaction between the chaos and the lava. Plus, he had the last Soul Aspect he had gathered. The Viledrake’s tail would be enough Molten Mana for him.

Ray wasn’t averse to having a different variant of Mana in place of Flight Mana for one of his garb’s slots. He just needed some variety first.

A part of him wanted to test the monster tail he had acquired, but there was something else dragging at his attention.

The Tower Nodes had reminded him about one crucial thing. With rapidly growing anticipation, he put away the Mana crystals he had and pulled out one he needed. The Origin Mana crystal.

Spitting away some more sweat that had gathered, Ray grinned at the Abstractor Tower Node. “Job’s not done yet, buddy.”